Sometimes, I honestly felt like I was forgotten in my family, even though I was the oldest. I mean, wasn't the middle child usually forgotten?
Well, I guess not, since my boyfriend --ex-boyfriend noticed my younger sister more than me.
I just had my graduation ceremony at the university. I was officially able to apply for jobs as a teacher, but nobody I cared about showed up. My youngest sister, Matilda, still had school and my parents had to work. My other sister, Lydia, apparently had some errands to run and my boyfriend, Ian, had to work.
Two of them were lying.
I walked home after the ceremony, seeing both a very familiar jacket hanging on the coat rack. I thought he just forgot his jacket here from the last time he was over. Apparently not.
I walked up the stairs, wanting to rest in my room when I heard voices coming from Lydia's bedroom. The door was opened a crack, and I couldn't help but listen in.
"I'm serious," Lydia said. "Shut up and let me watch the movie."
"But the movie is boring," I heard Ian whine. What were they doing watching a movie together? They hated each other.
"Yeah, and I watch boring movies that you pick, so shut up," Lydia said.
"Can't we do something else?" Ian asked. "Like, I don't know, something that doesn't involve any clothing?" Hearing him say that, hearing my boyfriend say that to my sister, made my heart feel like it stopped. He was joking, right?
"Yeah, right," Lydia said sarcastically. "Charlie will be home soon."
"Five minutes, tops," Ian said.
"No," Lydia said. "Maybe next time." Next time?
Ian huffed. "Fine. But the sex better be good, then. Like always."
I couldn't take it anymore. I heard enough. I heard more than I ever wanted to hear. I went back to my bedroom, trying not to make any noise as everything dawned on to me. It all made sense. Ian and Lydia never being able to go to anything that was important to me. Ian always saying he was busy when I asked if he wanted to go out somewhere. The secret text messages he kept hiding from me.
How could I have not seen it sooner? How could they do this to me?
I was planning on moving out anyway after I get a job, but I guess it would come sooner than I thought. So I began packing up my bedroom quietly. I was going to have to stay at a hotel until I found an apartment, but I did not want to be anyway near my sister.
After everything was packed into two suitcases and a duffel bag -I didn't have much clothes- I pulled out my cell phone and looked for a school that was looking for teachers. After finding one, I saved the address on my phone.
I grabbed the two suitcases and the duffel bag and quietly made my way down the stairs. I placed them in my car before taking off. I was tired of being forgotten by my family. I was tired of not being their concern. I needed a new start, so I drove to the school that was looking for teachers.
I didn't pull into the parking lot. Instead, I found a hotel nearby and paid for a room in there instead. I brought my stuff up with me. When I got into the hotel room, I sat on my bed, trying to take everything in. Why wasn't I crying over this?
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Maybe I didn't even love Ian like I thought I did. We've been together for two years, and I thought I loved him, so why wasn't I crying like anyone else would do if they found out their boyfriend was cheating on them?
I pulled my laptop out of one of the suitcases and began looking for apartments nearby. I couldn't get one too expensive because I was still in the middle of paying off my student loan.
I found a few and contacted each person just in case I didn't get the one I wanted.
After calling the last one, I laid down on the bed. Everything was moving so fast but at the same time, this felt... real. Like it was supposed to happen.
Lydia could have Ian for all I cared. If they had so little respect for me to hook up behind my back, then they were perfect for each other.
That was when the tears started forming. Thinking that my sister, who I trusted a whole lot, would do this to me. I couldn't believe she would actually do it. We've been with each other through thick and thin and even though she started avoiding going to things that were important to me, I still trusted her.
Well, I did. I didn't anymore.
It was around eight o'clock at night that my mom contacted me. "Charlie, when are you coming home?" she asked when I answered.
"I'm not," I said.
"Come again?"
I sighed. "I moved out. I needed a fresh start."
"Charlie, you can't just move out without telling me," she said.
"Uh, yes, I can," I said. "I'm twenty-three. I don't have to stay there forever."
"You couldn't have talked to us about it first?" she asked.
"No," I said. "It was a spur of the moment sort of deal. I'm not coming back and tell Lydia she can screw herself."
"Charlie!" Mom gasped. "What has gotten into you?!"
"Oh, sorry, that was rude of me," I said. "Tell Lydia she can continue screwing Ian. That's not rude, right?"
"Wait, I'm sorry," Mom said. "Is that why you moved out? Because you found out Lydia and Ian were hooking up?"
"You knew?" I asked. "You knew and you didn't tell me?!"
"Well, I'm sorry, but Lydia loves him," Mom said.
"What... Are you kidding me?!" I asked. "I loved him too, Mum! He was my boyfriend and you didn't tell me that he was hooking up with Lydia?!"
"You're overreacting, Charlie," Mom said. "It's not that big of a deal."
"They lost my trust," I said. "You lost my trust. Let me guess, Dad and Matilda knew too."
I was joking about that, but it was true. "We all knew and thought you would get over it eventually."
"I don't believe this," I said. "I am definitely not coming home at all. Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays. I am not returning."
"Charlie, you can't skip holidays," Mom said. "Stop being such a diva."
I couldn't listen to her anymore. I hung up and blocked her number. My mom knew. She knew about Lydia and Ian. They all knew and nobody told me. I felt like such a fool. I guess my family didn't care about me at all.
I was done with relationships. All kinds. Family relationships, friends, romance. All of it, done. Every single person lost my trust.
There was no way I would trust someone ever again.