Chapter 4

"Who are you looking for?"

Mom and Dad exchanged confused looks.

Even if Maya had performed better than expected, there was no way she'd ranked first in the state. Certainly not well enough for a news crew to show up at our home.

The reporter smiled.

"You haven't checked the results yet?

"Your family has the highest-scoring student in the entire state!"

Maya rushed over so fast she nearly tripped.

Her lips trembled with excitement.

"No way. Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

Then her eyes lit up.

"Oh! I know. You must be here for Noah, right?"

She ran across the hall and pounded on his door.

"Noah! There's a news crew here to interview you!"

Her shouting brought Noah out - and half the floor with him.

Within minutes, word had spread through the whole building that someone in 4B had come out on top of the state.

Noah opened the door, clearly startled.

"Interview me?

"That can't be right. The scores came out this morning. I did okay, but not that well."

He looked at Maya.

"What did you get?"

She scratched her head. "I haven't checked yet. I was going to do it after breakfast..."

Then she turned back to the reporter.

"Are you absolutely sure it's me?"

The reporter pulled up the photo the state had released with the record.

"Take a look. Isn't this you?"

Maya stared at the picture.

Something flickered in her expression, but it never occurred to her that they might be looking for me.

Mom hurried over, already beaming.

"This girl only told us she did pretty well. I can't believe she kept something this big from us. If you scored that high, why wouldn't you tell your parents?"

Dad burst out laughing and clapped Maya on the shoulder.

"That's my girl! What an honor for this family. Come on, everyone, please come inside!"

Maya hurried to the computer and opened the results portal.

So many students were checking scores that the page loaded painfully slowly.

Dad deliberately left the front door open for the crew and the neighbors.

Praise poured in from the hallway.

"Why even bother checking? The news is already here. She's obviously number one."

"Wait, don't the Bennetts have another daughter? I wonder how she did."

"Their other girl was sickly when she was little. I heard she started school late."

Maya's hand paused on the mouse.

"Mom, should we call Lena out so we can check together?"

Mom nodded and walked to the storage-room door.

She knocked.

"Your sister ranked first in the state. Get dressed and come out."

When there was no answer, Caleb said, "Mom, Lena's probably at work."

"That girl..."

Mom sighed. When she noticed the camera turning toward her, she explained, "We have two daughters."

"The other one took money from her sister. We scolded her, and she got angry and said she'd find a job to pay it back."

Maya immediately put on a worried expression.

"Mom, call her and ask her to come home. She really only had to tell me before taking the money. I wouldn't have minded."

Caleb frowned at her.

"You're too nice. Have you forgotten that because of Lena, you nearly got kidnapped and never made it home?"

The reporter leaned forward.

"Kidnapped? Would you mind telling us what happened?"

So, with the camera rolling and a livestream audience watching, my family told the story.

Only their version grew more dramatic with every sentence.

By the end of it, I had deliberately faked a collapse so I could steal Mom's attention, causing Maya to wander off and be taken.

The neighbors murmured among themselves.

"Sounds like the other daughter has some serious problems."

Mom wiped at her eyes.

"Really, we were at fault too.

"Parents should treat both children equally."

Maya squeezed her hand and said sweetly, "Mom, I never blamed either of you."

Then someone shouted from the computer.

"The results are up!"