The Conversion

Chapter 12 - Procrastination Master

        I flipped through my planner, figuring out what I had to do for homework. "Ugh, shoot me now," I groaned when I noticed the term paper due soon. Ignoring it, I noticed "Mongolian Project - Lauren's # (838)353-5359". My eyes widened, that was due on Tuesday. In three days! "How did I not see this?" I whined in contempt. Pouting, I pulled my phone out to add Lauren as a contact and called.

"Hello?" she said softly.

"Lauren?" I asked.

"Yes. And who is this?" she said, a hint of confusion evident in her voice.

"Bella. We have that Mongolian Civilization thing due in a few days. I totally forgot about it - I'm so so sorry," I said emphatically.

"Oh yes, that's fine. I wasn't sure if you were interested in helping. I already have a plan and was going to make the artifact this afternoon," Lauren said.

"Okay! I wouldn't just leave you to do it all alone. What can I do to help?" I said with a laugh.

"Would you like to help make the artifact?" she said timidly.

"Yes! I would love to. What's your address?" I asked and checked the time," Can I come over at 4:30?"

"Fantastic! I will text you my address. And can you bring some liquid glue? We're going to need a lot of that."

"Yep, I'll stop by the store on the way there. Thanks!" I said.

"See you then," Lauren said and I could hear her smile.

"Yeah, see you," I said and ended the call. I stared at my homework for a few seconds optimistically, but then looked through my texts.

"Paige, don't care about that. Eliza, don't care. Max, don't ca - wait, yes, I do, he's my boyfriend!" I mumbled as I look through my texts and mentally slapped myself. 

hey babe, let's go out tonight. i'll pick u up @ 6

I quickly replied.

Can you come at 6:30? Working on a school project with a partner.

I closed the conversation and looked through the rest and opened one from Skyler.

Did ya get the email from Coach? Regatta in a few weeks, she said you and peter might be on the 2x

My face broke out into a smile. I'd never raced in a double before! That would be so fun. Oh my gosh! I read it again in excitement and noticed who I would be paired with. Peter... How was that gonna work? A stone sank in my stomach. But it wasn't an absolute thing. She said she might. I took a few deep breaths and pushed those thoughts out of my head. I really needed to do my homework.

With a huge sigh, I pulled my math homework in front of me and stared at it for a few seconds. Finally, I pushed it back and pulled out my MacBook and opened Netflix. "Don't judge," I said to the frog figurine silently staring at me from beside my bed. "All you do all day is sit there and watch me." I huffed and played Sherlock.

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I knocked on the door three times and stood back. A few moments later, it opened with a creak.

"Hey Bella," Lauren answered the door with a smile. "Come on in."

"Thanks," I said and followed her in. She led me up a flight of stairs and through a hall to a room. A blue and white striped rug covered some of the floor and a black double bed stood in the corner with a matching blue bedspread. The only other piece of furniture was a bright red desk.

"Wow, I love your room! It's so simplistic and beautifully decorated. Did you do it?" I asked my mouth hanging open at the sight of it.

"Yes, I did. Thank you! I'm glad you like it," Lauren said, her cheeks slightly pink.

"Yeah, great job. Okay, so let's get started," I said and pulled three bottles of Elmer's Glue out of my bag.

"Here is the glue you asked for," I said and handed it to Lauren. "Now tell me what to do!"

She instructed me on what to do and we worked in silence for a while.

"You row with Peter, right?" Lauren ventured timidly.

"Yeah I do, why?" I said with a warm smile.

"I've hung out with him some. He seems really cool," she said and I could see her ears turn red. I grinned.

"Oh?"

"In fact, a lot of girls have crushes on him," she said. I choked on my own breath. It's not like he wasn't cute - he was. Pretty hot actually. If you thought of him that way. And I did not. I had a boyfriend who was popular. And also hot. Maybe not as attractive as Peter... But I was with Max, not Peter. 

I continued babbling in my head until Lauren interrupted. "Bella, are you okay?" she said and furrowed her eyebrows.

"What? Oh yeah! Sorry, I got kind of distracted..." I mumbled. "Um wow, Peter! Can I tell you something about him?" A mischievous grin crept on my face.

"Yes! I would love to hear," she replied enthusiastically. 

"He kind of professed his feelings for me a while ago," I said quietly. 

"Are you serious?!" Lauren cried with wide eyes.

"What? Do you doubt that he would like me?" I scoffed.

"No no no, that's not it at all. I was just surprised." she said in a rush. I smiled.

"Oh ok. But yeah, I was talking to him and then I got a calll from Max, you know my boyfriend, and he asked me on a date, so I was really excited and I talked to him for a minute and then hung up and turned back to Peter. He had this really hurt look on his face and I was so confused. But then he was like, why are you rubbing it in my face, I thought you liked me, and I really like you. And then I was totally just like HOLY SHIT, what is this? So I started apologizing and was like, I swear I didn't realize it. I'm sorry. But he just walked away and I felt so bad," I ranted and watched Lauren's reactions, who was utterly engrossed in the story.

"Wow! That's so crazy!" she exclaimed. 

"I know right? So do you like him?" I said raising my eyebrows suggestively and grinning.

"Yeah, kind of," she said and turned bright red. I laughed.

"That's great. Who else? I can't believe so many girls like him. He's athletic and pretty hot I guess. And way less pervy and stupid than most high school guys, but... huh," I mumbled and bit my lip, deep in thought.

Lauren thought for a moment and counted on her fingers. "I'd say 25 sophomores that i know of and 40 freshman. But I don't know everyone in the school, so there are undoubtedly more."

My jaw dropped. "Damn! That's a lot more than I would expect," I said.

"Yeah, but at least 100 girls in our year have crushes on Max, so..." she said, putting it in proportion. I smirked at that. And he was dating me, out of all of them. I suddenly felt better about our relationship.

We continued working on our project for a while until it was finished at about 5:45 and I had to leave to get ready for my date.

"Thank you so much for having me over to help. It was so much fun!" I said before I got in my car.

"Thank you for helping. I had a wonderful time as well," Lauren said and laughed. "Oh, and I can write the paper, will you edit it?"

"Yeah sure, and if you need anything else, just ask," I said.

"Okay. See you on Monday!" Lauren said and smiled. I nodded and got into my car. Waving as I drove off, I turned on the radio and jammed out on the way home.