The Alternate Timeline

Chapter 13: Epilogue

2 weeks later...

*RING, RING, RING...*

That was the ear-deafening sound of the school bell, signaling the start of the school day itself. Claire was seated at her usual seat, the one at the top right of the classroom, right next to the windows. Even though it had already been a good two weeks since that incident , Claire's mom[Allison] still insisted on fetching her to school herself . It must have been because of how worried she was that something else would happen to her daughter. [ And because of that, for once in her whole life, she[Claire] was on time for school. ]Claire sighed. Well, there goes her so-called 'freedom' huh. Claire turned her head to her left only to see the still empty seat---Five's seat. Hmm weird, she thought to herself. She checked her watch, glancing up now and then, expecting to see Five come through the door any moment now, but he didn't. Claire started to get a little 'panicky' due to this abnormal happening that was happening right in front of her. For the first time in forever, Five was LATE. Claire wouldn't have worried that much if it was one of her other classmates or friends that she was talking about. But this was FIVE. And the problem was that he was NEVER LATE, EVER .In all the whole time that she had ever known him, she knew Five to be always that of 'the model student type'. Exceptionally good grades. No talking back to the teacher. Always handing in assignments on time... Sometimes he would even come to school extra-early, just to prep himself for the upcoming lesson. The point being that it was just simply too outside his character to even think of disrespecting the school rules or the teacher in even the most slightest way. So the fact that he still hadn't shown up yet meant that something had most certainly happened, which deeply worried Claire.

Well although there was a slight possibility of him falling ill and hence not coming, Claire chose to rule that out. That was because when she had seen him just the day before, he had not only seemed fine, but also behaved completely normal, with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary at all.

*Clink Clink Clink*

That was the undeniable loud sounds coming from Mrs. Aubrey's bright red heels as she entered the classroom, snapping Claire out of her daze and back to reality. Claire glanced at the clock, then swiftly at the door. Still no sign of Five.

"Alright class, please take out your textbook and turn to page 149...", Mrs. Aubrey's voice started to trail off.

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Claire was leaning her head on one hand, her eyes still shifting occasionally from her textbook towards the doorway for any sign of Five. Her eyes returned back towards her textbook and she sat straight. Mrs. Aubrey had caught her so called 'day-dreaming' and had snapped angrily at her to return her attention back towards the lesson. But almost immediately, Claire heard a couple of hurried footsteps, followed by three loud knocks, causing her to turn her gaze to the doorway once more. It was Five. Mrs. Aubrey told the class quickly to read the textbook on their own before stepping out of the classroom. Due to the distance, Claire couldn't make out what she was saying to him, but she knew that Mrs. Aubrey was in fact mumbling something to Five. About what, she would question him later.

There was the familiar sound of Mrs. Aubrey's high heels as she walked back into the classroom to continue her lesson. Shortly after, there was the scraping of the chair as Five sat himself next to Claire.

"Psst..Five...Hey..." , Claire started, attempting to attract his attention. When that didn't work, she then tried to make some eye contact with him, only to be called out by the teacher. She could hear the unmistaken giggles coming from behind them, probably from the usual 'shippers', at which she chose to ignore.