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Chapter 19
owlonmywristHow do you think Ashton will react?
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Love in the Time of Quarantine Chapter 20
The second the words come out of my mouth, Ashton’s body goes stiff beneath me. “What?” he asks in a whisper. I look up at him , still laying on his chest. “I think that we should tell our families. About you and me being together.” “No.” His voice is low, firm, and resolute. “We can’t tell them.” He sits up, moving me off of his chest. Ashton scoots back against the wall, putting space between us. Slowly, I sit up, looking at him. His face is full of fear, trepidation, and anger. “Why not, Ash? We’re in love. We’ve been together for months. Sure, Matt will be upset, but he’ll get over it once he sees how happy we are. How happy you make me. And our parents…I think that our parents will be happy, too.” I don’t understand what’s got him so upset that he’s got that look on his face. But he’s shaking his head no, a fast back and forth. “No. Matt will kill me. He thinks that I’m a player. He’ll beat the absolute shit out of me for even thinking about you that w
Love in the Time of Quarantine Chapter 21
The next few days are awful. I stay up all night painting. I set an alarm on my phone, making sure that I shower and grab something to eat before Ashton wakes up for work and then go back to my room to work on some graphic design freelancing work that I found. Seems that writing on those novel websites has gotten big over COVID and people need covers. I usually work on any jobs that I have until about 1:30 when I know that Ashton will have finished with his lunch break and usually has an afternoon Zoom meeting so that I can get something to eat without him talking to me. Then I take a walk around the block for some fresh air and then go to bed. I wake up around midnight and do it all over again. Ashton does try to talk to me those days, but I make sure that I’m super busy or even pretend that I’m on the phone with Ship so that I don’t have to talk to him. I’m still working through my feelings and I don’t need to deal with his while I’m doing that. I know it won’t last for l
Love in the Time of Quarantine Chapter 22
Oh…shit… This was NOT the plan. Even when we were planning on telling our family, Matt was not going to be the first one to know. He’s way too overprotective. Even the guys that he’s known about that I’ve dated have caused him to freak the fuck out. My parents are super nice to any boyfriends because my brother gives them the third degree. You ever heard that country song “Cleaning this Gun?” Yeah, that’s mild compared to Matt. And I’ve heard bits and pieces of some of the shit that he and Ashton used to get up to when it came to girls. They never had to find girlfriends, girls literally threw themselves at them. Not always girls that were available for the taking. It caused quite a bit of draw in high school and college. So Matt finding out that I’m with Ashton on his own, especially by catching us having sex…This is really not good. “Matt!” I scream at the same time Ashton cries out “Oh, fuck!” He tries to pull up the sheets to cover both of us, but that will only pul
Love in the Time of Quarantine Chapter 23
I walk down the sidewalk, my mask on and sunglasses on, making it so that no one can see me crying. I had gotten in touch with Kora and she was getting dressed and then would be on her way in from Hempsted. But, it would take her about an hour to get here. I had a lot of time to kill and way to much to think about. I tell Kora to find me at my spot in Central Park. It’s the overlook rock, about 10 minutes from our apartment. It’s this large rock that looks over a pond on the southern corner of the park. There are usually all kinds of animals and people around and it’s great for sketching and losing myself in it. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring anything with me. I usually have a sketchbook or a notebook in my purse, but I’d filled it and hadn’t really felt pressed to get a new one because…well, I haven’t been going out often. On the way to the park, I stop at a bodega and grab something to eat and drink, as well as a notebook and some colored pencils. I have a few pencil s
Love in the Time of Quarantine Chapter 24
Come September classes have started again, though everything is online now. Even though we did some of this at the end of the semester, it’s weird to not go to school at all. I don’t quite know how to deal with it. Thank God that I have Kora here, because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have any social interaction with anyone. This semester, I have a supervisory seminar. That’s where everyone that Ship supervises gets together to describe their current projects, any issues that they’re having with their art, and get feedback, not only from Ship, but also from other peers. I’ve sat in on a supervisory seminar before with Ship. Just one or two classes, because Ship thought that I had done something worthy of the older students’ attention. I had loved it, happily joining in on the conversation and showing off my pieces. Now, though, I tended to remain quiet unless specifically called on. I was definitely quieter than before, my responses a lot more thoughtful. And I never gave unsol
Love in the Time of Quarantine Chapter 25
There’s a light dusting of snow on the ground when I pull up to my parents’ house on Christmas Eve. I’ve waited until the last possible minute for me to go home because of having to face Matt. I’m ready to talk, ready to forgive him and try to move on. But that doesn’t meant that I actually want to do it. I know that it’s going to be a hard conversation, on that neither of us is going to enjoy, and I’m not looking forward to it. But…it’s been six months and it’s time we clear the air. The second that I pull into my parents’ driveway, they are running out the door to hug me. “Wait!” I say, holding my hands out to stop them. “Don’t you want me to quarantine? Should you be hugging me?” “You and Kora haven’t been around anyone other than your trips to the grocery store. You don’t have symptoms. And we miss you!” Dad exclaims, wrapping his arms around me. Mom hugs me from the other side and I’m enfolded in both of their arms at the same time. And honestly, I don’t have the
Love in the Time of Quarantine Chapter 26
Chapter 26 I have a month off from school for the winter semester, so I decide to spend three weeks at home with my family. I’ve missed them so much and I want to spend as much time with them as I can. It’s great to be home where I feel like I’m being taken care of by my family. We play board and card games, make all kinds of food and messes in the kitchen, watch loads of trash TV, and just…be together. It’s not the same between Matt and me. I don’t think that it ever will be. He said some things that can’t be unsaid and the feelings that those words caused within me were pretty big. I don’t know that we’ll ever get over it, but we will move on. And that’ll be enough. Ericka and Jamal come over a few times. They are my parents’ best friends. They are like a second set of parents to me and Matt. But I will literally see Ashton in every look that they give me. He has his mother’s nose. His father’s smile. His mother’s way of pausing before he tells a joke. His father’
Love in the Time of Quarantine Chapter 27
For the next month, I’m focused on getting back into the swing of the semester. The nice part is that I’m nearly done with all of my gen eds. The only ones that I have left are ones that can also count towards my major. Which means for the first time in my college career, all I’m focused on is art. Not necessarily my kind of art, but art all the same. I also get back to jogging like I was before. I didn’t get to do it as much in Ohio. The snow was too deep, people weren’t really on the streets, so snow plows weren’t running and sidewalks weren’t cleaned. I went to the gym a few times, but it wasn’t the same. I mean, I love the exercise part of jogging, but the biggest thing that I loved, that I craved, was being outdoors. It cleared my head and helped me to forget. Forget the pain. Forget the betrayal. Forget…everything. Everything that happened while I was with Ashton over quarantine. Being with my family had made it easier to forget. Making up with Matt made it eas
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