Chapter 1

I was always the dumb child in the family.

My sister, Chloe, was the smart one.

Every time Chloe got a perfect score, she was allowed to take one of my belongings.

The first time, she took my backpack.

The second time, she took the necklace Aunt Valerie gave me.

The third time, she took my bedroom.

I cried and went to Mom to argue, but she only said, "When you get a perfect score, you'll get all of it back."

From then on, I stayed up studying late into the night every single day after school.

Finally, on my twelfth birthday, I got my very first 100%.

Excitedly, I ran to show Mom my test paper.

But to my horror, she snatched it and tore it to pieces.

"You barely got a 60 last time. How could you suddenly get a 100%?"

"I thought you were just slow, but I didn't think you'd actually cheat!"

Without another word, Mom locked me out in the freezing sunroom and took Chloe out to celebrate.

I pressed my face against the glass, screaming her name, but she never looked back.

By the time I fell from the sunroom window, she was already long gone.

When I woke up, I found myself standing right next to them.

Only, they couldn't see me anymore.

I watched my parents and Chloe sitting in a beautiful French restaurant.

There was a cake on the table, Chloe's favorite flavor.

I hid in the corner, listening to my parents sing the birthday song.

And together with Chloe, I made a silent wish.

They didn't notice me this time. Usually, if they saw me, Mom would pinch my ear and drag me away.

I folded my hands.

I wish... I could hold Mom's hand just once.

Watching the movement of Chloe's lips, I blew out the candles with her.

I followed them to the mall. Mom bought a pricey, gorgeous collector's doll.

Chloe held it tightly, looking like she had just remembered something.

"Today is Nova's birthday too. Aren't we going to buy her something?"

Mom quickly swiped her card to pay and pulled Chloe to the side.

"Don't say anything to Nova, or she'll throw a tantrum again."

"Besides, Valerie will buy her something anyway."

But Aunt Valerie had already moved to Europe after a huge screaming match with Mom.

Valerie had called Mom crazy for making me sleep in the unheated sunroom during the winter.

"You can't treat the kids differently just because of their grades, Eleanor! It's not fair to Nova."

"If you don't want her, let me adopt her! I don't care if she gets straight A's. At least she will have a warm place to sleep in the winter."

Mom had shoved her out the door. "Mind your own business. Nova hasn't complained, so why are you acting so dramatic?"

"Your own daughter died, so now you're eyeing mine? Are you jealous because Chloe is talented, and now you want to tear my family apart?"

Valerie's face turned white with rage. She packed her bags and left the country.

Before she left, she slipped me a debit card and told me to buy myself some decent food.

But Mom confiscated it the very next day to buy Chloe a new designer coat.

I didn't feel much.

It didn't matter. Whatever Valerie bought me always ended up in Chloe's hands anyway.

But Mom was always bitter about it.

Whenever Valerie tried to be nice to me, Mom would make passive-aggressive comments.

One evening, Dad cooked a plate of garlic butter shrimp that Chloe loved. I reached out to try one, but Mom snatched the plate away.

"You didn't get a perfect score, so you don't get to eat this. If you want it so badly, ask your precious Aunt Valerie to buy it for you."

She shoved a plate of plain, cold boiled greens in front of me.

I quietly ate the greens with my plain oatmeal.

Chloe, on the other hand, was sipping creamy lobster bisque, surrounded by all her favorite dishes.

Because of this, I was much shorter than Chloe.

I was as thin as a twig, my face pale and sickly.

Yet Mom would sneer, "Your grades are trash, but your face looks even worse than Chloe's. Anyone looking at you would think you actually study hard."

So, when I finally got my first perfect score.

Mom tore the paper on the spot and demanded to call my teacher to investigate.

The phone rang for a long time. Losing her patience, she hung up and poked my forehead hard with her finger.

"You? A 100%?"

"Your math scores are usually in the 60s. Just to make a birthday wish, you've learned how to cheat!"

Chloe laughed at me. "Nova, even if you wanted to celebrate your birthday, you shouldn't lie. After all, I only got all this because I actually earned my perfect scores."

No matter how I begged and explained, they wouldn't believe me. They just found me annoying and loud.

They locked me in the sunroom and drove off to celebrate Chloe's birthday.

Recalling the moment the world flipped upside down, I suddenly understood.

When they finished dinner and drove back, Mom was sitting in the back seat.

Chloe rested her head on Mom's shoulder, and Mom held her hand tightly.

I hesitantly reached out and took Mom's other hand.

She didn't shake me off, nor did she yell at me.

Even though I still didn't get my own birthday party, for the first time, my birthday wish had come true.

Maybe being dead wasn't so bad after all.