**Graduation Day Disappointment**
On her graduation day, Julia scanned the crowd for her parents, only to find them missing. After the ceremony, she called her mom, who simply said, “Sorry we didn’t come. You gotta forgive us. Hurry home.” Anxiety gripped her as she drove home, haunted by memories of always being overshadowed by her younger brother, Miles.
Upon arrival, Julia found a note: “Julia, we had to rush to the hospital. Miles had a seizure. I’m so sorry.” Panic surged; her brother had been in rehab, and now he was in crisis. At the hospital, she confronted her parents, who had prioritized Miles yet again. “You missed my graduation,” Julia said, her voice laced with sarcasm. Miles eventually confessed, “I just… I couldn’t stand the thought of you all being there for her and not me,” admitting he had faked the seizure.
Julia realized she could no longer live in Miles’s shadow. After staying with her friend Natalie for two months, she decided to leave for college. “I need to prioritize my own happiness now,” she told her parents. Walking away felt like a betrayal, but for the first time, her future was hers to shape.
