DISCLAIMER: I don't own twilight...this disclaimer is for the whole story.

Chapter 20: Surprise trip

After breakfast, Charlie went to the living room to watch some baseball game. Since it was still early in the morning and I had nothing to do, I decided to watch the game with Charlie. Charlie was surprise to see me actually watching a sports game another than Formula 1 on TV. What can I say? I had nothing better to do. I have read all my books. I also have re-read it a few times. I really need to get a new supply of books.

As I stared at the TV with utter confusion on my face, I saw Charlie glancing at me from the corner of his eye and his mouth twitched a little. Like he was trying to stop himself from laughing, which ended up in failure because a few minutes after that, he cracked up as though he had just witness something humorous which probably would have been me.

"What? Stop laughing at me? It's not my fault I don't get what is going on." I said in my defense.

"I can't help myself. I'm surprised as how you can't understand the concept of baseball yet you master the principle of speed-racing. It just surprises me, that's all, hon." He said trying to cheer me up while regulating his breathing pattern.

"Fine, but in my defense, there's nothing really complicating about speed-racing. You just have to know the basics about the car like the throttle and the gear shift. And you have to know how fast the car can go at certain parts of the track. And it also helps to know the wind pressure and the temperature of the surroundings." I said. I didn't understand how that was hard to understand. I guess it's just me.

It took him a while to reply. He just stared at me like I had something on my face. Oh my Gosh, I hope I don't have something on my face. But before I could check it out, Charlie interrupted me by saying, "First of all, honey, that was amazing. I didn't know you knew stuff about that. And second of all, I had no idea what you just said but it sounded impressive." He told me. It was funny hearing that from Charlie. If it had been from a friend, I would have laughed at his confused expression.

Just as I was about to reply some smart comment, the phone rang.

"I got it." I told him. As I was leaving, I heard him laugh a bit but I brushed that off. I guess he figured out the eagerness of me getting the phone. I couldn't stand anymore of that running and pitching and catching. Why did they have to run in one big circle? Couldn't they run diagonally across, they would definitely get there faster? I guess I must be missing something. I entered and searched for the ringing object. I spotted it on an empty counter. I picked up and phone and greeted the person on the other side of the line.

"Hello?" I said with a smile on my face. For some unknown reason, I will always smile to myself when I answer the phone. I guess I was just trying to sound polite. But it's not like they could see me or anything. You know this smile thing may help me in the future…if I so happened to get a job answering phones. I shuddered at that. It's not that I hate people who have that kind of job. I just don't want to spend the rest of my life answering phones for someone else. That would be so boring.

"Hello, Bella. This is Harry Clearwater here. Is you dad around?" He asked me. Wow! It has been a while since I have heard from him.

"Hello, Harry. How are you? It's been a while." I asked him. I ignored the last question. I didn't want to give my dad the phone because I didn't want to go back to the living room and watch a bunch of men running around like fools. I have no opposition against running. As a matter of fact, I enjoy it since I was a girl jock for a few months. It just doesn't make any sense in the direction they are running to.

"I've been fine, thanks. Yes it has been a while indeed. I haven't seen you in La Push lately. School must be keeping you busy, huh?" He asked me. Now I knew why it had been a while. I avoided all contact with anyone from La Push. I felt really bad for doing that but that was the only guarantee that I wouldn't bump into any of them. Then again, they could come here which I really hope they don't.

"Yeah! Anyway my dad is here. Hold on." I said while putting him on hold. I didn't want to talk to him about this anymore. I just lied to him, not directly but still. That was wrong of me. Can't I do anything right now a days.

"Dad! Harry is on the phone." I called my dad from the kitchen.

My dad got out from the couch to answer the phone. After I handed him the phone, I just stood there in the kitchen like an idiot. I didn't want to go back to the living room because then I would have to watch the game that is going on. But I also didn't want to be standing here because then it would look like I was trying to listen on the conversation between him and Harry. Then out of no where an idea popped into my head. Ok, before I tell you want it is, I just want you to promise not to laugh at me. Someone with brains would have come up with it in a second but I took me about a minute or so. So promise me you wouldn't laugh. Please? Thank you so much. OK, the idea that came into my head was that I could go to the living room…and switch the channel. So, what do you think? I know, I know, you're probably thinking what an idiot she is, right? I guess because of all the things that have been happening in my life, I just didn't have time to give myself some brain food.

So I headed to the living room to watch something else besides this confusing sport. As I was flipping the channel for something to watch, I came across Jamie Oliver's cooking show. I love that guy. The way he makes the food seems so easy. I once tried making one of his dishes; it was fantastic but not as fantastic as the way he does it. Maybe I should learn up some new recipes to cook for Charlie. There are only so many basic ways you could cook fish. Besides, there's about a year worth of supply in the freezer. It's kind of surprising that there are still some more fishes in the sea. Ok, that was a stupid thought. Sorry about that.

I guess I was too caught up at watching the way Jamie Oliver cooks a fish that I didn't notice my dad sitting beside me. I turned to look at him only to find him looking at me in return. His eyes kind of said it all.

"I had nothing else to watch and I couldn't take anymore of that baseball game. I already have enough to last me a life time." I told him.

"I didn't say anything." He said confused at my sudden reply.

"It's in your eyes, dad. I can see the question going around in your mind." I said while keeping my eyes on the TV. This is one of Jamie Oliver's moments you don't want to miss.

"Ok…anyway Harry invited me to go fishing with him and Billy." He said before pausing a while. It looks as though he has something else to say.

"Ok, dad. Have fun." I replied, still keeping my eyes on the greatest chef in history.

"And he also asked me to pick up Billy." He said while pausing again. There's something he's afraid of telling me or asking me. I wonder what it is. I'm not an idiot not to know when something is up. I turned off the TV because of to reasons. 1, I wanted to look at Charlie and ask him to just tell whatever it is to my face. And 2, because the show just ended and the next show wasn't much to my interest.

"Dad, just spit it out. What are you trying to tell me?" I asked him. He looked really nervous about it. As far as I know there hasn't been anything that would make him nervous…except saying something that I might make me mad or sad or anything else. Oh no, it must be pretty bad if he is nervous.

"Well, Harry asked me whether I could pick Billy up…and I was wondering whether you wanted to tag along." He asked me. I was actually pretty confused right now. This wouldn't make Charlie nervous. It has to be something else that he is avoiding. I decided to let him tell me when he was ready. I can't force anyone to do anything.

"Why would I want to tag along?" I asked him.

"Well, considering that I'm heading over to Billy's to pick him up, maybe you would like…to um…have a little…chat with…Jacob." He said while pausing in between the sentences.

Oh, so that was why he was nervous. He wanted me to have a little chat with Jake. WAIT, did he say Jake? He wants ME to have a little chat with the JERK! I thought he knew what was going on. Oh wait, he doesn't. I sort of lied to him about that. I pretended that the prank they played on me was something minor. I guess he wants me to talk to Jake about what happened between us. I can't believe I going to say this but…

"OK, dad. I'll tag along. But what is Jacob is still sleeping. It is pretty early in the morning. And I know Jake…he wouldn't get up at this time." I said. Hey, don't blame me. I needed some back up plan incase I start yelling me head off at Jake again. Once is pretty much enough for him.

"Well, then maybe I should call Billy and ask him first. If Jake is awake then we'll go and if he is not then you can go some other time. Okay?" He asked me while getting up and heading towards the kitchen. But before he could reach the phone, I interrupted him.

"NO!" I yelled at him. Great job, Bella. I thought you were a better actor than this. Now he is bound to think something is up. Quick, think of something you can use to cover it up.

"Um…what I meant was that. You don't have to call Billy. If Jake so happen to be asleep then it's ok, I wouldn't mind hanging out at the beach until he does. Besides, I need to get out of the house. OR else the baseball thing would haunt me for the rest of my life." I added that thing at the end to joke it off so Charlie wouldn't suspect anything.

"Ok, if you're sure, Bells?" He said still hesitant.

"I'm sure dad. I really need to get out more. You don't want to come home and see your daughter all crazy because she couldn't handle a simple baseball game, now would you?" I asked him. I love it when I mentioned the word baseball and me in the same sentence because that would always make him crack a smile. It's such a nice sight to see. And I was right, he did crack a smile.

"Well, okay. Let me just go get my fishing gear and we'll be off." He said while heading towards the store room. Hey, the house is small. He has no where else to put his stuff.

"Ok, dad. Let me go change first." I said. As I headed up the stairs, I could have sworn that I heard Charlie say 'Great, this is going to take a while.' I just ignored that comment. I bet he is just saying to annoy because he knows how much I'm not like other girls. I don't take as much time as other people do to get ready.

After changing into something more comfortable and nice, I headed downstairs only to find Charlie still looking for his stuff in the store room. And they say girls take longer time than guys. Hah! So I sat at the couch while staring at my dad searching through a pile of things for his fishing gear.

After about 5 minutes, he finally came out. He was shocked to see me ready before he was.

"How long have you been sitting there?" He asked me.

"Long enough." I said while giving him a smirk.

He ignored that and both of us headed outside. The sky was pretty much the same as always except that you can see blue and black patches in it. There's a fifty-fifty chance that it's not going to rain today. I hope it doesn't because I would really love to go for that walk on the beach.

After loading all the stuff in my truck, Charlie headed towards the driver's seat. What? You didn't think he was going to take the cruiser, did you? Come on, it's a Sunday and he is going fishing. You don't need a cruiser for that. That's probably a secret reason why he bought the truck for me, so he could use it as well. What? I'm a good daughter. Of course, I would have let him use it. He's my dad and that's what families are for. We both entered the truck and Charlie ignited the engine and we were off to La Push, the last place I planning to go.

AN: I you guys want a sneak peek of the next chapter…all you have to do is review the story and the sneak peek is yours.

AN: Just to give you guys a hint, this is the first part of the climax. I hope you guys liked that chapter and I hope I didn't disappoint you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Once again, you don't have to review if you don't want to… But then you wouldn't get the sneak peek I offered…thanks for reading…

~*~ asn ~*~