Behind The Big Ben

Chapter 1

~Flashback~

Will heaved a sigh as he walked down the street, just coming back from his job at the market. He ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. He shuffled the papers in his hands, hoping the wind wouldn’t take any away. His brown eyes twinkled as he looked at the pound coin in his hands.

 He was stopping himself from running to the shop by the clock tower. He would have ran had the ten men not been walking into the actual clock tower, materials, tools and steel in their hands.

 According to his dad’s newspaper there was ‘metal fatigue in the chiming flyfan arbour’ of the bell. What that meant, Will had no idea. The only but he understand was that the bell, nicknamed the Big Ben, crashed into a wooden bench.

 He guessed his father was wrong when he had declared that the article had been a big lie. Though the newspaper his dad bought always told lies so Will couldn’t blame him for thinking it was another lie. He sometimes wonders why his father even bought the newspaper.

As he looked down at the papers that he now clutched to his chest, he didn’t notice the girl with spiky black hair race out of the clock tower. She ran straight into him, knocking him down and the papers to fly out of his hand.

“I’m so sorry,” the girl apologised. He recognised her from school. Alyson. At least, that’s what the teachers always shouted at her as she was snapped out of her dazed expression.

 Alyson began to lift up the papers quickly, catching them before the wind blew them away. She stared down at the crumpled up pieces of paper. Numbers scattered the page, words jotted down next to every answer. “Are these plans to build a robot?”

 “A robot? Who would build a robot? That would be absolutely insane,” he tried to back himself out of the situation, grabbing the papers from Alyson. His mother would most likely book him into a mental hospital if she found out.

 “I think having a robot would be cool,” Alyson said, the dreamy expression taking over her face. Of course she would, Will thought. She didn’t have any friends at school, she was always thinking and imagining. The only classes she really paid attention in was art. She was smart though, everybody knew that.

With her father being a builder, she was great at construction in during art. Her mother was French and was said to give Alyson extra lessons. Well at least, that’s what Will had heard his mother and her friends gossiping about her family.

 “I could help you build it, you know,” Alyson said, snapping him out of his train of thought. He started considering it. If he started building it with her, he would be spending a lot of time with her. He didn’t want to be known as the school’s freak’s friend. But then, he could actually build the robot! Alyson was great at construction and it would mean the robot would look much better.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled, trailing off. Alyson nodded in understanding but you could see the look of hurt take over her face. She began walking back to the clock tower. Just as she reached the entrance, she turned back and looked at Will.

 “You’re a lot more judgemental than I thought, William,” she said, turning her back. Just as she went to close the door, she shouted over her shoulder.

“Meet me in the clock room at six if you want to take me up on my offer.”

~*~

hey again anyone reading this. please tell me what you think!!! banner on the side is by @Nicole_loves1D. dedicated to her.