I was seventeen when my mother called the family meeting that would change everything. "Everyone to the living room," she said, her voice bright and cheerful. "We need to vote." My stomach dropped. In our house, everything was decided by vote. What we ate for dinner. Where we went on vacation. Whether I could join the debate team or take piano lessons or go to my best friend's birthday party. Four people. Four votes. Except it was never really four votes. It was always three against one. My parents sat on the couch, their faces already arranged in that expression I knew too well. The one that said they'd already decided. My sister Claire perched on the armrest beside Mom, twirling a strand of her perfect blonde hair around her finger. And me. I stood in the doorway, my acceptance letter from the state university burning a hole in my backpack upstairs. "So," Dad said, folding his hands. "College decisions are coming up." My heart started pounding. "We need to discuss what makes the most financial sense for this family," Mom added. Claire smiled at me. It wasn't a kind smile. "I think we should vote on whether Maya goes to college at all this year," Claire said sweetly. "Maybe she should take a gap year. Work. Help the family." The room tilted. "That's not fair," I said, my voice coming out smaller than I wanted. "I've worked so hard. I have a scholarship—" "We vote on everything in this family, Maya," Dad interrupted. "You know that. It's democratic. It's fair." Fair. That word had haunted me my entire life. When I was eight, we voted on whose birthday party we'd celebrate that year. Mine or Claire's. Our birthdays were two weeks apart, and Mom said we could only afford one party. Claire got the party. I got a cupcake with a candle. When I was ten, we voted on the family vacation. I wanted to see my grandmother in Oregon. She was sick. I hadn't seen her in three years. Claire wanted Disney World. We went to Disney World. Grandma died six months later. When I was thirteen, we voted on whether I could go to space camp. I'd been saving my allowance for two years. I had almost enough. Claire said it wasn't fair that I got to go somewhere special when she didn't want to go. The vote was 3-1 against me. My savings were "redistributed" to the family fund. Claire got a new laptop three weeks later. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Mom said now, shooting Claire a look. "We're not voting on whether Maya goes to college. We're voting on where." I exhaled slightly. "Maya has been accepted to State," Dad continued. "Full scholarship. That's wonderful." "But," Mom said, and my stomach clenched again. "Claire has also been accepted to State. And to several other schools." Claire examined her nails. "I got into the design program at Parsons," she said casually. "In New York." My blood ran cold. Parsons was expensive. Incredibly expensive. "So we need to vote," Dad said. "On how to allocate the college fund." "What college fund?" I asked. "I have a scholarship. I don't need—" "The fund your grandparents left," Mom said. "For both of you." I'd never heard about this fund. "There's enough for one of you to go anywhere you want," Dad explained. "And enough for the other to go to State with the scholarship covering most of it." "But State doesn't have a good design program," Claire said, her voice taking on that whiny quality that always got her what she wanted. "And Parsons is my dream school." "Maya's dream school is—" I started. "State is a great school," Mom interrupted. "You should be grateful for that scholarship, Maya." The vote hadn't even happened yet, and I already knew how it would go. But there was something they didn't know. Something I'd been keeping secret for three weeks. Hidden in my room, under my mattress, was another letter. One I hadn't told them about. One that was going to change everything. "Let's vote," Dad said. "All in favor of allocating the college fund to Claire for Parsons, with Maya attending State on scholarship?" Three hands went up. Mom. Dad. Claire. Claire's smile was radiant. "Motion passes," Dad said. "Maya, you'll go to State. Claire, congratulations on Parsons." I stood there, my fists clenched at my sides. They had no idea what was coming.