“Are you really going through with this?” Jake glanced over, his knuckles white around the steering wheel as we bounced along a stretch of quiet Iowa road.
I could hear the worry in his voice, but I kept my eyes on the side mirror, adjusting it to get a better look at my neck. “Adopted Child,” the fake tattoo read—bold black ink against my pale skin. Convincing enough to pass as real. My heart thudded louder than the truck engine.
“It’s perfect,” I said, forcing a smile, though my throat tightened just saying the words.
Jake sighed. “Your mom is going to flip.”
“That’s the point,” I whispered, eyes locked on the road ahead.
The sun was slipping behind the fields, casting a golden haze that only deepened the ache I carried. I’d always felt like an outsider in my own family. Beth—the golden child—got straight A’s, glowing praise, and the effortless love I always craved. Me? I was the one who “acted out,” the one who “needed discipline.”
This prank… it wasn’t just about shocking my mom. It was about making her look at me—really look—and maybe, finally, ask why.
“She already treats me like a stranger,” I murmured. “Might as well dress the part.”
Jake reached over and squeezed my hand, grounding me. “She loves you, Annie.”
I didn’t respond. Because if she did, she had a funny way of showing it.
When we pulled up to the house, the scent of cinnamon rolls and roasted chicken hit me like muscle memory. Normally, that smell was a comfort. Today, it just made my stomach knot tighter.
Dad was at the dining table, half-hidden behind the newspaper. He looked up, peering over his glasses, eyes narrowing at the ink on my neck.
“What’s that say?” he asked, squinting.
I barely opened my mouth before he pushed up from his chair in a panic. “Hold on, let me get my glasses!”
I froze. This wasn’t the reaction I expected.
Then Mom appeared, flour-dusted and smiling—until she saw me. Her face went sheet-white. Her eyes locked onto the tattoo like it was a ghost.
She stumbled back a step. “Annie… how do you know that?”
Her voice cracked. Not angry. Not confused. Scared.
It took me a beat to find my own voice. “Know what?”
Mom let out a weird, shaky laugh. “Oh. You’re joking. April Fools. Hah. Very funny.”
But she wouldn’t meet my eyes. Wouldn’t come closer. Her forced smile was too tight. And suddenly, my joke didn’t feel like a joke anymore.
Dinner was a disaster. Nobody talked, and when they did, it was Beth, chirping about her latest promotion while Mom beamed and Dad nodded with pride.
“Congrats, Beth,” I said, shoving dry chicken around my plate. “You’re perfect. As always.”
Beth blinked. “Why do you say stuff like that?”
“Because it’s true,” I snapped. “I could tattoo ‘Perfect’ on your forehead and Mom would probably frame it.”
“Annie!” Mom barked.
I looked her dead in the eye. “Why don’t we talk about secrets for once instead of Beth’s promotions?”
Silence.
After dinner, the house fell quiet again—too quiet. Jake sat beside me, and I leaned in, whispering, “I need to know. Can you distract her?”
“Annie…”
“Please.”
With a reluctant nod, he stood and began asking Mom about her soap opera. She lit up, momentarily forgetting I was even there.
I crept upstairs. My hands shook as I approached the old safe in their closet. I tried Mom’s birthday. Then Dad’s. Nothing. Finally, I typed in Beth’s—and the lock clicked.
Inside were a few documents. And one folder, labeled: Adoption Certificate – Anne Elizabeth Jensen.
My legs buckled. My heart pounded so hard I thought I might pass out. I wasn’t imagining it. I really wasn’t theirs.
Tears blurred the words, but the truth had already carved itself deep inside me.
I stormed back downstairs, shoving the papers into Mom’s hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Mom went pale again, her mouth opening and closing.
“Annie—” she choked out. “We were going to. We just… we never found the right moment.”
“So you were going to wait until what? My wedding? My funeral?”
Beth gasped. “Annie, I didn’t know. I swear—”
“This isn’t about you, Beth!”
Mom started crying. “You were everything we ever wanted. We just… we didn’t want you to feel different. But when Beth came along—”
“You made me feel different anyway,” I said. “Every day.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “But you were chosen. Loved first.”
Beth stepped forward. “You’re my sister. No matter what. That doesn’t change.”
Jake wrapped his arm around me. I looked at them—my family, cracked and hurting—and for the first time, I didn’t feel invisible.
“Maybe we can try,” I said softly. “But no more secrets.”
That night, the storm passed, and with it, the version of me that had always wondered if I truly belonged. The joke was fake, but the truth it uncovered? That changed everything.
And oddly, in the wake of it all, I felt a little more real. A little more… me.