Before School

As Thomas walked into the house, he could smell fish cooking and figured Charlie must have been successful at the stream today. Hanging up the soaking wet parka, Thomas walked into the kitchen to see how long until dinner was ready. Seeing Charlie at the table with a beer in his hand I could tell he was racking his brain and trying to come up with something to talk to his daughter about. I decided to take pity on him and spoke to Bella. 

"How long until dinner sis? Do I have time for a shower first?" 

 "I just started the fish so at least 30 minutes. I'm making you six and Cha... Dad and I will have the other three from his trip today." 

 "Great, I'll leave you alone then, I know how you hate being bugged when you're cooking." Saying the last bit for Charlie so he would stop trying to come up with an icebreaker to talk to Bella. 

 He took the hint and followed me out of the kitchen. "I will look and see if there is a game on while we wait, let me know if you need anything Bella." 

 "Umm... Dad, I will need to do a better shopping trip tomorrow after school." 

"No problem, there is a couple hundred bucks in the peanut can on top of the fridge. I usually just shove some grocery shopping money in there each paycheck. If it isn't enough just let me know and I'll give you more." 

Bella walked over to the fridge and found the can Charlie was talking about. Opening it up she saw a large wad of random bills just stacked on top of each other. She couldn't stand to see the mess so keeping an eye on the cooking fish she took the bills out and counted them up. "Ahh… Dad, you realize there are almost three thousand dollars here?" 

Charlie turned towards Bella who was standing in the kitchen doorway. "Hu, guess it adds up quick when you don't pay attention. That should last us a good long while." 

Shaking her head, Bella sighed in pity towards the Lodge. Seems that her cooking at home just robbed them of one of their regular customers. As she finished preparing dinner, she started to plan out the week's dinners in her head, so she knew what to shop for. Charlie's belly was in for some new experiences. 

 After we ate dinner Charlie settled in for a couple hours of watching sports and Bella and I went to our respective rooms. I was going through my wardrobe by finally unpacking and hanging my shirts while putting the rest into the drawers of my dresser. I settled on a pair of blue jeans, my new hiking boots, and a t-shirt with a picture of the yin-yang symbol. It was a shirt Renee had gotten me to remind me nothing was all bad or all good. For a woman as ditzy as she could be, she sure had moments where she saw to the heart of things no matter how you tried to hide it. 

 After deciding what I was going to wear, I sat down on my bed and opened my sketchbook, and just started to randomly draw a desert landscape from a memory in Phoenix. As I was working on a particularly stubborn cactus shadow, I heard a knock at my door. "Thomas, can I come in?" I heard Bella ask. 

 "Sure, come on in." 

 Bella opened the door wearing her pajamas. Her hair still wet and spreading the scent of strawberries all over my room from her favorite shampoo as she came in. Towel in hand as she was using it to wipe her hair dry. "What are you drawing?" Bella asked, seeing his sketchpad out. 

 "Just a memory from the last run I took back in Phoenix. What can I help you with?" 

 "I just wanted to check on you, seeing as we will start school tomorrow." 

 "I should be just fine sis, I managed to get used to a class of 40 people and a student body of 700 in just our year alone. This whole school all years included is what 350 people max? Figure 10-15 in each class." 

 "I just hope we have some classes together and you have to promise to eat with me." Bella looked at me intently as she said the last bit. 

 "That's fine, but could you pick me up from the police station? I want to do my workout and the guys will let me use the shower there so I can get ready for school." 

 "No problem, I will even bring you your breakfast when I do. I would never be able to operate on the five hours of sleep you get each night, it's just unnatural. Staying up till 11pm and getting up at 4:30am." 

 "Wow Bell's, you really do need school, I know you hate math but that's five and a half hours not five." She threw her towel at me. "Jerk!" 

 I chuckled and tossed the towel back to her. "See you in the morning sis." I said as she left my room, leaving me to my drawing. 

 The next morning, I woke to my alarm instead of a nightmare which was a promising start to the day. I put my school clothes into my backpack and went downstairs for my pre-workout meal. Leaving the house, I locked the door and put the key back where it belonged. I decided that instead of running with my backpack, I would put it in Charlie's cruiser and collect it when he arrived at work in a couple of hours. 

 Beginning my run, I noticed that I could smell things around me more clearly and my hearing was much better than I was used to also. I chalked it up to being away from the big city and I knew you could hear better on a cold day also, so it didn't worry me much. I must also be getting used to the weather because a quarter through my run I had to take my jacket off or I felt like I would overheat. There was no rain at the moment, but the air still felt damp, like it was coming soon. 

 After I got in my seven miles, give or take a bit, I arrived at the police station and opened the door making sure to call out for Jeff, so I didn't startle the man. "Morning Jeff, how was your night? Quiet, I hope." 

 "Hey kid, yeah it was quiet. Just a couple of drunks sleeping it off in the drunk tank. I am sure they will just love being woke up to the sound of you throwing those weights around. Back in my football days, I was just like you, wanting that Arnold Schwarzenegger body just to impress all the ladies. Got to say that I am glad my daughter is too young to be in your strike range kid or I'm sure she would fall for your looks."

 This conversation just took an embarrassing turn. "Well, I better get to the workout before my body cools down Jeff, thanks for letting me in."

 I headed into the room that they had designated the gym and started to go through the stretching routine I had developed with a couple of trainers back in Phoenix. Starting the morning with 300 on the bench I started my reps and lost myself to the rhythm and counts in my head. As I was doing a ladder of sit-ups with two 50lb plates held to my chest, I saw Charlie come into the office carrying my backpack. 

 "Hey Thomas, I found this in my passenger seat and figured you put it there, so I brought it in. I also wanted to talk to you about some reading I had done about weightlifting and how it wasn't all that smart to do it alone in case you need help during a lift."

 "Moring Charlie, yeah, I didn't want to sweat through the backpack during my run so I thought you bringing it would be best. As far as the lifting partner, it doesn't affect me much so long as I don't try breaking any records and there just isn't enough weight here for me to do that so no worries. On a day that I want to push my limits, I'll be sure to let you know so we can be safe. Who knows, maybe I can find a workout buddy at school."

 I stood up and put the weights away and decided to get ready for school after a cool-down stretch. "Thanks for looking out for me and going so far as to look up information on my hobby. It means a lot to me." I could tell that Charlie was instantly embarrassed and didn't take compliments too well, he is definitely Bella's dad.

 With a bit of a red face, Charlie started to walk out of the room but stopped at the door. "Feel free to use one of the open lockers in the bathroom. You can leave your stuff there for when you come back tonight." 

 I pretended not to see the awkwardness from Charlie and thanked him as I gathered my stuff to get ready for school, Bella should be here in a half hour or so.