A half hour before CJ was supposed to arrive at the house, my mom called me frantically. I was busy raiding the fridge the first couple of times she called, but I was by my phone the third time she called and picked up. 

“Hey, pack your stuff! I’m almost home.” my mom practically shouted in my ear. 

“What? Why?” I asked in a very alarmed tone. 

“CJ tested positive for covid-19!” 

I don’t think I’ve ever felt my heart drop so hard before.

“Holy…” I trailed off. I felt woozy and my legs got wobbly. I stumbled over to the couch and expelled all of the air from my lungs as I collapsed. 

“We’re okay. We’re gonna get tested in Washington. I know we were around CJ a lot, but CJ was almost completely asymptomatic, and I was reading some studies online that said it’s much harder to get sick from asymptomatic people.” my mom assured me, “Besides, even if we do have it, it’s not the end of the world. We’re all really healthy, and we’ll be at sea level in Washington. It’s much easier to breathe down there than up here.”

I laid on the couch in silence, trying to collect my thoughts while breathing in deeply and exhaling heavily. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks. My worst nightmare was coming true. 

“Maya? Are you still there?” my mom asked. 

“Yeah.... Yeah, I’m still here.” I stuttered, “I’m j-just. I’m just scared. Really, s-s-scared.”

“It’s okay. We’re okay. Like I said, we’re gonna get tested in Washington. But, none of us are sick and CJ’s case seems to be very mild, even though she’s immunocompromised. If CJ can survive this easily, so can we.” 

“Okay, mom. You’re right.” 

“Alright. Start packing up. We’re gonna stop in Boise, and I don’t want us to drive in the dark.”

“Okay.” I said, and then hung up. 

It took me almost ten minutes to gather up the strength to get to my feet again. The whole time I was laying down, I had my hands on my head while I took in long, deep breaths. I knew if I could still breathe as well as I could, then I was probably fine. Still, I was really scared. I had been around CJ and her family a lot while she unknowingly had covid-19. I knew there was a very real possibility that we were all presymptomatic and/or asymptomatic carriers of the deadly virus. 

I was also terrified of possibly losing CJ to the virus. She was at higher risk than me due to her immunosuppressants, which she could not get off of. I may not be a very extroverted or outwardly affectionate person, but I still deeply love my friends and family. It tears me to shreds when I know someone I love is suffering. 

I packed my stuff up in record time, leaving behind only a few things. We’d be back to our Airbnb in Salt Lake in a week, so we didn’t need to bring everything. My mom arrived soon after I hung up the phone, and helped me pack up and clean up the house. I washed the dishes and mopped the floors, while she vacuumed the carpets and folded our laundry. Once everything was packed up and cleaned, we stuffed the back of the Xterra with our bags, and sped off to Boise in the late afternoon.