well, Mom’s not here.” She never was. Mom practically lived at the hospital, and that was before all this pandemic stuff started. I couldn’t imagine she was going to stop working so hard now. “And you don’t need to worry your little head about it, I’ll be keeping six feet from him.”
“But—”
“I’ll be back in a while,” I continued, ignoring my brother’s objections. My stomach tensed with a feeling of guilt though. I wasn’t supposed to be leaving the house, and I wasn’t supposed to be seeing my friend. The rules had only just grown stricter though, and I’d been able to see him two days ago without any issue. How bad could it really be if I went to see him now?
“Clary’s upstairs and settling into her room, so leave her in peace,” I added.
Elliot shot a scowl in my direction. “Yeah, whatever.”
I couldn’t tell if my brother would listen to me. I suspected he’d be too consumed with his game to bother Clary, but there was a chance he was more intrigued by her. Odds were, he’d be too nervous to go seek her out though. The kid was pretty confident, but I doubted his courage extended to knocking on a hot girl’s bedroom door.
His eyes flicked back to the screen as a loud explosion rocked his speakers. Elliot started swearing and threw his controller down on the ground. He swiftly picked it up again to continue playing, and I closed the door on him, satisfied he was well and truly distracted again.
I sent Seth a message to tell him I was on my way. He replied straightaway to let me know he was already out front, so I set off to his house at a jog. He lived just around the corner from us, and even though I knew Mom had told us not to see our friends because of the pandemic restrictions, this felt like an emergency.
I found Seth standing on his driveway shooting hoops when I arrived. He had such natural control of a basketball, and with his height and agile build, he was practically born for the sport.
Seth turned as he gathered the ball from under the hoop, and his eyes crinkled with a smile when he saw me. I couldn’t see his mouth because he was wearing a facemask, and I felt a little stupid I wasn’t wearing one as well. I was still getting used to all these lockdown rules, and I’d completely forgotten. It wasn’t a good enough excuse though. Especially since Mom had been reminding me constantly. We had a ton of masks at home. They weren’t the hospital grade ones because they were running low on them, but it was better than wearing nothing.
“So, this is how you spend quarantine?” I asked as I walked up the driveway to greet him.
“Sure as hell beats binging Outlander episodes with my mom,” he replied. “The woman’s obsessed with the Scottish dude in it. I think Dad might be in trouble.”
I laughed. “You don’t think it’s cute your mom has a TV-boyfriend?”
Seth cringed. “Please don’t say that.”
I stopped when I was at least six feet away from Seth and leaned against the fence that surrounded his front yard. I was desperate enough to break lockdown to see him, but I wasn’t about to get too close to him and risk either of us transmitting the virus. I’d never forgive myself if I got him sick.
Seth tucked his ball into his side as he focused on me. “So, couldn’t go two days without seeing me, huh?”
“Longest two days of my life.”
Seth laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure they have been.”
“I think the days are about to get a whole lot longer though.”
“And why’s that?”
I took in a deep breath before I responded. “Because Clary James’s parents are stuck in Mexico and she’s staying at my house until they get back.”
Seth’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me.”
“Ha, those were my exact words when Mom told me.”
“You’re really serious?”
I rubbed my forehead and nodded. “Completely, and I have no clue what I’m supposed to do about it.”
“Who says you have to do anything?”
“I don’t, but this is Clary James. If I’m ever going to have a shot with her, this is it.”
Seth started rolling the basketball around in his hands as he considered the situation. He tilted his head to the side as he looked at me. “You know she can’t stand you, right?”
“I’m well aware,” I growled, earning a grin from him in return. I didn’t deserve