29/11/2020
As promised, here is the winning piece for Trilogy’s writers category. Congratulations to Huda from FIS for writing such a well-written, interesting story!
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"It's corona time, ey, it’s corona time right now.” Rose instantly huffed, a solitary sweat trickled down her forehead, her fingers typed away swiftly on her phone’s keyboard.
"Rose!" a familiar voice filled her room, succeeded by the deafening slam of the wooden door. "Why on earth did you post that on your TikTok account?! Are you not even aware of how many young followers you have?!" Lisa's back was surprisingly straight, her two hands perfectly placed on her hips. Rose just rolled her eyes, her anticipation of her housemate’s overreaction was true.
Rose nonchalantly approached her pink velvety sofa, her eyes fixed on her phone’s screen. “What are you on about? Everyone is doing it anyway. A little exaggeration won’t hurt.” Before Rose’s eyes could even blink, her phone was already in Lisa’s clutch; having the risk to bid farewell.
“Don’t you dare, Lisa. You out of all people know how much I’ve worked to get my hands on that phone,” the black hole of her eyes shot lasers to the back of Lisa’s head. “Okay, fine. Just take down that TikTok video. Please.”
“I’ll think about it.”
**
“Congratulations Rose! Saw your TikTok’s followers. As expected our Rosie!”
Rose relentlessly rubbed her eyes, the first thing that her ears were ‘blessed’ with in the morning was an admiration from her agency’s CEO?
“Rose, are you there dear?”
“Ah yes, thank you Jennifer.”
“Few brands have contacted us, they would love to have a collaboration with you! We have accepted every offer. Don’t worry about a thing and rest well today.”
The phone call abruptly ended. Just like that. She must have thought that I am her asset, scoffed Rose. ‘Like I am going to have a rest day today, I’m swamped with assignments!’ was what she was thinking.
Despite her morning not taking off quite well, she was endlessly showered by praise the entire day. Or at least she thought she would be.
“Hey Rose, got a problem?” That was when things started to go astray. Countless murmurs in the hallway, superfluous doodles on her locker, the pungent smell in her bag, and the list went on.
Just as she wanted to succumb to the ground, a pair of black doc martens greeted her teary optics, compelling her to meet the owner’s tranquil gaze.
“You’re in my way. Stand up before I lift you up.” A male husky voice was evident in the air.
Rose scorned. ‘Do I look like I have time to joke around? For God’s sake, the hallway’s 5m wide.’
“You really think you haven’t done anything wrong, do you? Do you know what’s worse? The fact that you are not wearing a mask right now. Wake up, come back to your senses.”
After his footsteps left her eardrums, Rose gradually got herself back on her feet, assuring herself that it was just a difficult day.
But to Rose’s dismay, unfortunate events just kept chasing her non-stop. That night, an unidentified ID number called. “Miss Henderson? Apologies for bringing you some sad news. We are afraid we must breach your contract due to inevitable reasons. We are deeply sorry for not being able to inform you in person. Have a good day.”
Great. Just great. Her peers had turned her into an outcast, her agency ended things with her over a phone call, what’s next?
Knock, knock!
“What?”
“Have some manners, girl. You are supposed to say, please come in! Grow up, will you?”
“You’ll open it anyways, what’s the point?” Rose rolled her eyes, making it into a bad habit of hers.
“Shoot, I actually forgot what I wanted to tell you. Oh right. Rose, did you check your messages on your personal phone?”
“You know I only turn it on once a week, Lisa.”
“Oh my god, Roseanne! Come to the hospital with me this instant!”
Rose’s heart skipped a beat, her blood stopped flowing. She gaped at Lisa, ashen-faced.
Rose rushed to the desired destination, bare-faced, her mind kept replaying back images of her childhood. Finally stepping her feet on the white tile of the white building flashed back bittersweet memories.
“Mum... don’t leave me, please.”
“Miss Henderson? We are pleased to tell you that your mother is not in a serious condition. However, she is required to stay at the isolation centre as she is a COVID-19 carrier. You may see her briefly before she leaves tomorrow.”
Rose’s heart sank to the ground, trying to take everything in. Her mum... is... COVID-19... positive..?
“Rose, where are you going?! Aren’t you going to see your mum for the last time?!” Lisa managed to grasp her friend’s trembling hand.
“I’m not going. You go see her yourself. What if I also get infected? Remember the TikTok video I uploaded? I am a girl of my words.”
Rose’s back was all Lisa could see before she left.
Not wanting Mrs Henderson to suffer alone, Lisa met her and explained about what Rose was going through.
“So, she posted an insulting video about COVID-19 on some famous application? Is it that bad?”
The look on Mrs Henderson was unbearable for Lisa to face. “I am afraid so. She pointed out how easy it is to avoid getting infected by wearing masks and the virus would go away by just washing our hands consistently, and how foolish and careless people are to get infected as that means they did not bother to take care of themselves properly. Unfortunately, her one minute video went viral in less than twenty-four hours and numerous people were offended as their family members were also involved.”
“My poor daughter. It must have been hard for her. I still cannot do anything for her until the very end. I have been neglecting her ever since she was warded as a kid. It is my fault; I should have given her the love and attention she deserves. Thank you Lisa, for being that person to my precious jewel.”
“Lisa, I’ll fix this for her. This is the least I could do and who knows, the last thing I could do for my daughter. I will take down all the videos that other people had already spread through different platforms, by using my money and connections. Just ask Rose to delete the original video and share a sincere apology letter on social media. Could you please do this favour for me, dear?” Lisa nodded and promised she would help Rose.
Exactly a week later, everything had been settled. Rose carried on with her life as usual, as both a student and an influencer.
Thanks to Lisa’s help, Rose reconciled with her mother after she had recovered from COVID-19.
Lisa felt happy for her best friend and welcomed Mrs Henderson to live together with them so they can all bond together to substitute the time that they have missed.
With that, Rose had changed to be a better person to herself, family, and friends. Not only that, having the money and power as an influencer, Rose had decided to give charity to COVID-19 patients at a few isolation centres near her area.
