The Beginning of the End by Lorana Hoopes (readict txt) 📕

about everything that would change in her life if they got shut down. Would they close her gym? It had been forced to close for a few days months ago when all the people had disappeared because a car had smashed through the front entrance, but Brian had reopened as quickly as possible. Hitting the bag or mitts with a partner had been her sanity when everything else seemed crazy in the world. Now, she hated to miss class for any reason, and she couldn’t imagine having to miss for two weeks. Especially if everything else closed as well. What would she do?

As first period ended and she gathered up her belongings, she couldn’t help but feel that they were working on borrowed time. She moved in a daze to the next class, feeling like she was one of those banal characters in a horror movie just waiting for something to jump out and scare her.

The next class was English, which she normally loved. Mrs. Fox was her favorite teacher. Not only did she make learning more fun with her random accents and crazy stories, but she always told the students information straight. They all knew that though other teachers would hedge around the answers, Mrs. Fox would tell them what she could, and Lily loved that she treated the students more like equals, at least when possible.

Sliding into her desk, she pulled out her copy of Frankenstein. They had just begun reading the novel, and she was enjoying the book. Mostly. Parts were definitely boring, but it was interesting to see how well Mary Shelley wrote for someone of her age. Somewhere, back in the deep recesses of her mind, Lily often wondered if she had what it took to be a writer. She’d dabbled in creating stories as a child and she used to read a ton, but somewhere along the way, writing had fallen to the side.

Before Mrs. Fox could even begin class, the loudspeaker crackled, and Lily’s stomach knotted. Somehow, she knew what was coming next.

“Sorry for the interruption, students.” The principal’s voice sounded calm, but it did nothing to alleviate the bunching in her stomach. “Due to the governor’s mandate, we will be closing the school for the next two weeks. Please be sure to grab what you might need for that time frame before you leave today. Your teachers will have more information.”

Silence descended on the room as all eyes turned toward Mrs. Fox. Her smile appeared pinched and forced as she gazed out at the room. “Okay, you guys all know how to access Google Classroom.” They’d spent the last few days getting familiarized with the system just in case, but Lily had hoped it would remain a “just in case” scenario.

“I’ll be putting assignments up there starting on Wednesday. The staff will be taking a few days to gather and decide on the best path going forward, but then we’ll hit the ground running. Reading Frankenstein long distance isn’t the way I had planned to do it, but we can make it work. So, be sure to take your book and your packets home.”

Everyone around Lily began gathering up their supplies, but she shuffled to the front of the room where the teacher stood, a smile still pasted on her face. “Mrs. Fox, do you think we’ll be back in two weeks?”

When her lips mashed together and her eyes darted from one side to the other, Lily could tell that she was trying to decide how much to say. Finally, she sighed, and Lily knew she was going to get the truth. At least the truth as Mrs. Fox knew it. “I hope so, Lily, but I kind of doubt it. If this virus is spreading the way they say it is, I can’t imagine that we’ll be back in school in just two weeks.”

Though it was not what she wanted to hear, Lily knew she was right. Every discussion in Mr. Higgins’ class supported those words, but she didn’t want to hear them. “I don’t want to end the year this way.”

Mrs. Fox placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “No one does, Lily, but we just have to have a little faith that everything will be okay.”

Faith wasn’t something Lily had employed for a while. Her family had once attended church, but when her parents’ careers took off, Sundays became a day of resting from the long week and nothing else. Then, after the disappearances, most churches closed. Perhaps it was time to find faith again. Holding back the tears pricking her eyes, Lily nodded. She returned to her desk, gathered up her things, and shoved them in her backpack. Then, she joined the throng of students flowing out of the room and toward their lockers to grab any other last-minute items.

By noon, Lily was home. Alone. With nothing to do. Her father was an attorney and didn’t normally arrive home until after six most nights. Her mother worked at an insurance office and was generally out until five, and her siblings were both older and out of the house already. With time to kill, she opened her laptop and began poring over articles again. How long could this shutdown last? Not forever, right?

Raven’s breath caught as she watched the news conference. Across the US, states were shutting down schools and businesses in an effort to “flatten the curve.” At least, that’s what they claimed. The idea made no sense to Raven. Unless everything shut down, which wasn’t possible as people would still need food and gas and other necessities like that, then those people who had to continue working would still spread the disease and when the economy opened up again, the cases would simply increase once more. It felt like a Band-Aid instead of a solution, and Raven wondered where the common sense had gone.

The image of her governor filled the screen, and Raven’s hand flew to her mouth. It had been so long since she’d