Stuck in quarantine

Distance learning

Taylor reluctantly opened her eyes. Her alarm clock had been ringing for a while, but she turned it off and continued to sleep. It was so warm in bed under the covers that Taylor didn't want to get up. She just wanted to lie there forever and not be touched. Taylor wrapped herself up warmly in the blanket and lay down on the other side, sometimes she really didn't want to get up and she couldn't help it. She closed her eyes as her phone beeped when a text message came in. Taylor pulled her warm hand out from under the blanket into the cool air that was in the room and picked up the phone. She couldn't see much since she wasn't wearing contact lenses yet, so she had to hold the phone up to her eyes to see what happened. She had sixty-eight new notifications from Viber. Taylor put a pillow under her back and sat down, opening the app. She rarely saw so many messages. The messages were all from the group at the university. Taylor glanced at the time; it was fifteen minutes to class. Well that was if she was going to university, there would probably be a new lecture schedule on distance learning, so she wasn't really worried. She started reading the messages. It turned out that all students had to install a program called Zoom and register there. She threw the blanket off her legs as there was a short knock on the door and Joe walked in the next second. He had never been in her room before. Taylor cried out in surprise.
- Oh, so you're awake. The lecture starts in fifteen minutes, come on, get up- he said as if nothing had happened.
- Get out of here! -Shouted Taylor.
Joe raised an eyebrow mockingly and asked:
- are you sleeping naked? I'd love to look
- What? - Taylor was confused by the nonsense he was talking about.
- I'm kidding. Although I did have a friend who actually slept naked. Actually, I'm serious, get up. They don't like tardiness.
With that, he walked out. Taylor got up and put on a warm sweatshirt and went into the kitchen. She saw Joe sitting in the living room with his notebooks and textbooks, studying something. Taylor made herself some tea; she didn't feel like coffee today. Then she microwaved the two slices of pizza from yesterday and moved her laptop to the kitchen table.
- Are you going to study here?- Joe asked.
- Yeah
- Fine. I'm taking over the living room.
He went back to his laptop and Taylor opened her laptop and googled: how to download the zoom program?
Her pizza was already heated and with one hand Taylor ate the scalding hot pizza with the other installing the program. It took her ten minutes to download and install the program. The instructor dropped them a link in the group and Taylor entered the conference code and password. Somehow everything happened and Taylor saw herself with a bundle on her head and sitting in front of the kitchen where there were dirty cups. She immediately turned off her camera. And quickly began to look around. She pushed the cups aside so she couldn't see them, and then dashed to her room to comb her hair and braid it into a ponytail. As she passed Joe, who was wearing headphones, she saw that they were having a lecture. So was she! She quickly sat down and turned on her camera. Now that was better. Except she couldn't hear anything. She saw the professor say something, but she didn't hear anything. She pressed the microphone icon but nothing happened. She pressed it over and over, but still nothing could be heard. She looked around helplessly and called out softly:
- Joe, hey, Joe.
He turned around and asked:
- What? Taylor, I have a lecture.
- Can you hear what the professor is saying?
- Yes, what happened?
- How did you do that? Can you please help me, I can't get anything to work.
He turned off the camera and the sound and walked over to her. Taylor also turned off the camera so he couldn't be seen.
- Well, what can't you do here?-he said walking over.
He started to do the same thing Taylor did but he couldn't do it either. Joe looked back at his laptop and said:
- Look, I don't know. I did the same thing I did, but it didn't work. Try quitting the conference room and coming back in.
- Okay, thanks.
Taylor did what he said and sat there looking at the message "wait for the host to let you in". Finally they let her in and Taylor was able to turn on the sound. The voices of the professor and the students could be heard throughout the kitchen. Joe threw an angry look at her, and Taylor quickly ran to her room to get her headphones and plug them in. Finally, all was well.
- Professor I'm sorry, I just couldn't get the sound to work.
- That's ok Taylor, a lot of people are having problems right now because they don't know how the program works.
The professor continued the lecture and Taylor had to run to her room one more time since she didn't have her textbooks the previous times. When she came back from her room for the third time Joe took the headphones out of her ears and said:
- Taylor I have a lecture and a camera on. Everyone can see you running around in your pajama pants.
- What? Can you see me?! Damn! Why didn't you say so before- Taylor just prayed that she wouldn't run into Joe's group and went back to her lecture. The first lecture went by so smoothly.Taylor's lecture ended first, and she walked out of the conference with relief. A few minutes later Joe came out of the living room, too.
- Are you done, too?-she asked.
- Yep.
Taylor opened the lecture schedule and slammed her fist on the table.
- What's got you in such a tizzy?- Joe asked in his usual mocking tone.
- There's only a fifteen-minute break between lectures. What am I supposed to do in such a short amount of time?
- A lot- Joe grinned, but Taylor didn't understand the reason for his amusement. She took a quick shower. When she came out in her normal clothes, she saw that she was five minutes late for the lecture. She immediately rushed to her laptop and listened to the lecture again. And so, sitting at her computer in the kitchen at her desk practically the whole time, Taylor spent endless hours until all the lectures were over. When she said goodbye to the last lecturer she just closed her laptop without even saving the files, went to her room and collapsed on her bed and was too lazy to even close the door to her room. She heard Joe hum and rolled over onto her back. Joe was standing on the doorstep.
- what, distance learning broke you on your first day?- he asked
- get off, my back is stiff and I look like a question mark myself now.
- You probably won't believe this, but I just sat through the exact same lecture and I feel exactly the same.
- So let me lie down- said Taylor and got out of bed and closed the door in front of him. She heard distant footsteps and returned to the bed. She felt broken. She spent some time just lying there and then went into the kitchen. Joe's things and school supplies were still lying in the living room. She gathered her things from the kitchen table and carried them to her room. That's when Cara called her on the video link.
- It's fucked up-she started from the beginning.
- You didn't even let me say hello to you-Taylor smiled.
- I don't need to be polite right now. All the shows have been canceled.Absolutely everything. Stay home, they said. This is fucked up!
- You know, at least you're not studying. Stay in the house and rest. I just did my distance learning and I haven't been this fucked up in a long time.
-Yeah? Wait, you're lying in bed?- Cara remarked.
- Yes, I'm lying in bed and I'm not getting out of here.
- I've seen you in bed on three occasions before. Or when you were drunk and couldn't get up in the morning after a hangover, or when you slept at night, or when you were sick. And now you just lie there and do nothing?
- Exactly. I'm telling you it's such a hassle. And I'm sick of that buzzer, too.
- It's just awful. How's Joe?
- Your Joe's fine. He's full of energy to make fun of me.
- I'll tell you this, he'll still be poking you when his life's going badly - Cara was suddenly serious.
- I don't care.
The girls talked some more and then Taylor reluctantly went out to the kitchen and started thinking about what to cook for herself. She looked in the fridge and saw that there was a big piece of meat. She took it out and decided to make a baked pork chop. As she was putting the meat in the oven, Joe came out of the room.
- What are you making?-he asked.
- A baked pork chop.
- Sounds delicious. What's in the ham?
- Baked potatoes. Why, aren't you tired of eating delivery food?- Taylor didn't miss the opportunity to tease him.
- I'm probably bankrupt- he smiled-and I'll be even poorer if I keep eating like this. With the start of quarantine, all my favorite deliveries raised their prices, apparently because of the high demand.
- I sympathize.
- So how about a barter? Food for labor?-suggested Joe.
- What do you mean?
- I'll peel the potatoes and you let me eat them in return. How's that? I'll pay you back for every potato.
- Come on, I'm not such a monster. Here, take the vegetable peeler and put it on the stove.
Joe readily peeled potatoes and Taylor went to her room. When she went out to get some water, she saw Joe put the potatoes in the oven.
- What did you put in there? She asked.
- paprika, mixed herbs and dried garlic, Joe readily answered.
- Sounds good-she nodded approvingly at Taylor.
- I did help my mom in the kitchen when I lived with my parents.
Taylor checked the meat and said:
- It'll be another half hour before it's ready.
- Well, it smells really good already.
Taylor laughed.
- Once the money ran out, you started complimenting my food.
- I've never criticized your food, mind you.
Taylor left the kitchen and didn't come in until it was time to get the meat. She took out the meat and potatoes which were also ready by then and put the food on two plates. Joe immediately showed up to smell it.
- it looks really good
- Stop flattering me, eat up come on- answered Taylor though she was pleased
They ate quickly since they had both just had breakfast. Joe got up, washed his plate and went to his room. But then he came out and started doing his homework in the living room. Taylor watched him while she washed the plates. He chewed on his pen thoughtfully, looking at his laptop screen. And he looked pretty intent. Still, Taylor understood what the girls found in him. He had something of a bad boy look about him, but he was also a handsome, tame boy. The perfect type.For someone else, but not for Taylor. That was the kind of guy Cara liked, not her. But when he looked at her, she was lost. But she just chalked it up to her shyness and lack of sociability.