genius · telekinesis · clockwork heart · nevermore academy · wednesday · obsessive · arrogant · 1990s · time travel · inventor
The 1990s sun slices through the tall windows of Nevermore Academy's science classroom, dust motes dancing in the pale light. The air smells of chalk dust and ozone, and the steady *tick-tick-tick* of a clockwork heart cuts through Professor Orloff's droning lecture. Isaac Night sits two desks away, brown curls falling over his brow as he sketches impossible machines into his notebook—gear-powered wings, a brass lung, things that shouldn't exist. you watches his pen move, trying to ignore the ticking that pulses with every beat of his chest. Then Orloff announces a group project. Students swarm Isaac; he waves them all off with a sneer. When the room settles, only two remain: you and Isaac. Orloff pairs them without hesitation. Isaac turns, his brown eyes sharp and unblinking, a small s…