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

don’t think we are there yet. Let’s follow the rules for now and see how things go.”

Lily wanted to ask what his thoughts were on the impending vaccine, but before she could, more students began filing in. Though she recognized most of them, there were a few she could not place. Whether that was because they were new or because they had changed so much over the summer that they were unrecognizable behind their mask, Lily wasn’t sure.

Katie slid into the room seconds before the bell rang. A look of frustration creased her forehead, and for the first time in a long time, she had no coffee. Something was clearly wrong. People might not be able to sit in a coffee joint, but the drive thrus had been open for a while now.

“Are you okay?” Lily whispered as Katie took the desk nearest hers. Even the desks were placed six feet apart, so Lily couldn’t be as quiet as she would have liked, but Katie heard. Her lips pursed together, and she shook her head.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Mr. Higgins began class then, but Lily found it hard to focus on what he was saying. Not only was the hot air she kept exhaling and re-breathing in constantly on her mind, but a stubborn itchy sensation had taken up residence on her face. Her forehead, her cheeks, her nose - everything pulsed with a desire to be scratched and refraining from it appeared futile. Her fingers twitched on the desk as she fought the urge.

When the bell finally rang signaling the end of first period, Lily gathered up her things and realized she had missed most of the class. Thankfully it was the first day of school and there was generally less work assigned, but this was Mr. Higgins’ class, and he seemed to never care whether it was September or April when it came to assigning work.

“What happened?” Lily asked Katie as they joined the throng of students filling the hallway. The blue arrows that lined the floor were largely ignored, and students, having not seen their friends in months, conveniently forgot (or ignored) the social distance rule as they high-fived or hugged in the hallway. Yeah, this was going to work so well.

“I was halfway here when I forgot my stupid mask and had to turn around and go home.” Annoyance filled Katie’s voice, but Lily had a hard time believing all of it stemmed from forgetting her mask.

“First of all, I’m sure they have some here you could have borrowed. I doubt you’ll be the only one to forget your mask at some point this year, but why didn’t you just leave it in your bag or in your car like I do?”

“It does no good hanging in your car,” Katie said, throwing her hands up.

“It does no good anyway,” Lily said. Hadn’t Katie been attending the same meetings with Raven and the others that she had? Why was she acting like suddenly she believed all the hype? “This is all about control. Remember?”

Suddenly Katie’s demeanor shifted. Her eyes flashed around, and her fingers darted out, grabbing Lily’s arm and squeezing. “You can’t say stuff like that out loud. Who knows who might be listening?”

“Listening?” Now Lily was starting to worry. Katie was acting weirder than normal. “Who’s going to be listening?”

Katie shook her head, but there was definitely something going on with her. And more than the fact that she’d had to return home to get a mask. Lily was determined to find out what, but the warning bell sounded before she could press the issue, and the girls dashed for their separate classrooms.

The rest of the morning flew by and dragged at the same time. The routine of being back in the classroom made the time go by quicker than it had at home, but the constant heat against Lily’s lips and the pressure on the back of her ears from the straps of the mask served as a constant reminder of how much of the day remained.

When lunch finally arrived, Lily walked into the gym which no longer served as a gym but the makeshift cafeteria since it was bigger. It felt weird calling it a cafeteria though since the school wasn’t even serving food. Brown bags or nothing. That seemed to be the mantra of the year. Only two choices - one bad and the other worse.

With a sigh, Lily sank down onto one of the seats. Last year, the tables had teemed with students laughing and leaning over each other to share a video or a funny meme on each other’s phones. Now, there were giant stickers on the seats students could actually sit on, and the large tables were limited to three students so they could be socially distant while they ate. New slender tables that only allowed a student at each end had also been added, but as Lily knew a quiet conversation would be impossible at one of those, she had opted for the former.

The only redeeming grace was that lunch meant food and food meant having an unimpeded access to the mouth which meant no mask. Lily ripped hers off and inhaled the fresh air. As she watched the students around her do the same, she realized again how silly and futile this all was. Students were forced to wear a mask during every class, but here in the lunchroom, they could all have them off. If the virus was really airborne as the media claimed, wouldn’t the students all just get infected here? Where had common sense gone?

Katie arrived a moment later and set her own mask on the table before opening her lunch.

“You want to tell me what’s really going on?” Lily asked.

Katie sighed as she pulled a sandwich from a ziplock bag. “It’s my parents. They want me to get the vaccine.”

“What?” Lily realized she had said the word louder than she meant to when heads turned her direction. She lowered her voice and hissed, “Katie,