As the sun began to peek through the shutters, my mother pounded on the door demanding attention. Lackadaisically, I rolled over contemplating whether or not to open my droopy eyes and look at the clock. Eventually I begrudging glimpsed to find I was already ten minutes late. I threw on clothes in a rush from left and right with no attention to detail. I rushed downstairs to find my mother shaking her head with a hint of a smile on her face.
“Really,” she said mocking anger, “late again. Next time I’m trying cold water, or maybe a tazer to wake you from your coma” I laughed but continued on my way out, grabbing toast while yelling goodbye. Lacrosse stick in hand, I walked to my bus stop at the end of the street, thinking about what the day would hold. I was planning on spending first hour sitting behind Troy Lancer, my next door neighbor, seeing how many times I could poke him with a pencil before he exploded. Usually it took 20 times, and when Troy did eventually tumble over the edge, my friends and I would die laughing and try it all again the next day. Another highlight would be hiding Troy’s glasses during P.E. We would hide them right before we had to change out, and stifle giggles while watching him fumble around blind. As I thought about it I began to feel bad, knowing that what I was doing was cruel. Yet I knew I wouldn’t stop, my friends found it funny, and middle school would be even harder if I had to deal with it without my friends.
Glancing up from my thoughts, I saw Troy coming out of his house and heading towards the bus stop. Upon seeing me, Troy became timid looking down and avoiding eye contact. The shyness was normal for Troy, but the wrapped present he was holding was not. I searched my mind, trying to think who this present might be for, but could think of no one. Troy didn’t have many close friends, preferring to be left alone, or at least that’s what everyone thought. Troy was incredibly smart, mastering all concepts in biology and math before the lesson was even finished. Our woodshop teacher had sworn that he could make anything he wanted to. Troy caught up to me on the sidewalk, a small and quiet voice escaping him, “Here I wanted to give this to you,” he said handing me the present, “because your birthday was last week.” A sudden wave of grief washed over me. I had not invited Troy to my birthday party last weekend. He probably could have seen it from his room yet I still didn’t invite him. With such a nice gesture from Troy I started to regret every decision I had made concerning him. The joking and teasing I was doing needed to stop and today would be the day. While middle school might be tough, I couldn’t keep treating Troy like he was just someone to laugh at instead of a person.
With this new attitude I felt as if a weight was lifted off my shoulders, as if a new light illuminated my life. I immediately dove into conversation with him, asking him about his weekend, the homework he had, what he thought about it, what his favorite subject was, all the questions I should have asked a long time ago but never did. I even asked him to sit with me at the back of the bus, but he declined saying he would rather sit by the front. I nodded, admitting that I too could get car sick from time to time. We climbed into the bus together as if we were two people who had always been friends. I sat at the back with the present in my lap and a new type of grin on my face. I felt free from the judgment of the people around me, suddenly seeing middle school as extremely trivial. 
Due to my deep thought I didn’t notice the noise coming from the box in my lap. I listened close but the racket from the other kids was too loud for me to get a clear sound. While the bus pulled up to the school, my fellow classmates poured out from the vehicle but I stayed with my ear glued to the box trying to find a definite sound. The more kids that left the quieter it got and I could finally hear a noise. It was a soft, light, “tick, tick, tick,” from inside the box. At first I was flooded with confusion, “Why would Troy give me his watch?”I thought, but all at once I came up with an eerie suspicion. In complete horror I looked out the bus window to find Troy Lance standing away from the bus holding my look of astonishment. An unnatural smile crept onto his face as the dread became clear in my mind. He turned, walking away, and with each retreating step the Tick, Tick, Tick became louder and louder.