Chapter 1 - Where’s My Present?The front door flew open just after four.
Mason came running into the living room first, waving a test paper over his head.
“I got a great score!”
Lila was directly behind him.
“Me too!”
Nine-year-old Lila almost tripped over the edge of the rug because she was looking down at the large red 98 written across the top of her science test.
She had studied every night that week.
At breakfast that morning, she had told her father she thought she might have gotten every question right except one about the phases of the moon.
Now she knew.
Ninety-eight.
Her highest score all semester.
Mason had earned a ninety-six on his math test.
Their mother smiled from the sofa.
Their father stood.
“That’s fantastic.”
Irene, their maternal grandmother, immediately opened her arms toward Mason.
“My brilliant boy!”
Mason grinned.
Lila smiled too.
Then their father reached beneath the coffee table.
“There’s something here for you.”
Mason froze.
“For me?”
A sleek black box appeared.
Lila’s eyes widened.
Mason tore away the ribbon.
Inside sat a brand-new flagship smartphone.
His mouth dropped open.
“No way!”
He lifted it from the box.
“Seriously?”
Their mother laughed.
“You earned it.”
“Thank you!”
Mason hugged both parents.
Irene stood beside him, almost glowing with pride.
“I told them you deserved something special.”
Mason immediately started examining the phone.
The screen.
The cameras.
The case.
Everyone crowded around him.
Lila remained where she was.
Still holding her test.
At first, she smiled.
She really was happy for Mason.
Then thirty seconds passed.
Nobody reached beneath the table again.
No second box appeared.
Her smile weakened.
Maybe hers was hidden.
Maybe they were teasing her.
She looked at her mother.
Then her father.
Neither noticed.
Irene was showing Mason how much clearer his new camera looked.
Lila tightened her fingers around her paper.
Another minute passed.
Finally she asked softly:
“Where’s my present?”
The room changed.
Irene turned.
The warm expression she had worn for Mason disappeared.
“Your present?”
Lila swallowed.
“I got a ninety-eight.”
She held the test slightly higher.
Irene stared at it.
Then at her.
One corner of the older woman’s mouth lifted.
“You’ve been a bad kid.”
Lila’s smile vanished.
Her father glanced toward Irene but said nothing.
Lila looked at her mother.
“What did I do?”
Irene answered before anyone else could.
“You know exactly what you’ve done.”
“I don’t.”
“You don’t deserve a gift.”
Lila stared at her test.
The red ninety-eight suddenly seemed embarrassing.
Like she had misunderstood what good meant.
Irene pointed toward the open kitchen.
“Go wash all those dishes.”
Beside the sink was a large pile from lunch.
Plates.
Glasses.
Bowls.
Pans.
Lila looked at them.
Then at Mason’s phone.
Then at her parents.
She waited for someone to laugh and say Grandma was joking.
Nobody did.
Irene’s face hardened.
“Why are you still standing there?”
Lila flinched.
Irene pointed again.
“GO!”
Lila lowered her head.
She carried her test into the kitchen.
She placed it carefully on the counter where it would not get wet.
Then she dragged a small step stool toward the sink.
Behind her, Mason said:
“Whoa, look at the zoom!”
Their father laughed.
Their mother leaned closer.
Irene said something Lila couldn’t hear.
More laughter followed.
Lila turned on the water.
She washed the first plate.
Then another.
Her eyes burned.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
She wiped it away with her shoulder because her hands were covered in soap.
Behind her, the family kept talking.
Mason had not asked why Lila received nothing.
He was eleven.
He was excited.
Lila did not blame him.
That somehow hurt more.
She looked over her shoulder once.
Mason stood in the middle of the living room.
Mother on one side.
Father on the other.
Irene behind him.
All four looking at the phone.
Nobody looking at Lila.
She turned back.
The next plate slipped slightly in her hands.
She caught it before it fell.
Her test paper remained on the counter.
98.
Lila stared at it.
Then she noticed something underneath it.
A white envelope had been partially hidden beneath a stack of mail.
Her name was printed across the front.
Not her parents’ names.
Not Irene’s.
Hers.
LILA — BENEFICIARY STATEMENT ENCLOSED
Lila dried one hand.
She pulled the envelope free.
Before she could open it, Irene’s voice came from directly behind her.
“Give me that.”
Lila turned.
Irene was no longer smiling.
And for the first time that afternoon, Lila understood something.
May you like
Her grandmother had not called her bad because of the test.
Irene was afraid of what Lila had found.
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