DJ had been using for announcements.

“Everyone,” she said with a bright smile, “my sister has spent years making people think she’s too fragile to enjoy life. Today she’s finally going to stop hiding.”

She turned toward me and pointed at the pool.

“So…”

“Take off the cover-up.”

A heavy silence settled over the backyard.

My mother burst into tears.

“Chloe… don’t.”

My father stepped forward.

“That’s enough.”

But Chloe shook her head stubbornly.

“No.”

“I’m tired of living with lies.”

“If there’s really nothing wrong with her, then she should prove it.”

I looked slowly around the crowd. Friends from school, relatives, teachers, neighbors, and complete strangers were all watching, waiting to see what I would do. Twelve years earlier, I had made a promise to protect my sister from a truth she couldn’t remember. Now I understood that keeping that promise meant destroying both of us.

Without saying