Confrontation
Ella lies on her bed above the covers. Her legs dangle over the side of the bed. She stares upward, and when she speaks, it is as if she is talking to the ceiling. She is visibly upset, but she speaks clearly.

Ella: It's the same thing all the time. He just doesn't get it. I try not to get angry, but it just happens sometimes. It seems like I can't even be responsible for my own feelings with him. And for some reason, he doesn't get that. If I could control myself better, I would. What right does he have to get mad at me for being upset? It's what he says that makes me that way. It always happens when I try to bring something up. Why do I even try anymore? Sometimes everything goes well, but other times I know there's going to be a problem. And those times, I'm scared to try, but I know that if I don't, there's all these pent up feelings inside me. I wish I could tell better which points are worth it to argue and which ones I just have to let go. That's my problem. I have trouble letting go. Even when it gets me in more trouble, I just have to go and try to get my point across. And by that point, my idea is barely heard because of all the emotions going on between us. I just wish there was some way to make it stop. This time it started out simple enough, but like it always seems to, it escalated to the point where I couldn't take it.

The scene fades out. When the lights come in, Ella, her mother Lois, and her father Jack are sitting at a dining room table eating dinner. The scene is a memory, and things are exaggerated to fit Ella's point of view.

Ella: (somewhat annoyed) Dad, why didn't you tell me we were going to New Jersey this weekend?

Jack: We're going this weekend? Where did you get that idea?

Lois: I told her. I thought we were going!

Jack: When did we discuss that?

Lois: (dejected) I guess we didn't.

Jack: Then why did you tell Ella that we were going? Did you just make it up in your head, or did you just assume?

Ella gets an exasperated look, as if thinking "Here it goes again".

Lois: I don't remember.

Jack: You can't keep doing that. Don't just make up decisions without consulting anybody. You can't just assume that everyone knows what you're thinking!

Lois: Okay.

Ella: Um, does this mean that we're not going?

Jack: (snaps) Please don't butt in.

Ella: But I'm the one who asked the question first! It's my conversation too!

Lois: Jack, let her talk.

Jack: I don't know if we're going yet. You'll just have to wait until we know what's happening on Saturday.

Ella: Well then can I make plans with friends for Saturday?

Jack: You need to give us more advance than that. We were already planning to go to New Jersey this weekend.

Ella: (exasperated) That's what I asked you in the first place, and you said that you didn't know!

Lois: Well, we had been planning on it, we just didn't know whether anything would come up.

Jack: As far as doing something with friends, you can't just schedule something a few days in advance. You have to ask us ahead of time and then make plans, not just ask permission a few days beforehand.

Ella: (angry by this point) But that's what you're doing! You wont give me notice as to when we're going somewhere, and you expect me to just leave my whole weekend open until you decide? That's not fair!

Jack: Don't use that tone -

Ella: (cutting him off) I have a life outside of this family! I can't be expected to not make plans just because you haven't gotten around to making yours yet!

Jack: (angry) Don't interrupt me!

Ella: (not very remorseful) Sorry.

Jack: If you were sorry, you wouldn't let this happen! You have to learn to control yourself.

Ella: I try, okay? I try, but when you upset my I can't help it!

Jack: You have no control over your emotions? Or when words come out of your mouth?

Ella: (very angrily) Not when you make me this upset!

Everyone is silent for a few moments.

Lois: (as if nothing had happened) Jack, could you pass the salad?

He passes it to Lois and begins eating again. Ella pokes at her food, no longer hungry. She is quite upset, and has to restrain herself from yelling at her father or crying. After a few moments, Jack puts his fork down and gets up, leaving his empty plate on the table. He walks into the living room.

Ella: (somewhat quietly) He leaves his plate on the table yet he gets mad when we do the same. I don't get it.

Lois looks at her, but does not respond.

Ella: Mom, was I really in the wrong? Is it just me, or was he being really harsh about it?

Lois: He was being harsh. But you have to know when to let a point go. If you keep going, he just gets more and more angry. You have to pick your fights.

Ella: (sadly) I know. I just don't know how.

Lois: Don't keep bringing the same thing up. He won't change his mind about it.

Ella does not respond, but she gets up and puts her father's plate and her own in the dishwasher. The scene fades out as she walks upstairs. When it comes back in, Ella is on her bed. It is the present, no longer a memory.

Ella: I thought she was on my side. Usually I defend her when the two of them argue, she used to do the same for me. But now he's worse and I don't know if it's just him anymore. It's me too. Maybe that's why she didn't defend me. But how much of what I'm doing is wrong? How much of it is my fault? It seems like it's all his fault, but I don't know anymore. All I know is how much it hurts. I love both of them, and I know they love me, but sometimes I just think that they don't understand. They don't understand how I feel. And that makes it even harder to talk to them. I can't seem to get them to understand where I'm coming from, and it frustrates me so much. Whenever we argue, it just opens up old wounds again. And each time, it's just a little bit worse. If this keeps happening, I don't know if I can take it for long.

She is silent, and the scene fades out.