38. Whatever Happened to Sensible Lina?

To spite the fact that we were both completely exhausted, Seth and I talked for a couple of hours before reluctantly hanging up and going back to bed. We played with the idea of setting up the webcams, but I didn't really want him to see me still looking so pale and weak knowing it would only make him worry again. I slept through the night cuddled up to a pillow that I had wrapped Seth's blanket around pretending I was cuddled up to his chest and inhaling his intoxicating scent. I couldn't really describe the smell exactly, it was warm and comforting with the slightest hint of a woodsy smell that intermingled with his preferred cologne which I had found out during our conversation was called Hugo. All night long I kept waking up and turning my face into the plush blanket and inhaling deeply sending tingles of exhilaration through my body. If cuddling a blanket that smelled like him was this amazing, I couldn't imagine what hugging him in person would do to me.

Wednesday morning arrived with a whisper as I lay in bed once again taking time to imagine that I was in the arms of my Seth as the pink and purple hues of dawn crept across my room. I knew I had to go back to school, but all I really wanted to do was lay in bed all day again talking to Seth and pretending that he were here with me. I decided to compromise and made plans to transfer all of my books for school into my larger duffle bag so that I could smuggle my teddy Seth to school to sneak whiffs between classes. He smelled like Seth too, although not nearly as much as the blanket did.

I walked downstairs to find breakfast waiting for me. My family appeared to be genuinely relieved that I was back to my normal self. I could tell that my illness had frightened them more thoroughly than I had ever seen before. We all teased and joked as usual as they sat with me while I ate.

I made my way to school, stowing teddy Seth as covertly as possible in my locker. I knew that if any of the guys saw it I would never live it down. The day at school was overwhelming as I dealt with playing catch up. Leave it to me to get sick on the most intensive day of class to date. I was pleased to find that teddy Seth was fragrant enough to fill my whole locker with his comforting scent making it a whole lot less awkward to get my Seth fix that way rather than trying to sneak sniffs of the actual bear. I knew I was being ridiculous about the whole thing, but I couldn't help it. Love does strange things to even the most sensible people.

By the end of the day I was glad that I had brought the big duffel bag to school since I ended up having to bring every single book and notebook home to get all of my make up work in addition to current day's assignments done. Even though we were no longer dating, Connor still managed to be a very chivalrous friend offering to carry the ridiculously heavy bag to my car for me. As we walked I confided in him all of the amazing things that had happened over the last 48 hours. He was genuinely happy for me.

As we walked I started laughing as a realization hit me.

"What's so funny?" Connor asked looking confused as we exited the doors of the school and were making our way out to the parking lot.

I chuckled again and sighed. "I was just thinking about how things have turned out."

"How's that?"

"Two months ago I started school here having never had a boyfriend or a social life to speak of. In the first few weeks I managed to find a boyfriend and a best friend and now two months later my best friend is my boyfriend and my boyfriend is my best friend!" I laughed again and he joined me.

"Man, you give teenage primetime soaps a run for their money don't you?" He teased.

I almost said it out loud, but managed to stop just in time as I thought, If you only knew how true that was! Instead I just giggled again shaking my head in agreement as I unlocked my car and stepped aside to allow Connor to toss my duffel in the passenger seat for me. We said our goodbyes and he told me once more how happy he was for me and how glad he was that we were still friends.

When I got home Alice was waiting to help me with my bag. I assumed she had seen a vision of me struggling to get it inside and so she decided to help me out. It looked pretty comical since the bag was about one third of her total size, but with her exceptional vampire strength she was able to carry it as though it were nothing. She took it to the dining room and sat it on the table so I had a nice big work space and then danced off to join Jasper in the next room. Before I knew it the whole family came sauntering through the room to the back door informing me that they were going hunting to give me peace and quiet to work in and left. Only Edward stayed behind to help me figure out the complicated Trig assignment and Bella was situated in the living room in a sea of her own research for a big term paper due next week.

It took all night, but I finally got all of my work done with the assistance of Edward our resident master tutor. I called Seth for a short chat before bed and then passed out with exhaustion.

Thursday I woke up to find that Edward had placed my book bag in the car already so I didn't have to drag it out myself. I went to school, dragging the ridiculously heavy book bag on my own for the first time. I made a mental note that I needed to look into getting a bag with rollers next time I went shopping. My teachers were all pleasantly surprised to see that I had managed to make all of my work up in the one night. The day went much faster when I wasn't starting at a disadvantage.

Things were a bit weird during my conversation with Seth that night. He seemed distracted. I tried to chalk it up to stress over the deadlines for his projects, but a part of me couldn't help but worry that something else was wrong. As he rushed to get off the phone with a flimsy explanation I found myself hoping that we hadn't messed everything up between us by crossing the line from friendship to something more. It was so typically me to always worry waiting for the next shoe to drop. Things were going so great with Seth and I was scared that something would change all of that. I shook my head trying to let go of my worries. Seth being distracted with work didn't automatically mean that there was a problem. He was working really hard so he could focus on me when he came I reminded myself.

I woke up Friday morning relieved that it was the end of the week. One week and two days left until Seth's arrival, my irrational fears disappearing during the night. I was so excited I could hardly stand it.