Seashells {Belmont 1}

Chapter 5

I'm so excited for this chapter! You'll meet Helena and some of Dean's friends! I'm already planning a spinoff for this book and making it a series. Can you guess who the spin off will be about? Helena is the gif!

IMPORTANT: I entered this in the Wattys awards so please make sure to show your support! Please spread the word if you know someone who will be interested in this story. Thank you!

Enjoy! -DANA

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Warm water runs down my back to my legs, covering me in warmth. My toes curl in delight at the feel of a nice shower early in the morning. Well, not so early. More like an hour until noon is more like it. Grabbing the pink shower luffa, I pour body wash onto it as my phone switches to the eighties song Dancing with Myself. I laugh to myself before starting to sing along and do a little dance as I run the luffa on my body. What I didn't plan is for the unseen little glob of body wash. My foot steps into the lavender scented wash and my body jolts forward. Gasping, both of my hands grab the title wall, the luffa being squished against the wall and my hand as suds slowly run down the white titles. Letting out a breath of relief, I soon relax and get back into the song.

Once my body is all clean I turn off the water and step out onto the rug. The light blue material soaking up the water that drips from my legs onto my feet. Taking the towel off of the counter, I wipe my body off before wrapping the white towel around my hair. Blonde locks fall against my face that failed to be captured by the towel. As I manage to wrap another towel around my body I notice my phone switch to another song—one of my mom's favorite songs. Ignoring the coincidence, I pick up the phone and notice the ache in my chest soothe into warmth. Instead of remembering my mom's passing, images of her dancing around the kitchen with my little hands in hers as she swirls us to the beat of the song. My hand curls against my chest as the phone holds the phone tighter. I close my eyes as I walk out into my room. The temperature difference causes goosebumps to prickle my skin. As the memory of Mom twirling me around the kitchen, I soon find myself doing the same in all of my towel wearing glory.

The song soon comes to an end as I abruptly stop my spinning which is a bad idea in and of itself. My arms flail out as I try to stop myself from crashing down to the floor. I allow my eyes to clear before tossing my phone on the bed and pulling out a pair of black shorts and a dark purple tank top. Grabbing my purse, I make sure to put my phone inside before getting my book and placing it into my purse. Throwing my hair up in a half ponytail, I slide my feet into a pair of flip flops before walking out of my room. I lock the door behind me and place the key into my back pocket. As I reach the bottom step I see a woman typing on a laptop set up on the counter where check in is.

"Are you Jenna Andrews?" I ask the woman as I walk closer to the counter.

The woman's eyes leave the laptop screen and settle on my face. Her light pink lips curve in a small smile. "Hi! Um, yes I'm Jenna and you're Emily McCarty."

Nodding, I find myself smiling at Jenna. "Yup, that would be me."

Jenna swirls in her chair and rests her elbows on the counter, her heads falling into her palms. "You look just like your mother." It takes me a few seconds to respond or to think of something to say. A simply thank you is appropriate but my mouth doesn't seem to be working at the moment. Noticing my silence, Jenna seems to become frantic. "Oh, um, I-I'm sorry. I know how much of a hard time you've been dealing with her death." Again, I don't say anything. It's not for the lack of trying though because Jenna seems to be freaking out more than I am. The brunette woman curses, "I'm digging myself a deeper hole. Um, how was your room? Everything alright?"