Slenderman's Daughter (Remake)

Dinnertime

I sit at the table, eating an 'American Taco'- wrapped up in a warmish tortilla, a serving of white jasmine rice, canned beans, tomatoes, guac, shredded cheese and plain beaf. This is a classic family dinner, with my younger sister sitting on her knees at the table, my parents urging us to discuss random things, and me trying not to complain about how sick I am of 'American Tacos' and trying not to ask "can I be excused" too many times.

"Ella, can you PLEASE just sit on your butt?" I finally ask after being annoyed for nearly the whole dinner.

"Wow Ellie, you were so close," says my mom. "You nearly didn't ask her!"

"No, I'm not sitting on my butt," my sister says.

I know my sister is trying to annoy me by pretending that she's 'taller than me'. She claims that she is just doing it to reach everything on the table, but I know for a fact that the table is low enough and the chairs are high enough for even a 5 year old to be able to sit comfortably. I sigh and roll my eyes, trying to just pay attention to my plate and breaking taco.

"So, does anyone want to tell me about their days at school?" my mom asks for about the umpteenth time today. My sister and I both ignore her, until she eventually starts talking again. "You know, if you guys keep ignoring me, then I'll take away your phones."

"NO!" my sister and I both yell in unison. I hate to admit it, but I'm pretty attached to my phone. It's literally one of the only things that I can really enjoy. However, my sister just got a new phone, so I dare say that she is even more obsessed with it than I am.

"Alright. So, which one of you wants to go first?"

My sister immediately blasts into telling my mom about random things at school- friendships, classes, etc. She flashes me a look during her speech saying: haha, I went first and you are going last. To be honest, I didn't really care that she went first- it just gives me more time to prepare what I'll say about school today to protect my beloved phone.

Once my sister is finally done, I highlight a few facts about how we played with ice in science to see how long it takes to melt, read a story in Latin, literally just learnt some vocab in Spanish, etc. I assumed that it would be enough to at least end the conversation. However, as I was just finishing about how we won capture the flag in PE, my sister interrupted me, saying how she is 'first place in Duolingo!' I flash her a dangerous look, but she just ignores me.

"Ella!" I yell. "You freaking interrupted me! Like, what the heck? I was literally in the MIDDLE OF TALKING!"

"Jeez, calm down," she says.

"OH MY FREAKING GO-"

"HEY!" my mom interrupts both of us. "NO YELLING!"

"Mom, you're LITERALLY yelling too," my sister says, practically threatening my mom to take away all of our hopes and dreams.

"I'm NOT yelling," my mom says, in a considerably calmer voice than before.

"You literally just were," I whisper to myself.

My mom glares at my sister and then continues eating. I notice my dad stifling a laugh, and then he whispers to my sister that 'mom gets like that sometimes'. My mom shifts her killer stare to my dad, and then returns to filling up another taco.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, I ask carefully with a very calm voice, "may I please be excused?"

"No," my mom says, very simply and calmly.

"But... what else are we going to talk about? School?" I ask.

"Sure," my mom replies. "Do you have something to say about school? We can talk about it if you want."

I roll my eyes. "Shut up," I quietly mutter.

My mom practically explodes.

"SHUT UP? DO YOU REALLY WANT YOUR PHONES TAKEN AWAY? FINE," she screams.

"NO!" my sister exclaims. "NO THAT'S SO STUPID WHATTHEHECKMOM?" she bursts into tears and mumbles things super fast like "IhateyoumylifesucksIhatemylife" and "you'resoannoyinglikeweonlyhadonechancelike*sob*whattheheck."

I groan and bash my head quietly on the table. I don't cry, though. After all, it's just one night.

"I HATE YOU MOM! I'M LEAVING!" my sister starts to walk away from the table.

"ELLA ERSTEN!" My mom explains. "SIT YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW, OR I'LL TAKE AWAY YOUR PHONE ANOTHER NIGHT. ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW WHAT? I WILL."

"BRO!" I exclaim. "REALLY? DON'T FREAKING SWEAR."

"I'M NOT SWEARING! WANT TO GO FOR ANOTHER NIGHT? I HAVE NO PROBLEM TAKING AWAY YOUR PHONES EVEN LONGER!"

My sister sobs. "I hate this family," she says between sniffles.

I know that she's being a bit overdramatic, but still. I can't help but have to stifle a sniffle too.

After the many long of what seem like hours, we're finally excused from the dinner table. "Thanks for dinner," I mumble quietly to my parents. And then to my sister, "Thanks a lot, idiot."

And with that, I slip on my shoes and walk outside.