Covid Days

1

Ellie looked intently at her phone as she walked.

Fever or chills? No

Cough? No

Fatigue? No

Muscle aches? No

Sore throat? No

New loss of smell? No

With a sigh, she clicked the "done" button to turn in her questionnaire.

Check your email for your results! The exit screen chirped. She looked up briefly to check her surroundings, then opened up her email. Clicking on the first message, she saw a picture of a green checkmark and a message telling her she was good to go for school.

She tapped the off button and stashed the phone in her pocket.

It was a beautiful day. he sun was shining and it was hot out. It was still April, so t was a bit early for Seattle, but it was definitely a welcome change.

As she continued on, the school building came into view. Although the school had been there for over 100 years, it had been redone two decades before and now stood tall and proud before the busy street. It was done in brick, with two stories.

Turning left, she headed toward the back parking lot, having agreed to meet her friend there before going in. She hadn't seen Sarah since the school had closed 13 months before, though they had kept in touch. Her chest fluttered in anticipation.

Rounding the corner, she almost stopped dead in her tracks. Before her wound a long line of hundreds of students waiting to get into the building. She had been expecting a 10 minute wait to get in, but this was insane. She picked out the end of the line and headed straight there, quickening her pace. She scanned the other high schoolers, looking for Sarah, who was nowhere to be seen. It was a lot harder when everyone was wearing masks. She could barely recognize anyone.

A hand tapped her shoulder.

Ellie whipped around. There standing before her was Sarah, a smile showing in her eyes.

"Sarah!" Ellie exclaimed. She lunged forward and enveloped her friend in a hug. She knew they had both been vaccinated, so she had been waiting to do this all day.

"It's so good to finally see you!" Sarah squealed back. "How have you been?"

Ellie laughed. "Stressed! I am so worried about how today's going to go."

"I totally get it," Sarah replied. They fell into stride, walking towards the end of the line once more. "The bell schedule they gave us was really confusing. I'm definitely going to get lost."

Ellie laughed. "Me too," she said, "At least we're together for this first part. Sarah nodded. "Yeah", she said.

Making it to the end of the line, they stood awkwardly with the other students. Ellie got her phone out in preparation, making sure her green checkmark was still in place. She looked up at Sarah. "You have your validation too, right?"

A look of despair briefly crossed Sarah's face. "No," she said, "My mom was supposed to complete it for me, but she could only find my brother's. She's trying to fix it, but I don't know if she'll make it before we get to the building."

"I think they'll let you do it yourself at the entrance," Ellie said encouragingly.

"I hope so," Sarah leaned forward to take a peek at the line. "Long line, huh?" Ellie smiled.

They stood in comfortable silence, walking forward every so often as the line moved forward. Finally they made it to the head of the line.

Sarah went first. "I don't have the vaildation yet," she told one of the monitors.

"Okay," the man said, "scan this QR code and complete it now." He waved her towards a group of kids that were staring intently at their phones. Sarah gave a questioning glance back at Ellie before walking off.

Ellie was next.

"Show me your validation," the lady ordered. She wore a pair of dark sunglasses. Ellie showed her the picture on her phone.

"It's not there," the lady states gruffly.

"What?" Ellie said, startled. She turned the phone around to see that her screen was darkened because she had not touched it in a while. The validation was still visible, but through the lady's dark sunglasses, it must have seemed black.

"Move to the side until you've got things figured out," the lady ordered, turning her attention to the next kid in line.

Ellie was enraged. The lady just blew her off and acted like she was too stupid to use her phone. Tapping the screen and setting the brightness to 100%, she stepped in front of the next kid and showed the lady her phone again.

"Okay, go down the hall," she relented. Ellie nodded and started down the hall, slowing after she realized that her friend was not with her. A wave of panic flew through her. How was she supposed to survive and find her way alone? She gathered her resolve and made her way down the hall.

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I'm writing this as I navigate my own back-to-school experience, basing many of the finer details on my own frustrations and obstacles. Enjoy!