haunted house

You smoothed your pants as you sat swearing in your mind as you did so since you weren't wearing a skirt or dress. Dad didn't notice but Erin did and bit her lip trying not to laugh only to fail. The more you tried not to laugh the more you found it funny and finally gave in. "What's so funny?"

"Just...girl stuff." You said as you scooped up corn on your spoon.

Kyle rolled his eyes and your dad tried not to act like he was examining you. The sound of silverware scraping against porcelain plates filled the silent house. Your dad was never one for conversation at the dinner table, preferring instead to eat in silence with few grunts here and there unless you were in trouble. Mom was usually the one who wielded the dinner conversation like an elegant swordsman, beautiful yet sharp even in good humor. You could see the question still lingered in his eye. 'How did I miss it?'. Only last year you sat across from your father in your usual gym shorts and tank-top wondering if your grades were going to be good enough to get the car he promised you. If you were honest with him, and you wanted to be, you wondered how you missed it yourself. "The chicken's good." You finally said breaking the silence.

"Thank you." He closed his eyes for a moment, "I got the recipe outta one of your mo-out of a cookbook."

"Hmm, I don't remember it."

The scraping and clanking of dishware once again filled up the room. "So tell me about your job."

"It's just stocking products right now," You shrugged into the silence, Erin watching like a tennis spectator, Kyle picking at his chicken, "Well I mean if I play my cards right I could start doing makeovers in a month or so."

"Does it pay more?"

"Not much more, but I get to keep my tips so..."

He smiled briefly, "And your employer? No issues?"

"No more than usual I imagine. It's my first job, don't really have a lot to compare it to."

"I know...The girl I talked to, Mary, is she nice as well?"

"Yeah, she helped me a lot." Turning to Erin you smiled excitedly, "Oh, yeah. She showed me this trick with eyeliner and a napkin, it is a lifesaver!"

"Oh is that where you-"

"Yeah! You know it?"

"I never tried though."

"I'll show you!"

Erin wiped a pretend tear from her eye, "My sister's all grown up."

"The teacher has become the student." Kyle laughed with a mouth full of food.

"Ew!"

"God almighty, close your mouth dude!"

"It's like a trash compactor threw up."

"So's your face." Kyle spat some of the remaining food as he spoke.

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Boy," For a moment you jumped hearing the edge in your father's voice. "swallow if you're gonna talk." but just like that it was gone.

"Yes, sir." He rolled his eyes making a big production of swallowing before showing his now empty mouth. Dad shook his head with a halfhearted smile.

The dinner was now filled with sporadic conversations jumping from one to another at random. All the while you tried to avoid looking at your mother's still empty chair. Like a ghost, it stayed in the periphery of your vision no matter where the conversation took you.

After the plates were cleared you placed the dishes in the dishwasher, "Well this is new." Your father slides his plate in.

"What?"

"You never did the dishes before."

Shrugging you continue placing more dishes from the sink, "Tom's mom was nice enough to let me stay rent-free so I figured I should do something." He nodded, seeming to want to comment but let it pass, and walked back into the living room with Kyle. You, of course, knew what he wanted to say. How long could he go without some unnecessary criticism? Was it worth waiting for? You sighed and finished loading the dishwasher and stood in the kitchen looking into the living room. Kyle and your dad were watching a game show and Erin had fled to her room.

You slipped silently down the hall and into Erin's room, finding her laying on her bed watching her own program, which she mutes. "Girl or not you still need to knock."

"Sorry."

"Basic manners, Kara." She wasn't mad but she had always had an issue with anyone just walking into her room.

"I know, I forgot."

She half-smiled as she sat up on the bed, "What's up, Schrodinger?"

You sat in the empty space next to her with a sigh, "I'm definitely in a box."

She nodded slowly before reaching across the bed to her lamp. Lifting it she revealed a false bottom with a small box of Oreos, "So what was it like living with Tom?" offering some to you.

"Not very different from here," taking a cookie you chuckle, "one night she asked if I was on my period cause I cried over an allergy commercial."

Erin snorted and fell into the bed and laughed for a minute before sitting back up slowly and taking another cookie, "Well count yourself lucky."

"Kinda like someone with no foot is lucky they can't stub their toe."

"What about Tom?"

"Tom's fine."

"I meant-"

"I know." sighing you broke an oreo open and crunched the side that had the most filling, "We haven't done anything like that."

"Do you want to?"

"Of course I do. I love him. It's just...