Forks clanking against plates and the sipping of drinks is all the noise that can be heard while the Four of us are eating dinner. Just as Marissa had guessed it, this is the most silent and awkward dinner ever. Every now and then, Mr. Marino, Dad, or Mom would steal little glances at me, and I would pretend not to notice.
"So, Katerina how is the research project going?" Mom asks setting her fork down and clearing her throat.
"Fine." I say before I pop a forkful of Lasagna into my mouth.
"Well, that's good. Have you found anything yet?" Mom asks, from the corner of my eye, I can see Dad and Mr. Marino straighten up in their chairs and lean forward towards me.
"Nope, I haven't found anything yet." I lie smoothly, to ease the tension and calm them down.
"Well, I'm sure you'll find something soon." Mom says taking a drink of her Iced Tea.
"Yeah, hopefully." I say sarcastically taking a bite of Garlic bread.
Everything just goes back to silence once that little exchange of words was done. Dad and Mr. Marino relax and slouch back into their chairs. For the rest of dinner, no one utters another word. We all just sit silently and eat, occasionally glancing at one another. Most of the glances are directed at me, but for the most part I ignore them. Once I am done with dinner, I push my plate away from me and slouch into my chair.
"May I be excused?" I ask looking at Mom.
"Of course, Katerina. Just put your plate in the sink and I'll take care of it." Mom says wipping her mouth with her napkin.
"Okay." I say getting up from the table and grabbing my plate. I cautiously walk into the kitchen,-half expecting them to start talking about me in Italian, but they don't- and place my plate in the sink. I walk back into the dining room, and all three of them look at me as I come back in.
"I'm going to go work on my project some more." I say walking out of the dining room and head for the stairs.
"Alright, don't stay up too late honey." Mom says as I walk up the stairs.
"I'll try not to." I say as I reach my room and close the door behind me.
I swipe my phone off of the nightstand, unlock it, and go to my call history. Once I see Marissa's name, I click the "call" button. The phone rings for what seemed like a lifetime until Marissa decides to answer.
"Hey, sorry it took me so long, Mom was asking so many questions about the project." Marissa apologizes.
"It's okay." I say as I turn on my lamp that sits on the nightstand.
"So, how did the awkward dinner go? Was it as awkward as you thought it would be?" Marissa asks curiously.
"Let's just say it was more awkward than the time Staci Wails fell off of the cheer tower during last years Homecoming game." I say describing the level of awkwardness this moment surpassed.
"Seriously, it was that bad?" Marissa asks shockingly.
"Yeah." I say sitting down in my desk chair.
"So, now what are you going to do?" Marissa asks as if I have some kind of plan to figure all of this weirdness out.
"I honestly don't know." I say feeling defeated.
"That doesn't sound like the Katerina Costa that I know. What happened to the Katerina that stood up to "Pinhead Mitch" in the sixth grade after he knocked me over in the hallway? The Katerina that fixed my dress when it split after I attempted to do the 'Cha-Cha Slide' at Homecoming? Or even the Katerina that would hide from her Mom- in the crawl space near the back of the closet above the shelf that lead to the attic- when she got mad?" Marissa says naming off different versions of myself.
My eyes go wide as I remember the crawl space at the top of my closet, which also had a secret door that led into the attic.
"The crawl space, that's it. Marissa, you are a genius." I say as I get up and move my chair towards my closet and put my phone on speaker then place it in my pocket.
"Awe, thanks. Now what am I a genius for again?" Marissa asks confused now.
"If I can't find anything on my computer. Then maybe there is something in the attic that I can find." I say as I open my closet door and step on to my desk chair hoping that it won't slide out from under me and cause me to fall.
I put my arms on the shelf and pull my self up on to the shelf. I crawl on my hands and knees towards the crawl space at the back of the closet.
"Be careful, Kat." Marissa says.
"I'm trying." I say as I reach the crawl space, I reach for the door knob and then pause thinking about the possibility that there very well could be something behind the door. I take the chance and open the door and crawl through it.
YOU ARE READING
Secret Princess
Fantasía'Here goes nothing.' I think to myself as I open the nightstand drawer. I peek inside, and then groan. I reach into the drawer, and pull out the small dark red bag that holds the necklace. I untie the bag and dump the necklace into my hand... I run...
