Chapter 1: The Empty Desk
I knew something was wrong the second I walked into my bedroom and saw the empty space on my desk.
My laptop was gone.
Not moved.
Not hidden beneath my notebooks.
Gone.
I dropped my grocery-store apron onto the floor and stared at the charging cable dangling uselessly behind the desk.
Three months.
That was what I saw when I looked at that empty space.
Three months of stocking shelves until ten at night. Three months of spending Saturdays bagging groceries while my friends went swimming. Three months of telling myself no whenever I wanted new shoes, takeout, or even a movie ticket.
Every paycheck had gone toward that laptop.
I had bought it twelve days earlier for almost $1,500.
And now it was gone.
“Tyler!””
My voice shook the hallway.
No answer.
I stormed downstairs.
My fifteen-year-old stepbrother was stretched across the couch with his sneakers on the coffee table.
And in his hands was a phone I had never seen before.
A very expensive-looking phone.
“Tyler.””
He finally looked up.
“What?””
“Where is my laptop?””
He glanced back at his screen.
“I sold it.””
I actually laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because my brain refused to accept what I had heard.
“You did what?””
“I sold it.””
Tyler held up his new phone and grinned.
“I wanted this.””
My stomach dropped.
I stepped closer.
“You sold my laptop to buy yourself a phone?””
“Pretty much.””
“How much did you get?””
He hesitated.
“Six hundred.””
The room seemed to tilt.
“You sold a fifteen-hundred-dollar laptop for six hundred dollars?””
“It was used.””
“I had it for twelve days!””
Tyler shrugged.
“Not my problem.””
I reached for the phone.
He jerked it away.
“Don't touch it!””
“You stole from me!””
“Stop being dramatic.””
That was when Melissa walked in from the kitchen.
My stepmother took one look at us and immediately stepped between Tyler and me.
“What is all this screaming?””
“Ask your son.””
Tyler rolled his eyes.
“She’s freaking out about the laptop.””
Melissa looked at him.
Then at me.
“What happened?””
“He sold it.””
Melissa blinked.
“What?””
“He went into my bedroom, took the laptop I worked all summer to buy, and sold it.””
For one second, I expected her to be horrified.
Instead, she sighed.
“Tyler, you shouldn't have done that.””
That was it.
I stared at her.
“You shouldn't have done that?””
“What do you want me to say?””
“I want him to give me my money back!””
“He doesn't have it anymore.””
Tyler raised his new phone.
“Obviously.””
I looked at Melissa.
“Then return the phone.””
Tyler immediately sat upright.
“No way.””
“Melissa.””
She folded her arms.
“It’s already been purchased.””
“So?””
“There may be restocking fees.””
I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing.
“He stole fifteen hundred dollars from me, and you're worried about a restocking fee?””
“Lower your voice.””
“No.””
Her expression hardened.
“Excuse me?””
“No. I'm not lowering my voice because Tyler stole from me.””
Tyler muttered, “It's just a computer.””
Melissa nodded.
Exactly nodded.
“It is just a computer.””
Something inside me cracked.
“That computer was three months of my life.””
“You have a job,” Melissa said.
“You can save for another one.””
I just stared at her.
Tyler smiled.
That smile hurt almost more than anything else.
Because he knew he'd won.
I turned toward Melissa.
“If I walked into his room, took his game console, sold it, and bought myself something, would you tell him to save for another one?””
“That's different.””
“How?””
“Because Tyler—”
The front door opened.
Dad stepped inside carrying his work bag.
Before I could speak, Melissa hurried toward him.
“Daniel, thank God. She’s been screaming for ten minutes.””
Dad looked from Melissa to me.
Then to Tyler.
“She’s having a complete meltdown over a computer,” Melissa continued.
Dad slowly put his bag down.
“What happened?””
I told him.
Everything.
Dad didn't interrupt.
When I finished, he looked at Tyler.
“You sold her laptop?””
Tyler shifted.
“Yeah, but—”
“How much?””
“Six hundred.””
“And you bought that?””
Dad pointed at the phone.
Tyler's confidence returned.
“Yeah. It's the newest model.””
Dad held out his hand.
“Let me see it.””
Tyler grinned.
Apparently, he thought Dad wanted to admire it.
He handed it over.
Dad examined the phone for maybe two seconds.
Then he walked across the living room.
Melissa had a huge aquarium against the wall, filled with tropical fish, plants, and decorative rocks.
Dad stopped beside it.
“Daniel?”” Melissa said.
Dad opened his hand.
The phone dropped straight into the aquarium.
Splash.
For half a second, nobody moved.
Then Tyler screamed.
“My phone!””
He lunged toward the tank.
The phone sank between two rocks, its bright screen flickering beneath the water.
Melissa shrieked, “Daniel! Have you lost your mind?””
Dad turned around.
His voice was frighteningly calm.
“No.””
Tyler shoved his arm into the aquarium.
“Get it out! Get it out!””
Dad watched him desperately reach between the rocks.
Then he said, “I'm teaching him what it feels like when someone takes something you worked for.””
Melissa's face went red.
“He paid for that!””
Dad's eyes moved to her.
“No, Melissa.””
His voice dropped.
“He paid for it with stolen money.””
Then Dad looked at me.
“Who did he sell your laptop to?””
Tyler froze.
Dad noticed.
So did I.
“Tyler,” Dad said quietly.
“Who bought the laptop?””
Tyler slowly pulled his dripping arm from the aquarium.
And for the first time that evening, he looked scared.
“I don't know.””
Dad stared at him.
“That wasn't the question.””
May you like
Tyler swallowed.
And suddenly I realized the missing laptop might not be the worst thing he had done.
