I hear sniffling on Flora’s side of the room. She sounded so upset saying bye to her mom.

I want to comfort her, but she also seems like the kind of girl who doesn’t want to be comforted when she’s crying. Though I don’t know why I think that. I could send her a text again, but even that seems too invasive, too much of a reminder of what tight quarters we’re in, how little privacy we have. I bet she misses having a room to herself. The last thing I need to remind her of is how close she is to me. And yet I can’t help but resent how far away she feels.

I decide to give her what little bit of privacy I can offer, and I take a really long shower. It’s quiet on Flora’s side of the room again when I get out, and this time I’m pretty sure she’s asleep.

She wakes up and clicks on the TV just before my mom arrives.

“My Oliver!” she says. I feel guilty that she’s here.

“Hi, Mom.”

“How’s she doing?” I can tell my mom is trying to speak quietly, but quiet isn’t a volume that really exists for her, so I’m sure Flora can still hear her.

“Um, she’s okay.” Though I actually have no idea how she’s doing.

“I can’t imagine how lonely she must be, poor girl,” she says loudly.

“Mom!” I hiss.

“I mean, can you imagine if I left you? And you weren’t even sick!”

“MOM!”

“Poor girl,” she says again, shaking her head.

“She’s healthy now, and she’s strong. She’s always been strong.”

My mom looks at me, surprised. “I don’t doubt that one bit. She and her mom have not been dealt an easy hand. If anyone can go through everything she’s been through and come out on top, it’s that girl.” She jabs her finger at the curtain.

Now I’m the surprised one. Usually my mom spends her visits gossiping about our neighbors in our building.

She looks at my surprised face and laughs. “I’m a mom. I notice these things. But I can’t say the same thing about your social media girlfriend.”

I should shush her, but I don’t.

My mom looks at me expectantly. I wonder if she’s asked me a question and I totally spaced out while she was talking. Wouldn’t be the first time. “Well?” she finally says.

“Well what?”

“Aren’t you going to defend your girlfriend the way you defended Flora?”

“Oh, right. Kelsey is strong too. I know it can’t be easy dating someone in quarantine,” I say half-heartedly.

“Uh-huh,” she says, unconvinced. Finally she says, “Follow your heart.”

“What does that mean?”

She just smiles at me and says vaguely, “You’ll see.”

My mom moves on, going back to building gossip, and I listen to Flora flipping channels. And I keep wondering how she really is doing.

After my mom leaves, I pace around my side of the room, my phone in my hand. Finally, I type, Are u ok?

Then I promptly stick my phone under my pillow so I don’t have to feel how it’s not vibrating a response.

I pace more, then give in and grab my phone. I have a text, but it’s from Kelsey, my girlfriend. Which should make me happy. Thrilled. But it doesn’t.

We text back and forth, and I keep hiding my phone, and then I finally have a message from the person I want to hear from, but it’s not the message I’m hoping for. Just Yep, fine. Good night.

Except she doesn’t go to sleep. Because she posts for the first time.

Feeling much better. Thanks for the support, everyone. #quaranteen

She includes a selfie too, with her mask on her face, and I can see our curtain off to the side. I have the feeling of being in a parallel universe again.

There’s a link to her Instagram, and I slap my palm to my head so hard that it hurts. I had no clue she had an Instagram account, which is dumb, because of course she does.

I don’t know why, but I feel nervous when I click on her Instagram link. I look away, look down at my phone again, and my phone screen is filled with pictures Flora took.

She feels so close but I miss her. There are pictures of the friends I saw on FaceTime, pictures of who I guess must be Randy. And so many pictures of a little garden in her neighborhood. I feel like I’m invading her privacy for some reason, like she’d be annoyed if she knew I was looking at pictures of her, so I go back to her post.

She’s back! #quaranteen

#TeamFloriver at last! #quaranteen

Flora! We need to know about the kiss! #quaranteen

I still don’t think she was ever sick. #quaranteen

WHY/WHEN/HOW DID YOU KISS? #quaranteen