Broken homes

Uh oh dinner was BURNT

Lily sat at the dinner table, her fork lightly tapping against her plate as she stared down at the food in front of her. The house felt unusually tense tonight, the air thick with unspoken words. Her dad, usually loud and animated, was quieter than usual. And beside him sat his new girlfriend, Karen, who Lily had been trying to warm up to, but so far, it hadn't been easy.

Karen was the new employee at her dad's firm, and after just a few months, she'd gone from being just a colleague to someone who was now spending every weekend at their house. She was attractive, confident, and seemed to charm her dad at every turn. To Lily, though, she came off as a little too polished, a little too perfect. And the way she seemed to be looking at her dad, like he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, only made Lily more uncomfortable.

"Lily, you're awfully quiet tonight," her dad said, breaking the silence. His voice was more distant than usual, but still trying to be lighthearted. "Everything okay?"

Lily's eyes flicked up to meet his, but she quickly looked back down at her plate. "Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered, picking at the food in front of her. The words felt hollow, but she didn't know what else to say.

Karen, sensing the tension, cleared her throat. "So, Lily, how's school been going? I'm sure it's been a big change for you, huh?" she asked, her smile almost too sweet, too forced.

Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't feel like playing along with Karen's attempts at friendliness. Not tonight.

"Same as always," she replied, her tone colder than she meant it to be. She didn't even look up this time, still not sure how to react to Karen's presence at the table, let alone in their lives.

Her dad sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Lily, come on, you can't just sit there in silence. It's dinner. Let's talk about something. How's your chemistry project coming along?" His voice had a hint of forced cheerfulness, as if he was trying to bring back some semblance of normalcy.

Lily let out a long, slow breath. "It's fine, Dad. Just like every other project. Nothing new." She didn't feel like discussing her schoolwork or pretending that everything was normal, especially not with Karen sitting there like a stranger in their home.

Karen, clearly trying to keep the conversation going, smiled and placed her fork down. "Well, I'm sure it'll turn out great. I bet you get all your brains from your dad. He's brilliant at what he does."

Lily couldn't help it. The words hung in the air too long for her to ignore. She finally looked up, meeting Karen's gaze, though her voice was laced with sharpness she hadn't intended. "I don't think that's something we should be talking about," she said, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Her dad's face stiffened at her response, clearly uncomfortable. "Lily, let's not get into this tonight, okay? We're just having dinner as a family, remember?"

Lily's heart pounded in her chest, and the frustration she'd been trying to keep buried bubbled to the surface. "Family?" she echoed, incredulously. She could feel the bitterness creeping into her voice. "This doesn't feel like family. Not when everything's changing and I don't even know who half the people in this room are anymore."

Her dad's face darkened, but Karen quickly jumped in, her voice calm but insistent. "Lily, I know this is all a big adjustment for you. But we're just trying to get to know each other better. I'm not trying to replace your mom, and I never want to make things awkward between us." She smiled again, this time with an edge of something Lily couldn't quite place.

Lily felt her skin prickle with irritation. It wasn't Karen's place to make promises about what she could or couldn't do with their family. And the more Karen tried to smooth things over, the more Lily felt the growing distance between her and the life she once knew.