Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Daph! Daph!” I yelled, catching the gap between songs, making her jerk hard and turn around, eyes wide.
“Knock much?” she yelled back as she stabbed her finger into her phone, making the speaker across the room silence.
“I did knock,” I told her as I looked at what was a younger version of myself.
The same black hair, the same hazel eyes, the delicate features that meant she would be carded for several years longer than a lot of her peers.
She was perhaps a little more petite, almost fragile-looking, even if her baggy pants hid some of that.
The crop top made me pray she’d put that on when she’d gotten home, and not that she’d worn it under the perfectly appropriate sweater she’d had on when she’d left for school.
I’d never needed to hide my clothes from a father that didn’t care. But I’d been friends with lots of girls who had protective parents, so they’d layered demure clothes over their more scandalous clothes then stripped in the woods next to the high school before going in.
“What?” she asked when I just stood there.
It was then that I glanced down at her bed.
Her bedroom used to be a baby pink with white and purple accents, her favorite colors as a little girl. Just before her last birthday, she’d asked to redecorate. Which included white walls, white linen bedding, and a makeup vanity.
While I understood she was growing up, it kind of gutted me a bit to see the last traces of my little girl disappearing.
On the bed was the big leather weekender bag she’d asked me for Christmas.
Normally, I was wholly anti-sleepovers after seeing a documentary on the statistics of sexual assaults on girls who slept over at friends’ houses. From the dads, brothers, neighbors, or even friends of the family that happened to be around.
But Daphne’s best friend had two moms and no men around to worry about. So I’d finally loosened the reins just a little bit and let her start staying over once in a while. Just not as often as I allowed her friend, Allie, to sleep over at our place.
“What’s this?” I asked, looking at the bag.
“I’m staying with Allie this weekend, remember?”
Oh, I did not remember. Namely because she’d never mentioned it. Sometimes my kid liked to think that my ability to constantly forget to buy milk when we were out or refill the toilet paper in the bathroom meant that my memory was shot.
It was just that I forgot the little things to make room for all of the bigger stuff.
Everything having to do with Daphne was big stuff. I wouldn’t have forgotten her requesting to sleep over Allie’s place.
But this felt like yet another situation where I probably needed to choose my battles.
I knew Allie’s place was a safe space. I was friends with Allie’s moms. We were all on the same page on just about everything. What did it matter if she wanted to have some time with her friend?
“First, you didn’t tell me, let alone ask,” I said, not wanting her to think she was getting something over on me. “Second, that’s fine. But I want you home for dinner on Sunday.”
There was a split second where surprise was clear on her pretty face before she banked it down.
“Okay,” she said, nodding.
“Don’t forget your retainer,” I reminded her, knowing she hated the thing, especially around other people. “You don’t want to have to do the braces again, right?” I added, making her sigh and move past me to go get it out of the hall bathroom.
She could probably go a night or two without the thing. But I still had another year to go to pay off the braces, so I was a little sore about the topic still.
“Do you want me to drop you off at Allie’s?” I asked.
“Can I walk?” she asked, tossing the retainer case into her bag, then sealing it up.
I wanted to say no. I hated her walking anywhere.
But she was sixteen.
She was going to be driving soon. God knows where she’d be going then. At least I knew that Allie lived just two streets away.
“Alright,” I agreed. “Don’t forget your charger,” I said, nodding toward where it was still plugged in near the bed.
I was in the kitchen brewing some coffee when she came back out, slipping into her shoes, and grabbing her keys.
“Okay. I’m going,” she said.
“Text me when you get there,” I demanded.
“Okay.”
“Love you,” I said, giving her a smile.
“You too,” she said, making me miss the days when she would give me a hug before she left.
It’s just temporary, Allie’s mom had insisted when I’d been a little weepy over ice cream one night when the girls had first skipped out on the game and movie night that had been our tradition for years. They’re just trying on the clothes of grown-ups. As soon as they are actual adults, they will be running back to us to beg for advice or comfort. It won’t be like this for long.