i believe i can fly

[self_composed]

Alice eventually goes home for the evening.

Bella goes up and sits in her room.

She has five hexes.

Five.

That's rather a lot of hexes.

She gets out her notebook, with the lists, and she makes some wishes.

And then she goes to bed, grinning.

In the morning it will be time to make plans.

Comments

[self_composed]

[It's not about being relieved or not, it's just about the whole thing being a serious matter. But whatever, this is just Charlie, you can pentagon acting for the witness stand.]

"Well, I can see if we can find that out," Charlie says. "With any luck he'll never set foot in your house again, Laney."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Yeah," he says, and he does smile, crookedly. "Wouldn't that be nice."

[self_composed]

"I'll put word around first thing in the morning," Charlie said. "Can I see your list?"

Bella grimly fetches the notebooks.

"He's got an eidetic memory," she explains, as Charlie opens the first. "I wrote everything down from him, but this is straight out of his memories."

"What's the highlighter mean?"

"This color means it left marks and you can prove it - this one means 'jury bait'," Bella says.

Charlie snorts, and starts turning pages, grimmer and grimmer as he goes by.

[edgeofyourseat]

...It is kind of amazing how that was all totally true and also totally lies.

He watches curiously as Charlie progresses through the book.

[self_composed]

Charlie decides he doesn't need to see anymore less than ten skimmed pages in, although he does pick up the second notebook to look up the November incident. "Your mother left her lipstick in your room and - Christ."

Well, Bella did just write that it was for her lipstick "being found" there.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Yep," says Alice. Same difference, really. It's not like Dad even bothered to ask her if she'd known it was missing.

[self_composed]

"Christ," repeats Charlie. "I'll handle this first thing in the morning."

"Thanks, Dad," says Bella.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Yeah," says Alice. "Thanks."

He means it, too.