I Was Never the Girl in His Diary Chapter 02
I froze entirely, my fingertips digging deep into my palms until it stung.
The echoes of Barrett standing on the high school courtyard, warmly encouraging me and telling me I’d definitely make it to Arlington, flashed through my mind. My nose burned with an uncontrollable wave of sorrow.
It turned out those sweet words were nothing but beautiful lies. It turned out that deep down, just like everyone else, he looked down on me.
Swallowing the desperate urge to cry, I gently placed the journal on the window sill and fled the property before he could open the door.
Since that day, I didn’t say a single word to Barrett.
Ironically, he completely flipped his usual behavior. Over the next two days, the sheer volume of his text messages practically equaled what he would normally send over two entire months.
Yet, he didn’t mention a single thing about the journal.
On the night the SAT results went live online, Barrett’s home internet suddenly cut out, forcing him to rush over to my house to borrow our Wi-Fi.
My mother washed a pristine platter of expensive berries and set it right in front of him—luxuries I was rarely allowed to touch.
She beamed, warmly telling Barrett not to be nervous at all.
Zachary was busy playing the ultimate hype man, hovering around him, massaging his shoulders, and pouring him drinks with pathetic eagerness.
Turning around, Zachary noticed me sitting entirely alone in the far corner of the living room, devoid of any snacks or attention. He sneered, “Valerie, when your scores drop and you don’t do nearly as well as Barrett, don’t you dare sneak off to cry. Your sobbing drives me absolutely insane.”
“Watch your mouth, brat. That’s your sister you’re talking to,” Barrett said, giving Zachary’s arm a playful, light nudge with a laugh.
Zachary scratched his head, completely unfazed. “Oh, please, she’s totally used to it. She’s got a face like a shield; these harmless jokes don’t phase her at all.”
“By the way, she constantly brags at home about being prettier than Seraphina. I tell her she’s completely delusional, but she refuses to believe me. Barrett, you tell her—she doesn’t even hold a candle to the school sweetheart, right?”
Zachary had read that journal too. He knew exactly what he was doing, weaponizing that knowledge to humiliate me publicly.
Barrett stiffened slightly, casting a brief glance in my direction.
I buried my face low.
I wanted to disappear from embarrassment.
Ultimately, it was Barrett who broke the suffocating silence, offering a half-joking redirection:
“Stop making fun of your sister. I’m sure she’d never ask something that insecure.”
“Alright, let’s stop obsessing over this. It’s almost time for the clock to strike eight.”
At exactly 8:00 PM, Barrett’s score portal and mine loaded at the exact same second.
In an instant, the atmospheric pressure in the room plummeted to below freezing.
Barrett and I had scored the exact same points.
My parents’ first instinct wasn’t excitement or pride. Instead, they leaned in close, scrutinizing the glowing screen repeatedly, before turning to glare at me. “Who did you cheat off of?”
Zachary immediately showered Barrett with praise before turning a mocking, smirking face toward me.
“Wow, you actually didn’t get caught? Valerie, your cheating methods are absolute genius. You’ve got to teach me your tricks sometime!”
The suffocating emotions I had been suppressing deep in my chest finally erupted. Tears poured from my eyes like a broken dam.
I violently kicked my chair back, screaming at them for the very first time in my life. “I didn’t cheat! I earned every single point with my own hard work!”
Everyone in the room froze, utterly stunned.
I had played the role of the docile, submissive daughter for eighteen years. They had carved my pushover image so deeply into their bones that they genuinely couldn’t comprehend me throwing a fit.
Amidst their shocked stares, I spun around and bolted out the front door.
Right before the door slammed shut, Barrett’s voice echoed out, trying to diffuse the situation for me, “Mr. and Mrs. Vance, you’re completely misjudging Valerie. She worked incredibly hard at school. She earned this score, and we should be celebrating her success.”
