"Florida—oh, Bella, you'll never guess! Just when we were about to leave, just after we heard that you had been so badly injured, the best news!"
"Phil got signed?" I guessed.
"Yes! How did you guess! The Suns, can you believe it?"
"Not really, but that's great mom!" I said as enthusiastically as I could manage, though I had little idea what that meant.
"And you'll like Jacksonville so much," she gushed when I stared at her vacantly. "I was a bit worried when Phil started talking about Akron, what with the snow and everything, because you know how I hate the cold, but now Jacksonville! That place isn't cold at all! It's always sunny, and the humidity is great! We found the cutest little house, yellow with white trim, and a porch just like in an old movie, and a huge little oak tree, and it's just a few minutes from the ocean, and you'll have your own bathroom—"
"Wait, mom!" I interrupted. Fredward still had his eyes closed, but he looked too tense to pass as asleep. I could see his muscles bulging out of control. "What are you talking about, Mom? I'm not going to Florida. I live in Forks. Forks, Idaho."
"But you don't have to anymore, silly!" She laughed, stroking my broken arm. "Phil will be able to be around so much more now... we've talked about it a lot, and we just really liked talking about it, and what I'm going to do is trade off on the away games, half the time with you, half the time with him. Half and half. Win-win. Halfsy-winsy, Bella!"
"Mom." I hesitated, wondering how best to be diplomatic about the fact that the only person I truly cared about in this world was the only other person in the room, and he wasn't even a person! "I want to live in Forks. I'm already settled in at a school, and I have a couple of girlfriends"—she glanced toward Fredward—"and Charlie

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Chapter 24

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