I leaned over and started serving myself some food, and my sisters did too. Soon my plate was full with both salad and pasta, though I left the dressing out. I took a bite. The salad was ok, but didn’t taste very fresh. We all ate, silence filling the air.

“So, girls,” Dad started, trying to break the quiet. “How was school?”

“Dad, it’s a Saturday,” Ash pointed out, rolling her eyes. 

“Oh, right.” He stared awkwardly at his plate. More silence. “Um, Irene, honey, how’s work?” Dad asked, quickly taking a bite of pasta.

“Well, I’ve been working on Ms. Miller’s garden this past month, and today I just planted carrots. I’m going to start on cabbage on Monday.”

“Nice. Did she ask for any flowers?”

“No, just fruits and vegetables. I’ve been getting a lot of client requests, so I might have to expand my team. Actually, I’m going to be out all day tomorrow doing interviews,” Mom added. Dad nodded.

“I’ll be home tomorrow, but I’ve got a lot of tracks to edit so I’ll be holed up in my studio.” He said. “There’s this new singer who just signed with Beatz Music and is pumping out a lot of songs, so I’ve got my work cut out for me in editing them all.” The conversation fizzled out, and once again, all that was heard was the sound of forks against plates. I had just finished my salad and moved onto the pasta.

“Ash, you should take your headphones out,” Eve said. “It’s disrespectful to the family.”

Ash ignored her.

“I know you can hear me, you literally just responded to Dad a few minutes ago.”

Ash continued to stare at her phone. 

“First you steal my graphing calculator, and now you're ignoring me?” Eve scoffed. Ash looked up. She slowly took out her earbuds. Uh oh. 

“You know what’s funny? Not you, so shut up.” Ash said. 

“Don’t tell me to shut up,” Eve retorted, her face flushed.

“I just did, deal with it.”

“Why are you always so mean to everyone? Can’t you be like Hazel, running off chasing unicorns and fairies and whatnot?” Eve retorted.

“Hey! Fairies are awesome!” Hazel pouted.

“To a three-year-old, maybe” Ash said.

“I’m nine!”

“You act like a three-year-old.”

“Well, you...you act like a grumpy troll!” Hazel said, earning a snort from Eve.

“She’s right,” Eve added. “You’re always ignoring people, making rude comments or painting in your room for hours.”

“At least I have good comebacks,” said Ash. As their voices grew louder, I’d had enough. 

“You guys are always fighting, can’t you just let us have a peaceful dinner for once?” I interjected. They all turned to me, like a wolf pack who had just spotted it’s prey.

“Rude! You’re—”

“Not fair! I—”

“She started it—”

“Don’t, Waverly!”

“Ughh, I hate—”

“Stop it! You’re so—”

“ENOUGH!” Mom shouted, banging her fist on the table. We fell silent. “You’re sisters, for god’s sake! And now, you’re all grounded. Go to your rooms until you figure out how to get along.”

“But—”

“Now!”