The Twin Missing From the Family Photo novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: 380 Photos
At graduation Carrie's family takes 380 photos and deletes the one she is in. She tells them about the Portland job and walks out of dinner. Mom texts that she should not bother coming back.
My family took 380 photos on graduation day, and my twin sister was in every one.
I know because I went through them that night, sitting on the lid of a toilet in the restaurant bathroom.
We had walked the stage an hour apart, Ivy and me, in the same blue gowns.
She went first, because she tires easily and the line was long.
My family stood up for her and cheered until the dean smiled.
When my name was called, Dad was looking at his phone.
I understood that. Somebody has to hold the camera.
I have been the one holding the camera since I was nine.
Mom hands it to me before a birthday cake is lit. Dad hands it to me at every airport. Miles hands it to me when he gets a promotion.
So on the lawn after the ceremony, I took the family portrait.
Mom, Dad, my brother and my boyfriend crowded around Ivy on the bench, and she laughed and held her cane across her knees.
Then I took the one with Ivy and Mom. Then Ivy and Dad. Then Ivy and my boyfriend, who kissed her cheek.
"You're the best, Nor," he said. "Nobody gets the light like you."
I wanted one picture of myself in my gown.
Just one, so I would remember I was there.
A woman from another family was taking pictures near the fountain.
"Would you like one?" she asked, when she saw me standing there with two cameras.
She took four. In the third one, I was laughing.
I sent that photo to our shared family album, the one called Unsworth Family 2026.
I went to find the restrooms. When I came back, the photo was gone.
Mom had left a message under it. "Oops, wrong album, honey! That one's just for the family pictures."
My boyfriend, Trevor, had added: "I'll put it in a folder for you later, babe. It's a special album."
I was the one who had made the album.
I opened it and scrolled with my thumb. There were 380 photos and Ivy was in every one.
Some were from the ceremony. Some were from the car.
In the one from the parking lot, Ivy was eating a pretzel, and the whole family was looking at her.
I scrolled through again, because the first number didn't seem real.
At dinner, Dad ordered the table's wine and Mom ordered Ivy's soup, because she was sure Ivy wanted soup.
Miles raised his glass.
"To Ivy," my brother, Miles, said, "who did the hard thing and made it look easy."
Everyone drank. I drank too.
Ivy stood up slowly, one hand on the table.
"I want to say thank you," she said. "Everybody knows the story of the night we were born. Dad drove through a snowstorm to a clinic that had no power, and he"
Dad's chair scraped back.
"Sorry, I have to take this," he said, and he walked out to the lobby with his phone already at his ear.
His phone had not rung.
He always leaves when anyone starts that story. I had stopped noticing years ago.
Ivy sat down and finished her speech to the tablecloth.
I waited until the plates were cleared.
"I got a job offer," I said. "At an outdoor gear company in Portland. I start Monday after next."
Mom laughed, because she thought I was joking.
"Portland, Oregon?" Dad said, back in his chair. "Carrie, that's three thousand miles."
"It's a good job. I already said yes."
"You can't be serious," Mom said. "Ivy is going to need you this summer."
"Ivy has you. And Dad. And a whole hospital."
"Don't be difficult," Miles said. "She's your sister."
Ivy looked at her soup and didn't look up.
Trevor reached across the table and covered my hand with his.
"Babe," he said, very softly. "You're a good girl. You know what the right thing is. Just call them tomorrow and say you changed your mind."
I looked at his hand.
I thought about the woman at the fountain, who had asked me if I wanted a picture.
She was the only person all day who had asked.
I took my hand back.
"I'm not going to call them."
"Carrie," Dad said, in his hospital voice. "You owe your sister more than this."
I stood up. My chair did not scrape, because I was careful. I am always careful.
"Then send me the bill," I said.
I picked up my bag and walked out through the lobby. Nobody came after me.
On the sidewalk, my phone buzzed.
It was Mom, in the family chat, so Miles and Trevor and Ivy could all read it.
"If you get on that plane, don't bother coming back."
I stood under the streetlight and read it twice.
Then I typed my answer.
"Okay."
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