November 8th, 2019

It was Friday night and I hadn't seen or heard from Florrie since Monday. Not even a text. Maybe she figured I didn't owe her anymore? Well, whatever she thought, she wasn't chasing me.

I missed her. I barely knew her, but, by the end of the week, I found that I really wanted to see her. Even if our lunch-date-whatever-thing was a little awkward, I still wanted to try.

My phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my pocket quickly, trying to see who was calling me. It was Florrie.

"This is Harvey," I said after I hit the green answer button.

"Hi Harvey, this is Florrie. Are you busy?" she asked, she sounded really excited, like she had been containing her excitement for far too long.

"I'm free. What is it, Florrie?" It felt great to say her name.

"Well, you won't believe what I saw! This cold that's going around is no normal cold! You should have seen the people in the nurses'!" she exclaimed, talking loudly. I was curious about this cold that had us quarantined, but...

"Florrie, this sounds like gossip. I really don't like gossip. It's almost never true, and just annoying." I sighed.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry. But I did see this with my own eyes, so does it really count?" she said. She sounded sad at first, but her tone quickly brightened.

"Well, okay. I can't deny that I'm interested to know more about this. Go ahead." I still felt like a sniveling gossiper, but I wanted to talk. I had nothing better to do.

"Okay, warning, this is a long story," she said. I could hear her pulling out a chair. I did the same, not wanting to be standing up if it was really as long as she made it sound.

After she had explained the story, I was incredulous. "So you're telling me that the students that are getting this special cold that makes them go bipolar and die? No way, that's not even possible in any realm."

"No! It is!"

"Florrie, quit it. I can tell you're just trying to start gossip-"

"No!"

I rolled my eyes. How could I have forgotten this was an annoying party chick? I wouldn't forget again. "Jhon wasn't bipolar. He was just wildly irresponsible. I bet that other girl was just pissed and made a rash decision."

"I can't believe you don't believe me!" she sounded upset.

"Whine all you want, but not to me." I hung up and tossed my phone away.

If something really bad was going on, the school would tell us.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

"Come on man, it's tradition! Everyone goes," Enrico said. He had cornered me in the locker room and was trying to convince me to go to the annual campfire. I managed to get out of it years previous, but, since I had agreed to that one mansion party, Enrico had been relentless on upcoming events.

"No. It's gonna be super freezing. Besides, remember what happened at the last party?" I said. That last party I went to, someone got thrown off the stairs!

Luckily, the quarantine had shut down most hope for any house parties.

"But this one is run by the school, not some drunk rich kid! This one will be totally safe. No stairs in sight," Enrico joked. He wasn't wrong, it would be on the school grounds outside, a little past the gate. "I promise it'll be fun!"

"Fun like the last party?" I asked. Last time, he ditched me in a loud crowded room with annoying, sweaty, drunken teens.

"Look, it won't be as loud as the last one, the dancing will be kept at a minimum, and I won't leave you alone this time. Unless of course you wanna run off with some girl?" he said, raising his eyebrow and licking his lips.

"You promise it won't be like last time?"

"Do you need me to make a pinky promise or something?"

"No. Ugh. I'll go, okay?" I sighed, already dreading it.

"Let's go, dawg!" Enrico was emitting swag and I almost felt cool for accepting the invite, until he turned around and went to tell the rest of the hockey team.

"Harvey, is finally going to the bonfire!" The guys erupted in laughter. "Mark it down in the calendars! It's about time!" If I didn't show up now, they would kill me.

I wondered, was Florrie going to go? Of course she would... she's the definition of a social butterfly, wanting to talk to everyone she could. But she was annoying, a gossip girl with little to no personality. Hopefully I wouldn't run into her and her equally shadow friend. What was her name again? I knew it at least started with a 'C' or 'S'. Whatever. Those were my least favorite type of girls.

Ugh. They would absolutely be at the bonfire. Just great. I shoved the rest of my gear into my locker, slamming it shut. Why had I been talked into this?

I left the locker room and walked around the rink. The exit was on the opposite side of where the lockers were. I walked through the doors of the hockey rink, and low and behold, Florrie was at the end of the hall with her overprotective friend Tomlin.

"He didn't believe me, but I know what I saw. Tomlin, something is wrong!" I heard her batting her false lashes from where I stood. It was just her gossiping again. I stormed down the hall, hoping to get past her as fast as I could.

As soon as I got close she fell silent and glared at me. Her eyes were filled with sadness, but other features told me a different story: she was pissed. I decided to get out of her way, and stay out of it. Even at the bonfire, which I sadly had to attend.