Chapter 1 - The Empty Chair
“YOU MISSED MY GRADUATION FOR THIS?”
I threw open the front door so hard it struck the wall.
My father stood in the living room wearing a basketball jersey, laughing as he lifted my ten-year-old stepbrother over his head.
A championship banner stretched across the fireplace.
There were balloons.
Pizza boxes.
A cake shaped like a basketball.
Owen’s trophy sat on the coffee table.
My diploma was still in my hand.
Dad lowered him slowly.
“Emma—”
“You promised.”
Behind him, my stepmother, Dana, stopped gathering paper plates.
Two neighbors stood beside the couch.
Someone turned off the music.
Dad glanced at them before looking at me.
That hurt almost as much as the empty chair had.
“His championship was important.”
I stared at him.
“And my graduation wasn’t?”
“Keep your voice down.”
I laughed once.
It sounded ugly, even to me.
I had spent the whole ceremony watching the gym doors.
When they called my name, I looked one last time.
Afterward, a teacher offered to take my picture because everyone else had families holding flowers and phones.
I told her my dad was parking.
Then I waited outside for forty-three minutes.
Now there was frosting on his thumb.
“You said you would be there.”
“I tried to work it out.”
“You didn’t even call.”
“The game ran late.”
My eyes moved to the cake.
Apparently, the party hadn’t.
Dana stepped toward me.
“Let’s not ruin Owen’s day.”
There it was.
His day.
Mine could be missed.
Mine could be explained away.
Mine could apparently end on the front porch while everyone worried about the child holding a trophy.
Owen stared at me, his smile gone.
I wasn’t angry with him.
That almost made it worse.
Dad reached for my arm.
“We’ll take you out tomorrow.”
I stepped back.
“You don’t get to reschedule caring about me.”
His face tightened.
“Watch how you talk to me.
I’m still your father.”
I looked straight at him.
“Then this is the last time you get to call me your daughter.”
The room went silent.
I turned before he could see my face collapse.
Outside, I made it to the sidewalk before my phone started ringing.
Dad.
I declined the call.
Then a message appeared from Owen.
I’m sorry. I thought you didn’t want us there.
I stopped walking.
May you like
Under that message came another.
That’s what Mom told me.
