Life as I Know It

Chapter 29

The next morning, I woke up to the vibration of my phone beside me. I groaned and turned over, brushing my bedhead out of my eyes. My eyes weren't adjusted to the bright morning light, so I blindly reached over to pick up my phone, not even checking the home screen.

"Hello?" I mumbled under my breath, my voice scratchy against my throat.

"Hey, Bells. You still sleeping?" my dad's gruff voice called out in my ears.

I sat up slowly, checking the time with one eye to the side. It was only 11 am. I didn't have work today, so I had all day to sleep in. "Um...no, well, kinda. Hey, Dad."

My dad chuckled a bit, "Good morning to you, too, kid."

"Why are you calling me so early?" I sat up to the headboard slowly, my brain still fuzzy from very little sleep.

"I can't talk to my only baby girl, who I havent heard from in two weeks, I might add." His voice lifted in a placating tone towards the end, which made me blank out. When was the last time we talked? Was it before his business trip?

"You didn't call me when you got back from your business trip or whatever..." I grumbled, scratching my dirty brown curls. The same curls I got from him.

"Isabella, that's no excuse. If I don't call you, you can call me, you hear?" His Texan accent came out, and I sighed, trying not to roll my eyes. We'd always had a good relationship, but we were bad communicators, so when one didn't call and the other got pissed, we'd end up in an argument over who didn't call back first. So annoying.

"Ok, ok, sorry, Dad." I sighed. An awkward silence fell over the phone, and I instantly felt bad for being dismissive. My dad could die tomorrow, and the last thing we would talk about was why I didn't call him? But at the same time, I had a life, I had Mom, my boyfriend, then there was me trying to figure out where I wanted to go in life.

I stumbled out of bed to go pee and brush my teeth when my dad's voice called through again.

"So what's this I hear about you havin' a boyfriend or somethin'?"

My feet froze on the cold hardwood floor, my fatique forgotten. I felt the back of my throat clog up, my mouth dried up even more. I cleared my throat, unsure of what to say. "Um...."

"I found out while browsin' on Facebook. Your mother must have put up a post or somethin', and I saw your name attached. It's that Edwin kid, right? From your school? The one who lost his parents?"

I gulped and tried again. "It's Edward, dad, and...yeah it's the same guy. He didn't lose his parents, they're still alive, they just don't live with him anymore. He lives with his brother now and takes care of him. I have to tell Mom to take me off that goddamn status."

"Language, Bella." Dad chastised, but a laugh came through at the end, so I knew he wasn't serious.

"Sorry," I cringed. "But yeah, he and I are kind of a thing now."

"Oh. Didn't even know you were into that sort of thing..." he trailed off, and I slowly sat down on the corner of my bed.

"What sort of thing?" I stifled a yawn.

"I don't know, boys, dating. You were always off on your own, doin' your own thing, or hangin' with your friends. I always thought you'd never have time for all that stuff."

"Yeah, well I didn't exactly plan it," I smiled nervously, "But yeah, I'm pretty happy with Edward."

"Oh, well, that's good. As long as he's treatin' you right, Bells, or else I'll have to---"

"Please don't worry about that, Dad! Both Mom and Alice have that covered. Besides, Edward is super sweet and kind and nice and..." My voice carried off a bit, a small smile creeping on my lips as I thought of him. My cheeks burned, both from blushing and my cheeks hurting. "Just yeah, you don't have to worry."

"Hmm. Well, okay, then. I'll be watchin' otherwise."

"How? You're all the way in Texas!" I giggled, and he chuckled back.

"I have my sources so you'll never know, don't worry."

I rolled my eyes again, and made my way to the bathroom again. "Yeah, anyway. How was your trip?" I put the phone on speaker while I brushed my teeth. I was always curious about his secret business trips, but he'd never really elaborated on, because he was always so private. My mom always thought he was too secretive, which was one of the reasons they broke up after I was 9 years old. However, I'd always thought Dad was like me; quiet, kept to themselves, never spoke out of turn unless asked to, had secrets only we would know how to control. We were too alike for our own good.

"It was what it was, you know? It wasn't much of a trip, more like a day or two for some personal business. But I'm back home and wanted to talk to my baby girl."

I smiled at my father's corniness. "Well, I'm here, still living life, I guess."

"How's work and school goin'?" I heard a squeak in the background, and could envision him sitting in his favorite recliner chair near the television.

"Um....I'm still looking for a new job, but school is okay. I have 2 more years left. Technically, I have a year and a half because I'm also doing summer classes."

"That's good. Stay in school, work hard and all of that." I could hear an amused smile in his voice.

"Well, you're paying for school, so I gotta stay in it," I remarked with a smirk.

"That's right! And you're doing your Master's, right?"

"I don't think so. My Bachelor's is already a lot of work and stress and I feel like doing a Master's--- first of all, a Master's in what?" I laughed humorlessly before continuing. "I like my Communications program, but I don't know where I want to specialize in. So doing a Master's will defeat the pupose, won't it?"

He sighed heavily, and I braced myself for another lecture from another adult. "Well, I think it's up to you on what you wanna do. Not gonna lie, I'd be kinda sad if you didn't wanna do the whole thing. But on the other hand, if you feel stressed, then you should take a break. Travel, see the world, do somethin' besides studyin' all the time, with that little....boyfriend of yours." He paused before calling my boyfriend, probably still surprised that I did have one. I was too, still after 4 months.

"Thanks, Dad. I honestly thought you would be mad at me because you've drilled the school thing ever since I was a kid."

"Well, ya know, I did the whole thing, got my MBA and everything, but I know you're a super-smart kid and can do anything you want. So if you feel like school isn't the way to be, then don't do it. I don't want you to feel like you gotta do somethin' just because I did it, or I want you to."

My eyes started burning at the corners, and I tried not to sniffle on the phone. "Thanks, Dad. That means a lot to me."

"Yeah, no problem, kid." His voice warmed me like a warm hug, a comfortable silence over the phone line. After a while, he sighed and spoke again. "Welp, I gotta go get these orders in for my Ebay store. Talk to you later, kid. Say hi to your mama for me."

"Yeah I will. Be careful."

"Always am." This was our little schtick instead of saying goodbye, I'd tell him to be careful. It'd started when I was about 17 when he was still in the police force and doing long-term cases in Texas. I hung up, feeling better than before about talking to my dad after a long while.

I'm baaaack! Kinda? Sorta? Possibly? lol I can only hope I can somehow finish this story. I'm in need for a beta-reader and haven't had much luck finding one, so if you want to be mine for this story, DM me!

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