Riptide

20

Woah. 3664 reads. 3664 reads. I'm crying. I never, ever,ever,ever,ever,ever x300 ever thought this would happen. This is such a big milestone and means so much to me. It makes me mad that people who get 1 million reads don't appreciate their viewers. Even a comment or favorite means so much to me. Thank you all. I would have no motivation to write if it weren't for you. I feel so special. I might give out my kik or maybe like omegle or phone number or something like that. If you'd like that or you're interested message me or something. Anyways let's get back into the swing of things, shall we :)!!!!

4 years later ~~~

I looked at the reflection of myself in the mirror. Myself as in my daughter Bethany. She was about to go to her first day of school and honestly it was pure joy. Jay was still continuing what he loved and he had started somewhat of a photography business, but we're both still modeling. Over the past 3 years, Bethany's hair has grown like crazy, and it now looks like a mix of Jay's hair color, that was very long and wavy like mine. A perfect mix. Her eyes also changed colors, which Jay and I had noticed. Sometimes it'd be my eye color, other times it'd be Jay's. We loved taking comparison pictures, especially when her eyes were Jay's color. It was magical.

"Alright, Beth." I finished brushing her hair as she sat on my lap and moved her hair around. She flipped it all around, trying to figure out a style she preferred.

"Mommy I want it straight." Beth looked up at me in the mirror and started tangling her fingers through her hair. She fussed and furrowed her brows, which were also the dark color of Jay's.  Beth turned and jumped off my lap, walking over towards her dresser. She pulled on the knob and began throwing clothes on the floor. I sighed and hunched over, wrapping a piece of hair around my ear. I sat up and trailed my way towards her, leaning down and picking up messed up clothes and hanging them on my arm.

"Baby, please don't make a mess." I kneeled down and gently folded the clothes back in, but Beth turned towards me and huffed.

"Just let me choose, Mommy." She looked at me with sad eyes, but I still didn't give in. I got up and shuffled over to the closet pulling out a nice white dress. I laid it out infront of her. I flashed a big white teeth smile and gestured over towards it, but she was not amused. She huffed and puffed but eventually pulled the dress on.

"I'm going to kindergarten, not your wedding." Even at the age of 5, Beth was sassy. I don't know who she got it from, because I was definitely not a sassy child, and I don't frame Jay as one either. I stood up and assembled her backpack. I had insisted on the one with disney princesses but she thought they were "lame" and wanted a pink studded backpack that was for middle schoolers and two sizes too big for her little body. "Alright can we, like, go?" She rolled her eyes and adjusted the strap of her backpack and exited her room. I turned off the lights and followed her down the spiral stairs and into the kitchen.

 She went on her tippy toes and grabbed her lunchbox and walked to the garage door. I grabbed the keys off the hook in the kitchen and followed behind her, grabbing my sunglasses and bag as we made our way to the garage. With her hand on the knob she looked behind her shoulder and somewhat glared at me. 

"Where's daddy?" She said, while looking me up and down.

" He went to the gym, I think. I'm not sure but you'll see him after school." I leaned forward and opened the door for her and she walked down the small steps. She walked to the other side of the SUV that Jay bought me for my birthday since he was convinced I was becoming a "soccer mom". She waited for me to unlock it, with questioning eyes. I clicked the button with the lock on the car keys and heard the click and jingle of the car. Beth and I opened the doors in unison, and I stepped in. I closed the door, followed by Beth doing the same and put on my seatbelt. 

I placed my sunglasses in the cupholder and my bag in the passenger seat. I put the key in the ignition and turned it, hearing the rumble of the car. I looked behind my shoulder and saw Beth leaning her head against the window and looking outside it thoughtfully. 

"You okay, Bethy?" I said slowly, but gently.

"I'm fine." She said while picking at her nails. I nodded my head and looked in front of me, adjusting my rear-view mirror. I backed out of the driveway and began driving into the streets we got onto the freeway and began freely driving. On the way, Beth was occasionally huffing and puffing but we managed to get here without any fights, which is a usual with us sometimes. 

~~~

I pulled into the parking lot of my old school and Beth adjusted her backpack straps and looked in the mirror. 

"Bye, Mommy." She said, popping the handle of the door and pushing it open, jumping out. 

"Wait, Beth-" The door slammed and Beth hurriedly ran inside. I sighed and put my head against the steering wheel. I came to my senses once the people behind me began to honk their horns. One of them gave me the finger, and I breathed deeply, pulling away onto the road. I was thinking at a stop-light and was interrupted when the car began ringing. I looked at the screen and Jay was calling. I clicked the phone sign on the car and started speaking to no one, hoping Jay could hear.

"Hey, baby!" I could hear Jay's voice through the monotone voice of the car.

"Hi." I said, while sighing with my hand near my mouth, biting on my fingers. 

"What's up? Where's Beth?"

"I just dropped her off at school, and I'm driving home now."

"Alright. I'll meet you at home,a'ight?" I nodded then remembered he wasn't here.

"Oh yea, sorry yea ok." I pressed the dial button and hung up. 

Oh boy.