Tick, Tick, Tick. Van sat in class waiting for the bell to ring while she stared longingly at the clock. Tick, Tick, Tick. Two thirty was only minutes away and Van could taste the freedom on her lips. It was Friday and she and Marcus had plans for after school. They were going to look for the next clue in an on-line/real life interactive game that they played. Right now was just the qualifiers, but if they could be one of the first one hundred teams to solve the last clue they would be entered into the ten thousand dollar challenge round.

The final clue before the cut off was set to be posted on the game’s web site at two forty-five this afternoon. This gave Van the perfect amount of time to get to the downtown café where she and Marcus planned to meet. Marcus would be waiting for her with his laptop set to the game’s web site waiting for the final clue to be uploaded. Van had already gone to her locker and gotten everything she would need for the weekend. The only challenge now was getting to the front door of the school, swiping her card out, and making it to the two thirty five bus to downtown.

It was ridiculous how everybody had to swipe their ID cards in and out of the building every time they walked though the doors. The morning was alright and it always made for a good reason to be late for class, but after school it was just hell. Not only was everybody always pushing and shoving to get out, but the only way out was through the front doors.

Tick, Tick, Tick. Five minute until the bell. Van contemplated trying to leave early but she was not sure what Mr. Lundquist would do. Sometimes he let them out early, but from the sound of his lecture that was not going to happen today. She looked at the clock again. Tick, Tick, Tick.

Should she sneak out to make sure she can catch the bus or wait for the bell?