quarantined

chapter one

"For more information regarding the Coronavirus-"

Click.

"The COVID-19 Virus has now killed over seven th-"

Click.

"Researchers are now saying they have found a way to isolate the virus, and-"

Click.

I turned the TV off, giving up on finding something to watch. "Ridiculous," I muttered to myself.

"You know, April, this virus is growing stronger," my mom reminded me, momentarily taking her eyes off the dishes to talk to me. "Do you still have the mini hand-sanitizer I bought you?"

"Yep, in my backpack," I replied, standing up and stretching my arms above my head. This flu-like virus had gotten everything cancelled- sports, church, proms- I was still forced to wake up at ungodly hours for school, though. "This is such bullshit. They cancel soccer, a game with twenty girls spread out outside, but I still have to get up and go sit in a tiny classroom with forty-five people. I won't even die if I get it! It's just old people who probably would've died of pneumonia anyways!"

"Language, cochon!"

I muttered an apology and rolled my eyes at her nickname for me- pig, but in French. It was a cute, endearing term when I was younger, but now? What sixteen-year-old wants to be called "Pig"?

"I'm gonna go study," I told her, then headed upstairs to my bedroom.

I shut the door behind me, flopping down on my bed. A familiar burning began behind my eyes, and I shook my head. You're not going to cry because you have homework to do, I told myself. I groaned audibly. This whole situation was making every little bad thing worse. I dragged myself off the bed and sat down at my desk, flicking on the fairy lights that hung above it.

vocab 14, lesson 9 worksheet, chem quizlet

I stared at my handwriting, trying to will the work out of existence. No such luck. Giving up, I opened my laptop and logged into Google Classroom, pulling up the vocabulary that I needed to study for next week.

The vocabulary lesson for English was simple, as well as the one-sided worksheet for Math. Chemistry, though? That class was going to be the death of me.

To reward myself for working so extremely hard for ten minutes, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket.

Snapchat

from Dyls :)

A smile crept across my face, faster than I would've liked. I opened his snap- a picture of his fluffy brown hair, and the background? Dylan's prized possession- bright, multi-colored LED lights (which he mostly kept on purple).

whatcha up to cutie

I smiled again, this time allowing myself to. I held the phone in front of me, sticking my tongue out and crossing my eyes for the picture.

hw, as per usual :( hbu?

I sent it and put my phone face-down on the table while trying my best to concentrate on Chemistry. Dylan and I- we were best friends. But as much as he might call me nicknames and I might cuddle him, we were to stay best friends.

Everyone wanted us to date. My mom, his sisters, our friends- even some of our teachers had given us a hard time about it.

There was a reason we weren't together. I refused to give my heart to anyone after a messy breakup, and he just didn't fall in love with people. He was a one-night stand type guy. I was always there to listen to him talk about some new girl he was talking to, and he was always there on the days I just couldn't get myself out of bed.