Nicole gazed outside her window and sighed. It looked like such a gorgeous day outside and yet she was stuck in her house in the same exact position she was in hours ago. She had been cooped up in her bedroom doing schoolwork for weeks now and wanted to do anything other than sitting in her hard, white desk chair. She tended to lose track of the time while sitting at her white desk, signing into her next class and video chatting with her teachers. This new routine was foreign to her and it definitely took some time to accustom herself to it. The idea of talking to a teacher while she was still in her pajamas and in her bed seemed strange and appealing at the same time. She definitely appreciated the comfort of it all, but she was not exactly keen on letting her peers see her before she even began to look remotely presentable.
Nicole never thought that the idea of missing school would enter her mind. It never even occurred to her that her most social outing was, in fact, going to school every day. Yet, the longer that her school was closed, the more she desired to return. Nicole especially missed the structure and normality of it all; saying hello to the various teachers she saw in the hallway, going to her locker every morning, sitting in a class, and moving to a different classroom for the next one.
She missed seeing her friends face to face rather than looking into a small screen to socialize. Nicole longed to be able to spontaneously spend time with her friends and not have to worry about a six-feet distance between them. Most of all, she missed being able to make jokes with her friends, face to face, to hear each other’s laughter.
Olivia Martin is a student at Saint Mary Academy Bay View in East Providence, Rhode Island. She is a 2020 Write Rhode Island winner.
WRITE RHODE ISLAND: OUR LIVES NOW 