The Mistake

Heat Wave

The foul taste in my mouth hadn't disappeared by the time detention rolled around. I couldn't help it, I'd kept looking over at Alex and Emily every time I heard her obnoxious little giggle whenever Alex said something. Alex wasn't even that funny. I rolled my eyes as I remembered, trying to concentrate on the Biology homework in front of me.

The classroom was silent except for the occassional sip Mr. Pritchett took from his coffee and the sound of the ticking clock, which seemed slower than usual. He was especially grouchy today; which probably had something to do with the extreme heat wave that seemed to suffocate the room. He warned us all about how if anyone tried ditching, he would be sure to give us a month's worth of detention. But not even fifteen minutes later, he started to nod off, stirring awake a couple times at the slightest sound. I groaned silently and laid my head on the desk. Three more hours to go.

It wasn't until then that I saw Nick wasn't in his chair, I frowned and scanned the classroom, finally seeing he was tinkering silently with the clock on the back wall. I peeked a look at the still sleeping Mr. Pritchett, sweat soaking through his mustard yellow shirt. I scrunched up my nose and silently got up to join Nick.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, he turned at the sight of me and put his finger to his lips, signaling me to be quiet. His eye hadn't quite healed, and the bruises on his neck were visible now that he'd removed his jacket. I tried not to wince and focused on what he was doing instead.

He opened the clock and moved something in the mechanism, changing the time to three hours past. A couple other students who weren't sleeping or concentrated on their homework had turned to see what he was doing, too.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not staying here in this heat wave another minute." He whispered in a hushed tone, carefully placing the clock back on the wall without making a sound. I understood what he was doing a second later. 

"It's never going to work. He has a watch and the computer's on, too." I pointed out, shaking my head. "You're just going to get us in trouble." He just gave a sly smile.

"I'm not stupid, Sammi." He sauntered off to the teacher's desk, the kids in detention perking up in anticipation, some giggling as they understood. Nick motioned me to come, and I shook my head. He stared me down, mocking me. I rolled my eyes and nervously started towards him, he was just a couple steps away from him.

"I need you to change the time on his watch, I'll do the computer." He said softly in my ear, sending a tingle down my spine.

I shook my head vigorously and widened my eyes. He could wake up any second and we'd both be in so much trouble. Nick gave me a light nudge in encouragement. "Come on, Sammi. Do you really want to stay here three more hours?"

"Why do I have to do the watch?"

"My fingers are too big. He'd wake up in a second." I scowled and he shrugged.

I turned my head to the rest of the kids, who were urging me on, giving us thumbs up and anticipated smiles. "If we get caught, I'm blaming this all on you." I whispered harshly, he chuckled slightly and gave me a little push towards him. Gulping, I walked over to his desk and crouched next to him as he slept with his mouth open. I was close enough to smell his terrible coffee breath and I fought the urge to pinch my nose. Nick started quietly working on the computer. I turned back to Mr. Pritchett. His hands were on his stomach, fingers interlaced with one another. Okay, changing the time on a watch, easy enough, right?