He Bleeds Flame ✔️

4. ticking time bomb

f o u r
"Amantium irae amoris integratio est." - Janet Aylmer

TICKING TIME BOMB

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The endless tick of the clock adorned on the wall-tick, tick, the sound monotonous-echoed in his ears as he stared at the chalk board filled with complex mathematical equations and concepts. Outside, the sky was a dark, earl grey despite the early time. It was raining, and William could see his own reflection in the window.

Dark, soulless eyes stared back, his ink black hair sitting messily atop his head. The bags under his eyes were prominent, a clear sign of his lack of sleep.

William had not seen Lucien again in the hallway at four this morning, which was quite disappointing, yet he hadn't expected anything else from the blond haired boy. He'd managed to fall asleep soon after, yet for a mere two hours. It was, according to William, a successful night.

Sleep was sleep, which was the exact reason he didn't mind the fact that he kept dozing off during class. He was passing the class, and luckily maths had always been the easiest to William. He'd catch up if he needed to.

English, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Forced reading and forced writing took the possibility of William enjoying it at all away. Plus, his rebellious nature didn't necessarily help either.

He was destined for destruction-a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any minute. William was that ticking clock on the wall above the chalkboard-that is, if that clock was a bomb.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

He wondered for a split second if maybe he was the only one who could hear it, as if the ticking was coming directly from within himself, beating in time with his heart, though quickly dismissed the idea.

Focus, he told himself. For Mary.

Luckily, his maths class was closer to the end than it was to the beginning and Mrs. Prescott dismissed class just as William started loosing his train of thoughts. Wandering the halls, he made his way towards his next class, which was, according to William, almost just as terrible as English-the horrendous subject called Physics.

Sliding into his seat, he leaned against his chair once again, ready to sit through another forty-five minutes of hell-that is, if hell itself was incredibly boring. Just as William was about to close his eyes, the door creaked open and all heads turned to face the Headmaster.

Headmaster Clyde stood in the doorway, and without even saying a word, William knew to stand up from his seat based on the look he gave to him. He felt his classmates' eyes on him as he left the room.

Trailing behind Headmaster Clyde silently, he made his way through a tall arched stone pathway and rounded the corner, which he knew lead to his office-it was a trip William had taken too many times to forget the way.

This is it, William thought. This is the day I get expelled.

He didn't necessarily know what he had recently done to receive such a punishment, though whatever it was, it couldn't be good. The only time he was ever called down to his office was when he was in trouble. Maybe Lucien had snitched on him, but no, he'd only be getting himself in trouble for being out past curfew as well.