8) Free -BETHANNY-

          I sat alone in my room, watching re-runs of Friends.
     "What did I do? I should've gone with them. I shouldn't have let them go without me." I said quietly out-loud. That was so stupid of me. Alex was already mad at Toby, what would happen when they were on a pier? With deep water and sharp rocks. Don't get me wrong; I really like Jake, but he wouldn't be much help stopping a mad Alex. Alex was the kind of person who showed her emotions, but I tend to keep to myself a lot more. Nobody can really tell how I'm really feeling.
         There was a slight knock on the door.
     "Bethanny?" My mom said from the other side of the door.
     "Just come in." I said and the door opened.
     "We need to talk." She said and those words were never good to a girl who just got grounded.
     "I know you think I'm being hard on you but..." She stopped talking and came over to sit beside my on my bed. A look of sadness came across her face. I knew she was about to talk about dad.
     "Ever since your dad died, I've been trying so hard to be a good single mom. And I guess I just feel like I'm losing you." I gave my mom a look like she was crazy.
     "You'll never lose me mom; you know that." I saw a tear roll down her cheek. I hated it when my mom started to cry.
     "I know that Beth. I just want you to know that whatever happens I will always love you." Sometimes my mom could be really too sentimental. I managed a smile though.
     "And I'll always love you." She stood from my bed and she smiled too.
     "Which is why I've decided to lift your grounding." She said to me.
     "You're kidding, right?" I questioned her, but she shook her head.
     "Not hardly sweetie. Let's just say, you're free." I smiled again as she walked to the door.
     "Oh and before I forget." She turned around to face me. "Mrs.Robb called. She wanted to know if you or Alex had talked to Ashlee lately." I thought for a moment, hoping my eyes didn't get as big as they felt.
     "Not really, why?" I hated lying, but I was good at it.
     "I'm not sure. She just said that Ashlee never came back from her grandmother's the other day. You girls don't worry though, Mrs.Robb said that this happens all the time." I tried to hide my face.
     "Yeah it does." A little part of me felt like saying the truth, but I knew that was a bad idea.
     "Just let her know if you hear anything from Ashlee, okay?" I nodded and she left my room for the rest of the night.
          A couple of hours later I started to drift asleep. I was dreaming of a shipwreck, when a tap on my balcony window woke me up. At first I thought I was imagining things, but then I saw Alex standing on the balcony with Jake and Toby. Toby actually looked a little wet, which meant that they had made it to the pier.