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“Yeah, there are plenty of hot girls that aren’t stuck up,” I noted. “Plus, she seemed more upset about the wedding than me. I highly doubt she’s happy to have a new stepbrother.”
“So, you’re saying you two have something in common,” joked Zoe.
I realized that I had inadvertently made myself the punch line of the lunch. In a way, I was glad I’d be getting a break from my friends. Living on campus can get a little intense in the close quarters.
“You two could do step sibling porn!” joked Mickey. “That’s the hot thing on Pornhub now!”
“All right, all right,” I smiled. “I’m not engaging in this discussion anymore.”
“Well, you can’t get engaged,” John teased, laughing so hard he was choking. “You’re in love with your stepsister! Your children would be mutants.”
“They’re not actually related, John!” laughed Zoe. “Not by blood.”
“Oh, my God! I’m gonna pass out,” he laughed. “Phil’s kids are gonna be idiots!”
“Is that how your parents made you?” I asked, staging my comeback.
We sat down at a booth with our food. The lunch seemed a little weird and awkward now.
If they were closing the school, the virus had to be serious. Would they ever open it again? Some of the reports I had read said that the virus could change the world. What if three percent of our college class died? It could be any of us.
“Look, guys,” I said seriously. “Take care of yourselves over break, okay? I’ve got some masks back at my room if anyone needs one. I used to help my dad do renovation work and I saved them in case they’d come in handy. I had no idea how glad I’d be to have done that.”
“I’ll take one,” Mickey said.
“I don’t want a mask,” dismissed John.
“John!” whined Zoe. “We should all be wearing masks.”
“You social distance or whatever and you’ll be fine,” John said, convincing himself. “I mean, a mask? What next? We all have to wear hazmat suits? It’s not the damned plague.”
“It’s scary, John. It’s very contagious,” I urged. “And they have to wipe down surfaces way better now with disinfectant.”
“This is clean,” said John, touching the table and then licking his hand. “I'm totally confident I won’t get sick.”
“Jeez, dude,” Mickey said. “You didn’t have to do that. I believed you.”
“Ah, don’t worry. This’ll all blow over in a couple of months and we’ll be back here before you know it,” John proclaimed. “Either way, I’m not going to let the virus make me stop living my life. That’s how it wins.”
“I’m pretty sure it wins by killing you,” I suggested.
“Whatever,” shrugged John.
I was almost jealous of his blasé attitude. I wished I could feel the same. I was scared of the virus, and not at all looking forward to having to go live with my mom and my new stepdad and stepsister.Chapter Two - TracianneI was sitting in my room, trying to study for Midterms when I got the email alert. They were shutting down the school for the rest of the semester.
Diamond immediately opened my door. She was in sweatpants and a Grover College sweatshirt.
“Did you see the email, what it said?” she demanded.
“I just got it,” I responded. “Did you read the whole thing?”
“They’re closing down. No more classes as of today,” she said in amazement. “I told you, the virus is serious!”
“Yep. It sure is.”
“This is messed up!” Diamond declared. “I had a date on Friday!”
“You told me you were thinking of canceling that,” I pointed out.
“Yes, but I hadn’t landed totally on no, yet,” she replied. “I mean, if he offered to take me to a nice restaurant, I would’ve been like, okay.”
“Seems like a weird way to pick a date,” I said. “I mean, was he cute?”
“They’re all cute on this campus,” Diamond sighed. “But sadly, there is not enough time for me to date them all.”
“But you would if you could?”
“Hell, yeah? Why not?”
“Would you have sex with all of them?”
“No!” she exclaimed. “Of course not. Sixty, seventy-five percent. Tops.”
I shook my head. I don’t know how Diamond was going to keep her scholarship. She barely went to class and spent almost every conversation talking about the clothes she bought downtown, the dates she was going on, or the parties she was throwing and going to.
“Did I show you that new sweater?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said, stopping the conversation before it started. “Your parents gave you that money for books, Di.”
“I don’t need books when I can pirate them online, but now I’m gonna have to take classes online! Traci! I can’t date from my parents’ house! It’ll be like high school!”
Diamond flopped down on my bed and buried her face in my pillow.
“You could always date some guys from high school,” I suggested.
“Eh,” she shrugged. “I guess they’ll be home too. So weird.”
