Dancing With A Stranger || LenaMiu

CHAPTER 1

The second hand on the generic, beige-rimmed analog clock hanging above the chalkboard was not merely moving slowly; Malaya Noelle Knowles was entirely convinced it was actively mocking her. It wasn't ticking through the air. The air was light. Air was compliant. No, the red needle was wading through invisible molasses, or perhaps quick-dry cement that had already begun to set, fighting a losing battle against the laws of physics and the desperate battery powering it.

Tick.

It shuddered. It paused. It considered, for a brief, terrifying moment, simply giving up and stopping existence altogether, before finally clunking over to the next black dash mark with an audible mechanical struggle.

Tick.

"And consequently," Mrs. Gable droned on from the front of the room, her voice maintaining a pitch so perfectly monotonous it could have been patented as a non-narcotic sedative for large farm animals, "the sedimentary layers found in the lower strata indicate a period of intense pressure, unlike the igneous formations we discussed last Tuesday..."

Malaya, aged eleven and currently vibrating with enough kinetic energy to power a small city, did not care about the lower strata. She did not care about igneous formations. She did not care about the history of the Earth's crust. The only history she cared about was the immediate future, specifically the moment when she would be released from this geological prison.

She stared at the clock. 2:57 PM.

She looked down at her wristwatch, a pink digital affair she had synchronized with the school bell system two weeks ago to the exact microsecond. 2:57 PM and twelve seconds.

She looked at the teacher. Mrs. Gable was now drawing a rock on the board. It looked like a potato. A sad potato.

She looked back at the clock. Still 2:57 PM.

"Oh, for the love of cheese and crackers," Malaya thought, her internal voice screaming in a censored, childish rage that felt much more profane than the words actually were. "Move! Just move, you stupid circle of plastic! What is wrong with you? Do you hate me? Is that it? Does the universe specifically hate Malaya Knowles today?"

Her right leg began to bounce under the desk. It started as a subtle vibration, a nervous tic, but within seconds it had escalated into a jackhammer rhythm that was threatening to unscrew the bolts of her chair. Her pencil case rattled against her notebook like a maraca. The girl sitting next to her, a quiet student who actually seemed to enjoy learning about dirt, shot Malaya a concerned look. It was the kind of look that asked, Do you need to use the restroom, or are you being possessed by a jittery demon?

Malaya ignored her. She bit her lower lip, nibbling at a piece of dry skin until it stung. Her eyes darted around the room like a trapped bird—teacher, clock, watch, window, teacher, clock, watch.

Three minutes.

Three minutes was an eternity. In three minutes, civilizations could rise and fall. In three minutes, a bag of popcorn could burn in the microwave. In three minutes—and this was the thought that made her stomach do a cold flip—Louise could leave.

"What if Mrs. Higgins let the sixth graders out early?" Malaya's mind began to spiral, the panic rising in her chest like floodwater. "Mrs. Higgins is nice. She's the 'cool' teacher. She loves letting people go early to beat the bus traffic. Louise is probably out there right now. She's walking to the gate. She's getting in her car. She's going home. She's going to think I forgot about her. She's going to think I don't care! AND WHAT IF LOUISE GOT HOME ALREADY!?"