Chapter 7: Give me a chance?
It is the next day, and our government just announced that they're putting the whole country in quarantine. All public places are closed except the ones that provide primary needs, like grocery stores. No one is allowed to leave the house without wearing any masks or face shields on, and strictly no social gatherings of any kind.
It's crazy how everything can change in a blink of an eye.
Did you know that the word "quarantine" came from the Latin word quadraginta and Italian quaranta, that both means fourty? It means we will just stay in the house for a month and ten days, and then everything will come back to normal, right?
Personally, staying inside the house is not that hard for me. I don't really mind doing that for a while. Social interactions usually tire me, so I'm good not doing that for some time. But the fact that people are dying everyday bothers me, and we could be next, who knows? The virus is airborne it is said to spread more or less than twenty meters in radius and stays there for an hour or so before it completely disintegrate to the atmosphere. So if a person infected goes near our village, the virus will spread and kill us all. Should I start writing my farewell letter?
To be honest, I've thought of death a couple of times in my lifetime. I've been emo too, you know. Dying crossed my mind a couple of times in the past during dark times. All of us will eventually die one point in our lives, what's the point of running from it?
I erased that thought and started doing my homework. Even in quarantine, school still continue to test my sanity. I am busy solving trigonometry problems when my phone buzzed on my study table.
"Still ignoring me? You'll be bored soon you know, till you have nothing to do but reply to my texts. And I won't be talking to you when that time comes : P" It's Z again. I don't know why he keeps on texting me, we don't even know each other. I know I should've blocked this number too, but there's a voice in my head telling me that talking with this human is not that bad. No. He's still a stranger from a creepy website. Maybe I should just make it clear that I don't want to talk to him and then he'll go away.
I decided to finish my homework and then respond to this stranger's texts.
"Is it not clear that I don't talk to strangers?"
"We won't be strangers if we get to know each other ; )" He replied immediately. Does he have nothing to do but be on his phone all day?
"No thank you, please leave me alone" I replied.
If he was from tinder then I might talk to him, but he's from a website I never heard before. He might be an evil spirit from the dark web for all I know.
"Don't you want a friend? With that attitude, I'm sure you don't have any friends at all" Excuse me?
"For your information, I have many friends. It seems to me that YOU are the one who doesn't have friends. You wouldn't find a friend at a stupid website buddy, grow up" I know that was a little rude, but he told me I don't have any friends, he was mean first!
"I don't really have any friends. But looks like I just got one, buddy ; )"
He doesn't seem like a psychopath killer to me. I felt slightly bad for him, knowing he doesn't have any friends. But he's still a stranger, it's a mistake to talk to strangers! "Dude, you met Jay on Tinder. Didn't you make that mistake already? Why not do it again?" Said the voice inside my head. Okay, fine. You win this time, brain.
"C'mon, give me a chance? I know you're already thinking about it" Z texted, interrupting my thoughts.
"I don't think we've properly been introduced, I'm Quelly by the way." I texted, hoping to know his real name and some information about him. Maybe his gender too, I kinda just assumed he's a guy.
"I'm Z. I know you're wondering what my real name is. I wont tell you, so don't ask me again"
"But I told you my real name"
"Your fault not mine" I'm starting to regret my decision of talking to this human.
"At least tell me some information about you. I don't even know your age and gender. You might be a 40 year old child predator for all I know"
"Ha-ha very funny Quelly. I'm not 40, and I'm definitely not a child predator. Maybe you are? I don't really mind"
"Can you just answer my question?"
"I'm nineteen and an alpha male. And you?" Alpha male? Seriously? pfft
"I'm eighteen, and I'm pretty sure my name means that I'm not a man so..."
"I don't even know how to read that complicated name of yours" As of today, I'm pretty sure that the number of times people asked how to pronounce my name has surpassed a gazillion.
"Kelly"
"Kelly spelled as Quelly? Now that's something you don't see everyday." I know, I get that a lot.
"So tell me Quelly, why'd you signed up for that website if you don't want to talk to strangers?"
"It's an accident, I was reading an article for this virus. Then my phone lagged and I clicked on the wrong tab."
"Speaking of the virus, I just want to tell you that this virus is fake. The government wants to inject a fake vaccine to the people, containing microchips to control their minds. Next thing you know, you'll be like a robot controlled by the them" What he said scared me, my body went cold. Is the government really going to do that to their people? Do they not believe in God anymore? What's happening to the world? I don't want my mind controlled by the government!
"Hey, you still there? I was kidding, don't panic : )" What?! What a jerk! Didn't he know how sensitive the situation is? A virus is literally killing thousands of people everyday, all over the world. It's not a topic you should make jokes about. And he even added a smiley face! Now I'm mad.
"You do know it's something that we shouldn't make fun of, right? How immature of you to do that"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Let me make up for it"
"How?" I asked, curious on what he will do. I don't know why I'm still talking to this guy. He's annoying but surprisingly entertaining to talk to. Plus, there's this element of mystery on him, that just interests me more.
"How about a movie friendly-date?"