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Prompt: Dialogue Flex: “What the hell were you thinking?” he shouted.


Bella Swan knew the difference between right and wrong. After all her father Charlie was the Chief of Police. However, where things were usually black and white for Charlie, Bella knew there was always a shade of gray to everything. Sometimes this put her in precarious situations with Charlie, especially when he saw it as black and she knew it was gray.

So it was no surprise when Charlie came home from work one Tuesday night seething with anger.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he shouted.

“Daddy,” she knew when to play that particular card, “it’s not…”

“Don’t you ‘Daddy’ me young lady. This is serious. And don’t tell me it’s not what I think because it is exactly what I think! You’re going to be grounded until your hair turns gray. Now go to your room.”

Oh no, she thought, he’s going to send me to my room. Where my stereo, TV and computer are. The horror. Charlie had seen her smirk so instead he told her to sit at the table. He stomped up the stairs and Bella heard him enter her room. Soon after she could make out his mutterings and heard things being moved around. She knew then that he meant business. He had made several trips from her room to the small guestroom down the hall. This really made her nervous. Obviously he was taking all her technologic luxuries away from her. Then she heard hammering. What the hell was he doing, she wondered. She prayed silently that he would forget about the cell phone.

Ten minutes later Charlie came back downstairs and stood directly in front of her. He held out his hand and even though she knew what he wanted she wouldn’t budge.

“Isabella Marie. Hand. Me. The. Cell. Phone.”

“But what if there’s an emergency and I need to get in contact with you?”

“Well since you’ll only be leaving the house to go to school you don’t need to worry about it.”

“And if something happens at school?”

“Then the school will call me. Bella just because I’m lax on some things doesn’t mean I was born yesterday. Now give me the phone.”

“Fine. But you’re ruining my life.”

“Funny I was going to tell you that you were ruining your life.”

“How would you know? You won’t even let me explain!”

“That’s right I won’t. Because you are the child and I am the parent!”

“What…you’re…I’m? Are you kidding me? If you’re not at work you’re down at Billy’s. I spend more time in this house then you do.”

“Bella, go to your room. We’ll talk again once we’ve both calmed down.”

Bella went up the stairs, making much more noise than her father had before her and slammed her bedroom door shut for dramatic effect. Her room looked like someone robbed it. There were empty spaces where all her beloved machines had once been. Their wires splayed on her desk, TV stand and dresser. Her room looked bare. She looked at her window that faced the front yard and her heart stopped.

“Oh shit.” He had nailed her window shut. That could only mean one thing.

He knew.