couldn’t stop my hands from trembling. The fabric felt impossibly small compared to the secret I had hidden beneath heavy clothes for more than a decade. Gathering my courage, I quietly replied, “Chloe, you know I don’t swim. I’ll just wear a sundress. I’ll stay out of the way, I promise—”
She cut me off before I could finish.
“No!”
Stepping closer, she pointed directly at me with open frustration. “You always do this! You always act like some fragile, broken little bird so Mom and Dad will coddle you and ignore me! You’ve weaponized this ‘mystery illness’ of yours for our entire lives.”
The scent of her perfume filled the room as she leaned even closer, her voice dropping into an angry whisper. “I know what you’re doing. You just want everyone to ask, ‘Oh, what’s wrong with Maya? Why is poor Maya wearing a sweater?’ You’re going to put this bikini on, and you’re going to show everyone that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You’re going to prove that you’re just a freak who wants attention. If you don’t wear it… you’re dead to me.”
