"Sugar, you know, you can always tell me anything." My mother says. I stop looking at the ceiling and nod as I glance at her, because really what can you say when your mother tells you that? And why did she call me sugar? Ugh, moms can be so confusing.
She must have seen me looking around nervously, as we waited for my sister and my father to sit at the table for dinner. Mom keeps watching me and I started to twitch and wriggle in my seat. And since our dinner table is square, and mom always sits in front of me, I get a full on stare.
"Um, mom? What are you doing?" I ask her. She shakes her head, her concentration broken.
"Hm? I'm sorry, what?" She questions.
"I said, what are you doing?" I repeat. She looks at me and answers in a way too chirpy voice.
"Oh nothing! I just want to know if you're okay." I raise my eyebrows and go back to looking at the blank, white ceiling. I start to play with the tablecloth. At last, Meghan; my twelve-year-old sister; and dad get to the dinner table. We start to eat my mom's homemade lasagna and I try to secretly take my phone out of my pocket underneath the table. I look at my parents to see if they have noticed. Fortunately they don't. I message my friends on our Skype group chat.
FUTUREDELPHI: Hey! Just eatn dinr.
I immediately get 7 responses from my friends, who are all online.
BLU3-3Y3DK3LLI3: K.
ALICIARUNS: Hiya!
ALYSSAHORSELUVR: Cool, wht r u eatn?
HIPPOKRISSY: Cuhl.
BRIANNA3707: Ok.
BOWTY: So?
LLAMACORN-EMILIE: Hi.
I try to answer back as quickly as possible.
FUTUREDELPHI: Eatn lasagna, and I hav somethn 2 tell u.
ALICIARUNS: Wht?
HIPPOKRISSY: ?
But before I can try to respond to her message, my mom snatches my phone out of my hand and waves it in the air, as if she's mocking me. I try to reach for it, but my mom holds it over her head, and out of my reach.
"Mom!" I protest.
"Nope! You know the rules. No devices at the dinner table, and that doesn't just go for Meghan, it goes for you, too." I sigh.
"I know," I say, "I know." I try to quickly finish my food, but when I do, mom stops me.
"Lets take some time to talk about what you guys have been up to today." She says. This is new, we haven't done this in a while. Meghan nods and dad clears his throat.
"Honey, why don't you start," she tells my father. He flashes a smile and starts to talk.
"Caught a bad guy or two, locked them up." He finishes. I freeze. I almost ask them why they're being so strange, but I can sense that it isn't supposed to be strange.
This is where dad is supposed to start lecturing me on boys, and how he would love to lock them up. And mom would join in, talking about being careful. So technically, the talk.
This is beyond weird. Mom is acting crazy. Dad is being crazy.
Meghan looks at me through the corner of her eye. She knows something's up, but like me, she won't say anything. After living with a police officer everyday of our lives, we've learned to be cautious and suspicious of things that aren't right.
"Ooh, can I go?" Meghan asks politely, but excitedly. Mom nods her okay.
"So...I just found out I'm Student Council president!" She gets out of her seat and starts to jump around crazily. I laugh and join her in her dance. When we've finally stopped laughing and have taken our seats, do I remember that I need to text my friends. I stand up and put my plates in the sink, and head towards my room.
"I'll be in my room if any of you guys need me." I say. Mom calls out, and I am forced to stop.
"What about you, sugar? Anything exciting happen today? Or really, anytime this week?" She asks, as if she's trying to fish for information. She gives me a smile that doesn't look at all genuine. Then her eyes flash a faint red, and she blushes a little, like a possessed tomato. I try to conceal my nervous features and to calm my quiet, but rapid, breathing.
What is happening to my mother? I realize that this woman standing right in front of me can't possibly be my mom. First of all, she had red eyes, and second, she called me sugar. Twice. Which is something she never ever calls me.
"No, nothing exciting happened. Nothing at all." I say, as calmly as possible, hoping I can slip away. And soon. And that answer seems to fool her, because for a second, she looks disappointed. Then that look disappears. But not in me, just in my answer. I am sure, and can tell, that it wasn't the answer that she was looking for.
I go upstairs to my room, and I tightly clutch my necklace in my fingers.
YOU ARE READING
Secrets of the Cellar (Inside Secret #1) || COMPLETED
Fantasy*COMPLETED BOOK 1 OF THE "INSIDE SECRET" Trilogy* Thirteen-year-old Delphi Casiva used to be a regular girl, but after she and her friends find eight dusty, old amulets in her basement, they discover that the necklaces are actually powerful hosts f...
