Chapter 4

Rick looked from Karen' s distressed face to mine.

"Sarah, what did you say to your mother?" he asked, a worried frown on his face.

"I just said Brittany is smart enough to ace the SATs on her own," I replied calmly.

Karen was frantically miming, trying to tell Rick I was being uncooperative.

"Well, you know your mother worries about Brittany," Rick said, trying to mediate. "Maybe just reassure her."

He picked up an apple from the counter and offered it to me. "Here, have some breakfast."

I looked at the red apple. "I don't like red apples, Dad. I prefer green ones. You know that, right?"

He hesitated. "Oh. Right. Green ones." He'd forgotten. Or never knew.

Karen, still mute, huffed and walked over to the fridge, pulling out a carton of milk and pouring a glass for Brittany.

"Thanks, Mom," Brittany said, not looking up from her phone.

"I'm heading to the library early today," I announced. "Big study session planned."

"The library on a Saturday?" Rick asked, surprised. "Since when do you do that?"

"I've been doing it for the past year, Dad," I said. "Every Saturday and Sunday. To prepare for the PSATs, and now the SATs."

He looked a bit ashamed. "Oh. I... I didn't realize."

Karen, hearing this, looked even more frustrated. She clearly hadn't known either. Her plan relied on me studying hard, but she never acknowledged the effort, only the results she planned to steal.

"And Dad," I continued, my voice cool, "when you drop Brittany off at her 'study group' later, make sure you get the right building. She told you it's the West Hall, but her actual classes are in the East Annex. Just so you don't look lost again."

Rick' s face flushed. He' d clearly made that mistake before.

Karen shot me a venomous look. She understood I was systematically exposing their ignorance of my actual life.

Later that day, Rick approached me. Karen was still unable to speak, which seemed to be driving her mad.

"Sarah," Rick began, his voice low, "your mother is very upset. Can't you just... tell her you'll think about her request? For peace in the family?"

"What request, Dad?" I asked, playing dumb. "The one where I hypothetically agree to something vague so Brittany can take credit for my SAT score? Is that the one?"

Rick winced. "It's not like that, Sarah. Your mother just wants what's best for Brittany."

"And what's best for me?"

He looked away. "We provide for you, Sarah. You have a good life."

"Do I?" I asked. "Or am I just a resource? You know, I've been wondering about this Exchange System Mom mentioned. Is it real? Can you really just swap things between people?"

Rick went pale. "What? What are you talking about? Exchange System? Sarah, you must have misunderstood your mother. She's just stressed."

He was a terrible liar.

"Right," I said, a small, cold smile on my lips. "Stressed. I'm going to my room to study."

He didn't try to stop me. The fear in his eyes was satisfying.