Time's Ticking

The clock’s hand finally struck at 15 minutes to three as Morrigan Harriet hurriedly looked up at it.

Tension and anxiety filled her heart.

She could not stop repeating to herself- ‘I’ve got to be out of here in five minutes. Five minutes.’

The classroom was in a hushed silence, all heads were down in studious concentration. A test had been given 45 minutes prior by Miss Harvey for the students to occupy themselves with, due to the upcoming examinations occurring next term.

To Morrigan, this was all but nothing. She had completed the contents inside, every answer neatly and meticulously written to the highest degree of precision that she could physically do as a human being. It was only a mock test; she knew it was not important.

The next five minutes were.

Her amber eyes take an impatient glance up at the clock again.

It has only just turned 13 minutes to three.

‘Why isn’t time going any faster?’ she thought, biting her index finger.

But now wasn’t the time to start complaining. She had two minutes to deliberate on her upcoming plan. A plan, she knew, would only succeed should Miss Harvey have mercy on her.

Cato wished for her to be at the library in time for work by 15:05, five minutes after Harvey let her go, but with Morrigan’s ‘popularity’, she could not make it there until 15:40. Due to her inconsistent attendance for the last several weeks at work, he had given her an ultimatum….

One that she wished not to repeat in her unsteady, racing mind.

… Because she knew he was right.

Last night, as she lay gazing up at her ceiling in bed, she wondered to herself:

‘Why don’t I leave 10 minutes early?’

That way, she’d be able to miss out on approaching the occupants of Class 13L, who’d still be in their class now unless…

… Unless Beatrix Dazda had already managed to anger their form tutor enough to compel him to dismiss them early. It was a reality Morrigan had contemplated, and despite multiple calculations, predictions, and prayers— the only way to avoid such an unfortunate turn would be to leave her class NOW.

14:50.

’10 minutes to go,’ announced Miss Harvey. Despite her youth, an old lady’s drawl occupied her vocal strings.

Drops of rain patted energetically upon the panes…. but Morrigan’s small heart thumped faster than the rain’s fervent taps. Her head throbbed; her breath fell short. Cool sweat began to build up in small beads on her pale forehead.

She knew she had to announce her departure, even if it meant she would lose all marks in her test paper. It would be the first time she would ever do such a thing— the blunder would be a small stain on her immaculate record. What?? One time she spoke up during a test? In 15 years of education?? Ha!! Don’t waste my time.

She tries hard not to bite her lip- she MUST speak up if she wants Miss Harvey to understand her. She knew she wasn’t good at speaking, but today, she HAD to bite past that fear.

After clearing her throat softly… clearing it softly once more, wiping her forehead— and then clearing her throat ONE LAST TIME, she stands.

‘Miss Harvey….’

Miss Harvey raises her glasses, not her face. ‘Miss Harriet?’

An influx of disturbed faces rise behind her. Eyes, with the opposite of innocent intensions glare right up at her. Sneers, coming from those forced glares, start to arise slowly.

‘What could she want?’

Morrigan struggles to find the words to say. Despite planning for this since last night, she can’t seem to express her intensions. All she had to do was say:

‘Miss Harvey, I have finished my test. I’m required at the library by 15:05 this afternoon. May I depart? I don’t want to anger Cato.’

But it doesn’t come out of her.

‘Miss Harvey, may I leave early?’ she squeaks quietly.

‘What?’ Miss Harvey turns her head slightly to the right, to see if she heard her correctly.

The class behind her, perplexed, begin some soft chatter. Miss Harvey quietens them all with a stern look.

Morrigan realises that her plan hasn’t gone as well as she wished….

…. And she hadn’t even begun it.

‘I wish to leave early….’ She repeats.

‘Leave early??!’ Miss Harvey cries. ‘Why would you want to do something like that during a test?’

‘But— I am finished. I have been so for the past half an hour.’

‘So quick! Amazing! That is so like you, Miss Harriet!’

Miss Harvey removes her glasses, and begins cleaning them gently with a crisp white cloth out of her pocket. Morrigan takes a look at her own hands. Comparing them to the cloth, she painfully believes her clammy hands are that deathly pale now- or even paler.

‘So…. can I leave? I have finished, and… Cato needs me at the library—’

‘No, you may not leave.’

Miss Harvey promptly places her silver spectacles back on her small face, and her big green eyes pop up behind the lenses.

‘I am intrigued by your study prowess, Miss Harriet. I was hoping after class, I could mark your assignment.’

‘But—’

‘I won’t take no for an answer! When the bell rings, remain seated! You’ve only got another 10 minutes or less. Look over your work, ensure that it is faultless.’

But Morrigan can’t sit down. Her legs are trembling.

‘You would have me stay….. until 15:00!?’

Miss Harvey at this time is now getting upset with Morrigan. She utters a disgruntled sigh, brushes back her navy-blue waves and firmly places her red glasses down again, giving Morrigan the same stern look she gave the students earlier.

‘Do not argue with me, Miss Harriet! Sit down and be kind enough to allow the others to continue their tests in silence.’

She has no choice. She seats herself back down slowly. The classroom, now again in silence, has a different atmosphere.

The kind of atmosphere Morrigan HATES.

She can still feel the sting of the others’ abhorrence upon her back, she can hear their intense thoughts…. All of them about her, of course. About how she is nothing more than a ‘teacher’s pet’, a ‘grown baby’…

… How it would be better if she never existed.

The memorable, tight feeling suddenly grasps her— the threat that she recognises too well… once again, another typical day in which it was impossible to avoid her ‘popularity’.

You may be thinking- ‘Popularity? Is she popular?’

Morrigan Harriet is anything but.

Maybrook.

A living hell for her. A golden mountain for everybody else.

The school, originally established as a boys’ school in 1721, was constructed religiously in the neo-Gothic architecture that controlled the whole of Europe at the time. Pointed arches, vibrant stained-glass windows, ornate decorations of nature, and stone scared gargoyles dominated the entire school.

Firm and solid oak doors sheltered every room from the whole world, like prison doors. Classrooms were like mini medieval chapels, gloomy, daunting… depressing….

Morrigan could not look anywhere without being stalked by the menacing décor. It was dark. It was frightening.

It was beautiful.

She loves it. Adores it. She wishes she could take Maybrook home with her.

But the environment…. The people….

Not so much.

Her continued existence at this grand, expensive school is because her absent mother won’t let her go anywhere else. She got in due to a scholarship programme the school held yearly. The school hunted for students ‘with prestige’, and she was one of them, scoring 100% in mathematical, grammar and physical tests. She was a wonder student. A miracle.

But this was only to her teachers, who HAD to like her. To the students, she was scum, a nobody….

She represses a sob— swallowing it, distracting herself from heaving by looking out onto the horizons of the vast school through the domed window. The school boasted incredible and immaculate manicured grounds. It almost looked artificial, due to its impeccable flawlessness. Divine looking cherry blossom trees, golden daffodils and daisies perked up from beneath the pristine green grass. It was spring, Morrigan’s favourite season.

A shame she couldn’t enjoy it.

Her luck could never make her enjoy anything. She gazes longingly towards a grim, stern-looking building adorned with golden gargoyles and reading cherubs.

The library. Her cherished haven.

It was only a short walk away from her classroom block, but it seemed to be miles away.

Morrigan keeps her head down for the eternal 10 minutes that prevail agonisingly afterwards. When the bell rings, she does not hear it and has to be summoned by Miss Harvey’s cruel way of beckoning a student’s attention.

‘Miss Harriet?’ Miss Harvey cries, tapping her desk.

After lifting her head and tugging back her glossy and dusky chestnut-brown hair, Morrigan's bright ochre eyes take a deep look outside the window again.

The sun has returned with its golden rays transcending onto the wet ground. If not for the grey clouds that obscured it, one could say it looked lovely and bright outside. But she thinks the opposite. The entire courtyard is covered…. in students.

She takes a quick look around. The classroom is now empty.

‘Miss Harriet?’ Miss Harvey taps her desk once again. She lifts her index finger and curls it towards her in a ‘come closer’ motion.

Morrigan obeys, picks up her exam paper, and places it before Miss Harvey. Harvey grips it like how an excited child might grab the first Christmas present underneath the tree.

‘Ooh! Look at that handwriting!! Flawless!’

She blissfully brings out the answer book and flips through the pages eagerly. In doing so, she sneakily notices Morrigan’s deranged expression. She doesn’t bother to ask about it; she knows what’s wrong.

‘You still work at the library?’ she asks, marking her paper.

‘Yes,’ Morrigan woefully replies.

‘Do you not like it? Mr…. Cato complained to me the other day you hadn’t been around for a while.’

‘Yes…’

‘… You would be shocked to hear that he does mention you quite often in any conversations I manage to obtain with him. I suppose he misses you…? With your disappearance from the library, there is no way any work would be done. Students and the public are too afraid to deal directly with his…. Lack of enthusiasm….’

‘Cato…. Misses me….?’ Morrigan thinks to herself. It seemed unlike him to ever think that way about her. The only thing he cared about were books, darkness and… no company.

A brief silence occurs, as Miss Harvey avoids an inevitable subject. As Morrigan hears the clammer of the rowdy students outside, she steels herself for what is about to happen as soon as she departs this room. She sighs despondently.

‘I wonder how a young lady like you gets along so well with him?’ Miss Harvey raises her red glasses again.

‘Me?’ Morrigan answers, flustered. This was the longest conversation she had with anyone in two weeks.

‘Yes… you. What makes you keep returning back to that dark fortress to work for him?’

‘I… I don’t know.’

‘You don’t know? You should think of something….’ A dark gleam catches Miss Harvey’s eye. A large, intimidating auburn book swathed with detailed drawings of oversized snakes dominates the space of Morrigan’s cramped satchel, which was already choked full of other miscellaneous items.

‘.... Is it because of those weird books he gives you?’

Morrigan places her satchel behind her back, hiding it from sight. It was indeed a reason why she kept returning to the library.

‘He lets me borrow them for a week, every Friday at 19:00, when the library closes.’ She explains quietly.

‘Have any idea what’s in them?’

‘No. But that’s the best part about them. The more twisted, unusual, and warped they are, the better!’

Miss Harvey gives her an odd glance, as if she’s looking at a crazy person speaking. Morrigan quickly shuts up.

The books Cato lent her to read were an essential part of her existential happiness. Although she couldn’t understand a thing in them and the content sometimes petrified her soul, they entertained her, kept her occupied in her lonely house.

But recently, she couldn’t find that joy inside her. Her current absence from the library meant that she had held one of Cato’s books for longer than she should. She had also forgotten one at home….

She was unsure how he’d react to her sudden arrival today. She felt like she hadn’t seen him in months….

The answer book slams shut, slapping her conscious. A quick glance at the clock reads 15:05, the time she was supposed to enter the library and inform Cato that she had arrived.

‘There!’ cried Miss Harvey, interrupting her erratic train of thought. ‘Guess what grade you got?’

‘I cannot guess…’ Morrigan moans.

‘An A*, as always!’ Miss Harvey gives her a short round of applause. ‘You truly are a beloved student, Morrigan. You have such talent in everything you do! Every teacher here is proud to have you. including me.’

‘Yes, Miss Harvey, now—'

‘Oh, look at me, talking away…. I should not keep you from your responsibilities at the library. I know that Mr. Cato dislikes slackers of all kinds and you, Miss, are not one!’

But a twinkle in Miss Harvey’s eye appears solemn. Deep down, she knows that letting go of Morrigan now would be wrong. But… she can’t keep her here forever.

‘You know, Morrigan… I do know that your efforts are enormous in everything you do. You’ll graduate this year in flying colours and go to a university well befitting of your talents. Please, continue to work hard. And don’t prevent yourself from enjoyment every once in a while!’

After finishing her unanticipated motivational speech of sorts, Miss Harvey feels that she is incapable of making Morrigan feel any better. Her face remains poised to the floor, as the feeling that she dreads deeply…. returns painfully.

‘You are dismissed.’

As Morrigan slides her head out the door, her eyes widen to witness an unexpected surprise.

The hallway is quiet, and there appears to be no students around.

It IS a Friday afternoon, after all- nobody wants to be lurking around the halls of Maybrook when they have to prepare for the weekend.

Slipping out and taking a broader look, her thoughts are verified.

There is nobody here.

An explosion of cool relief courses through Morrigan’s veins.

‘Thank you, Miss Harvey! Have a good weekend! I’ll see you next week!’ she waves goodbye, some pink finally arising in her cheeks. She skips away, elated.

Miss Harvey smiles sweetly back at her, waving. She feels content that she has kept Morrigan in long enough to avoid trouble.

‘That girl is so friendly… I wonder why she doesn’t have any friends?’