go　to　Florida。〃

His　face　turned　bright　red。　He　took　a　few　deep　breaths　before　he　answered。

〃Would　you　like　to　explain　where　you've　been？〃

Oh；　crap。　〃There　was　an　emergency。〃

He　raised　his　eyebrows　in　expectation　of　my　brilliant　explanation。

I　filled　my　cheeks　with　air　and　then　blew　it　out　noisily。　〃I　don't　know　what

to　tell　you；　Dad。　It　was　mostly

a　misunderstanding。　He　said；　she　said。　It　got　out　of　hand。〃

He　waited　with　a　distrustful　expression。

〃See；　Alice　told　Rosalie　about　me　jumping　off　the　cliff〃　I　was　scrambling

frantically　to　make　this　work；

to　keep　it　as　close　to　the　truth　as　possible　so　that　my　inability　to　lie

convincingly　would　not　undermine　the

excuse；　but　before　I　could　go　on；　Charlie's　expression　reminded　me　that　he

didn't　know　arything　about

thecliff。

Major　oops。　As　if　I　wasn't　already　toast。

〃I　guess　I　didn't　tell　you　about　that；〃　I　choked　out。　〃It　was　nothing。　Just

messing　around；　swimming　with

Jake。　Anyway；　Rosalie　told　Edward；　and　he　was　upset。　She　sort　of　accidentally

made　it　sound　like　I　wa？

trying　to　kill　myself　or　something。　He　wouldn't　answer　his　phone；　so　Alice

dragged　me　to　L。A。；　to

explain　in　person。〃　I　shrugged；　desperately　hoping　that　he　would　not　be　so

distracted　by　my　slip　that　he'd

miss　the　brilliant　explanation　I'd　provided。

Charlie's　face　was　frozen。　〃Were　you　trying　to　kill　yourself；　Bella？〃

〃No；　of　course　not。　Just　having　fun　with　Jake。　Cliff　diving。　The　La　Push　kids

do　it　all　the　time。　Like　I　said；

nothing。〃

Charlie's　face　heated　up—from　fr