Quarantined

Chapter 1

"Brooklynn please! It's February of junior year and we haven't done one single normal high school thing yet."
Oh no, she was using her full name. She never called her anything but Lynn except for during desperate times.
"Fine, I'll think about it," The blonde responded.
Her best friend since first grade, Livia Harrington, sat straight across from her at their usual lunch table in the back of the cafeteria.
"Please," Liv pouted. "I'll buy you gummy worms!" Damn. She knew her too well.
"Okay fine we can go to the party tonight," Lynn finally gave in to the bubbly girl's whining. "But only after the lacrosse game ends. You know Sammy would practically kill us if he doesn't see us cheer him on in the stands."
Liv and Lynn had been inseparable best friends since the second day of first grade when they both argued with the teacher to allow them to stay inside and read, instead of going outside for recess. Now juniors in high school, the two girls had spent barely a week apart.
"Speak of the devil."
Their third partner in crime, Samuel Wright, approached their table in his baggy lacrosse jersey and tight skinny jeans. Sam had met Lynn in fifth grade and was instantly smitten, but having gotten no further than the friend zone, soon became a member of their small yet tight knit group.
"Hello ladies," The tall boy winked. "I hope to see you two in the bleachers tonight or else I might shed a tear in despair."
"Oh I wouldn't miss it for the world my lovely Samuel," Liv gushed as she reached out to pinch his cheek, only to be swatted away by a tan hand.
"And Lynn, try to pay attention to the game instead of gawking at Carter the entire time," Sam spoke as he stole a fry from his friend's tray. "I know you've had a crush on the guy since like eighth grade, but come on."
"I do not gawk at him the whole time," She defended. "I admire him for only the entire first quarter."
"Why don't you just talk to him?"
"Because he'll either ignore me or he'll make fun of me for even communicating with someone in his social caliber," She said, her voice laced with sorrow. "I highly doubt the most popular jock in school will even give me a second glance."
"Lynn I've played lacrosse with the guy for three years. I've had to listen to his disgusting locker room talk, trust me when I say that he'd be into you," Sam smirked as Livia fake gaged at the taboo comment.
"You're just trying to make me feel better. It's fine. I've come to terms with the fact that I just won't have my first boyfriend until college," Lynn smiled softly at her two best friends. "Besides I'm too busy right now with Sierra Club."
Lynn was the president of their school's environmental activist club, Sierra Club, and had been for the past two years.
"We don't have anything going on in Sierra right now though," Liv retaliated. "And we won't have anything to do for at least the next month."
Lynn didn't respond to her friend, only scanned the large cafeteria in search of one particular sandy haired boy. As her brown eyes landed on Carter, in all of his popular jock glory, they couldn't look away. Why did this boy have such a hold on her? And why couldn't she shake him after practically three years of him barely acknowledging that she existed? Maybe it was his dazzling smile that he gave her whenever he needed to copy math homework or when he wanted to borrow a chair from their lonely cafeteria table. Whatever it was about the star lacrosse player, Lynn was head over heels for it.
  "Earth to Lynn," Sam waved a hand in front her glossy eyes as she blinked back into focus on their conversation. "So you guys are going to the game, but are you going to Joseph's party afterwards?"
  "Yes as a matter of fact we are," Liv beamed. "I finally convinced her to let us have some fun for once."
  "Hey we always have fun when we hangout, Liv," Lynn said.
  "I know, but it's nice to do something other than have movie nights and get high off sugar. Maybe we can get high off drugs for a change," Livia excitedly responded.
  "Oh fuck no! You guys aren't going anywhere near the druggies at this party, understood?" Sam was adamant about the girls staying away from the deadbeat druggies at their school. Most of them were perverted boys who liked to get girls so high they wouldn't say no to sex.
  "Yeah yeah, Sammy. We know you don't want us getting raped, but how else are we supposed to cut lose tonight? Beer can only get us so far," Liv snarked.
  "I don't want to get high! I'm perfectly fine with drinking so much that I have to be carried home," Lynn chuckled.
  "You only want to be carried home by Carter so that he'll fuck you in the back of his Jeep, you bitch," Liv began to laugh along with her friend and she playfully hit her arm.
  "I wouldn't oppose to that," The girls laughed.
  "I'm not drinking tonight so I can drive you two home," Sam had an unspoken rule of never drinking during lacrosse season. Even if he wasn't one of the top players, he couldn't jeopardize being benched for the season if he were caught with alcohol.
  "Thanks Sammy, I really appreciate you always looking out for us," Lynn smiled at the boy she's known so long he could be considered family.
  The lunch bell rang, signaling the start of sixth period within the next few minutes. The girls exchanged their goodbyes with Sam as he ran off to catch up with his teammates.
  "Okay so I'll pick you up for the game tonight at around five? Then we can leave during fourth quarter to go back to mine and get ready. Does that sound good?" Livia explained her plan to the shorter girl as they walked out into the hall.
  "Yeah that sounds great. What should I wear? I've never been to a house party before," To be honest, Lynn wasn't completely sold on the idea of going out tonight. Usually after lacrosse games, they would go out for ice cream with Sam and a few of his teammates and then back to her house for movies, this new plan seemed foreign and scary to her.
  "Just FaceTime me once you get home and I'll help you. Oh you can sleepover at my place too, then we won't have to worry about how late we're out. I'll see you in English," Livia hugged her friend before walking off to class.
  As Lynn wandered to biology alone, she couldn't shake the nervous feeling she had about attending her first high school party. She had never drank with anyone besides Liv and Sam before, and even then she would never get drunk. Then she started to wonder if Carter would happen to be at this party. Maybe tonight would finally be the night she could work the courage up and speak to him, or maybe even flirt with him.