She lifted her head, looking oddly blank.
“What scholarship?”
“The National Scholarship! Only five spots in the entire school, and I got first place!”
I thrust my phone toward her, my face glowing with pride. “Look, it’s written clearly on the transcript!”
She stared at the screen for three seconds.
Then—slap! A sharp sting burned across my cheek.
“Who told you to apply for that?”
I covered my face, stunned.
“You winning a scholarship ruins everything! How am I supposed to tell your Uncle David we’re too poor to survive? Do you know you just destroyed my entire plan for the next six months of sympathy money?”
Her finger jabbed at my nose, her eyes full of fury and blame.
“I… I thought you’d be happy for me…”
“Happy? How could I be happy?” She snatched up her phone, pulling up a chat log. “Look at this! Just yesterday I told your uncle you didn’t even have enough for living expenses. He was going to send two thousand this month. Now you show up with an $8,000 scholarship?”
My heart sank, piece by piece.
My honor meant less than her lies.
“Mom, I worked hard for this…”