It was all no use, of course. My subconscious154 had dredged up exactly the images I'd been trying so desperately to avoid. I was going to have to face them now, face to face, Bella à Bella.
I sat up, my head spun around for a minute as the blood flowed downward. First things first, I thought to myself, happy to put it off as long as possible. I grabbed my bathroom bag for a serious bathroom sesh.
The shower didn't last nearly as long as I hoped it would, though. Even taking the time to blow-dry my hair, I was soon out of things to do in the bathroom. Wrapped in a towel, I crossed back to my room. I couldn't tell if Charlie was still asleep, or if he had already left. I went to look out my window, and the cruiser was gone. Cruising again.155
I dressed slowly in my most comfy sweats and sweaters and then made my bed—something I never did, but I was anticipating this vampire crisis to end in my bed. I couldn't put it off any longer. I went to my desk and switched on my rusty-trusty old computer.
I hated using the Internet here. My 28k kilobaud modem was sadly outdated, my free service substandard to all of the other terrible free services; just dialing up took so long that I decided to go get myself a bowl of Lunky Charms while I waited.
I ate slowly, chewing each marshmallow with care. When I was done, I washed the bowl and spoon, dried each one individually, and put
154. The level of consciousness that lies below what Bella usually thinks about, and is usually inaccessible. One must wonder what it means that both her conscious and unconscious minds seem to only think about Fredward.
155. Cruising is the act of searching for anonymous male sex. Whatever combination of factors it was that drove Charles Duck to this point in his life, what is most surprising is that Bella seems to know about it.