Charlie pushed the broccoli around on her plate using her fork to break off a few green bits here and there. She kept her eyes down, concentrating on keeping the creamy yellow sauce oozing around the chicken from contaminating the white space where the roasted red potatoes lay mushed together in a small mountain. This was normally one of her favorite dishes, but today everything tasted like cardboard. Each bite took an eternity to chew and she had to gulp down gobs of milk to swallow. All she wanted was for dinner to be over so she could go hide in her room. Maybe crawl into bed, even though it was only seven. She could tell her dad her stomach hurt. Well, it actually did, but she knew why.
She also knew she wasn’t fooling anyone.
Her dad had tried to make conversation. How was her day? Did she do well on her Spanish test last week? Did she want to rent that house in Tahoe again this summer for vacation? She answered him with yes or no and wouldn’t meet his eyes.
After clearing his throat a few times, her father finally set down his fork.
“Honey? Is something bothering you? You haven’t seemed like yourself the past few weeks.”
It felt like she couldn’t swallow. She opened her mouth to tell her dad everything but then immediately shut it. How could she possibly explain what Ellie wanted to do? And how she’d ruined everything by leaving the sleepover that night.
Even if her dad wasn’t mad at her, he might not ever let her go to a sleepover at Ellie’s house again. That is, if they made up. If Ellie and Sienna let her be their friend again.
She’d always been able to confide in her dad. He always managed to make her feel better. But this might be too much. Staring at her plate of food, the colors began to blur and then a drop of water splashed on her potatoes.
Without realizing it, she had started to cry.
Her dad pushed back his chair and came over to her, gently pulling her hands until she stood up. He pulled her close to him and she buried her face in his soft tee shirt and wept. When she was done, they left the dishes on the table and went out on the front porch where they sat on the swing. She swung her legs and stared at the bird feeder and told him everything.