It would not do much to keep her out of the mental ward if, within twenty-four hours of her arrival, her hosts wound up in traction.
Tana stood up. She tugged at the hem of her yellow t-shirt to pull it back into place. She finally caught Jordan’s eyes as she leaned against the kitchen counter, mirroring her sister at the table.
Daphne backed towards the doorway of Tana’s room and wondered if she had an excuse to duck out entirely. She wished she had been on the other side of the room when Tana stood up, because she wasn’t going to fake a need for the bathroom now.
From where she was standing, even at five-foot-nothing, Tana might as well have been a towering giant. Her strawberry blonde hair shining like a fiery beacon in the mid-afternoon light. How soon after they arrived did Tana know she was pissing off her sister? Was she doing it on purpose, or was she that oblivious?
Daphne’s cousins stared at each other. Jordan, incredulous. Tana, defiant.
Deep in her subconscious, Daphne wondered if this was how fights back home with her mother looked to an outside observer.
At last, Tana said, “Is there a problem?”
A chill snapped down Daphne’s spine with a shudder, dangerously close to waking up her darker side.
“Tana…” Daphne started.
But before she could make any awkward attempts as diffusing the situation, Jordan cut in, saying, “I told you to ask before you invite people over from now on.”
Tana scoffed and her mouth hung open. “It’s just Grant, Callie and Marissa. Maybe Taylor, but he’s probably working.”
“It’s not a question of who–”
“What is it then?” Tana interrupted. “You’ve never had a problem before.”
Jordan’s arm gestured in a wide arch at Daphne as she said, “There are more people in this house now. Have you considered that?”
Tana’s hazel eyes flashed with fury. “Daphne is the reason I’m having a party!”
Oh, oh god…
Daphne’s stomach dropped. This had all been about her. Her desperation to end the rising tension launched her forward, the action difficult on her shaky legs.
She said, “We’ll cancel the party. I’ll meet your friends some other day.”