Forbidden Touch

Chapter One: The Shut Down

I hold my hands over my ears as I try to process the piercing sirens that suddenly blasted throughout my highschool. For a second I was relieved. At last, a fire drill had come to save me from the extremely dull history lesson Mrs. Griffin was in the middle of. I had a quick realization that the sirens were on way too long for a fire drill. Students looked to Mrs. Griffin for answers but she was just as confused as the rest of us, rushing into the hall to ask other teachers what the situation is. As soon as she stepped out the sirens abruptly stopped and were followed by an announcement from the principal, Mr. Denby, ordering "all students and faculty to quickly enter the gym". The events that came after felt like a fever dream. The student body listened in confusion as Mr. Denby stated that school would be out for the next two weeks for reasons that could not be explained at the moment. Cheers from the students were almost louder than the sirens from earlier. Usually you don't have to tell me twice that I can leave school before I jet, but there was a look of incertitude on all of my teachers faces that left me uneasy. I hurry to find and question my best friend Mae who knows all the school tea as the principle's daughter. When we lock eyes she immediately runs to me, yelling and shaking my shoulders "I am SO happy! If I had to get through another week in calculus I would probably have to drop out. And break means bored teenagers and bored teenagers parties and you know..." she smiles. I roll my eyes at her very expected reaction to the news and interrogate her "Yeah that's amazing but what's this break all about?! I could tell your dad was trying not to look worried but he totally was". This time Mae rolled her eyes at me saying "When does my dad not look worried? Honestly, it's probably some emergency school renovation. You know this place is a dump. Anyway, I'm going to James' house right now so you know what that means. I could hook you up with his friend if you want, take your mind off of things" she joked. Mae was probably right, I was overthinking as usual. I was not about to take her offer up though, I'd much rather just lay in my own bed tonight. I pat her on the back "thanks but no thanks. I'm tired, just gonna head home" and left school not knowing that would be the last time I set foot in my school. 

Much to my surprise my whole family was home when I arrived. My parents and younger brother, Oliver, had been sent home from work and school until further notice. Nothing made sense but everyone tried to go on as normal. My mom read on the couch as my dad made dinner. My brother played video games. I just stared at my phone for an hour until my dad called me down for dinner. We barely started eating when our phones simultaneously buzzed with a national alert to turn on our TV and watch a message from the president. It was weird, I've never seen the same message played on every channel before.  I watched intently as the president of the United States commissioned an executive order for everyone in the country to stay inside. My family sat in disbelief as the protocol was explained. Drones would drop off groceries on our front porch biweekly. Perimeters would be set around each family's property and anyone who set foot out of bounds was at risk of getting arrested and worse, shot. The only excuse to leave the house is a medical emergency. On top of that, all "nonessential" jobs unrelated to healthcare, the food industry, and electricity and technology are temporarily closed. This means that the only person who will be leaving my house is my mom, who's a doctor. The icing on the cake is that none of us know why, other than government officials announcing that our country is in grave danger unless this extreme solution is implemented starting at 6 am tomorrow. I want to believe today is April 1st and the government is playing a joke on America but when I check my phone the date is March 20th. We sit in silence until I get a call from Mae. 

"Have you seen the message from the white house? You're not still at James' right?? You need to get home now if you are" I spit out. Mae sighed, obviously annoyed "Of course I saw the message, the whole country did. They said that it's effective tomorrow. Do you know what that means? This is our last night to enjoy ourselves. The last time we might see each other face to face! Get to James' now, he's throwing a rager since his parents are out of the country". Really, Mae? Every time I think I can't be fazed by Mae's irresponsibility she manages to one-up herself and I always have to clean up her messes despite her good intentions. I snap, "You can't be serious! Tonight is a terrible night for partying, especially with the possibility of getting locked out of my house for who knows how long". There is absolutely no way that I'm leaving this house. Mae begs "Please Sophia! I need someone to help me get home. Stay for an hour then we'll go". I can't see how she would make it home with no one looking out for her.  I groan and say "send the address" then hang up. I tell my parents I'm going to bed and head upstairs. I attempt to look cute for the party, brushing my dark brown hair and putting on some mascara and lipgloss. Sneaking out was fairly easy, I slid off of my roof onto the top of our trashcan. The party is in my neighborhood so I decided it'd be best to walk. When I get to the house I ring the doorbell but no one answers because of the loud music. Just as I start to text Mae to come get me a familiar voice says "I think the door is already open" and brushes past me to get in. It was Daniel Papadakis, my neighbor and former friend. It was only slightly embarrassing that he barely acknowledged me and that I didn't try to open the door myself. I know that I just got here but I'm already over this party.