Their Fair Split Never Included Me

Audrey's POV

In our family, fairness was the one rule nobody broke.

My brother Brody and my sister Raegan are twins.

Growing up, if one of them got an extra cookie, the other would tear the whole house apart.

To keep the peace, Mom and Dad split everything down the middle. Half went to Brody, half went to Raegan.

Which meant nothing in this house was ever mine.

I was the third kid. The one my parents never planned on.

Dad had just bought a new six-seater SUV and announced the whole family was going to the beach for the weekend.

I dragged my bag out to the car and found the last two seats already taken by Raegan's boyfriend and Brody's girlfriend.

"One for me, one for Brody. That's fair," Raegan said, raising an eyebrow at me.

It had started to sprinkle. Dad rolled down his window and frowned at me. "Just stay home, okay? We don't need the extra hassle."

I nodded and watched the car turn the corner.

The application for my school's study abroad program had been sitting in my inbox for months.

I'd opened it more times than I could count and closed it every time, because part of me still believed this family might save a spot for me.

This time, standing there in the rain, I hit submit without a second thought.

This family owed me twenty-one years of fairness. I was done waiting.

"@Audrey You're on your own for a couple days. Figured out what you're doing about food?"

I stood in the entryway, soaked to the bone, staring at Mom's text in the family group chat. My throat went tight.

When I scrolled up, the chat was nothing but photos Raegan had just posted.

The coastal highway, palm trees outside the car window, her and her boyfriend throwing peace signs in the back seat.

I wasn't in any of them. I was used to that by now.

But Mom had messaged me directly, and for a second I actually wondered if she was about to send me some money so I could order delivery.

Before I could reply, a second message popped up.

"I'm shutting off your card for now. You're just sitting at home, you won't need it."

"Raegan's and Brody's cards are staying on. They're spending a lot more on the trip. I gave them the same limit so they don't fight over who got more when they get back."

Whatever little bit of warmth I'd felt was gone just like that.

I wanted to ask what I was supposed to eat.

But I'd been asking that my whole life, and no one had ever given me an answer.

In this house, everything was supposed to come in twos. Asking even one more question felt like I was making trouble for everyone.

In the end, all I typed was "ok."

I went through every kitchen cabinet and found half a bag of crackers shoved in the back. They'd gone soft and tasted stale.

I washed a few down with tap water, changed out of my wet clothes, and curled up in the storage room off the garage.

It used to hold the lawn mower and the Christmas decorations. Now it was my bedroom.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been asleep when something heavy and wet hit me in the face.

I jolted awake and yanked it off. It was a beach towel caked with sand and mud.

"Audrey, are you deaf? I've been yelling for you forever."

Raegan stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, her hair still dripping.

"Go clean out the car. The back seat's covered in mud. My seat's disgusting."

The rest of the house was loud.

I could hear Dad cursing about the storm shutting down the highway. They'd had to turn around halfway and drop off the boyfriend and girlfriend before coming home.

I checked my phone. It was one in the morning.

"Can I do it first thing tomorrow? I'm really tired."

"If you don't want to do it, just say so. Don't make excuses." Raegan rolled her eyes. "Getting you to help with anything is always such a production."

Brody squeezed past her and tossed a pair of mud-filled sneakers next to my bed. Dirty water ran down the laces onto my sheets.

"Clean these while you're at it. I need them for practice in the morning."

Mom walked by carrying a bag of wet clothes. When she saw I was still sitting on the bed, she frowned right away.

"We've always been fair with all three of you."

"They've been stuck in the car all day while you got to sleep in at home. Is it really that big a deal to help out? You do everyone's laundry anyway."

I looked at the three annoyed faces in the doorway and almost laughed.

So fairness in this house got to pick and choose.

When it was time to hand things out, it only counted Brody and Raegan.

When there was dirty work to do, suddenly it remembered I existed.

I didn't argue. I pulled on a jacket and went out to the garage.

Sand was packed into every seam of the seats, the floor mats were plastered with mud, and ice water leaking from the cooler had soaked the back seat until it reeked.

I knelt in the back and scrubbed it inch by inch. I went through three buckets of water, then crouched at the sink and scrubbed those sneakers until you could tell what color they used to be.

By the time I straightened up, my knees had gone completely numb, and the sky outside was getting light.

I leaned on the wall the whole way to the kitchen. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold a glass.

Since lunch the day before, I hadn't eaten anything but those few crackers. My stomach hurt from being so empty, and I kept seeing spots.

Then I heard the front door. Dad walked in carrying two pizza boxes.

He froze for a second when he saw me, then nudged the boxes behind his back without thinking.

"Uh, this was the only place still open." He gave an awkward laugh. "Eight slices a box. Four of us, two each, works out perfect. If I count you, it doesn't split even, and they'll start fighting again."

He pulled a little bag out of his pocket and held it out, like he'd finally remembered he should give me something.

"They threw in some peanut butter cookies. The twins don't like them. You can have them."

I took a step back and didn't reach for it.

"Dad, I'm allergic to peanuts."

His hand hung there in midair, like it was the first time he'd ever heard that.

Raegan called for him from the living room. He shoved the cookies back in his pocket and walked right past me without looking back.

I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms.

My chest felt like someone had dropped a soaking wet towel on it, heavy and suffocating, but I was too exhausted to even cry.

I finished my water and dragged myself back to the storage room. All I wanted was to lie down for a little while.

I pushed the door open and stopped dead.

My narrow little cot was buried under the suitcases, coolers, and soggy beach umbrellas they'd brought back from the trip. There wasn't an inch left for me.