Daunting Time

The Time When Claire Bargained

(Claire)

I raided the fridge unable to wait for Emily to finish dinner. I could feel Emily's eyes drilling a hole through my back, she'd been watching me like a hawk for the past twenty-four hours, in fact everyone had. This morning Uncle Sam asked me how I slept last night, at least three times. Then out of nowhere, Seth showed up for breakfast, making these random comments about forgiveness and boys being prone to over react. It was obvious that this family did not react well to disagreements.

" You are unusually hungry today," she stated casually as she stirred a pot at the stove.

I heard Ellie's snort all the way from the dining room, I ignored them both and continued my search, I was on a mission and I couldn't waste any time to answer questions.

" Is there any particular reason for that," she asked.

The last time I checked, wanting an after school snack wasn't a crime. I spotted the two pound package of turkey. Jackpot.

" Nope." I threw a pile of food onto the counter, and quickly assembled a turkey and cheese sandwich, wasting no time shoving it into my mouth.

" LIAR," Ellie coughed under her breath.

I threw a glaring look toward the dining room. " TRAITOR," I coughed back.

My aunt Emily now stood before me with her hands on her hips, she was never one for beating around the bush, and she wasn't starting today.

" Spill it," she ordered. Spilling it was not an option today, I'll take skirting around the truth for two hundred please.

" I didn't eat lunch today," I admitted, taking another bite.

" Why?"

" No particular reason." Ellie came into my vision leaning up against the wall just inside the kitchen.

" No particular reason," she challenged, pronouncing her statement as if she was posing a question. Emily looked over at Ellie, and she just laughed.

" She didn't eat lunch, because she was determined to finish her homework before she left school today." She said with amusement.

TRAITOR!

" I just….wanted….a free….night….without homework," I explained, while chewing through the massive amount of food in my mouth.

Yes. We all knew that was a lie.

" Does this have anything to do with the fight you had with Quil last night?"

Everything.

" NO," I blurted out.

" YES," Ellie countered.

" You know," I hissed in Ellie's direction, " it's not necessary for me to invite you over to my house everyday."

" It's not necessary for you to STARVE yourself, just so can hurt Quil's feelings." Was her unfazed reply.

I didn't wait to witness Emily's reaction to that statement, and stalked off toward the living room with the rest of my turkey sandwich, and grabbed a bag of Doritos to watch TV for the remainder of the evening. Ellie brought her books into the living room, and started working on lab questions at the coffee table. I didn't talk and she didn't pry any further into my motivations.

Time passed by slowly, but I didn't dare look at the clock. I knew it had to be getting close, because I could smell dinner being placed out on the table. It wasn't five minutes later, when I heard the pack's arrival through the back door. Everyone was quieter today, I heard the same familiar voices but I couldn't make them out as distinctly as I normally could. At first I couldn't figure out the difference, but then I realized it was because they weren't laughing. I hadn't noticed this before, but their laughter was the most distinguishing feature about them. Maybe its because that's the sound I always hear most when around them.