riptide

Chapter 6.

“Kat! We’re home now. Sorry for the delay, your Dad was stuck at work and I had to go pick him up. Anyways did you-‘’ she stops before emitting a piercing shriek. “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” She cries, gesturing towards my feet.

“Who, this? It’s my new friend Ellie!” I say, signaling to the golden retriever that lies sprawling across the floor next to me. Ellie perks her head up at the sound of Mom’s shriek, but quickly goes back to her placid state before resting her head back on the floor.

“Kat this isn’t funny! I don’t have time for a dog. You don’t have time for a dog.” She exhales heavily before running her hands over her face. “Why, Kat. Just, why?”

“Well, I was picking up dinner and I happened to see a place that read shelter. I wasn’t planning on getting her, I swear. But when I looked into her eyes, I knew that she was mine. Plus, I’ve been feeling a little lonely myself. It’s hard being an only child.”

I watch as Mom’s eyes soften a bit. I can tell she’s waging a silent war in her head, debating whether or not I should dispose of Ellie. She sighs before answering.

“Kat, I’m very angry with you right now. It’s only been what, a week since we moved here and you’ve already done something like this?” She pauses, and glances down at Ellie, who has now fallen asleep and is lightly snoring. “But, I mean, I guess this isn’t too tricky of a task to handle. I guess if you are feeling lonely, then I can’t deny you one gateway of happiness. But still, you’re responsible for…Ellie,” she says, testing the name on her tongue.

I quickly stand up, giving Mom a hug. She seems taken aback by this, not used to me displaying affection.

“Thanks Mom, really,” I mumble into her hair. She gives me a tight squeeze before bending down to pat Ellie’s head.

“Kat, what the hell?” I hear Dad ask as he enters the kitchen.

Looks like I have some explaining to do.

~

 

After receiving a lecture about how I can’t go making spur of the minute decisions, I head to my room to finish my homework. I pull out my notebook, which contains all my assignments, and read them over. Lucky for me, I don’t have much to do. A couple worksheets for math, a paper for science, and of course, the English project with Taryn.

After completing my math and science assignments, I switch on my phone to call Taryn regarding the paper. I notice that I have one new text from Ashley.

“Hey. Can you call me when you get this? Nothing is wrong, I just want to talk. We didn’t get much time in lunch today, and I want to get to know you better.”

I immediately hit Ashley’s contact and call her. The phone begins to ring for a while. Just when I think the call will go into voicemail, I hear Ashley’s voice.

“Hey! Sorry, I didn’t hear my phone going. I was all the way across the hall and I heard a buzz so I ran as fast as possible, which for me, is a monumental moment.” I laugh, noticing how out of breath she sounds.

“Anyways, so you wanted to talk?” I ask.

“Yeah! Well, I basically just wanted to tell you my view on the school and stuff. I recommend having a different angle than just Taryn’s.”

“Ah, I see. Well go ahead, I’m listening.”

“Where do I begin?” She ponders. “Well, I guess I’ll start with me. I’m your basic girl. Nothing special really. I play varsity soccer and am on swim team. I’ve had one boyfriend, Cody, he was decent, but we broke up.”