The narrative is a first-person account of a young girl's discovery that her life has been a lie. She was raised by her kidnappers, who told her she had a normal life with loving parents. Her parents were actually her kidnappers, who had been close friends of her birth parents. They kidnapped her to protect her from her birth mother, who was mentally ill and had connections with law enforcement.
The girl's life was filled with moving around frequently, which she initially thought was normal but later realized was suspicious. She was never allowed to attend school for a long time and was never able to make friends. She had a vivid memory of a birthday party where her parents suddenly picked her up and left without saying goodbye.
One day, she and her best friend, Susan, discovered a video about a missing girl who looked exactly like the girl in the video. They began researching the story and found newspaper clippings about the girl's disappearance. They found a secret room in their parents' bedroom, filled with ID cards, cell phones, and newspaper clippings about the missing girl. The clippings were dated just a couple of weeks prior to their discovery.
Their parents were arrested for kidnapping on the spot. The girl decided to call Susan, who was overjoyed to see her. They are currently working on an indie documentary about the girl's life and are both in film school together. The girl still visits her parents in prison and her birth father in the hospital but does not know if she will ever be able to have a relationship with her birth mother.
1. The narrator always thought they had a normal life, with amazing friends, living in a house with a pool, and the greatest parents in the world.
2. The narrator's parents were actually their kidnappers, who hid them away from their real mother.
3. The narrator's parents moved around a lot, causing the narrator to move to a new house every few months.
4. The narrator's parents bought a house, which was a dream come true for the narrator.
5. The narrator's best friend was Susan, and they loved watching YouTube videos together.
6. The narrator and Susan discovered a video about a girl who went missing over ten years ago, which seemed to change their lives forever.
7. The girl in the video was undeniably the narrator, and they discovered that she disappeared on the narrator's birthday.
8. The narrator and Susan spent the next few hours looking up more about this story.
9. The narrator's parents took them to a doctor's appointment, which was a ruse to keep them from finding out about the missing girl.
10. The narrator discovered a secret room in their parents' bedroom, which contained a landline, a PC, a bunch of cell phones, and a full box of old ID cards.
11. The newspaper clippings in the secret room were about the kidnapping that Susan and the narrator had seen.
12. The narrator's parents were arrested for kidnapping on the spot because of the discovery of the narrator's birth father, who was reported dead.
13. The narrator's birth mother was charged with attempted murder.
14. The narrator decided to give Susan a call, and they were able to go back to their friendship.
15. The narrator and Susan are currently working on an indie documentary about the narrator's life and are both in film school together.
16. The narrator still visits their parents in prison from time to time and their birth father in the hospital.
17. The narrator has seen their birth mother a couple of times since everything happened, but they don't know if they'll ever be able to have a relationship with her.