Charlie is hiding things from Bella. Bella is hiding things from Charlie. Renee has never hidden anything from anyone in her life. Nobody knows what Jacob is or isn't hiding. There's so much going on, and all of it is happening right here in this chapter.

I spent last weekend hitting people with swords for money, so here are two chapters back-to-back for this weekend! Leave a note if you're enjoying the series so far—reviews make the muse productive.

I felt restless as my dad tided up. I'm tired of being taken care of. I want to do the dishes and wipe down the counters. Even the most mundane tasks were starting to take on a sort of rosy glow—proof of independence. I want to do something. Anything! I'm tired of sitting around!

Charlie's cleaning was interrupted by a call. He paused in the middle of tying up the garbage and sighed before taking it. "Hello?"

The person on the other end said something. Or some things, based on how long it took Charlie to respond. "It's been 18 hours over a Friday night," he said finally. "They should be calling her friends, not us."

Another pause, punctuated only by tinny sounds that I couldn't quite make into words. Charlie darted a glance at me, then shook his head wearily. "As soon as it hits 24, we'll put out a BOLO. Let them know."

I stared at the "Vampire Emergencies" entry in my speed dial while he took out the garbage. When he came back in, I had a question. "Is there a way to find out who a phone number belongs to?"

Charlie looked surprised. "Sometimes. Depends on things. Is it a landline or a cell phone, carrier or prepaid, that kind of thing. It can be tough. Why?"

My face burned. "Oh. No reason. Just a, um, book I'm reading."

He seemed to take that at face value. "I didn't know you'd gotten into mysteries."

I was on slightly firmer ground here, at least. "I've always loved Agatha Christie," I said, then added "and… there's not much else to do, anyway." Maybe that'll distract him from the topic completely. "I've gotten a lot of reading done lately."

He hmphed agreeably. "You've always been a big one for books. Not sure where you came by that—not from either of us. Getting a little cabin crazy, huh?"

"Yeah," I agreed dolefully. "I even miss school. Well, not gym. But the rest of it, I mean. Can you believe it?"

"I'll have to get you out of the house more often, huh? Why don't we go grab some dinner at Cora's tonight?" Charlie sounded a little tentative, like he wasn't sure whether I'd like the idea.

I lit up. "I'd love that! It would be nice to go somewhere other than the hospital."

"It's a date, then. And maybe I'll drop a word in Jacob's ear about squiring you around town next week. He's got a good head on his shoulders."

The prospect of escaping my situationally inflicted house arrest lifted my spirits by a lot. Even the ache in my leg wasn't enough to dampen my enthusiasm. "Yes please!"

"Maybe no hiking for a bit, though," he added, with a cautious chuckle.

"Wh—oh, um, yes," I back-pedalled. "No hiking for me, please." I laughed awkwardly, trying to pretend that I hadn't completely forgotten my alibi for a minute. I noticed how tight his smile was. Oh… it's still hard for him to joke about. Or… I could feel my heart speeding up. Is he still suspicious?

Charlie wasn't meeting my eyes. "I should make a call," he said abruptly. "I'll just be outside."

What kind of call? I knew I was being paranoid, but… Is it about me? Did I blow my cover? Daringly, I used the counter to sneak from the table to the door and pressed my ear against it. I could just barely hear him through the wood.

"We'll put it out now. Start looking into it. We aren't that busy, anyway. Put Bert on it, it'll be good practice for him." He went quiet for a minute. "Yes, tell him to call me if he finds anything or needs any help." A longer silence this time. Then— "Heard anything from the feds?"

I couldn't tell what the answer was, but I desperately wanted to know.

"Send 'em straight to me," he said in response, and his voice was suddenly sharp. "I don't want 'em talking to her. It's none of their goddamn business and I'll thank 'em for keeping their noses out of it. Don't repeat that. Just politely refer all their inquiries to me. Oh, and I might be out of the office for a few days. Yep, out fishin'. I think I've earned a break. I busted my ass for Batiste and he'll back me up." He paused another time, and then said, more quietly, "Nobody asked 'em to stick their noses in here anyway."

The response was so explosive I could almost hear it over the phone. "You're tellin' me," he said. Then, almost under his breath, he added "She's seventeen, John. Barely." He sighed heavily. "I'll let you go. BOLO. Bert. Feds to me, out of the office. You've got it. Take care."

I scrambled backward and was sitting innocently in my chair texting, eyes fixed on my phone like it was the center of my world, by the time he walked back in.

"Got anything else on your plate today?" Charlie asked, in a tone that I was starting to recognize as his nothing-to-see-here voice. It probably worked well on his suspects, but they didn't have to live with him.

I pretended to have to pull myself away from the phone, where I had typed "mystery mystery mystery mystery mystery" repeatedly into my text thread with Jacob. As long as I didn't send it by accident, I would be fine. "Huh?" I hope I'm not overdoing it. "Oh, um. Dinner with you… R—Mom is supposed to call me to explain how she lost this phone… Edward should be over anytime… and I thought I'd see if Jessica and Angela were free to do homework together." I had not thought that, in fact, but my mouth seemed to be going all in on the lying thing.

"Sounds like a good day. Heard from anyone else in your class lately?"

I shrugged. "Mike says hi when he drops Jessica off. I think Eric texted once. Oh, um, Samantha—Sam—brought over cookies last week. You said they were 'chewy enough, I guess.'"

Charlie chuckled. "I remember that. You sure have made some connections here, huh? Put down a few roots?"

"Yeah," I agreed, feeling warm. I mean… I don't love everything, or everyone, but… I like it here. I know Renee wants me to come to Florida, but… I want to stay.

He cleared his throat. "Anyone giving you trouble?"

I grimaced and made a flailing motion with one hand. "Some of the boys are gross. And Tyler was really weird for a while after that accident." That felt like it had happened in another life. Or maybe it had been the beginning of this life. My introduction to the world of vampires. "Lauren is kinda mean, I guess, but it doesn't really bother me anymore."

"Oh? Teen stuff? Girl stuff?"

"Basically. Maybe she's jealous." I shrugged. "I've stopped paying attention." Compared to James, or even Victoria, Lauren was nothing. And I hadn't even seen her since before The Incident anyway.

Charlie nodded approvingly. "That's my girl. Water off a duck's back. She bothered you lately?"

"Nope!" I said brightly. Finally, something that I don't have to lie about! "Not since I was in school. I guess there is an upside to being housebound."

He chuckled again. "Guess so. She doesn't run with your crowd, then?"

"God, no." I made a face at the idea. "None of us hang out with her. Well, Sam, maybe. She's friends with everyone. But nobody else. She's friends with the jocks and, like, the popular crowd. A Queen Bee. Not my kind of person."

He smiled wryly. "I was never much for the popular crowd myself," he said. "Not like your mother. She was on the cheer team. Guess you didn't take after her."

Not for the first time, I wondered what had drawn my parents together. Have they ever had anything in common?

"Glad to hear you're making good friends here," Charlie continued.

My phone buzzed under my hands. I peeked at it. ? from Jacob.

Oh fuck. Did I send it to him? I checked the thread. Yes, there was an outgoing text.

mystery mystery mystery mystery mystery m

?
yk, both people are supposed 2 kno the safeword in advance

what's a safeword?

o god. im not explaining the birds n the bs to u. google.
W SAFESEARCH ON.

fuck you.

no thx. xo

FUCK YOU

if u insist
c u monday

I turned the phone off with a scowl. I don't need anyone to teach me about the birds and the bees. Especially not Jacob. I muttered an excuse and hastily left the table, cheeks flaming. Charlie was finally letting me use the crutches, although he did still have an annoying tendency to hover.

Once I'd made it back up the stairs I saw the stack of homework sitting on my bedside table and remembered what I'd told Charlie. I sighed, powered the phone back on, and called Jessica.

"Bellaaaa!"

I heard overlapping voices in the background. "Oh my god!" "Say hi!"

"Hi!" I replied, equally brightly. "Wanna study?"

"Yes!" "Ask if she can help with my English homework! I have no idea what to write!" "Ha, did she look at the Spanish study guide and have a panic attack too?!" "We were just about to do that ourselves."

"Who's with you?" I asked, although I had a reasonable guess.

"Sam and Angela. Are you up to going places yet, or should we come to you?"

I wanted nothing more than to leave the house, but… Edward isn't here yet, and I can't drive stick with a broken leg. The truck had acquired one flaw. But I wasn't about to trade it for something else—I loved the big old beast. It was mine. And it still had plenty to recommend it, like how it hadn't even crumpled when Tyler's van had bounced off. Heck, I bet you could run over a vampire with that thing.

I choked back laughter at the thought. "Here would still be better. But I can't wait to be out and around. I'm just about cabin crazy."

Jessica laughed. "I bet! If I had to stay inside for two weeks… well! You have the patience of a saint, girl. Anyway. We'll be over in, like, ten."

"See you soon!"

"See you!"

I almost turned the phone off again, but remembered at the last moment that Renee was supposed to call sometime that day. Reluctantly, I tucked it back into my pocket.

As if summoned, it began to ring. I yanked it back out. Unknown caller.

A chill ran down my spine. What if it's whoever called last night?

If it was, I needed to talk to them. To gather more information.

"Hello?"

"Bella!"

It was Renee this time. I didn't know if I was relieved or disappointed. "Hi, mom. I don't have long to talk. What happened?"

"It was the craziest thing! I was just in a bar and I happened to sit next to a very handsome man. We introduced ourselves and started chatting, he bought me a drink—you know I would never upset Phil, but it was all so harmless. He had the most delicious accent. Spanish, maybe. But lighter than most. There are a lot of them here, just like Phoenix. But I went back to the bar because they got my drink wrong and when I got back to the table, he was gone! And so was my phone! I know it was in my purse because I distinctly remember putting it there, but nothing else was missing. Can you imagine?! Some man went through it, took just the phone, and then disappeared! I wonder if it was some sort of espionage. Like journalists, you know, trying to get the inside scoop on Phil. But I have a new one now. You'll have to write this number down, or…"

Knowing what Renee liked in an audience, I had been listening with half an ear, only responding with the occasional "Wow!" or "Oh?" as appropriate. "I'll save it to my contacts."

"Yes, that. I don't know—Phil took care of all that for me. He's such a wonderful man." She sighed (which was possibly the first time she'd breathed since we got on the call) and I could picture the gooey face she was making. "He misses you, you know. We both do. Are you coming for spring break?"

I was on solid ground here. "I don't think I can travel yet."

"Oh!" She sounded crestfallen, like the idea that it was hard to fly with a broken femur hadn't even occurred to her. "But… you'll be here for the summer, of course."

"To visit, maybe," I said cautiously. "Not for the whole thing."

"Oh, but baby, it'll be so much easier for you to get settled in before the school year starts. And you'll love it here," Renee babbled on, not pausing to let me get a word in edgewise. "The neighborhood is lovely. The house is so nice… I joined a pole-dancing class! We could go together. And you know Phil has been talking about drawing up the paperwork."

I wrenched myself out of the growing dread that her monologue was generating. "What paperwork? I thought he already signed on."

"The adoption paperwork, obviously."

Horror turned to shock, which quickly became anger. "Phil is not my dad," I said, louder than I had intended. Downstairs, something clattered.

"There's no need to take that tone with me!"

I realized that this was going to be one of the rare times that Renee tried to parent me. "Mom—"

"We can talk about it as a family when you're here."

"I want to stay in Forks."

"You can't want to stay in Forks!"

"Well, I do! I like it here. I thought you told me I could make my own decisions." I was almost shouting now, and I could feel angry tears building up behind my eyes.

"This isn't just your decision!" Renee was shouting back, and I held the phone a little further from my ear.

"Who else's is it?!"

"Have you asked Charlie about it?"

No, I realized, and a sliver of doubt slipped into my mind. What if he doesn't want me to stay? What if he's tired of taking care of me?

But I was too angry to back down. "I don't want to move to Florida, I don't want to live with you, and I don't want to be adopted!"

The line went dead. I wasn't sure which one of us had ended the call. Maybe she broke another phone, I thought, a little spitefully.