AMatterofFact

Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'In A Heartbeat' related whatsoever. I only own the story, and the characters that I made up.

A/N: The last time I updated was about a month ago. There's no excuse for the long delay, but with the incident on the 11th of last month, school, my personal schedule, and some other things that happened recently, it had trouble finding the time to write. I made a pledge a long time ago with other writers here, and we swore to write IAHB fan fiction even if it's cancelled. I'm willing to keep that promise. After all, I already have story #15 of NOEbY and some other stories as well. I hope you're still reading this. If you are, thank you for bearing with me. I really appreciate it.

Parent Trap

A matter of fact

Jamie stood in front of his mirror and tried to fix his tie but to no avail. He was on his way to the final competition of the Academic Bowl. The Kingsport Academic Team is in the finals against Spreewell. Even after he was on the team, he doubted that the team would make it to the finals. For the last fifteen years up until three weeks ago, he was against the whole competition / school spirit deal. Although he would never admit it, especially to his father, Jamie was excited.

"I am so stoked!"

"About what?" asked his dad who popped his head in the room.

"Nothing," Jamie replied with a sudden mood shift as he continued to fix his tie.

"Do you want me to help you with that?"

"I can handle it."

"How do you feel?"

"Normal."

"Are you excited about the competition?"

"I just want it to be over as soon as possible."

"Don't be lackadaisical. This is supposed to be a fun event. Show some school spirit for once. The least you could do is to show some liveliness and interest instead of sulk."

"What the heck are you talking about? Lack of what?"

"You heard what I said. Your mom is at the school already. Good luck."

"I don't need your luck."

After his dad left him, Jamie returned to his tie. After five minutes, he gave up and headed right out of the door to his motorcycle. He saw his dad's car leaving the garage.

"I won't let you ruin this for me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caitie, Val, and Brooke walked along the sidewalk to Kingsport High School, which is where the competition is held. Caitie noticed that Val had been silent since Tyler returned. It had been a week after her birthday. Brooke thought of the same thing. She had an inkling that something was definitely up.

"Is Tyler coming?" asked Caitie.

"I don't know," said Val.

"Did you guys break up?" asked Brooke.

"I don't know."

"Val, it's either you know or well, YOU KNOW!" said Brooke.

"I don't know."

"Is something wrong, Lanier?"

"I don't know."

"What's your name?"

"I don't know."

"Val," said Caitie. "Snap out of it!"

"What?"

"What happened between you and Tyler?" Caitie asked. "And don't tell me that you don't know, because I will just smack you in the head right here and now."

"Tyler's leaving! Are you happy now?"

"WHAT?" Brooke and Caitie said simultaneously.

"He's leaving Kingsport and moving to L.A. with his dad."

"Are you sure?" asked Caitie.

"He told me that his dad asked him to move with him and that he wanted to for a long time."

"Did he say he was going?"

"Well, no, but what else is there to think about if you're wish finally came true."

"How about his life here in Kingsport," said Brooke. "His friends, school, job, and in case you forgot, YOU!"

"He has been avoiding me for the last week."

"And so have you," Caitie said. "It's pretty obvious."

"What am I going to do? I can't tell him to choose between his family and me. That's just wrong. We're not even married. And even if we were, that's just not right."

"Tell him how you feel," said Caitie. "Talk to him."

Val didn't say a word. The three continued to walk until they arrived at the school. As they reached the door, Caitie spotted Tyler.

"There he is," she pointed at him.

"Just drop it, Caitie," Val said. "I really don't want to deal with this right now."

"Fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hank, Marianne, and Tyler were standing outside the second door of the auditorium. The three were talking when Val, Caitie, and Brooke came in.

"There she is," said Hank.

"Hank, could you stop talking about it already? I don't want to deal with her right now."

"Are you really leaving?"

"I guess."

"When is you dad leaving?" asked Marianne.

"In three days."

"If you asked me," started Hank. "You should stay here. From what I heard about your trip, I think it would be best if you two stayed apart."

"Well, I didn't ask you."

"All right. You don't have to bite my head off."

"I'm sorry."

"Guys," said Marianne. "The competition is about to start. We should go in."

"Fine," the both said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"WELCOME TO THE FINAL COMPETITION OF THE 27th ANNUAL ACADEMIC BOWL!"

An applause was heard all over the room before the host resumed.

"I'm Linda Lowry, and on of the Kingsport High, welcome. The final two teams will be competing for the championship. And here they are…"

The contestants emerged from the stage and went of their designated seats.

"Let's give a big round of applause to Spreewell and our very own, Kingsport."

An big applause once again filled the room.

"For Spreewell, we have David Zheng for mathematics, Alicia Brown for science, Kansas Miller for social studies, and Jacques Devereaux for literary language and vocabulary."

Applause.

"And for Kingsport, we have Duan Chen for mathematics, Vladimir Eidelman for science, Anna Maeser for social studies, and last but not least, Jamie Waite for literary language and vocabulary."

A standing ovation presided the room with a majority cheering for Jamie.

"This is nuts," he said in excitement. "Never in a million years would I think that his would happen to me."

Mrs. Lowry spoke a few more words, and the competition commenced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"For science: In his lifetime, how many patents did Thomas Edison get?"

BUZZ

"Mr. Eidelman."

"One thousand ninety-three."

"Correct. The previous question brings up Kingsport to 1250 points and a tie with Spreewell. That was the end of round two. Round three is what we call the "Lightning Round." Each question is worth 50 points. After 30 seconds pass, the points will escalate to 100, 200, and 400. You will have 2 minutes to finish this round and gain as many points as possible. The following categories will appear in this order: science, mathematics, social studies, and literary language and vocabulary."

The crowd was asked to be quiet before the round started.

"First question: Who invented 'scotch tape'?"

BUZZ

"Mr. Eidelman."

"Richard Drew."

"Correct. In what year did Einstein propose the general theory of relativity?"

BUZZ

"Ms. Brown."

"!916."

"Correct… Which insect boasts the most toxic venom?"

BUZZ

"Mr. Eidelman."

"Black Widow spiders."

"Incorrect. Ms. Brown."

"Harvester Ants."

"Correct… What is the distance between the Earth and the Moon."

BUZZ

"Ms. Brown."

"186,023."

"Incorrect. Mr. Eidelman."

"238,850."

"Correct… Which planet has a backward rotation?"

BUZZ

"Ms. Brown."

"Venus."

"Correct… Mathematics round: What is the square root of -1?"

BUZZ

"Ms. Chen."

"i."

"Correct… Jody designs food displays for the Nile Supermarket chain. For one of her displays, she wants to set up soup cans in the form of a square pyramid. She's decided to use 9 cans for each side of the square base of the pyramid. If each carton holds 24 soup cans, how many cartons will Jody need to open to build the pyramid?"

BUZZ

"Mr. Zheng."

"12"

"Correct… Wilson Middle School students are selling boxes of greeting cards. The cards were shipped in 3 cartons, each 54 inches high. Each box of cards is 2 inches high, and was packed inside the cartons in layers. There are 8 boxes to a layer. The student council gets $1.50 profit for each box they sell. How much profit will the student council earn if all the boxes of cards are sold?"

BUZZ

"Ms. Chen."

"$973."

"Incorrect. Mr. Zheng."

"$972."

"Correct… Social Studies round: What are the tracts of land set aside for the ownership or use of particular Native American tribes?"

BUZZ

"Ms. Maeser."

"Indian Reservations."

"Correct… What town in northern France, the capital of Orne Department, on the Sarthe River, in Normandy."

BUZZ

"Ms. Miller."

"Alençon."

"Correct… Who is the Spanish explorer born in Badajoz?"

BUZZ

"Ms. Miller."

"Pedro de Alvarado."

"Correct… Which English statesman, active in Parliament, was ultimately executed for treason?"

BUZZ

"Ms. Miller."

"Sir Henry Vane."

"Correct… In the next round, one needs to answer and spell the word. Literary Language and Vocabulary round: What is a small, dry, one-seeded fruit with a thin wall?"

BUZZ

"Mr. Waite."

"Achene. A-c-h-e-n-e. Achene."

"Correct… What is a zwieback?"

BUZZ

"Mr. Waite."

"Zwieback. Z-w-i-e-b-a-c-k. t is a usually sweetened bread baked first as a loaf and later sliced and toasted. Zwieback."

"Correct!"

Everyone cheered. The game is so close, and Kingsport just jumped to the lead with Jamie's response.

"What is a characteristic arrangement of flowers on a stem or in a cluster?"

BUZZ

"Mr. Duval."

"Inflorescence. I-n-f-l-o-r-e-s-c-e-n-c-e. Inflorescence."

"Mr. Duval… That is correct."

The crowd turned silent once more. As the time ran out, only one question remained. Kingsport needs it to win.

"What does it mean for a person to be lackadaisical?"

BUZZ.

"Mr. Duval for the championship. First, give me the spelling, and then the definition."

"Lackadaisical. L-a-c-k-a-d-a-i-s-i-k-a-l. Lackadaisical."

"Mr. Duval… I'm sorry, but that is incorrect."

Cheers emerged from the crowd once again.

"Mr. Waite. It's all up to you."

"That's comforting," he muttered silently."

"Once again, that question: What does it mean for a person to be lackadaisical?"

Lackadaisical? Is it just me or did my father just say that word this morning?

"Lackadaisical. L-a-c-k-a-d-a-i-s-i-c-a-l. Lackadaisical."

"You are one step closer to the championship. If you can tell me the correct definition of the word, Kingsport High School will win the match."

Jamie turned his head to the crowd, and surprisingly, he found his father in the front row with his mom. Jamie held his gaze as the words from his father earlier that day replayed in his mind: "Don't be lackadaisical. This is supposed to be a fun event. Show some school spirit for once. The least you could do is to show some liveliness and interest instead of sulk."

Jamie smiled at him and spoke his answer.

"To be lackadaisical is to be like me for the past years," Jamie said, causing a pause from the crowd. "To be lackadaisical is to lack spirit, liveliness, and interest."

"Mr. Waite… That is correct. KINGSPORT HIGH SCHOOL wins the match with the final score of 2850 over 2600. Congratulations to all of you, and a special congratulations to the Kingsport team."

Everyone was standing up as Tyler, Hank, Marianne, Caitie, Val, and Brooke ran towards the stage to greet Jamie.

"We won?" Jamie said.

"We did," said Anna. "And we couldn't have done it without you."

"I can't believe this. This is surreal."

Jamie looked up to his friends.

"You did it!" they all cheered. "Congratulations!"

"I can't believe I did it."

"How do you feel?" Hank asked.

"To tell you the truth, it feels great."

"So are you still mad at your dad?" asked Caitie.

"Actually, I should thank him. If it wasn't for him, we could've lost the game."

"What do you mean?" asked Tyler.

"It's a long story," he said. "I'm glad you guys came."

"We wouldn't miss it for the world," said Val.

"Thanks."

"So where are we guys celebrating?" asked Brooke.

"I'm still stoked and all, but I think I'll just spend some time with my family for tonight. We'll celebrate later."

Everyone pleaded. After a few more conversations, everyone went his or her separate way. Jamie approached his parents.

"We're so proud of you," said Helen.

"Thanks Mom," Jamie said as he hugged her.

"You did it," said Frank.

"Yea, I did."

"Are you still mad at me for putting you up with this?"

"Dad, I hated you for tricking me into this. Now, I don't anymore. I want to thank you for the best experience and the best time that I had while doing this. Thank you for letting me see that I am capable of a lot of things if I put my mind and heart to it."

"Is that all?"

"And I couldn't have done this without you. If you told me before this whole ordeal started that I should do this, I would have backed out just because you said so. When you used your reverse psychology tricked and told me that I couldn't do it, I didn't back out just because you said I would. In the end of it all, I guess you knew all along that I would be doing this for my own benefit."

"I'm glad I helped you, but it was you who did the work. I just supplied the motivation."

"Did you know about that last word? I couldn't help but think that this was all a conspiracy of yours."

"I swear I didn't know, but my father always called me that when I was young."

"Really?"

"Yea. As hard as it may for you to believe, I was the leather wearing, spiked-hair sporting, motorcycle riding dude. I was kind of like you or the other way around."

"Are you serious?" Jamie laughed.

"I'm telling you the truth. Just ask your mom."

Jamie's mom nodded.

"What a fluke, huh?"

"Yes… And a big one at that."

Jamie smiled and for the first time in a long time, he finally felt that he and his father understood each other.

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That was it for this chapter. I think there will be one or two more for this story. Don't forget to review. And thanks for reading this. I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182 : )