Jessica constantly flaunted her supposed
wealth. “Miller Group just bought a bunch of
land downtown. They’re building luxury
condos.” “This watch? Twenty grand. You’ve
probably never even seen that much money.
Ethan took me to a fancy dinner the other
night. Five hundred bucks.”
I didn’t care. I just hated that she was wasting
my time. Finally, I snapped. “So? Ethan’s been
hanging out with that dancer from class 5. I’d
watch my back if I were you. Guys like him get
bored easily.”
I’d hit a nerve. Ethan hadn’t been to our house
in weeks. My parents were pressuring Jessica
to fix things. She took it out on me, snatching
my book and ripping out the page on proof by contradiction. “Studying! Studying! It’s not
<
going to work! Proof by contradiction is so
simple! Why are you wasting your time on it?!”
That’s right. It was simple. So why hadn’t I tried
it? Maybe I’d overcomplicated things. It clicked.
All the hours I’d spent, all the books I’d read, all
the theories I’d researched… it came together. I
shut my door, grabbed a pen and paper, and
worked through the night, tweaking the proof
I’d attempted before. It finally felt complete. I
checked it three times, sent it to Professor
Chen.
Ten minutes later, his congratulatory call came.
He was ecstatic. “Ashley, write this up as a
formal paper tonight! I’ll sign off on it. We’re
submitting this to the Journal of Symbolic
Logic. Nothing less for a genius like you.”
Twenty days until the SATs.
While waiting for peer review, I threw myself
into SAT prep. The system’s robotic voice
started popping up constantly. “Host, Jessica
requests to trade her beauty for your
intelligence. Do you accept?” No.
The requests came multiple times a day,
increasing in frequency as the test approached.
Every time I refused, I’d hear Jessica pacing frantically next door. “Why isn’t it working?!
Why can’t I get it back?!”
The night before the SATS, Jessica lost it. She
screamed outside my door, accusing me of
stealing her brain, calling me a thief. My
parents, of course, didn’t believe her. They
thought she was cracking under exam pressure.
“It’s okay, honey. You’re pregnant. Just focus
on the baby. The Millers might not acknowledge
you, but they can’t ignore their grandchild.”
“Your sister, that idiot, wants to study math.
Math doesn’t pay the bills. Your high school
math teacher probably makes less than you
spend on a single dinner.” “Relax. You’ll have a
child. That’s more important than any college.
<
11:02
84
Even Harvard grads flip burgers.”
I rolled my eyes. Myopic parents were the
worst. There were Harvard grads running multi-
billion dollar companies.
I thought I’d finally escape this suffocating
family after the SATS. I was wrong. Jessica, in
her madness, dragged me down with her. She
had everything she supposedly wanted –
beauty, wealth, a boyfriend, her parents‘
–
–
adoration but like always, she couldn’t stand
me having something good.
My alarm went off at 8:30. I shot out of bed. A
year of hard work culminating in this one day. I
grabbed my admission ticket and ID, ready to
leave, when I realized my door was locked.
From outside, Jessica’s crazed laughter echoed. “If you let Ashley take that test, I’ll get
rid of this baby! None of you will get a piece of
the Miller fortune!”
11:02
My parents‘ spineless voices followed, “Don’t
worry, sweetie. We won’t let her leave,”
841
I pounded on the door, Jessica’s laughter
intensified. “So eager to study, huh? So
dedicated? I want you to feel what it’s like to have it all ripped away!” “You’ll never be better than me, Ashley. You’ll always be beneath me.”
I called 911. Then I called Professor Chen, He
was sputtering with rage. “Are your parents insane? Do they even know that if your paper is accepted, you’ll be in math history books?! They’re throwing your future away for some petty cash! It’s ridiculous! Disgusting! Tragic!” “Don’t worry! Alex and I are on our way!” He sounded more like a father than my actual dad
ever had.
Alex video–called. His eyes were gentle but firm. “If you miss the test, I’ll retake it with you
next year. My dad has always wanted a
daughter. And you’re amazing at math. He’d be
<
–
A crowd had gathered outside our house –
Professor Chen, a group of college guys, and a
couple of cops. Professor Chen told the cops to break down the door. They hesitated. “Sir, this
is a domestic dispute. We can’t just break
down people’s doors. If this gets out, it’ll be
bad press. We have to try to reason with them.”
It was 8:45. The test started at 9:00. No one
was admitted after 9:15.
Professor Chen gritted his teeth. “Anyone who
helps me break down this door gets an
internship recommendation and a job offer!”
The college guys, all built like tanks, surged
forward. The cops made a half–hearted attempt
to stop them, then landed on the ground as if
they’d been shoved, muttering about “peaceful
solutions” but making no real effort to
intervene. Seeing the cops‘ acquiescence, the
college guys went at the door with renewed
vigor. Just after 9:00, it burst open. My parents
11:02
and Jessica were quickly subdued.
(84)
As I headed out, Mom yelled, “Ashley! If you
walk out that door, don’t ever come back! We’ll
disown you!”
Dad chimed in, “We’ll never pay for your
college. And if anything happens to your
sister’s baby, we’ll haunt you forever!”
