Their Obedient Youngest Daughter Stopped Coming Home Chapter 03
“Ellis, you’re not coming home for break?”
Mom’s tone wasn’t concern—it was more like she was confirming a schedule.
“No. I’ve got stuff going on at school.”
“Like what?”
“Club activities.”
She didn’t ask another question.
I heard paper rustling on her end.
Probably one of Blythe’s delivery receipts.
“All right. Stay safe.”
“You’ve still got your house key, right? Next time you’re home, fix the lock on your bedroom window. It never shuts right.”
She was always assigning tasks. Always giving instructions.
The only conversations we ever had that were about me always ended with her telling me to do something.
I spent most of the break in the library.
On the last day, I went to Lake Paxton by myself.
It was so packed you could barely move. Like the subway at rush hour.
I took a picture on the bridge overlooking the lake and posted it.
The first like came from Romy.
The second was from a friend from high school.
No one in my family reacted.
Maybe they never saw it. Or maybe they did, and just didn’t think it was worth a like.
One day, the family group chat exploded.
Mom shared a link announcing the winners of a student innovation competition at Linden University.
Blythe had won third place.
She was only two months into freshman year. It was impressive.
Mom flooded the chat with messages, even more ecstatic than the day Blythe’s admission results came out.
[Blythe, you’re amazing! I knew you’d stand out wherever you went.]
[Glenn, did you see this? Go on, tell Blythe how proud you are!]
Dad responded with a paragraph that read like an employee performance review.
[You’ve always been disciplined and hardworking. Everything you’ve achieved is well deserved. I’m proud of you.]
Blythe replied with a shy emoji.
I left the group chat without saying a word.
It wasn’t jealousy.
I was just tired.
Every time that chat came alive, it was because of Blythe.
She won another award. She made the news. A professor praised her in class.
The notification badge had never lit up for me.
But that night, something unexpected happened.
A little after ten, Blythe sent me a private message.
[Ellis, what are you doing?]
[Writing a paper.]
[Oh.]
A few minutes passed before her next message came in.
[I won today. Mom and Dad kept praising me in the group chat. You didn’t say anything… Are you upset?]
I stared at the screen.
Upset? It was a strange question. As if not being upset was supposed to be my default state.
[No. Congrats.]
[Really?]
[Really.]
She sent a relieved emoji.
[That’s good. I thought you were mad at me.]
If being angry could fix anything, I would’ve torn this family apart a long time ago.
[Get some rest. Good night.]
I closed the chat.
Another message came in.
[Ellis, are you coming home for next break? There’s something I want to talk to you about.]
[We’ll see.]
[Okay.]
I didn’t ask what it was.
Whatever she wanted to say wouldn’t change anything.
One weekend, something happened.
I was eating lunch in the cafeteria when my phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number.
The caller introduced herself as Blythe’s roommate.
“Hi. Are you Blythe Voss’s sister?”
“Yes.”
“Blythe came down with a fever last night. It was over a hundred and two.”
“We took her to the Student Health Center, and she’s still getting IV fluids today.”
“She didn’t want your parents to worry, so she asked me to let you know.”
I went still. “How is she now?”
“Much better. She’s still running a slight fever. She keeps saying she’s fine, you know how stubborn she is, but we didn’t want to take any chances.”
“Thanks for telling me.”
After I hung up, I sat there staring at my lunch.
Blythe got sick. And she had her roommate call me. Not Mom. Not Dad.
Why? Because she didn’t want them to worry?
Or because, without even thinking, I was the easiest person to ask?
I’d always been the convenient choice.
Need someone to run an errand? Ask Ellis.
Need a backup plan? Ask Ellis.
Need someone to clean up the mess? Ask Ellis.
I called Blythe.
“Ellis?” Her voice was raspy. She sounded stuffed up.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. Just a cold.”
“Why’d you have your roommate call me? Call Mom.”
Silence. Then she spoke quietly, “Mom’s been busy lately. Dad’s traveling for work. I didn’t want to bother them.”
“So you bothered me instead?”
The words slipped out before I could stop them. Even I was caught off guard.
Blythe went quiet too.
“I… that’s not what I meant. I just wanted you to know, in case something…”
“In case what? You just said it was a cold.”
“Ellis, what’s wrong?”
What was wrong? I wasn’t sure.
Maybe everything I’d been bottling up for the past six months had finally found a crack to break through.
“Nothing. Get some rest. Drink plenty of water.”
“Thank you.”
After we hung up, I forced down the rest of my lunch.
I couldn’t taste any of it.
When I got back to the dorm that night, Romy took one look at me.
“What’s wrong?”
“My sister’s sick.”
“Is it serious?”
“No.”
“Then why do you look like that?”
I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at my hands.
“When she got sick, the first person she thought of wasn’t our parents.”
“It was me. Because asking me is the easiest thing to do.”
Romy didn’t answer.
A moment later, she walked over and placed an orange in my hand.
“You want this?”
“Yeah.”
It stung my eyes. I didn’t cry.
But I became sure of one thing.
I wasn’t going home for next break.