Skipped Thanksgiving Because of My Family's Favoritism novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: The Dare
Elliot signs a college form on a dare and gets a girlfriend out of it. Two days later he sees the group chat that shows it was a trick, walks out in front of all five, and confirms the professor's early admission to West.
On the last night of exams, my four best friends and I played truth or dare on a living room floor.
Felix had joined our circle that spring, after his rich family took him back.
When the bottle stopped on me, he said he had one dare for everybody.
"Say your first-choice college out loud," Felix said. "No lying."
"West," Daphne said.
The other three said it right after her.
I had applied to North, and I had planned to go there with all of them.
Daphne slid a college form across the carpet and tapped my report card of straight A's.
"My dare is for you, Elliot," she said. "Switch your first choice from North to West. Come with us. No backing out."
Four faces watched me.
West had a storm-forecasting program I'd wanted since I was nine.
Its professor had written to me twice, and twice I had said no, because I couldn't picture leaving them.
I signed the form.
They cheered.
Then I told Daphne I'd liked her since we were ten, and she said yes, and they cheered louder.
Two days later my North offer came in the mail.
I carried it to Daphne's house, and nobody answered, so I used the key under the flowerpot like always.
The projector in the living room was still on.
It showed a group chat called North University Group, and I was not in it.
[Did he sign it?]
[He did. Four fake forms and one game of truth or dare, and he's off to West.]
[Felix, you're a genius.]
[Daphne gave up the most. She has to play his girlfriend until August.]
The front door opened behind me.
Daphne, Felix, Maxine, Ingrid and Bridget came in laughing, with champagne bottles in their hands.
They had real North offers, and they were celebrating them.
They saw me, and they stopped.
Daphne spoke first.
"Okay. You saw it. I'll just say it."
She put her bottle down on the shelf.
"Felix's family took him back, but they're always in Europe. He has nobody in North City but us. You're tough, Elliot. You'll be fine on your own."
Felix took hold of her sleeve, and his eyes filled.
"Who made the fake forms?" I asked.
"I did," Daphne said.
"Whose idea was the game?"
Felix's eyes slid off me.
"Ours, together," Maxine said, and stepped in front of him. "Don't you dare go after Felix."
I nodded, and I looked at Daphne again.
"Was last night part of the plan? You saying yes?"
"If I'd said no, you wouldn't have signed."
She said it flat, with no sign of guilt.
Ingrid reached for her phone to delete the chat, and Felix crossed the room in two quick strides and took it out of her hand before she could lock it.
"This is my fault," he said. "I'll switch my form right now and go to West with Elliot. You can all stay."
All four of them swarmed him.
Bridget pulled the phone away.
"You already have your North offer. Don't be stupid."
"But Elliot will be all alone out there," Felix said, sobbing.
Daphne wiped his cheeks with a tissue.
"Your heart isn't strong, and you've never lived outside North City. Don't wreck your life over this."
I stood a few steps back and watched.
So that was the real reason.
They weren't afraid Felix couldn't manage in the West.
They were afraid he'd be unhappy, so they'd decided it should be me.
Ingrid pushed her glasses up her nose.
"Elliot, this isn't how I'd have done it. But it's the best outcome for everyone. You get the program you want, and we stay with Felix. Nobody's future is ruined."
I laughed.
"Should I thank you?"
Maxine's face tightened.
"You wanted West. Why else didn't you tell that professor no for good? We only helped you decide."
She was right that I'd wanted it.
I had wanted it for nine years.
I had only said no because of them.
I picked my offer letter up off the table.
"Where are you going?" Daphne said, and caught my wrist.
"Home."
"What about us?"
"Is there an us?"
Her hand loosened.
"Don't say things you don't mean," she said. "I'll stay with you until college starts, and I'll visit you. Isn't that more than you asked for?"
Two months of being my girlfriend, and she thought she had been generous.
"Keep it," I said. "I hope you and Felix are happy."
Felix looked down at the carpet.
"Elliot," Daphne said, "we've been friends for eighteen years."
"That was before."
I walked out.
My phone buzzed on the porch steps.
It was a text from the professor.
[A car will collect you from North City in two days. Please confirm your early admission.]
My signature on their form had gone nowhere.
The professor's offer was real, and it was still open.
I pressed confirm.
So I stepped out.
I muted the group chat that had been mine for eighteen years, and I turned off my phone.
They were sure I'd come back once I'd cooled off, the way I always had.
I wasn't going to.
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