This chapter has been beta'd by some great people over at Project Team Beta. I want to thank them for the work they did. It's good to be back, everyone! I know it's been years and I am sorry for the delay on all of my stories. Anyone who still has any of my stories on alert is a fantastic, patient person! :)
"So, Dad..." I started, then faltered. I quickly shoved a fork full of mashed potatoes into my mouth to try and buy myself some time.
Could I just casually ask the Chief to let me go across the state to an un-parented music festival with Alice? The Sasquatch music festival that was held every year had just been upgraded to the first-ever, three-day music and camping bash. I had pulled up the website accidentally while Alice and I were looking for something fun to do the summer of our graduation. It was perfect. Three days of bands that Alice and I actually liked. Well, Alice liked half of them and I liked the other half. Sometimes we compromised, but Alice's taste in music was so different than mine. That's why this music festival was perfect for us.
I glanced up from my plate of food and Charlie was staring at me while chewing.
Oh, god. He was going to say no. All of my graduation plans would be laid to rest. I chickened out.
"Um. How was your day?" Fail. Ultimate fail.
Alice was going to be so pissed if I didn't ask. She knew her parents would say yes. Come on. They lived for that stuff. They'd be bummed they couldn't join her. They'd probably met at Woodstock. Stupid hippy parents.
I looked up at Charlie again, and he took a sip of water then rubbed his chin with his palm. I tried to imagine him with long, stringy hair and a scraggly beard. In all likelihood, he'd probably had his mustache since he was able to grow one and had always known he wanted to be a cop. He probably policed the playground when he was a kid.
"It wasn't bad. I actually went down to the Newton's shop today." He stabbed his fork into an asparagus and bit off the end.
"On a call? What happened? Crazed woodsman?" I cracked a small smile and Charlie smirked.
"No, nothing like that. Just dropped by to say hello. Slow day, actually, which is good in my line of work." He glanced out the window as some headlights swept across the kitchen, waiting until they continued down the road before starting to talk again. "Mike's parents are getting him a laptop for graduation; said he's going to need it at college."
"Wow. Great for Mike." I tucked my hair behind my ear and cut a piece of chicken with my fork. I really didn't know what to say.
Mike Newton was a total tool. I popped the chicken into my mouth and hoped Charlie wasn't hinting at a laptop for my graduation present. I mean, it'd be nice, but I know our financial situation. Charlie kept his grocery money in an envelope in a drawer for Christ's sake. A laptop, while nice, would mostly just be used for surfing the net at coffee shops. I hadn't even applied for college yet. Maybe that was a subtle dig by Charlie to guilt me into applying? I took another bite of mashed potatoes and looked up at Charlie.
"Graduation is Thursday?" Charlie asked. He wasn't the type of parent who got involved in school things. He never really asked me about homework or when my tests were or when the big dance was. He would glance at my report card and say something like, "Great job, Bells," or "You really improved," if I brought up a grade. He always just trusted me to get my 'job' done. He called being a student a job and expected that it be something I do to the best of my ability. It just so happened that my ability was mostly straight A's and so that was what he expected every time. I'd never been punished for a B or C. He was just disappointed in me, and somehow that was always worse.
"Thursday. Tomorrow. Eleven in the morning, yeah. Are you working?" I tried to sound disinterested, but I'd be crushed if he wasn't there.
"No, I'm not working. My only kid is graduating high school. I'll be crammed into a tiny auditorium with 300 or so other proud parents." He smiled at me over a bite of his chicken.
I half smiled and laughed through my nose. That was about as sentimental as we ever got. "Thanks, Dad."
It was unspoken that he would be my only parent at graduation. Charlie had taken over sole custody of me when my mom left me alone at the tender age of seven. I wasn't bitter anymore. We still talked sometimes, but she is more of a kid than I am and it's frustrating to speak to her.
"So, what are you doing the rest of the evening? Any big senior parties tonight?"
"Like I'd tell you, cop." I laughed my best nefarious criminal laugh. "No, I'm probably going to Alice's. She, uh... We have some stuff to talk about. She doesn't know which dress to wear under her graduation gown."
Charlie snorted. He liked Alice. She'd never been any trouble to him, and as far as he could tell, she was a pretty straight laced kid. We both were, really. We'd both tried cigarettes and we both drank some disgusting vodka from her parents' liquor cabinet one night, but they were both gross, and Alice puked off her parents' kitchen balcony after we smoked the cigarette. Mostly, if we went to a party, we just enjoyed watching our peers fall into each other and hate themselves the next morning. About as risque as Alice and I got was playing spin the bottle with some upperclassmen when we were Sophomores.
"I'll clean up. You made dinner, Bells." Charlie pushed his chair back and grabbed his beer. "You can head to Alice's. Are you staying the night?"
Oh, crap. I had to ask. I couldn't go over to Alice's without having asked Charlie. She'd flip out. Also, Charlie had already forgotten about graduation tomorrow, it seemed.
"Um, no. Not staying. Tomorrow's Thursday, so... Graduation."
"Oh, right. I didn't forget, it just slipped my mind," he said and held his beer up to his temple, his plate in his other hand.
Now or never.
"Oh, so, Dad." I tried to act casual. I even shoved my hands in my back pockets and cocked my hip out to the side so I wouldn't fidget. "There's this music festival in George, Washington on Friday, and Alice and I were really hoping we could go, you know? I've been saving my graduation money and she's been saving, too. I even got the truck a tune up so it could make the drive. Anyway, it's Friday… and Saturday and Sunday. And you camp there at night and watch bands play all day." I was shifting my weight to my other foot and staring at the refrigerator. Charlie still hadn't said anything, so I looked over at him.
He was still holding his plate and his beer, but his fingers were clenched a bit tighter on both. "Are Alice's parents going?"
"Well, no. It'd just be me and Alice. And my triple A card. And of course, my cell phone with a call to you every hour," I said with a hopeful tone to my voice to try to sway him.
He sighed. "I don't think so, Bella."
"Well, why? Alice and I don't do drugs or drink. I've been a good kid my entire life. Why would that change just because I was five hours away from Forks in a tent?" My voice was starting to get a whiney edge which I figured I better knock off if I wanted to be treated like an adult.
"Answer's no. Sorry, Bells." Charlie shook his head and put his plate in the sink. He walked to the living room with his beer.
My eyes grew hot with tears and I tried not to stomp out of the kitchen like a five year old. It was hard. I wanted to scream and cry. Alice and I had been looking forward to this for so long. Now my summer would consist of sitting around my bedroom and reading for hours on end. Welcome to another year in my pathetic, boring life. I swiped my messenger bag off the chair in the hall and tried not to slam the door behind me. I failed. It slammed.
I sat behind the wheel of the red beater and sniffled slightly before starting the engine. Alice lived just about fifteen minutes away, and I spent the entire time thinking of how to break the bad news to her. I'm pretty sure once she saw my face she'd know but at least she'd let me bitch about Charlie to her until I had to get home.
With a sigh, I threw the door to my truck open and propped it open with my foot. I leaned over the seat to grab my messenger bag, and when I turned back around, Alice was waiting with her fingers curled around the truck door.
"So?" She was practically on tip toes.
I decided to let my expression do the talking because I was sure I would start crying if I told her he'd said no.
Alice sank back to the ground and her arms fell to her sides. "Well. That's that, then. I guess it's another summer of us hanging around Forks. What's your dad getting you for graduation?"
I slung my bag over my shoulder and slammed the door behind me as we stalked back towards Alice's bedroom door. Alice's bedroom was on the basement floor of her house. She had her own door from her bedroom to the driveway. Any kid would have killed for that, but it wasn't like Alice had anything to sneak out for.
"Charlie mentioned Mike getting a laptop. I think he might have been judging my reaction, so I think I'm getting a laptop. What about you?" Alice pushed open her bedroom door and we were greeted by her overenthusiastic Jack Russell Terrier, Frannie. Alice caught her in mid air and tossed her onto her bed where she stood poised and ready, her little tail wagging like a metronome on speed. Alice's perfect companion.
"I have no idea. They really haven't even mentioned anything. God, I'm so freaking upset. After all the effort we put forward our entire lives, all the good grades... geez, Bella, we've never even had a freaking detention. EVER!" She threw open the doors to her closet and stepped inside.
I tossed my bag on a chair and followed her into the perfectly organized closet. "I know it. Was it even worth it? We're good for our whole school careers. I kind of wish we'd gone out partying once or twice, now. I haven't even sent in a college application yet. I like this one," I said and pointed at a light green sun dress. Alice slid it off the hanger and tossed it over her arm.
"I haven't either. It's hard to make the decision of what you want to be when you grow up when you're this young. I feel like I haven't experienced anything! We have to go to this festival. We should just go after graduation. Just leave after pictures. Have our bags packed!"
Alice was bouncing on the balls of her feet and I was giving her my best incredulous look. "Yeah, like my dad wont set up road blocks from here to the East Coast to track us down." I laughed and handed Alice a cute, red halter dress that she probably got from her mom's store. "He'd know where we were headed and I don't think you have the guts, anyway. I like this red one. I think you should wear it."
Alice shrugged and held up the dress. "It would be the most daring thing we've ever done."
"Uh huh. Anyway, let's talk about something else, please. It's depressing me. I was so looking forward to seeing Nine Inch Nails."
Alice looked crestfallen for a moment. All of her emotions happened quickly. She could switch from crushed to excited, from angry to exuberant faster than anyone I'd ever met. And it wasn't fake. Alice was genuine in her emotions. It was probably hard for people to keep up with her. We didn't have many friends outside of each other. I'll admit that I am a pretty dead pan person. Not a whole lot of people wanted to hang around the amazing opposites that were Alice and I. I don't know how we got on as well as we did, honestly. We'd always been the outcasts and we'd pretty much clicked since kindergarten.
"Nine Inch Nails. I don't know how you listen to that. I'm going to be missing out on Iron and Wine. God, this was going to be so great!" Alice dramatically threw her hands in the air and collapsed onto a small footstool.
"Shut up about it already, okay? Wear the red dress. I'm going home to sulk and attempt to sway Charlie."
Alice's head was buried in her arms which were resting on her knees. She lifted one hand in goodbye.
I picked up my bag on the way out and called over my shoulder before shutting the door, "What did your parents say, Alice?"
"They said I could go."
Of course they did. The door clicked shut behind me and I walked back to my car in the dark.