Riptides

Chapter 1

"BROOKE! ARE YOU READY TO GO?" My mother hollers from downstairs, her voice loud enough for the neighbors to hear.

"Um, maybe?" I answer, and I'm able to hear her frustrated exhale from my room.

"Seriously Brooke? I don't know what this is but it's definitely not what I call ready." She says while picking up a bra from the pile of clothes dumped on my suitcase.

I pull my covers over my face and snuggle back into my warm bed.

"How mature of you," She comments, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

I feel a dip in my mattress and she pries the covers from my hands.

"I know you don't want to go. I understand how hard this must be for you. But I have to be in Paris all summer for work and as much as I wish I could, I'm not able to bring you along. I'm hoping that you can use these next couple of months to mend your relationship with your father. I know he really wants to see you."

Internally, i'm furious. How can she defend him after all the pain he put her through?

"He left us, Mom. How can you expect me to forgive him?" I ask.

"You don't have to forgive him, but I need you to give him a chance. Family is everything, Brooke, you'll realize that when you grow up. I just don't want you to regret anything."

As much as I hate to admit it, she's right as per usual. While I may not have much love for my father at the moment, I'm not going to let myself regret not trying to fix things with him. That will only lead to more misery, on both of our parts.

"I guess I should get packing then," I chuckle, watching my mom bite her lip to avoid laughing.

She gets up and begins to walk out of my room. Before she leaves, she looks back at me and her lips form a wide smile.

This last year has been hard on both of us. After my dad left, my mom was heartbroken. Even though they didn't love each other anymore I knew that she took it really hard. It must be difficult, thinking you'll spend the rest of your life with someone, only for it to end in fighting, tears and divorce papers.

Although, there was one good thing that came out of it. Since I'm an only child, I was the only one who was there for my mom through it all and it lead to our relationship becoming as strong as steel. She's one of the only people I can trust, along with my two best friends, Alissa and Verity.

We've all been friends since the start of high school, when we collided with each other on the first day of school and ended up with Verity's smoothie in our hair. While not completely ideal, it ended up in gaining two friends and Verity convinced that trying to be healthy only leads to bad things, something she's still certain of to this day.

I hear my phone bleep indicating I've received a message. I press the home screen and I'm met with a text from Verity on our group chat: ride or dies.

Verity: have u gotten out of visiting your dad this summer?

Me: nope, still going

Verity: damn girl, we were gonna have so much fun

Alissa: shut up verity, it's important for brooke to spend time with her dad

Verity: no, u shut up lmao

Me: how about you both shut up. you're giving me a headache

Alissa: love you too B

I smile at my phone before turning it off. As much as they get on my nerves sometimes, I honestly couldn't ask for better friends. They were there for me when my dad left, when I got dumped or any other time I needed them.
It's gonna be hard not seeing them for the whole summer.

———

"Are you sure that dog is okay back there?" My father asks me, making this the second time we've spoken to each other on the 2 and a half hour drive.

"Yeah, Bailey usually sits in the trunk when we go places." I answer, glancing back at the young golden retriever who practically drips goofiness. Mom got him two weeks after dad left. I assume it was a distraction for me but I wouldn't be surprised if it had an ulterior motive; Dad would never let me get a dog, despite my begging.

"Right. Just checking," He says, before we resume back into silence.

I notice him glancing at me every so often, looking as if he's debating trying to start a conversation with me. He obviously decides against it, since we don't speak again until we arrive.

"This is your place?" I ask, astonished. It's tight on the water, with a deck on the back of the house that has stairs going down to the sandy beach. It's open and airy, with massive windows letting in large amounts of natural light. The exterior of the house is painted a light grey with a large white door and white window frames. It's honestly quite beautiful.

But it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. He's been here for the past year, while we were nearly kicked out of our house barely able to keep paying the mortgage.

"Wow, no wonder you left," I said, trying to joke, but it came out laced with venom and I see my father wince with guilt.

"Brooke, me leaving had nothing to do with you. You have no idea how much I love you."

"Really? I think I have a pretty good idea considering you didn't visit me ONCE in the past year." I say, bitterly.

"I'm sorry, I should've," he shakes his head, "Everything was just a little complicated with your mother and I, since we hadn't really finalized the divorce yet."

"If you really loved me as much as you claim to, then you would've made time to see me at least once, instead of using crappy excuses to justify not seeing your own daughter for a year."

"Brooke-"

He tries to reason with me, but I'm already running up the stairs, trying to find the guest room. I'm not going to argue with him any longer, I can't fight with him any more. I had already begun to feel the awful sensation in my throat indicating that I was on the verge of tears and I'm not going to let myself cry.

At least not on the very first day of summer.

- - -

A/N: Hey guys, thank you so much for reading all the way through the first chapter. Also thank you for giving my book a chance, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed it and any feedback is appreciated.