They Left Me Out Of The Picture So I Created My Own Chapter 14
The screen had barely gone dark before it lit up again.
It was Sadie.
“Congratulations, Avery.” She wasn’t on speakerphone this time. Her voice was quiet. “I’m really, really happy for you. Your photographs are incredible.”
She sounded sincere.
All I felt was a deep, bone-weary exhaustion. Sadie had always stood on the side of the favored, saying the most graceful and innocent things.
“Dad just dragged out all the old family albums,” she said, her voice attempting a lighter tone. “He said he wants to find childhood pictures of you winning awards so he can post them on Facebook.”
“Did he find any?”
“He’s still looking.”
A short, dry laugh escaped me.
“Or did he just find a lot of pictures of himself taking photos of me?”
There was a heavy silence on the other end.
A moment later, she asked carefully, “Are you still angry? I mean… angry at me?”
“Why would I be?”
“The 529 account.”
I glanced at the camera on my desk.
“My father transferred that account to you.”
“I didn’t know,” she said quickly. “I swear, I thought it was separate money they’d set aside for me. I just thought…”
Her voice trailed off.
“It wasn’t your fault, Sadie,” I said. “You just accepted it.”
Her breath caught.
“Are you angry at us, then?”
“No.” I leaned back in my chair. “I’m not angry. I just don’t care anymore.”
When I hung up, the exhaustion washed over me like a tide.
Outside my window, the lights of Providence shimmered across the river. I thought of that dim bedroom in Naperville, of the girl I used to be, waiting for a door to open.
Now I knew for certain—
I wasn’t there anymore.