Chapter 1
I walked into the classroom and took a deep breath. This year was going to be something. Definitely something…. The first class hadn’t even started yet, and I already wanted to leave. My heart was already pounding in my chest as I stood in the doorway. Begging me to run out. To run away from the unknown teacher and the unknown students. Away from it all, to the comfort of familiarity. Every cell in my body screamed at me to leave.
I glanced at the clock: 8:09 a.m.
I was already late. Late on my first day at a new school. The perfect way to make a good impression. Running out would just do more damage. I tried to reason with myself. It’s anxiety… Just anxiety I tell myself. My body is not convinced.
The teacher looked up and waved me in. I took another step. The heavy door closed behind me with a groan. The ticking of the clock filled my ears.
Tick tock tick tock.
The usual unnoticeable quiet ticking was gone, leaving behind a loud sound that hammered against my skull. The chairs scraped against the floor as students pulled them back, causing me to cringe. The sharp alcoholic smell of hand sanitizer filled my nose, suffocating me.
I looked around for a seat, desperate to be able to sit down and ignore it all. All of the desks are occupied except for one in the very back. The students paid me no mind. None of them even looked up as I passed.
Their eyes were all trained on the desk, never moving. Never blinking. It must have been my mind playing tricks on me. It’s just my anxiety making little things seem huge…
The back of the room was cold. The chair squeaked and scraped as I pulled it back, the sound coming as some sort of sick laughter.
The teacher started her lesson.
“Okay, class! Now that everyone is here….”
Tick tock tick tock
The teacher talked and talked. It must have been an hour already, almost time to leave. I glanced at the clock: 8:09 a.m
My body tenses, I sat up straighter and squint. 8:09 a.m
“Okay, class! Now that everyone is here….”
The lesson started again
Tick Tock tick tock
8:09 a.m
“Okay, class! Now that everyone is here….”
The lesson repeated.
Tick tock tick tock
“Okay, class! Now that everyone is here….”
That’s the tenth time the teacher had repeated her whole lesson. The clock didn’t move from 8:09. All the students stared at their desks, none of them reacting to anything.
I start to think time does not exist in this god-forsaken place. I think that the ticking of the clock exists only to drive me insane. It hammered against my skull, a constant reminder of where I was and what time it was. I asked the clock why its hands din’t move, forcing me to stay imprisoned longer. It only frowned at me in mock pity. I thought I was going crazy.
Tick tock tick tock
8:09 a.m
“Okay, class! Now that everyone is here….”
I stared at my desk. The wood grains swayed and danced, and the room started to spin as the ticking of the clock and the teacher faded out.
