New Person

I nearly cried as the sun screamed through my dark curtains. I don’t know how the sun could break through my strong hold and as I opened my eyes I saw the culprit stand in my window. I love my mom but sometimes she really ticks me off. 

“Rise and shine!” She said all bubbly. I sneered at her and threw my blanket off before she could do it herself. 

“I don’t have school so what’s the point of waking up early!?” I yawned. 

“You do have school! It’s online now!” She cheered. “This is a good thing! You still get an education.” I groaned and stood up. 

“The only thing I’m getting is no sleep. It’s 8:30 in the morning! Why do I have to be up right now?” I whined. She laughed and opened my window. 

“I’ll give you an answer once you brush your teeth.” She left my room and I dragged myself into the bathroom and took care of myself. I might as well get dressed. Not that I’ll be going anywhere. I dropped my PJs into the laundry basket and threw on some shorts and a graphic t-shirt. I pulled my dark curly hair into a ponytail and put my glasses on. I walked down the stairs and my mom was putting breakfast on the table for me and my brothers. 

“You don’t usually make breakfast.” I started as I sat down in my chair. 

“Wait for your brothers to come down first.” She told me. I pouted in my spot as my older brother stomped down the stairs. He was always stomping everywhere he went. He never had light footing. He was older than me but only by a year. He started college this year and then this happened. We were all excited for the new things happening this year but that ended quickly. My younger twin brothers came down, pushing each other so they could see who would get down the stairs first. They were kind of annoying...all the time. They fought for their seat at the table until my mom smacked them both on the backs of their heads. They quietly sat down in their seats. My older brother and I were holding in our laughs. Our little brothers were glaring at us. My mom set the food down at the table for them and she blessed the food. I can’t remember the last time she made breakfast for us. It’s so different to see her… not busy. She has always been working. Now that working isn’t exactly an option anymore, she’s home...and it’s weird. She made pancakes. She must be having the hardest time. 

“I read an email about what’s going to happen for the rest of the year for Seniors, Mom.” I started. 

“Really? Was it about graduation?”

“It said it’s going to be postponed, not cancelled.” I took a bite before I could say anything else. 

“That’s good! That means you won’t miss out on everything this year. It’ll just happen a little later than we thought.” My big brother patted me on the head as he said that. I shrugged. 

“Yeah.” I smiled. “It’s nice to not lose everything.” 

“Definitely.” My mom smiled back at me. “What do you guys want to do today?”

“I wanna go to a water park!” One of my twin brother’s said. Of course the other chimed in. 

“Me too!”

“Why don’t we just go swimming in the pool?” My older brother asked. 

“I guess it is kind of hot today.” My mom scratched the back of her head. 

“Well, I have school, so I can’t join you guys.” I said as I pushed my chair back and was about to clean my plate. “Such a bummer.” I said sarcastically. 

“You can join us after.” She said and I sighed. I thought that was going to work. I hate swimming and being outside. Not my most favorite thing. I dragged myself upstairs and opened my laptop. The bright screen opened automatically to my english page. My teacher gave us a project. I rolled my eyes reading the description. It said, 

“Hello students! I miss you all! I hope you are all staying safe during this terrible time. I am giving you this very fun project called New Person. For this project I want you to find someone new to talk to. Make sure to stay 6 feet away! Please send in your conversation through the dropbox or send it to my email. I miss you all!” I covered my face. I really don’t want to meet anyone new. I looked out my window and grabbed my favorite book off my night table drawer. I saw down on my window sill and opened to page 256. My favorite part of that book was when The protagonist and antagonist realized they were in love with each other but they had to fight each other too. I wish I could be in their world, where all I had to worry about was romance. I could be whatever and whoever I wanted to be in a book. I sighed and closed the book on my favorite scene and looked out my window to see the Mailman putting a package in the mailbox. I always like getting the mail. You never know who it’s for. It is officially the only thing that surprises me now. I skipped downstairs and opened the front door to the super bright concrete driveway that blinded me temporarily. I walked out barefoot and through the grass that still had morning dew on it. I opened the mailbox and saw a small package for my mom, a couple bills but nothing for me. Oh well! Maybe tomorrow! I was about to bring it inside until I heard the door open from my neighbors house. I turned around and looked to find an old lady  being walked outside by a teenage boy that was freakishly tall. He had to duck to get out of the door way. The old lady saw me and she waved. Her old, cute smile was contagious. I waved back. 

“Hello!” I said, trying to be friendly. 

“Hello, there! I don’t think I’ve met you.” The old lady’s fragile voice called at me. The tall boy looked embarrassed. 

“Sorry about her! She doesn’t really remember things! Didn’t mean to bother you!”

“You’re good! It’s fine!” New Person… “M-My name’s Evelyn. It’s nice to meet you. I don’t think I’ve seen you guys around yet.” Don’t be nervous. They’re just people.

“Oh yeah! We moved here about a month ago before this whole pandemic thing happened.” The boy told me. “I’m Oliver! This is my grandma, Mrs. Henry.” I nodded. 

“Oh! Okay! That’s probably why I haven’t seen you. Yeah…” How stupid can I get? 

“Oh dear! Could you do me a favor?” Mrs. Henry asked. 

“Sure!”

“Could you get me the mail, dear?” She smiled. I nodded. 

“Yeah! Okay!” Oliver looked at his grandma like she was crazy. I crossed over to their side of the lawn and opened their mailbox. 

“Wait!” Oliver yelled. I held the mail, confused. “S-Send it to me through the window!” 

“Window?” He pointed to my window on the side of the house closest to his. I nodded as the lightbulb in my head went off. “Oh! Got it!” I took their mail, so confused and ran into the house. As I was leaving I could faintly hear Mrs. Henry tell Oliver “You’re welcome.” I dropped our mail on the kitchen table and ran to my room. I pulled out my grabbing claw that extends about 6 feet. I put the mail in the grabber and opened my window and screen. Oliver was waiting on his side. I smiled with the grabber and stretched it as far as I could without falling out of my window. Luckily he was tall and could reach the rest of the way. 

“Thank you! Sorry about that!”

“No problem. This was my first day interacting with other people after a month. I’m okay with it.” I laughed. 

“Yeah, I can definitely relate.” He laughed with me. 

“So what grade are you in? Are you still a highschooler?” He nodded. 

“High school senior. Kind of crappy this year, huh?” He shrugged. 

“I can agree. I’m in the same boat. I’ve never seen you around though, what school do you go to?”

“Greenwood. I transferred there two days before we got quarantined.” I nodded. 

“That’s why you looked slightly familiar.” I lied. “I felt like I saw you one time.”

“Oh, really? Sweet!”

“So where are you from-” My mom yelled up the stairs for me.

“You should be done now right?” She asked. I sighed.

“I’ll be right there, Mum!” I yelled back at her. I looked at Oliver and grabbed my window. “Talk to you later.” I closed the window and he waved. I grabbed my bathing suit and changed in the bathroom. Knowing a boy is right outside my window, I will never change in my room again. 

I showered after being soaked in pool water from my brothers throwing me in, It was finally a good opportunity to write about my conversation with Oliver for my project. I looked out my window and saw a piece of paper stuck to it. I opened the window slightly and grabbed it. It was a paper airplane with duct tape on it. I opened the note. It read: 

Hey Evelyn. (I hope I spelled it right) I know we both got our senior year totally bombed but I’d be okay with a study buddy. What classes do you have? Here’s my teachers. ~O

I smiled at the note and stole the duct tape from his airplane. I took a piece of paper from my notebook and started writing in blue marker. 

Hey Oliver. (I hope I spelled it right) We have the same english teacher which means you also have the New Person assignment right? What if we kept each other’s notes and sent them in for the assignment. I bet that’d work right? ~E 

I had to look up a youtube video for folding paper airplanes but once I got it perfect I stuck the duct tape to the front and sent it back over. I was totally expecting it to end up falling but it landed right on his window. I was pretty proud of myself. He received it and nodded. He sent me another one back. 

Hey Evelyn, I’m glad I spelled it right. I think that’s a good idea. You know, we should do quarantine stuff together! ~O

Now that I figured out how to fold the paper right, I didn’t take as long to send one back. 

Hey Oliver, I’m also glad I didn’t get it wrong. What kind of stuff? You wanna dye your hair with me? Or watch netflix? Maybe we could have our own book club? ~E

I think a book club would be cool! I love reading. *Insert british accent here* I prefer the fantasy genre. xD ~O

We were doing this until late. I didn’t realize I was already out of paper. I waved at him and shut my window. 

Another week went by and everyday I have been getting Mrs. Henry’s mail and sending it to her through the window. One day, Oliver even brought her upstairs to get it for herself. I  emailed my english teacher and asked for her address because I wanted to send her my project through the mail. She gave it to me. Oliver and I made stickers that said Sprayed with the last Lysol known to man. Of course it was a joke, but we just wanted our teacher to feel safe. I placed the 123 letters in a large envelope and addressed it to my teacher. My mom had to drive me to the post office. I placed the sticker on the back and handed it to the mailman. I came out and my mom forced me to Germ X my hands right away. As we were pulling in the driveway, I could see Oliver pulling out of his. I smiled and waved and he did the same. I guess meeting a new person isn’t so hard after all.