The Fake Sister’s Lies Couldn’t Silence Me Chapter 10
Six months later, I started a club at my new school.
The name was simple.
No One Left Behind.
Every trip, we counted heads getting on the bus and counted again getting off.
Everyone checked their own trail tag. No exceptions.
If someone went quiet for more than a few hours, one of us would go find them.
The principal didn’t quite know what to make of it.
“Tessa, is this a club or a search-and-rescue team?”
I didn’t blink.
“Both.”
“We make friends on regular days and find people when it matters.”
The principal laughed.
“Fine.”
“Approved.”
The socializing thing didn’t go away completely.
I still loved talking to people.
Five minutes in the cafeteria line and I’d know the girl in front of me just went through a breakup.
One bus ride and I’d have the driver’s life story figured out, including his son’s college list.
But when someone didn’t text back right away, I didn’t flood them with messages anymore.
I waited.
And I reminded myself.
If someone didn’t reply, maybe they were just busy.
Not every silence meant goodbye.
The Calders showed up from time to time.
Mr. Calder donated a safety system to the old school. He didn’t put my name on it.
Brennan quit the student council and joined a local search-and-rescue team. Mr. Harlan started a
community safety watch.
Mom became a volunteer at the group home.
None of them used it as a way to ask for my forgiveness.
That was a start.
On graduation day, Mom stood at the edge of the crowd. She asked to take a photo with me.
I said yes.
Afterward, she hesitated, then asked.
“Tessa, what are we now?”
I thought about it.
“Acquaintances.”
Her eyes glistened.
But she nodded.
“Okay.”
“Being acquaintances is fine.”
Brennan handed me a new page for my binder.
He’d written something under his own name.
[Brennan. Talks too much trash. Thinks he’s always right. Working on it.]
I laughed.
“At least you’re self-aware.”
“So, can I get a follow back?”
“Depends on your behavior.”
“Got it.”
He didn’t ask again.
Sloane wrote me a letter.
She said she’d always believed love was something finite. That if I got more, she’d get less.
That’s why she was scared of me making friends, scared of people liking me. Most of all, scared I’d
steal Mom away.
I didn’t write back.
I understood her. That didn’t mean I forgave her.
She needed to live with what she did.
And I didn’t owe anyone forgiveness just to prove I was a good person.
My first day of college, I stood outside my dorm room and couldn’t make myself go in.
Inside my new suite, three girls were unpacking, heads down, not talking.
The room was quiet.
Old me would’ve walked in and told all three of them my life story before they finished unpacking.
This time, I held back.
I’d barely set my bags down when the girl on the top bunk leaned over.
“You’re Tessa, right?”
“Want to grab food?”
Another girl’s head popped out of the closet.
“I’m down.”
“I can be a little socially awkward, so I’ll just listen.”
The third girl walked over with a bag of chips.
“Cool, I’ll handle the eating.”
I stood in the doorway. For a second, I couldn’t speak.
The girl on the top bunk waved.
“Tessa?”
“Why are you ignoring us?”
I smiled and walked in.
“I’m coming.”
“Fair warning, I talk a lot.”
All three of them waved it off.
“That’s fine.”
“We can handle it.”
This time, I didn’t have to chase anyone.
They came to me first.
