Socially Distanced

Chapter 14

     Suddenly the confidence that I had been feeling earlier dwindled away. I decided to ask Brett a serious question. "Why do you want to be with me when I'm so broken? Why don't you want to be with someone normal? I can't do anything that normal couples do. I always feel the need to stay a certain distance away, I can't hug you, I can't hold your hand, I can't-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop right there," interrupted Brett. "First of all, normal is boring. I want to be with you because you're special. You're mysterious. There's a lot about you that you wouldn't know by just looking at you. I want to get to know you. And as far as the relationship stuff goes, we'll work on that too. Now I think it's time we make this official. Will you be my girlfriend?"

I couldn't believe it. I had never even been in a relationship before. This was new, scary, exciting and stressful all at once. Brett brought back some of my newfound confidence. "Hmm... depends. Will you be my boyfriend?" I smirked.

"How could I not like you? You're almost as witty as I am," boasted Brett. "And yes. I'd gladly be your boyfriend."

"Then it's settled," I replied. "I'll be your girlfriend."

"Great! Now that we've established that, why don't I walk you to your car?" Brett held out his hand with a smirk.

I nervously glanced at his hand, remembering that I didn't have a way to wash my hands."One step at a time. We don't need to rush this," I stammered.

"I think it's a good idea for you to step out of your comfort zone. I may or may not want to hold your hand anyway. Come on. Make progress."

I reluctantly took his hand. I was going to need to wash my hands repeatedly afterwards, but he was right. I needed to make progress. Good thing my hands were clean, although they always were. I wouldn't want to get Brett sick.

"That wasn't so difficult now, was it?" Brett walked me to my car and I unlocked the door. He opened it for me and gestured for me to get in. I sat down and he closed the door. I rolled down the window to say goodbye to him. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Thank you for everything."

Brett shrugged. "I'm happy to help."

"What time should I meet you here?"

"Actually I have something planned. Meet me at my place?"

"Sure. What's your address?"

Brett smirked. "Check your email."

I laughed. "So that's how we're going to communicate from now on, huh?"

"C'mon! That's our thing." He grinned

I laughed again. "You are such a dork."

He smiled. "Not as much of a dork as you." He started to walk away.

"Wait."

He paused and turned around. "Yes, maple syrup?"

I got out my hand sanitizer. "Here. Use this. I don't want you to get sick."

He sighed and did as I asked. "You know, this isn't making progress."

"One step at a time!" I laughed. "Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I love how you call me 'maple syrup.'"

He grinned. "Of course you do."

I started my car and we waved to each other as I pulled away. The entire drive home was spent with me pondering how I ended up in this situation. I was so lucky to find Brett. It's like we were meant to be together.

I rolled my eyes at myself. I was absolutely head over heels, but I didn't care. If anyone could help me get better, it's him.

As soon as I got home, I checked my email, hoping Brett had already sent one. I sighed as I looked at my empty inbox and closed my laptop. Guess I'll just have to be patient.

I suddenly realized that I was starving. My appetite had returned after my stressful picnic with Brett. I walked to the kitchen and made myself a tuna casserole. I loved cooking so much. I was thankful that I had taught myself how to prepare meals at a young age. I preferred to handle my own food, rather than have someone else do it. They might not wash their hands enough.

I walked back to my room and continued refreshing my email for an embarrassing amount of time. At last my inbox displayed one unread email. The subject line read "Covid Updates," and I knew it wasn't from Brett before I even checked who the sender was.

I sighed. This was from my university. I opened the email.

Dear staff and students,

We hope that you are all staying healthy during these challenging times. For now, in person classes will be cancelled until the end of the month. This may be extended depending on where things stand in a few weeks. We will keep you updated.

Stay safe!

I mumbled under my breath. "Of course they're going to extend the cancellations. This isn't some twenty-four hour bug that's going to disappear when the seasons change."

I decided to get started on my assignments. It was going to take awhile to adjust to these online classes. I had no experience with them whatsoever. At least we're all in the same boat. This is new to everyone, I thought.

After about an hour I realized that I had forgotten to check my email. I refreshed it again, pleased when I saw a new message titled "do I even need to add a subject line every time?"

I laughed as I opened the email. This time it was from Brett.

Hey maple syrup,

Meet me at my place tomorrow at 12:00 for another day's worth of exposure therapy.

-Brett

At the bottom of the page he typed up his address. Smiling, I closed my email and continued working on my assignments for a few more hours. I made myself some dinner and went to bed fairly early that night, excited and nervous for tomorrow.