Just Friends

~~ Monday, January 16, 2017 ~~

Groaning, I stumble out of bed and wonder why I'm still wearing my clothes from yesterday. It slowly begins to come back to me that Seth was here. We were watching a movie. He had his arm around me. Or did I dream that? No, I think it was real. I must have fallen asleep, and he apparently set my alarm for me before he left. My phone, which I'd left next to my purse, is now connected to the charger – I guess he figured out why I still have an actual alarm clock instead of just using my phone.

Curious, I quickly check my laptop, which has been returned to my desk, and I find that the movie is paused at the twenty-three minute mark. I guess I didn't last long. How embarrassing. The current time at the corner of the computer screen catches my eye, and I feel a fresh wave of panic – only twenty-four minutes until class starts. I normally give myself more time to get ready, as waking up is always a slow process for me. I grab my bathroom stuff and rush off to take a super-fast shower.

I make it to my first class about a minute late with my wet hair pulled back in a ponytail. Fortunately, my professor doesn't arrive until a few seconds after I do. I guess even professors sometimes have trouble getting started in the mornings.

I have a free period before my next class, so I stop in the library to look over my notes before the management quiz. I'm surprised to see Jake and Nessie there. They have an 8:30 class too, but our business classes are the only ones we have together, and I normally don't see them until time for the management class.

"Hey, Chloe!" Nessie whispers loudly, enthusiastically waving me over to their table. Her hair looks perfect, as always, and she's wearing yet another new, expensive-looking outfit. I still marvel that she was ever interested in being friends with someone as average as me. She could seriously be a model, with her flawless skin, gorgeous chocolate-brown eyes, and amazing smile. I had expected her to blow me off when I first invited her to the study group at the beginning of the school year. I'm glad she's turned out to be such a good friend.

"Hi," I answer, pulling up a chair. "Studying for the quiz next period?"

"Yeah, Seth didn't bother to remind me until I was leaving this morning," Jake complains.

"Like it's his job to remind you of that," Nessie says, laughing. "I reminded you before I left to babysit. You were the one who was supposed to remind Seth!"

"So was he with you all day yesterday?" Jake asks, turning to me.

"Not all day," I tell him. "He apparently slept the first half of the day." On the floor. With you. "But yeah, we studied together yesterday. We made Megan-cards, if you want to borrow them."

"Megan-cards?" he asks with a laugh as I hand them to him. "So what's the deal with you two? Are you like a couple now?"

I can feel my face turning red. I've never been embarrassed to talk about guys I liked in the past, but this is the first time that I've really, really liked a guy, so this is different. And Jake is one of Seth's best friends, so he'll probably tell Seth whatever I say.

"We're just friends," I insist, hoping that they can't hear in my voice how much I wish we could be more.

"Are you sure?" Nessie asks.

"Why, did he say something?" I ask, genuinely confused. I'm sure Taylor wouldn't have blabbed already.

"No, but I've noticed he's been spending a lot of time with you lately."

"Well, I'm pretty sure he just wants to be friends," I assure her. Especially if he hasn't said anything to her or Jake about liking me. This is just Nessie wanting to play matchmaker. "But we have become pretty good friends lately," I add.

Nessie raises her eyebrows.

"He's easy to talk to and fun to be around," I say with a shrug, forcing myself to sound casual. "And we're sharing textbooks so we end up seeing each other a lot."

Jake and Nessie exchange a look.

"What? What does that look mean?" I ask.

"Nothing," they both answer together, but their smiles tell me they think otherwise.

I remember leaning against Seth last night before I fell asleep and how comfortable and relaxed I felt with him. I think of how he put his arm around me. It had felt very casual and innocent, but maybe he did want to be more than friends? No, that's silly. A guy like him? He probably has a girlfriend back home, anyway – either Claire or someone else. He was just being a good friend last night, letting me get comfortable because he could see I was tired. Because that's the kind of guy he is – always thinking of others. And if he wants to be friends, I don't want to mess that up.

"Well, are we going to study for this quiz, or not?" I ask, ready to leave this subject.

"Sure, sure," says Jake, and Nessie takes the Megan cards from him and starts shuffling them.

We study for a while since we still have about forty-five minutes until time for class. Nessie has obviously studied already, probably while she was babysitting, so it's mainly the two of us drilling Jake.

"Have you two looked over the example he put on the class wiki?" Nessie asks after we've gone through the cards three times.

"What example?" I ask, beginning to panic. I have no idea what she's talking about, and Seth probably hasn't studied it either. Why didn't I pay better attention in class on Friday?

"Dr. Baxter made some PowerPoint slides showing different types of businesses with various levels of uncertainty and how they cope in different environments. We still have fifteen minutes, if you want to look it up," she says, pulling her tablet out of her purse and handing it to me.

"Thanks," I say, feeling a little relieved already. That was pretty well covered in the chapter we read, but it certainly won't hurt to see some specific examples that may possibly end up on the quiz.

I turn on the device, and there are two alerts showing up. "Um, it looks like you have texts from Billy and Claire," I tell Nessie, handing it back to her.

"What does Dad want?" Jake asks, sliding his hand down her arm as he leans closer to peer over her shoulder.

"They're old messages. I already responded from my phone," she tells him. "The one from Billy was about the plans for your birthday last weekend."

"Is Claire someone here at Dartmouth?" I ask, wondering if it's the same one who called Seth.

"No, she's a friend from back home," she answers, essentially confirming my suspicions. She sounds as though this information is of no importance, but I don't miss the odd look on Jake's face when I said her name.

I wish I could ask Nessie if she's Seth's girlfriend. Or ex-girlfriend. Or wanna-be girlfriend. Or soon-to-be girlfriend. Or soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend. But I don't think there's any way I can ask without sounding jealous, and they're both already suspicious. Nessie or Jake might say something to Seth, and what would he think if he knew how much I wished we could be a couple? He'd probably worry that he would be leading me on if he kept spending time with me, and he might feel like he needed to break off our friendship so as not to give me false hope. And that's the last thing I'd ever want to happen.

Nessie passes me the tablet again, and I pull up the presentation and force myself to focus on it so that I can pass it on to Jake in time for him to look over it too.

A few minutes later, we arrive in class, and Seth is already there. I take my normal seat in the front row, directly in front of him, with Nessie to my left and Jake directly behind her. Over the past week or so, the class seems to have settled into a routine with regards to the seating arrangement, and this is how we've ended up.

"Sorry about last night," I whisper, turning and leaning over his desk slightly. "I didn't think I'd fall asleep."

"No problem," he whispers back. "I could tell you were tired. I shouldn't have invited myself over. Did you get caught up on your sleep?"

"I must have slept twelve or thirteen hours, and I still had trouble getting out of bed when the alarm went off," I tell him, laughing. "Thanks for setting the alarm."

"No problem."

Class starts, and the quiz turns out to be much easier than I expected. We definitely over-studied for that one.

Afterward, we eat lunch in the cafeteria with our normal group. Seth seems the same as always - friendly and attentive but careful not to invade my personal space. He doesn't mention anything else about last night, like how I fell asleep with his arm around me or how he somehow managed to move me so that I was under the covers instead of sitting on top of them. I guess it was no big deal.

Seth heads off to his next class, and I go up to my room to organize my notes from this morning's classes. I know I won't see him for the rest of the day, since this is Monday - there are no planned group activities, I'm not in his last class, and I've got to go to work soon anyway. But after spending most of yesterday with him, it feels too quiet now. And I miss him.

A/N: I'm posting two more chapters tonight. The next one is even shorter than this one, but the one after it is more substantial (and has Seth in it). :)