Left Behind, I Learned to Live

I was always the last one picked.

In gym class, nobody wanted me on their team until there was no one else left.

At White Elephant exchanges, I always ended up with the worst gift.

Even when classmates invited me out to eat, I somehow wound up covering the bill.

Then I went to college and met Brooke, who always saved me a seat, and Ethan, my boyfriend, who stepped in whenever things got awkward.

For three years, we did everything together.

We rushed to eight a.m. lectures, split DoorDash delivery fees, and walked back from the library at two in the morning after late-night study sessions.

When my parents divorced and neither seemed to want me, Brooke and Ethan stayed.

They even set their phones to alert them whenever I texted.

For the first time, I believed I'd found people who would never leave me behind.

Then came the night of our final exams.

We were at a party on the second floor of a downtown hotel when every phone in the room blared with a tornado warning.

People screamed and rushed toward the stairs, desperate to reach the hotel's designated storm shelter downstairs.

Ethan grabbed Brooke and headed for the exit.

I was right behind them when he shoved a banquet table out of his way.

The table scraped across the floor and slid directly into my path.

My foot caught on one of its legs, and I went down hard.

Before I could get back up, a massive crystal chandelier came crashing down.

Part of its heavy frame struck my back, and broken glass scattered across the floor.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to get up. With everyone rushing past me, I had no time to think about the pain.

I just needed to get somewhere safe.

By the time I reached the hotel's storm shelter, Ethan and Brooke were nowhere in sight.

I'd been left behind again.

I pulled out my phone and texted my aunt Dana.

[I'll do it. I'll sign up for the trial.]

Dana led a research team at Cadence, a neurotech company testing an experimental implant that might help people like me process information faster.

I'd struggled for years to keep up with everyone else, no matter how hard I tried, and Dana believed the implant might help.

She'd been asking me to join the first human trial, but the risks were serious.

If I agreed, I'd have to spend three years in a secure research facility in New Mexico, cut off from the outside world.

Until that night, I'd been too afraid to commit.

My phone lit up almost immediately.

Dana sent a string of messages warning me that the implant could cause serious complications, leave me with permanent speech problems, or even put my life at risk.

She urged me to think carefully and not make such a big decision while I was upset.

I read her messages, then replied.

[I've made up my mind. I'm willing to sign the consent forms.]

I slipped my phone into my pocket just as Ethan and Brooke hurried through the crowd toward me.

Ethan grabbed my hand, looking worried.

"June, are you okay? That warning came out of nowhere."

He glanced at Brooke, who was leaning against him.

"She twisted her ankle on the stairs. I had to carry her down. I didn't have time to come back for you."

Brooke looked stricken.

"I'm so sorry, June. I feel terrible. Ethan had to get me out because I couldn't walk."

I started to tell them I was fine, but a sharp pain shot through my back.

I sucked in a breath and froze.

Brooke's eyes widened. "Oh my God, June! Your back—you're bleeding!"

Ethan hurried around behind me. When he saw the blood soaking through my shirt, his brows drew together.

"Seriously, June? How do you manage to get hurt just trying to get out of a building?"

I stared at him.

How was I supposed to explain that his rush to get Brooke out had left me trapped behind him?

He'd shoved the table aside without looking. It had slid into my path and tripped me. Then the chandelier had come down before I could get back up.

And through it all, he hadn't even looked back.

Ethan sighed and turned to Brooke, gently tapping her nose.

"Good thing you noticed. I was so worried about getting us out that I didn't even see June was hurt."

Brooke gave him an embarrassed smile.

"You've always been a little scatterbrained."

Then Ethan turned back to me, shaking his head.

"June, how do you always manage to be a step behind everyone else?"

Brooke sighed, too.

"What are you going to do without us someday?"

They'd asked me that question plenty of times before.

Back then, I'd always grinned and shot back, "What, are you two planning to abandon me?"

They'd laugh and promise to protect me for the rest of our lives.

But now, standing beside them with their shoulders touching, I couldn't bring myself to say it.

For years, I'd believed I was an equal part of a friendship that would never break.

Maybe I'd been the only one who saw it that way.

I held back my usual teasing reply and forced a small, self-deprecating smile.

"Once you two are gone, I'll figure out how to manage on my own."