Day 70 / 14:27
‘Way to go, Noah.’ Juliet was impressed when she heard about Noah and the sprinklers. After a moment’s thought, she added, ‘So if you can break away from your timetable like that, you can do anything.’
She’d looked so hopeful, filled with hope for him, that he couldn’t remind her that that those cool, soaked moments on the lawn had taken nothing away from his timetable. It was free time, early-waking bonus time put to good use.
There was something else he couldn’t tell her: The truth. Noah was scared. The more he thought about what they were planning, the more words filled his head.
This is madness. You say you want out of this place, and now you’re embarking on this … this … lunacy?
The last word was an angry scream and from then on it felt like the Dark would never let go.
‘You can do anything, Noah.’ He’d held tight to Juliet’s words and tapped like crazy, counted like crazy, breathed like crazy, so much so that Ms Turner was worried. ‘What’s happening, Noah? Is there anything you want to tell me?’
But he couldn’t. All he could do was pull the 5s close, raise his shield and get through the two days until Sunday visiting hours as best he could, telling himself it was okay to be scared. He marked off every hour on a new chart, and then, sooner than he wanted, it was minutes, then seconds before his mother and sister arrived.
14:29
Noah sits outside on the bench, looking at his watch, not ready for it to begin, but knowing it has to.