Hi, guys! See you at the bottom.


Created: Fri, March 6, 2020 at 12:38 PM (Delivered after 2752 seconds)

From: bswan at washington dot edu

To: erectedward at gmail dot com

Subject: School Closed

Edward,

I'm in the last class for today, and we were just informed that all schooling has been moved online, staring Monday. Things are getting serious here, and I'm starting to worry.

B


Created: Fri, March 6, 2020 at 12:39 PM (Delivered after 1534 seconds)

From: erectedward at gmail dot com

To: bswan at washington dot edu

Subject: Re: School Closed

Because of the virus?

How long is?

Edward


Created: Fri, March 6, 2020 at 12:42 PM (Delivered after 2138 seconds)

From: bswan at washington dot edu

To: erectedward at gmail dot com

Subject: Re: School Closed

Yep. For the rest of the quarter. Finals are March 20, and they can be given online. It'll depend on the teacher. Oh wait. Professor Banner is about to dismiss us. I'll call you as soon as I can.


Created: Fri, March 6, 2020 at 1:02 PM (Delivered after 2434 seconds)

From: erectedward at gmail dot com

To: bswan at washington dot edu

Subject: Re: School Closed

I haven't heard from you.

Everything okay?


I hurry inside the apartment, dropping my bag by the door and grabbing the can of Lysol from the entrance table. After spraying half the can onto the bag, I scurry to the kitchen to wash my hands. After a good scrubbing, I grab the chlorine wipes and pull out my phone, cleaning the surface as thoroughly as possible.

Feeling satisfied that I've done all I can, I open Edward's last email and dial his number as soon as I've finished reading it.

"Babe?" he answers, relieved. "I was starting to worry."

A light giggle escapes. "Professor Banner's long-winded."

"Tell him not to freak a guy out next time," he responds, the tightness in his voice fading. "Talk to me. I've been watching the news. Are things worse than they appear, or is your school just being extra precautious?"

I move into my bedroom and push the door shut behind me. "I'm not sure which, but I'm glad for it. This virus seems to be especially contagious, and the numbers keep climbing. It's scary to think about."

"I don't want you there," he blurts, hurrying on before I can respond. "Just hear me out." He pauses, blowing out a heavy breath. "You're out of school for the next couple of weeks. All you need is a computer, right?" Again, he rushes ahead without waiting for a reply. "You can do that from here." He pauses again, but I don't say anything because I can tell he's fighting to find the rest of his words. "Look, I don't know if they're overreacting or not, but I'm not willing to risk it. You. I'm not willing to risk you. Please, Bella, say you'll come here until we have a better idea of what's going on."

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be," I respond, his words soothing me in an unexpected way. This is exactly what I needed him to say, and I didn't even realize it. He did, though. He always does. "How soon do you want me?"

His soft chuckle reverberates through the phone and settles low in my body. "Your flight leaves at six."


The email dates and time coincide with UDub's decision to move to strictly online learning, though I'm not sure if there really was classes happening at the time of the press conference 12:30 on the 6th. That's my fictional liberty taking over ;)

So, here we are. Not sure how many I'll write and maybe they won't post daily, but over the next week or two I hope to give you a handful of quarantine outtakes from our dynamic duo.

We're also holding a Quarantine Edition of our "A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words" image contest. You can find us in out FB group by the same name or on our FF profile.

The final book in my Monster Inside Me series (Operation) comes out this month, so I'm going to make a signup sheet for FF members who'd like a free copy of the set. I'll try to get that done so I can share it here and it'll also be on my FB page "Fyregirl Fics" if you want to follow. I do have PMs from some of you, but it seems FF PMs are broken and not forwarding to your emails. You may have tons of missed PMs setting in your FF account you're unaware of.

Haha, I bet you thought the chapter was longer!

Sorry.

See you soon :)