Harper Brooke has a crush on Steve Andrews, the tall, handsome boy who just moved into the house opposite hers. She was happier on learning that he would join her high school soon.
However, a twist for Harper or tragedy for Steve struck.
Due to a n...
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Appetizing spaghetti with ground beef is what Harper desired after tackling all her homework. Layla has texted she will not be available until three in the afternoon as she is going for a seaside picnic with her relatives. Hence Harper decided to leave math revision for the evening.
"Mom, can I go with my friends?"
"No, you returned home after midnight, and tomorrow is a school day. You don't have my permission."
"Dad," Harry pleaded.
"You broke curfew rules. I'm sorry."
"I'll return home before six. I promise."
Jenna's fork dropped on the plate with a thud.
"No, you are not going anywhere, and you will not act dramatic about it. Do spend time with us, Harry. You have straight-up ditched dinner to go out with your friends. They invited us for the first time, and this is how you behave when you go bowling with the guys every other week."
Ashamed, he dared not meet anyone's eyes.
After lunch, the siblings cleaned the kitchen while Paul worked on the popcorn. Jenna pulled the curtains together, switched the television, and poured chilled mango juice into four glasses. Ten minutes later, the family gathered on the couch to watch the weekly rom-com or adventure movie on Channel One.
Today it's a typical high school movie about the jock and the average girl becoming prom King and Queen. Paul is already yawning as he prefers adventure movies with monsters, natural disasters, and action. In short, he's a die-hard fan of The Rock.
Harper envisaged herself as the awkward bespectacled main character and Steve as the jock even though he's quite the opposite. Halfway through the movie, the screen turned black and then into blurred grey dots.
"What the hell?" Jenna exclaimed, pressing buttons on the remote control.
She lowered the volume, and right before she could switch it off, the Prime Minister of Athador, Zachariah Aziz, appeared on the screen. The background is dark blue. He stood behind a rostrum, two flags on each side. LIVE in a red rectangular box appeared on the upper left side corner.
Paul placed the empty bowl of popcorn back on the coffee table, sitting straight. The air in the room thickened.
"Citizens and non-residents of Athador, good afternoon to you all. As of today, eighth March twenty-twenty at eighteen hundred hours, the whole country will go into lockdown for the next fifteen days-"
A montage of pictures, videos, and drone shots started with Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province of China where a virus has emerged. The sadness and tears of the public, the empty streets, the fear of the anonymous, and the power of the medical teams giving a hundred percent tugged at the heartstrings. The city had to be closed down, canceling planes and trains, and by the end of January, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency.
