Page 8 of Scream Little Sister

I’m a terrible person, I want to shout at her.He’s punishing me because of Mickey.

She tsks.“I may not understand, but I know things.” She eases away and forces me to look at her. “Patience, baby. He’ll come around.”

“Who will come around?” a man says from behind.

My spine straightens, and I turn. Dad stands in the kitchen’s entryway, dressed in his usual suit and tie, with his salt-and-pepper hair slicked back.

Minnie strokes my arm once before she stands to her full height. Her easygoing nature fades until only a cold expression and tense shoulders remain. I’m not sure why she changes when he’s around, but thankfully, it’s never directed toward me.They’re siblings, and my best guess is they don’t get along, like Ryder and me.

“Girl talk,” she says.

Dad frowns. “I don’t like secrets, Mary. You know that.”

Minnie forces a smile. “There are no secrets here, Jerry. Just having girl time. Unless you prefer to hear all about a man I’m seeing. Do you need some advice from Madison, too?”

Dad’s frown deepens, and he glances at me, then turns back to Minnie. “You’re getting advice from a nine-year-old?”

“She’s ten, and yes. You’d be surprised at the wealth of wisdom she has,” Minnie says.

Dad waves his hand to dismiss her. “Stop going to my daughter for nonsense advice.” He turns to me. “We need to talk.”

Those four words bring a sense of dread.

What did I do?

“Am I in trouble?” I inch closer to Minnie for protection.

Dad sighs and slips his hand into his pocket. “Don’t ask stupid questions.” He glares at Minnie. “You can leave now.”

Minnie squeezes my shoulder. “I’ll be in the other room, then.”

Dad’s head turns as he watches my aunt leave the kitchen. When she disappears around the corner, he faces me. “I have a meeting to get to, so this will be quick.”

My eyebrows pinch together. “Okay?”

“Starting today, you’ll learn how to be a proper young woman. These lessons will teach dining etiquette, poise, and dancing.” Dad checks his watch like he’d rather be at his meeting than speaking to me. “There will be a freshly pressed outfit on your bed. You’ll wear it for each of your lessons. Tim will drive you to and from these lessons. You won’t skip any of them, as I’ve already paid well in advance. Do I make myself clear?”

I don’t understand why I need lessons about things I already know. Dad taught me the difference between a salad and an entrée fork at a young age. It’s all stupid and pointless. Why can’t people eat with whatever fork they want?

I blink. “Why do I need lessons?”

Dad sighs and slips his hand back into his pocket. “Because someday you’ll become a wife to a gentleman who will require you to be a lady.”

“But I’m ten.”

“And soon you’ll be eighteen.” Dad pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and looks at the screen with a heavy sigh. “I need to go. Be ready for Tim by noon.”

Without another word, he leaves me in the kitchen.

Tim—Dad’s driver—stayed silent on the ride to the gothic mansion. The whole time, I restlessly shifted in my seat while my mind raced with thoughts about what would happen.

I never got close to understanding how stressful it would be.

The teacher—Madam Joan, as she stressed for me to address her as—is an uptight middle-aged woman with a close-cropped haircut. She also has a habit of slapping my hands with a long ruler if I do something wrong.

“That’s not how you do it,” Madam Joan snaps. Her shrill voice grates on my nerves every time she opens her mouth.

I clench my molars together until they grind as I try to curtsy while holding the skirt of my new white dress. She showed me once and now expects me to do it exactly as she did, which I’ve been doing, and she still keeps swatting my already stinging arm with that stupid ruler.