I quietly stabbed the chicken with the fork and ate. I chewed on the lettuce like an old cow. I munched on the chips causing an annoying crackling sound. All of us silently ate and drank. It was absurd and bizzarre that Poppy didn't talk at all. She didn't even fight for the chicken leg piece.

She was dressed in her pyjamas and minion shirt. She always wore the minion shirt whenever she was unhappy and upset. According to her, the minions gave her support and encouragement. But her problems were limited to only arguing with friends or her crush getting a girlfriend. She used to recover from it soon by consuming loads of ice creams and kitkats.

Today, it was an entire different story. She was relatively quiet from the moment I arrived home. I expected her to exchange flirtaous smiles and glances with Ted but the entire time, she looked down and quietly ate whatever mum served to her. She even ate the peas and other veggies without complaining.

Mum and dad knew something was wrong with Poppy. But they chose to not ask her since Ted was present at the table too. They didn't want Poppy to break down or throw tantrums in front of Ted. She would definitely complain that her boobs weren't the size of mine and start whining about it in front of Ted. And he would join dad to cough awkwardly while mum would be busy to find the cough syrup.

I personally didn't want to be embarrassed by my little sister and if she opens up any embarrassing tale of mine in front of Ted, then get ready to be invited for my funeral. I didn't expect Ted to be shy and obedient in front of my parents. He ate whatever was served to him and politely denied excess food. I expected him to raid my fridge and hog down all the possible things a man could swallow.

Dinner was fine and my parents asked some decent questions to Ted. Most of the questions was replied by me. I could see that my mum liked Ted already since he was being humble and the lie about his background touched her heart. She praised him for his hardwork and encouraged him that no job was small.

After dinner, dad and mum cleared the table while Ted and I quietly slipped into my room. Mum told me to stay in the living room but Ted wanted to go home. And the way to his home was the closet which was in my room.

"Your sister doesn't seems the way you described her earlier. She's so silent and innocent," Ted said and I laughed.

"No, she's just the opposite. Something went wrong so she's quiet. But don't worry about her, she's probably grumbling about her celebrity crush getting married or her tiny boobs getting itchy - "

I mentally smacked my head for whatever I said. Ted raised his eyebrow and smiled amusingly.

"Abby, I..." Poppy's voice trailed and I turned around towards the entrance of my room. She stood there holding the leg of the jumbo teddy bear. Her face was red because of crying. She looked so sad and I had never seen her in this terrible condition. Something was definitely wrong and the case was serious.

"What happened?" I asked and she shook her head. Her eyes darted between Ted and me. "It's okay, you can tell me. Ted's a good friend," I assured her.

Poppy hesitated but within seconds, she ran towards me. She hugged me with so much force that I nearly fell down. I patted her back and pulled away slowly. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she struggled to wipe them.

"Tell me, what happened?" I asked softly.

She sniffed and said, her voice barely audible, "Phar tried to get physical with me."