The "Best" Friends Volume 2

Chapter 17 - The Lockdown

March 12th, 2020

It was a day like any other, or was it? Jimmy, Emilia and Carly were sat on a bench outside of their college's front entrance. They were eating lunch of Pot Noodles which they had made in their dorms just a few moments ago. Jimmy's was chicken and mushroom, Emilia's was curry and Carly's was beef and tomato.
"Do you guys hear that?" Emilia asked.
"Yeah, hold on," Jimmy said, trying to listen. They all went quiet for a moment as they listened to a tannoy announcement inside the school.
"Sorry to interrupt your lunches but could all students please report to lecture hall:13 for an announcement we must make. Feel free to bring your lunches with you if it is possible."
"Well, we all know what this is about..." Carly mumbled while slurping up her noodles.
"The elephant in the room?" Jimmy laughed.
"Correctamundo," Carly replied.

As they made their way to the lecture hall they noticed a lot of teachers whispering to each other, which seemed impossible as it was so loud.
Inside the hall it was crowded: very few seats were left so most students stood at the top of the stairs with their friends as they didn't want to sit alone with a stranger. The three decided to do the same.
"Hello everyone. I'm glad to see you came. I won't be talking for long but I'd like you to watch this video clip as it is pretty self explanatory," Miss Graystone, one of the head professors, said as she turned on the projector with a remote. The screen was very big, about the size of a small cinema screen so everyone at the back could see.

The thumbnail was the news, so everyone knew what was coming.
"And next up we have President Trump talking to you live about what will happen with states such as Arizona, California, Montana, Ohio and 28 others due to the pandemic."
"As the numbers are rising, we politicians believe that all schools should close starting on Monday, 16th March 2020 in the listed 32 states."
The states they referred to appeared on the bottom of the screen.
"Yes, thank you. That is all from me in Washington D.C, now back over to you in the studio, Lisa."
The video stopped.

Bella was on her way to a substitute class she had to take, which just so happened to be Pearl and TicToc's history class. When she got to the classroom she smiled at Pearl (but it wasn't that obvious) and took a register.
"So what were you meant to be doing this period?" she asked.
"We have an assembly," a boy near the back said.
The class got ready to leave with their bags and made their way to the assembly. One by one the students sat down and Bella sat on a singular seat at the opposite end of the stairs.    Once everyone was settled, one of the teachers played the same news clip that Jimmy, Emilia and Carly were shown on a smaller projector screen.
"Any questions?" He asked.
"Does this mean schools are closing on Monday?" someone asked.
"Yes," he replied, "and us faculty will be having a meeting during lunch today to discuss what will happen."

After a few more questions and an extra presentation about working from home, the bell went to dismiss everyone to lunch.
Bella quickly got a hot chocolate from the cafeteria and made her way to probably the biggest staff room. Most people either had coffee or some sort of fizzy drink.
All that was said during the meeting was what would happen after the schools close and how they could give out work to their classes, but since Bella was kind of a student/substitute teacher, she didn't have a specific subject to teach, although she was mainly in English, Maths, and the more....written subjects.

"TicToc do you know what this means?!" Pearl shouted.
"What? That the whole cafeteria can hear you?" TicToc answered sarcastically.
"No! We only have 4 days left that we'll be able to see each other! You'll be stuck with Tea Party and to be honest you'll end up missing me and being annoyed with how long you have to spend with her," Pearl replied.
"Umm...thanks?"
"I wasn't complimenting you."
"Well I have no idea what to say to that!" TicToc shouted. The both laughed.
"Tea Party's great what are you talking about?"
she smiled.
"Yeah I know. I was trying to make you feel bad."
"Oh..well...I'll miss you Pearl. Even you doing...that."
"Thank you!" Pearl smiled.