“I don’t need a mask,” he shouted. As the two of them continued their argument, Clary turned to me. The tightness in my chest eased slightly now she was facing me and I could see her eyes again. I hated when she kept them from me.
“What’s up with your neighbors?” she asked.
“Nothing unusual. Rosalind and Herb argue a lot.” It happened so frequently I barely thought anything of it anymore.
“They’re very loud.”
I laughed. “Yeah, but I think that’s just how they show their love. The louder they shout, the more they care. They’re both really sweet, actually.”
Clary lifted an eyebrow in doubt, but this was the closest we’d come to a conversation in a while, so it felt like a win.
We put cards in the rest of the mailboxes on my street before heading back to my truck so we could go to Clary’s house. There was a flyer on the front windshield when we got to the truck, and I grabbed it off. People were always papering our cars with useless promotions. I would have thought they’d take a break during a pandemic though. I went to scrunch the flyer into a ball, but when I saw what the flyer was about, I shook my head.
“Did you know that the pandemic doesn’t actually exist?” I asked Clary, showing her the flyer as I climbed into the driver’s seat.
She was already in the passenger seat, and she lifted one eyebrow as she took the flyer from me and looked over the page. “The globalist elite don’t want us to have our freedom?” She rolled her eyes and placed the flyer down. “I guess it’s one of the less absurd pandemic theories I’ve heard going around.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard a few crazy ones too,” I agreed.
“Okay, give me your best one…”
I was silent for a moment as I tried to decide what to hit her with, and I grinned when I remembered a good one. “Did you know that the Russian government released lions into the street during lockdown to stop people from leaving their houses?”
“Did you know that it’s all just a marketing scheme made by hand sanitizer companies?” Clary fired straight back.
“That can’t be true because the virus was sent here by aliens who are about to take over the world.”
She laughed. “Aliens taking over the world; not sure it gets any more epic than that.”
“It doesn’t.”
It was kind of nice to laugh about something so serious and scary. If you didn’t find a way to make the best of the situation, the whole thing just became too miserable to bear.
“Actually, I did hear one theory about the virus that seems plausible,” I said.
Her expression sobered at my words, and she looked genuinely curious. “What is it?”
“Well,” I started. “Apparently, there’s a way you can stop yourself from catching it…”
“There is?” There was a sense of expectation in her voice, and I almost felt bad that it wasn’t actually true.
I slowly nodded and gave her a serious look. “They say that a kiss a day keeps the virus away.”
She stared at me for several seconds before a small smile cracked her lips. “And let me guess. You want to test the theory?”
I grinned. “If you’d be my test buddy, I’d say it would be rude not to at least try it.”
She shook her head, but she was still smiling. “I’m not going to kiss you.”
“Not even for your own health?”
“Nope.”
“What about the good of humanity? We could save thousands of lives if we prove it’s true.”
“Not even that.”
I rested my arm against the steering wheel as I stared at her. “So, I don’t want to be that guy, but you know that the fate of the world lies on you kissing me every day.”
She laughed and turned her head. “The world has no chance then.”
I let out a sigh and started the engine. I had no idea what was going to make this girl crack and fall in love with me but, damn it, I was going to find out.
Clary seemed relaxed as we drove down my street, but she started tapping her fingers against her leg as we drew closer to her house.
“How are you dealing with it all?” she asked. “Lockdown, I mean.” It seemed as though she was just talking to distract herself rather than because she actually wanted to know.
“It’s only been a few days. It’s better than school but a bit boring being stuck inside.”
“Yeah, it is a bit,” she agreed. “Have you thought