The Timekeeper

Chapter Twenty-Six

The next day I somehow managed to avoid Ryan, or maybe we were avoiding each other, I wasn’t sure. But I didn’t see him in the halls or classrooms as I passed by. I knew I had upset him, but I didn’t expect him just not to show up to school the next day. It made me worry slightly, hoping he hadn’t gone and done anything he would regret. But there wasn’t much I could do now, except give him space and hope he would move on eventually.

Ryan wasn’t the only one that I was trying to avoid though. The whole school population knew about my Timekeeper now, with thanks to almost every single radio station and television channel. I thought I would get home and be able to escape all talk of it, but when I got home I had my whole family firing question after question my way. But if I thought yesterday had been bad, today was a heck of a lot worse. News reporters had dug around and somehow found out which school I attended, where I lived, and where my brothers worked. They had spent the entire day stalking the school grounds with everyone else, all trying to find me. If this was what it was like to be famous, I think I’ll pass. 

I wasn’t sure how long I had been curled up in the corner of the Cleaner’s room for, but I had basically missed most of my classes. A bell sounded on the other side of the door, though muffled and hard to hear, I knew it meant that the school day was finally over. I heard multiple footsteps race up and down the hall, cringing slightly every time one sounded too close to the door. I knew it still wasn’t safe out there; they would all be waiting out in the car park for me to show up, expecting me to think I had escaped all the questions. So instead, I waited even longer. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could last. My legs were cramping, my stomach grumbled, and my bladder was on the brink of bursting. I hadn’t left this spot all day, and I was beginning to face the consequences. 

Once the hall outside became quiet, and I was sure enough time had passed, I tried to get to my feet. My feet weren’t quite prepared for the change unfortunately, and I almost fell into the shelves behind me. I had to make it to my locker, stop at the toilets and then make it to my car without being spotted. It might’ve sounded pretty easy, but my locker and the bathroom were on the complete other side of the school to the car park. 

I silently headed for the door, waiting several moments before I opened it just a crack. The hallway seemed pretty deserted, but that didn’t mean the school was completely empty. I knew there would still be the odd few students that stayed back to study, or the ones who had to suffer the silence of detention. I took a deep breath, before slipping out into the open. I sprinted down the hall, thankfully not passing anyone as I neared my locker. If only I had thought to bring a hoodie or a beanie to try and hide my face, but all I had was my stupid school blazer that wouldn’t help hide me at all. 

The short distance from my locker to the girl’s bathroom should’ve been easy to go unnoticed, until I realized that the detention room was close by. Relief washed over me as I managed to slip through the door just as someone walked out of a classroom across the hall. I waited in the bathroom several minutes after I had emptied my bladder, before I entered the hallway again. I hurried down the hall, my backpack slapping loudly in between my shoulder blades. Reaching the courtyard, I prayed that the car park was empty by now. But it seemed my streak of good luck had ended. 

There were five or six cars scattered around mine, and at first glace I thought I had made it. There didn’t seem to be anyone around, not even on the football field that I sprinted across to make it to the car quicker. I shrugged my bag off my shoulders as I approached my car, shuffling through the contents to try and find my car keys. It was then that I heard a car door slam behind me, followed by another, and another. My heartbeat quickened as I frantically searched my bag, knowing I was almost out of time. My fingers hit the bottom of my bag, before finally closing over the car keys.