Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Yunice didn’t know what to say.
There were still a few media people hanging around the school gates. Wyatt pulled his borrowed school jacket up and over Yunice’s head, covering her completely, and ushered her into the car.
The door slammed behind them.
Jordan, sitting up front, turned around and burst out laughing the second he saw Wyatt still dressed like a teenager.
“Dude,” he snorted, “you look about as much like a high schooler as I look like a prom queen.”
Then he added, “Told you Ms. Yunice was fine. But no, you just had to storm in there.”
Yunice kept her head down. She didn’t say a word about what had actually happened.
Wyatt stayed silent, too. He didn’t want her to have to.
She thought about saying she could’ve handled it. She had three years in that psych ward. She wasn’t like the fragile rich kids who’d never been punched before.
But she didn’t say anything.
Because she also worried-maybe this would make Wyatt rethink letting her go to college.
Trouble seemed to follow her like a shadow.
The test day was over. Jordan drove them back to Pavilion Hall.
Yunice curled up on the couch, sneaking glances at Wyatt every couple of minutes.
He turned to her after a few seconds and pinched her chin gently, angling her face toward him. “Try scowling.”
Yunice blinked. “What?”
“Come on. Give me your meanest look.” He sounded exasperated. “You know bullies pick targets, right? You look way too nice.”
She thought he was about to say she was weak.
But he didn’t.
Wyatt went on. “Look at me. Now scowl.”
Yunice furrowed her brow and glared up at him as hard as she could.
He stared back at her. For a second, something flickered in his eyes-then he looked away, let go of her chin, and sighed.
“Forget it.”
Yunice was confused. That wasn’t mean enough?
Wyatt went upstairs without another word.
Yunice stayed on the couch, trying to mimic Wyatt’s angry expression in the reflection of the window.
It made her laugh.
The rumor about her cheating on the SAT didn’t die down. Her old student photo had gone viral, though no one had managed to identify her.
She was like a ghost-her identity completely scrubbed from the public. Even Lily didn’t know her new name.
That night, Owen was scrolling his phone during dinner when Yunice’s picture popped up under a headline about the SAT scandal. His chopsticks clattered to the table.
“What the hell is wrong with the media?” he muttered. “Why would they put up a picture of Yunice? She took the SAT years ago.”
He figured it was some kind of mistake, so he called up the media outlet and asked them to take it down.
But the reporter told him it wasn’t a mistake. The tip was a verified submission. The source had even provided details of Yunice’s testing location.
Then the reporter asked if he was related to the girl in the photo.
Owen could tell from the guy’s tone that things were going off the rails, so he hung up immediately.
“If this really is about Yunice,” he thought, “those vultures are going to hound the Saunders family nonstop.”
He couldn’t wrap his head around it. Why would Yunice take the SAT now? She hadn’t studied in three years. Was she just setting herself up to fail?
He couldn’t understand her at all.
Owen stared at Lily across the dinner table, his tone laced with suspicion. “Aren’t you even a little shocked that Yunice took the SAT?”
Lily waved it off. “Must be a mistake. Someone probably used her photo or something. That tag’ll be gone in a day or two. Wyatt didn’t say anything, right? If it were real, he’d be all over it.”
Owen thought about it and nodded. That did make some sense.
He glanced over at Elsie’s usual seat. “She’s not coming home again tonight?”
“She’s working overtime,” Lily said smoothly. “Hospitals don’t exactly run on a nine-to-five.”
Owen didn’t say more, but the posts he’d seen online stuck in his mind. Everything about Yunice’s supposed SAT sit seemed too detailed to be fake.
The next morning, curiosity got the better of him. He rerouted his commute and stopped by the testing center.
Sure enough, outside the gates, parents were still talking about the girl in the cheating scandal. When they mentioned her, their faces twisted in disgust.
Owen’s expression turned ugly. He couldn’t believe Yunice had brought shame on the family-again.
He stayed by the front gates, scanning each arriving student.
Then, when a girl with a face mask walked past, he reached out and grabbed her by the arm. “Yunice. You think a mask’s gonna fool me?”
Yunice hadn’t expected to run into him.
Owen yanked on her arm. “You’re coming with me.”
“I’m here for the SAT,” Yunice snapped.
“SAT? What a joke. You know what people are saying about you? About us?” His tone turned nasty. “You cheating on a standardized test-is this your big plan? Humiliate the Saunders family in public and watch us get trampled?”
To Owen, this was all deliberate. He thought Yunice was making a scene just to drag their name through the mud.
He noticed the pencil pouch in her hand and lunged for it. “Faked an ID too, huh? You know you could go to jail for this?”
He tried to tear up her admission slip on the spot.
He figured if he could stop this madness right now, before the test, maybe the whole thing would blow over. Better to pull the plug than let her finish the test and stir up even more trouble.
But Yunice was faster. She snatched the pouch back and darted to the side, ducking behind the uniformed guard stationed nearby.
“Officer,” she said loudly, “this man tried to destroy my test ID. I don’t even know him. I think he’s unstable. Maybe dangerous. Can you please restrain him?”
The guard placed a hand on the baton at his hip and gave Owen a sharp look.
Owen flinched. “What are you talking about? I’m your brother!”
He turned to the guard, trying to sound reasonable. “She’s cheating. She’s never even been to school. She doesn’t know anything. Letting her into that test room is unfair to everyone else!”