It's been a while...

It's been a looooong time since I posted. Having 2 babies and working from home with them means I haven't been able to keep up my 5 Word Wednesday habit. But I wrote this little story below as part of a challenge for a FB group I'm part of, and man, it was so good to get back to these! Perhaps I'll try and carve out time for more as we go along. 

scissors
blue
elegant
fortunate
dead

Riley Atkins wished she was dead.

Turning to the side, she looked over her shoulder into the full length mirror tacked to the back of the bathroom door. The mirror was crooked; her father had nailed it that way accidentally when he put it up after her mom left. It was fitting; a crooked reflection of a crooked life. Riley hadn’t bothered telling him to fix it.

Sighing, she stared at her reflection, the royal blue satin of her dress like ocean against her skin. It was a simple dress. Tacky, if she was being honest, with lace appliques on the sides. But it was all her dad could afford. Seems her mom leaving wasn’t enough unless she robbed her dad of half his money. The royal blue dress had been on sale at the department store in the mall. And she wished she had the skills of Molly Ringwald and could get a pair of scissors and make her own statement dress. But no. Huffing out a sigh, Riley turned from her reflection and went downstairs. She had imagined looking so elegant and alluring for her prom. But no. Plain and slightly tacky. That was what she got. Nothing more for Riley Atkins. Seems her good fortune ended way back in seventh grade when she’d finally lost her baby fat and gotten her braces off.

Glancing at the hall clock, she said goodbye to her dad, who insisted taking pictures, which she gladly allowed because her dad needed a win, even if the win was her in this oh-gosh-it’s-horrid dress. Stepping onto the porch, she noticed Jase pulling up right as she closed the door behind her. Not all luck had run out; she was fortunate she even had a date. And Jase asking two weeks ago had been a shock.

As was his apparel now. Riley’s stomach bottomed out as he headed up her sidewalk, dressed in jeans. 

And a t-shirt. 

He was going to dump her. Right here on her porch: stand her up and leave her stranded on prom night. 

But then he grinned. “I was thinking,” he said. “Prom is overrated. And my tux made me feel like an idiot.” His grin broadened. “If we leave now, we could drive to Beaumont and watch the sunset. I know a great place to get tacos on the way. You in?”

His words landed in her ears and traveled somewhere deep inside her, where they settled over the pain the past year had been. She blinked, swallowed, and smiled. Her luck was about to start getting better. “I’m in.”