Sanders Sides Parenting/Kids One-Shots

(118) On The Other End of Zoom - Analogical

Summary: Virgil's family travel a lot as both his parents are part of the military, therefore he enrolled in online school as soon as he could and has hardly made any friends in any of the places he's visited. That all changes when he attends an online class and spots someone intriguing through the screen.

Also I have no idea how online school actually works XD

This can also have a part 2 if you guys want to? I have exams this week and next so don't expect it soon :)

Words: 1334

"It's the perfect time now for you to make some friends!" Virgil's mom cheered as she drove, her four kids in the back and her husband at her side. Virgil was the oldest and absolutely hated these road trips to different states just because his parents were stationed in different places. Sure, this was only the fifth time it happened but it was still difficult every time to pack up all his stuff and leave his safe space.

Virgil's sister was rambling about her excitement to start eighth grade, and that the local middle school had a cheerleading team that she was going to try out for. While the rest of the family talked Virgil placed his earphones in his ears and listened to the music. It's not like learning about the local schools were important to him - he had been in online school since their move to Virginia in sixth grade. It was the only non-new thing he had every time he moved.

The outside seemed nice at least. It was typical suburban of course but the climate was a lot different from Virginia. Instead of green trees and grass the whole world was a lot more yellow - and most of the shrubbery looked dead. The sun was shining bright but that was expected for summer, there were only a few dots of clouds. It seemed like a sleepy town too - at least that was a positive. Virgil hated talking to people his age.

"Mr Distractathon!" Virgil's dad cheered as Virgil's toddler brother playfully tugged an earphone out. "There's a hiking trail down that road there..." The army man pointed to a road like any other, the only thing to distinguish it was a label called 'Yaqui Street'. "You should find a friend and go there some point!"

"I'll go there alone when I feel like getting murdered." Virgil snapped back, stuffing his earphone back in and staring back out the window. This was going to be a long couple of years before he's thrown into the next place.

*****

Unfortunately the rush of a new grade of online school meant Virgil had to organise his classes for this term. He already chose the most basic math and science credits as he was really bad at that kind of stuff. English was a little more advanced and he did enjoy reading and relaxing without the pressure of mountains of other schoolwork. Then came electives - he chose his usual photography class and a class on animation that intrigued him... And he had one elective credit left.

He searched the online school for interesting elective classes that he hadn't done before, wondering whether he could swap it for another history or language credit and just take more electives the next senior year. Eventually his eyes wondered to a new class on offer though: Psychology I.

He enrolled in it as he had nothing better to pick - and it was only then he realised this class was in fact an 'in person' class over Zoom. He'd have to wake up at 11am and listen to the teacher drone on in real time without a fast forward button... Great.

*****

The online class wasn't as bad as Virgil imagined. The teacher allowed people to have their camera off and everyone else who also chose the class was quiet and mostly focused on other things. Virgil wasn't exactly listening either - TikTok was too interesting - and he was vaguely listening to the hum of the teacher explain something about he didn't know what.

"Oh, someone raised their hand..." The teacher mumbled as a little icon came up saying 'Logan Tye' raised their hand. She read out the name and a soft and quiet voice spoke, lighting up a camera that was surprisingly turned on.

"Hi, I was just wondering if the Robber's Cave experiment could be expanded on? You mentioned about how they were all boys, was a similar experiment done on girls to eliminate a masculine bias?"

The quiet voice belonged to a man, the same age as Virgil most likely, with curly brown hair tucked into a bun and a side-swept fringe. His eye colour was hid by thick black glasses but he looked focused on the lesson, ingesting crackers dipped in strawberry jam for an early lunch/late breakfast. His background was a simple black and blue room, not decorated like Virgil's with fairy lights and figurines. The only colour in his background was a small rainbow flag... Wait, and something else.

Outside of the window was the street he assumably lived on. He lived on Yaqui Street.

Frantically Virgil turned off TikTok and sat up, quickly typing in Yaqui Street to see if there were any other streets of the same name. He was only distracted by his frantic searching when he heard the teacher's voice mumble through his earphones.

"Can everyone mute themselves please?"

*****

After a couple of weeks Virgil had gone full blown crazy - pinning Logan's webcam onto his Zoom, watching him make notes instead of making notes himself. He had examined his background many times because of this and concluded he was definitely in the sandy southern Arizona. Now was just the difficulty of sending him a private message.

The teacher was chatting about validity in 20th century studies while Virgil was watching Logan eat crackers and jam like he did every class. He needed to send a private message at this point - he was getting too creepy - and he'd be even more creepy if it turned out he was wrong and Logan was actually Australian or something. Still, here goes nothing.

Virgil Lowe (to Logan Tye): Hey... This may seem like a really weird question but where are you from? Your background seems familiar but I've just moved to Arizona XD

Virgil cringed while writing that simple message, triple and quadruple checking it was sent privately, before his eyes focused on Logan's camera. He visibly perked up slightly seeing the message and seemed to read it silently and with a raised eyebrow. After a few minutes his posture moved slightly to the position it was when he was typing, finishing his mouthful.

Logan Tye (to Virgil Lowe): I'm from Arizona too, the south beside Sierra Vista; I'm surprised you could recognise it. Where in Arizona have you moved to?

Virgil's heart was beating super fast - why though? Sure, he had anxiety, but this anxiety seemed different. Almost like he was actually excited to make a new friend... He was probably just lonely after years of isolation. And this guy seemed willing to talk to him even for a little while.

Virgil Lowe (to Logan Tye): Same, just moved to Sierra Vista too. Definitely different from Virginia XD. Great to know there's someone who lives so close by.

He definitely wouldn't have said that about anyone else but Logan seemed different. Even through a camera he seemed comforting and accepting. Even though Virgil wasn't much of a hugger he felt like Logan gave good hugs too. He wouldn't mind a hug from Logan...

OK, yeah, Virgil was going insane. He had to meet this possible new friend in person.

Virgil Lowe (to Logan Tye): If this is weird just say but would you like to hang out sometime?

There was a silence for a moment as Logan had seemingly focused back on the lesson, writing the notes he missed getting distracted by Virgil. Shit, maybe he hated him for interrupting his classes. Maybe Virgil ruined his chance of a friendship in this strange new place. But Logan soon realised the message and softly smiled. And Virgil's cheeks were heating up.

Logan Tye (to Virgil Lowe): I would enjoy that yes. My number is 831-660-1342.

Virgil smiled too looking at the set of numbers and typing them into his phone. The pair continued their conversation over text and decided a time and place to meet up. Virgil was weirdly excited, and he was excited to figure out why.