Chapter 3

When I was twelve, I ranked first in the entire town on my exams.

Grandma called my mom to tell her.

The phone was on speaker. I was right there and heard everything clearly.

"Ruth, Chloe got first place in the whole town!"

There was silence on the other end for two seconds.

"Oh. Got it."

"Chloe wants to go to the top-rated middle school in the city. The tuition—"

"Mom, we're tight on money right now. Marcus has to start his extracurriculars next semester, plus tutoring fees."

Grandma said nothing more and hung up.

That same year, Marcus ranked 138th in his grade.

My parents enrolled him in three tutoring programs. Twenty-four thousand dollars a year.

I ranked first in the entire town. Not a penny spent on tutoring for me.

I went to a public middle school. Marcus went to a private school in the city.

Later I found out that Grandma had been sending my parents three thousand dollars every month for twelve years. The note on each transfer said "Chloe's tuition."

Three thousand times twelve months, times twelve years. Four hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars. Not a penny of it reached me.

The summer I was fifteen, Grandma took me to get glasses.

On the bus, we ran into Aunt Lesley. She looked me up and down and said to Grandma, "Mom, Chloe's gotten so big."

Then she lowered her voice. "What's going on with Scott? He said Chloe would stay with you for two years, and it's been almost ten now."

Grandma didn't respond.

Aunt Lesley continued, "Don't spoil Chloe too much either. She's a girl, you know. Good enough is fine. When she gets married later—"

"Lesley."

I spoke up.

She froze and looked at me.

"I'm not someone who's just 'good enough.'"

I looked at her.

"From now on, please call me by my name. Chloe."

Aunt Lesley's face stiffened. Grandma patted my hand without saying anything, but I saw a slight smile at the corner of her mouth.

When I was eighteen, I took the SAT.

I ranked 23rd in the entire city. Got into a top private school. Law major.

Grandma was so happy she couldn't sleep all night.

The next morning, she called my mom first thing.

"Ruth! Chloe got in! A private university!"

Silence again on the other end.

"Mom... that's great."

"About the tuition—"

"Mom, Marcus is getting his driver's license this year too, and we—"

"I'll pay." Grandma said.

Her voice was calm.

"I'll pay Chloe's tuition."

After hanging up, Grandma sat in the yard, looking at the apple tree.

For a long time. Then I walked over.

"Grandma, I can apply for financial aid. You don't have to—"

"No need."

She looked at me.

"I can afford it."

She smiled.

"The thing I'm most proud of in this life is raising you."

I couldn't hold it back.

That was the first time in twenty years I cried in front of Grandma.

That same fall, Marcus failed his college entrance exam. He retook it for a year and got into a community college.

My parents spent eighteen thousand dollars to buy him a car to "celebrate him getting into college."

One car, eighteen thousand dollars. My four years of tuition plus living expenses—Grandma spent a total of seventy thousand dollars. My parents didn't contribute a single cent.

But what they told relatives was, "We worry about both our kids equally."