Page 92 of Shine Bright

In this life, however, the pressure inside me grows stronger by the minute because no one notices that I’m not saying a word. Except for Zoe, who keeps glancing at me as if she senses what’s going on inside me. Apparently, she’s the only one, because no one asks me how I’m doing. No one asks me how my damn senior year is going.

It would make absolutely no difference if I had stayed in the dorm tonight. At home.

Until Mom finally turns her attention to me. We’re already on dessert, and I feel so sick with anger that I can hardly eat a thing.

“We went to Nolan and Cassandra’s party last weekend,” she says. The mention of Archie’s parents makes my stomach cramp.

No, no, no. Not this too.

“Oh, really?” I croak, clearing my throat, but it doesn’t help. It still feels like it’s got barbed wire wrapped around it.

“Yes. We were quite surprised not to see you there, and to learn that Archie apparently has a new girlfriend.” The reproachful undertone in her voice is unmistakable.

My fingers tighten around the cutlery. I don’t know what to say.

“You didn’t tell us you broke up.” There’s even more reproach in her eyes, but not because I kept the breakup a secret from her. No, she’s not hurt; she’s just disappointed that there was a breakup in the first place. Archie’s wealthy family was obviously more important to her than I am.

Pull yourself together.

Pull yourself . . .

I can’t anymore. Enough is enough.

“I tried, Mom.” The small dessert spoon slips from my fingers and clatters onto the delicate plate. “I tried to tell you, but you were too busy. You’re always too busy. You always have something better to do, and when you don’t, you just forget about me.” My voice breaks, and I can feel my heartbeat in every cell of my body.

Confusion flits across Mom’s features, which are so similar to mine. “That’s not—”

“Yes, it’s true. You forget me every damn time. You forget to pick me up at the airport. You forget to call me back, even when you promise you will. You make promises and don’t keep a single one. You forget to invite me to your birthday because I’m always the one who invites myself and takes care of everything. You forget that I even exist, Mom,” I blurt out.

And there it is. The moment my wall shatters like glass.

Chapter 45

Ophelia

Silence.

For a moment, there’s deafening silence. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zoe and Jase exchange stunned looks, but I am completely focused on Mom, who’s staring at me as if she has never seen me before. As if she doesn’t know me.

And maybe at that moment, we both realize that she doesn’t. Not at all.

“Don’t talk to your mother like that. Not in my house, Ophelia,” Dad’s voice cuts through the silence, controlled but with unmistakable anger.

“Don’t call me that,” I hiss. He may have given me the name, but he’s not allowed to call me that. Only one man can do that, and it isn’t my father. He only sees Lia, never Ophelia.

“Lia . . .” Mom reaches out a hand toward me, but I recoil. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What—” I let out an incredulous laugh. “What’s wrong with me? Haven’t you been listening to me? No, wait, of course you haven’t.” My heart is beating so fast that I feel dizzy.

I have to stop, or I’ll ruin everything. But isn’t everything already ruined? Aren’t we already all broken in one way or another? Our family certainly is.

“You never listen to me, Mom. Nobody listens to me!”

“Now you’re really exaggerating,” says Dad, and if the camel hadn’t already fallen over dead, that would be the final straw.

“I’m exaggerating?” I jump up, the chair wobbling dangerously but not tipping over. I almost wish it would: a little noise to match the chaos inside me. “You haven’t talked to me in months, Dad! Months! We haven’t spoken a word to each other since . . . Can you even remember when?”

He remains silent, his gaze hard, and that’s answer enough. He has no idea.