CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
The keyboard clattered as weight shoved it and violently pushed it down.
Cale's eyes flashed with urgency to hurry and quicken the tedious process.
Yet despite the panic felt, his fingers moved with precision and slow movements to make sure he didn't mess anything up.
Trrrrrrr—!
His nail glided through the keyboard and slammed the 'Enter button' down.
Grabbing the mouse, he moved it towards the green arrowhead and clicked it.
Right below, a flickering underscore awaited for a number to be typed in its bed of blank.
Switching to the keyboard, Cale instantly punched in the numbers he remembered vividly in memory.
The results, flawlessly the same as the one the teacher showed.
Cale saved the file into his class's file. Quickly closing and opening the program again to write the next 5 algorithms.
His sweat-drenched forehead burned the eyes whom peeked at the time the computer showed.
[12:23 PM]
Only 12 minutes remained before the bell rang.
Not nearly enough and Cale knew that well.
He shifted to the next algorithm on the chopping list.
Letters typed quickly on the screen, they were typos due to rushing which delayed him by 2 precious seconds each time he spelled a word wrong or pressed the wrong symbol which was caused by panic.
4 algorithms.
Thankfully being a short one, he typed it down rather quickly than the rest, saving it and moving onto the next.
3 algorithms.
The longest one yet, it was 15 different commands and the worst part, the code didn't work and flashed an error. Causing 5 minutes to be lost trying to find a single error.
2 algorithms.
Cale's eyes only saw lines of 'Algorithm, Read, Reveal and End' constantly overlapping with his hazy vision that wanted to shed tears of unfairness.
1 algorithm...
Cale's hands shook and trembled as they hovered above the abused keys.
Trrr!
Trrr!
Time was up, the bell had rang and he still hadn't written down everything in his notebook.
"...."
Silence pursed his lips, he glanced at the teacher reading a book....whilst wearing headphones for some reason?
Thinking it was over, and accepting his own fate. Cale slowly stood up, but stopped in the midst of the motion.
He glanced at the teacher wearing headphones.
'Did he...hear the bell ring?'
Due to how spacious the space was, any sound could be easily heard if one spoke for even just a whisper.
So Cale could also hear it, the headphones that blasted music so loudly, boomed to his ears like a phone on full volume.
"...."
He didn't know if it was intentional, but time couldn't be wasted on useless thoughts such as these if there truly was more time on the clock
Saving the last algorithm, he glanced at the teacher's indifference to him and brought out his note book right in front of him, moving the keyboard away for more space, and then. He reached for his backpack and—!
Took out a blue pen!
Tok!
The cap was bitten off with his teeth, in a motion reminiscent of eating a potato chip for a morale boost.
He began scribbling on the paper, his handwriting a messy junkyard but that didn't matter. As long as it was readable.
His breath caught itself back in, a glint at the time seared deeply into his mind
[12:44 PM]
1 minute remained before recess ended, his breath turned in uneven rhythms, but as he was writing. His mind froze. It grinded to a screeching halt.
Confusion etched slowly into features.
'Wait....why...'
Lips twitched, the hand that wrote did not stop writing and continued copying the algorithm down.
'Am I...so...so..'
His face flushed a face full of genuine perplexity.
'Desperate?'
Desperation, it didn't seem off at first but it also didn't make any sense. Cale shouldn't feel this kind of emotion and drive.
When he spoke to the teacher to let him right his mistakes and write down everything he missed.
He pondered what went over him to say this, what raced through his mind to come to a conclusion that he needed to jolt down everything and beg for the teacher, now leaning against the chair to give him another chance.
Why did he believe that not listening to the teacher would be devastating to do in this situation?
Ba-Thump!
His heart berated the insides to be set free into the outside world. Each beat of his loud heart harmed his heaving chest.
What instilled the idea that, despite knowing his fate set itself in stone. Still gave out unknown hope? that as long as he proves a good image, he will survive?
Step—!
A familiar step resounded above, and...
Trrr!
Trrr!
The bells repeatedly struck and rang loudly for the students, not asking but ordering them to come in.
Flick!
Flick!
"The lights above the boy, flicked on and off, reminding him again of the fear that mingled with his heart once before"
"...!"
"Growing astonished, he momentarily stopped writing"
'Shit!'
"Getting reminded of his goal, a pen in hand danced fluently on the paper, each scrape of ink holding a beautiful desperation that makes for suspense"
Step!
"Right as he wrote, another step slashed his concentration"
'Isn't above me....the cafeteria?'
"The steps grew more frequent, each letter scribbled on paper allowed a step to trudge towards him"
"The boy's writing grew erratic!"
Step!
"Crazed!"
Step!
"Desperate to finish what he didn't understand!"
Step!
"The sharp steps dug and dug a bigger hole inside his commotion filled head!"
Skrrr!
"His pen danced as if a dagger kept pricking it to dance more elegantly!"
"More!"
"More!"
"More!"
"More and more and more beautiful and desperate to survive!"
"The letters turned to a rushed mess, yet the calligraphy stuck to be beautiful to read"
Step!
"A step caused the pen to trip right through the thin paper, but he did not stop!"
"Uneven breaths kept whirling away from his mouth! Lungs in a constant tug of war with the reward being air"
"Music came from the teacher's headphones, yet it was utterly drowned out with a single boy's panting"
"Flickering lights fueled rage and frustration out of the constant interruptions it caused"
"At some point, Cale only saw the paper, drowning out any unnecessary noise"
"He lamented at his slow speed but kept writing away the letters, as if it were the only thing he could possibly hope to do in order to survive"
Step!
"The mysterious figure had stepped onto the stairs and hoarded a glare straight to Cale direction"
"Cale only painstakingly wrote what he believed to be his saving grace which he still did not why it felt that way"