Quarantined Days

Back to School

Robby rubbed their hands nervously as the bus rounded a corner and the school came into sight. The noise around them increased significantly as people saw the school and began to chatter about what was the same, what had changed, who had changed. Basically, the chaos one should expect when coming back to school after almost a month and a half off due to a global pandemic. 

Robby glanced across the aisle at two girls whispering about whether or not people were gonna look at them weird now that they were together. Robbyn didn't care what people thought about them now. Well, that was a lie. They cared about one person in particular. After all, it wasn't every day that you saw your girlfriend leave school, and come back as a non-binary "partner". 

They'd called him the night before and explained what happened, and their new pronouns, but he hung up almost as soon as they stopped talking. All Robby wanted was to come back to school, hug their boyfriend, and keep living life the same as usual. As "usual" as this new reality was, with multiple teachers gone, either dead from corona, or moved out of the state to get away from it all. Robby hoped Mrs. Chimes was still here. She had been their favorite janitor, she'd always stop by and chat with them and unlocked the doors when Robby got up at ungodly hours to go into the library to study.

 They stepped onto the pavement and stared up at the front of the school. The stairs had been repainted and fresh flowers had been planted along the sidewalks. Probably an attempt to help keep students cheery. Walking into the school, however, was like walking into the past. It was liked they'd never left. Like she was just coming into a regular day in her junior year, meeting up with her best friend Katie, and waiting for her boyfriend to get to school. Now, they stared down the hall and braced themselves for the whispers. 

They'd been pretty popular before the closings, before the...mistake, before they realized who they were. And Robby could certainly feel the stares at them, their new hair cut, their androgynous clothes (thanks to a raid on their brother's closet). But none of them mattered. Only one person mattered. 

Robby began the walk towards their locker keeping an eye out for him, or for Katie. The virus had left a lot of people with weak lungs, including them, and Robby could hear the slight wheezes around them as they (finally) approached the fourth floor. But when they turned down their hall, Robby stopped in their tracks. 

There was Kaden, standing by their locker, a large bouquet of flowers in hand, and a homemade nonbinary flag tied at his waist. Tears started falling as he caught Robby's eye and ran towards them, throwing his arms around them and picked them up, spinning them in a circle. "I missed you so much," he whispered. 

"Robby".