Chapter 1

“At least we’re young and not on a cruise line...”

I grimace at what feels like the millionth repetition of the same morbid joke. Tim wasn’t the easiest roommate before the quarantine was imposed, but ever since, he’s become insufferable. A slowly maturing part of me recognized that he probably felt the same towards me due to the situation. Plus, he wasn’t wrong. The cruise ships circling offshore while their passengers died were the tipping point that changed how seriously the country viewed the virus. When you have a mostly older nation who refused to take basic precautions, put them in a confined space with a common ventilation system, and then quarantined them, what did they think was going to happen?

All of this explained why Tim and I were wearing rubber gloves, winter boots and underwear scrubbing down the staircase of our dorm. We had the windows wide open to get fresh air in and the heat was blasting because it was cold out. When they locked us into our dorms, they didn’t really have enough people to take care of us, so we have to take care of ourselves. Three times a day, everyone gets paired up and we attack the building as if our life depended on it. Which it probably didn’t. But that didn’t stop the supplies of strong cleaning agents and some food arriving every day. It was strongly implied the delivery of the food depended on the cleaners being used. So we scrubbed and tried to do our classes remotely.

Tim always wanted to clean the staircases because it let us get a peek into the floor above us, which was an all girl floor. When we got to the door, he took the first look, trying to find the girl he had been dating, Sarah. Instead, when he was noticed, several girls came over to yell hello through the window and ask if we knew anything new. Someone must have let Sarah know, since she showed up and made her way to the window. I kept scrubbing away while he talked, he always had a better way with the girls than I did. Another difference between us.

After a few minutes, he caught up to me and apologized for the delay before starting on the next step above me.

“Sarah was really glad to see me in person, she was cleaning the bathroom when we came by yesterday. I know we can video chat, but it’s different seeing her.”

“Judging by some of the things I’ve heard you say to her, I can tell you miss her.”

“Hey! Just because you don’t have a girlfriend doesn’t mean you should be listening to mine.”

“I wasn’t trying to listen, but we have a small room, where do you expect me to go?”

“Maybe you should chat with her roommate Diane when I’m on with Sarah? That way we can stay out of each other’s way.”

This made me think a bit, since although I was shy, I did like talking with Diane. She wasn’t snooty like some of the girls on the floor.

“Hey! Sounds like you might like the idea. I’ll suggest it to Sarah.”

“No, don’t say anything. You’re just trying to embarrass me.

“I am not you dork, never mind. Let’s finish this so we can get some food before it’s all gone.”

“Agreed.”

The next day, Diane messaged me, and asked if I wanted to do a video chat with her. Tim was quietly chatting with someone on the other side of the room and I had a strong guess it was Sarah.

“Hi Diane, how are you doing up there?”

“Best as can be expected Paul, what about you?”

“I’m thinking of throwing something at Tim since I’m guessing he suggested you call me.”

I had been watching her face and it changed right at that remark. Shoot, I had to go open my big mouth.

“Sorry if I’m bothering you Paul, I had suggested it to Sarah and she thought it was a great idea which is why I called. I’ll let you go then.”

“No Diane, I’m sorry, Tim was giving me a hard time yesterday about something else and I thought ... Never mind, I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s nice to speak with you. I’ve been so focused on classes, cleaning, and daily update calls with my parents, this is a nice change.”

“I know, my mom is calling me twice a day and claims she can hear people sneezing down my hall. It’s driving me crazy and I like my parents, unlike some of the girls.”

“My dad keeps telling me that this is a challenge I have to face and keeps talking about how they had to do drills at school when he was young. It’s like he doesn’t know I have the internet and can look up his stories. They had to do fire drills twice a year. We’ve had to do do active shooter drills, tornado drills, flooding drills, and now, virus quarantine for the past two weeks. Can you imagine what our children will have to go through if it continues on this path?”

She flashed a sharp smile, “It’s a little early to be talking children isn’t it Paul? We wouldn’t even be able to go on a date until the lockdown is over.”

I paused before answering, mainly because I was having a hard time keeping up with this conversation. Was she just having fun at my expense or did she just suggest I ask her out on a date? Was this just boredom on her part, or did she like me? How could I tell if she liked me? I was conscious of Tim murmuring away on the other side of the room and my rapidly hardening dick, reminding me a pretty girl was waiting for me to answer.

I went with deflection, “I’m not sure we’ll ever be let out of this prison, at least not until we graduate.”

Diane chuckled, “I think the parents can add in a minimum gpa before we’re allowed to be released.”

Our conversation went on for a while and I really enjoyed spending time with her, even if it was just over a video call. Eventually I heard Tim wind up his conversation and a few seconds later, Diane looked offscreen and said she had to go too.

Tim waited while Diane and I said goodbye before reminding me the food was almost being served and there was never enough.