the nickname game

𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 - history project

"Maddy? Are you even listening?" Lawrence asked snapping his fingers in front of her which made her stop daydreaming.

It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that Madison had indeed not been listening. They were working on their stupid project in History class. She didn't understand their topic or what they were supposed to write about at all. Still she didn't dare to ask Lawrence about it. Nothing good would come from him knowing just how much of an idiot she was. Instead she accepted that this was just another assignment she was too stupid to understand.

"I'm listening" Madison replied leaning her head on her right hand sleepily.

"So what do you say?" he asked knowing fully well she had no idea of what they were talking about. "I mean it's not a question really. We need to finish the project this week."

"Yeah, and we're almost done aren't we?" she replied.

"With my part, yes. You have only written about ten words on yours" Lawrence explained pointing to the single sentence she had written in their document.

"Right, I will tell Mr. Graham that it's only my fault. You will still get your A+ if that's what you're worried about" she was looking up at the ceiling to avoid looking him in the eyes. "I'm used to failing anyways, it doesn't even bother me."

"I don't want you to fail. It's a group project so we're in this together" she glanced back at him for a split second just to see his warm smile. "So library after school?"

"Sure" was all she said.

She didn't really want to but he seemed so insistent on her finishing her part too. Maybe it had something to do with what happened during the weekend or maybe he just thought his grade would drop if they didn't work as a team.

After school she went to the library with Lawrence just like she had promised. She remembered last time they had studied there. This time she at least didn't have a negative pregnancy test to give to him. She could feel all her energy instantly running out as soon as they entered the room of a million books.

"Let me help you" Lawrence said as they sat down.

"You don't have to help me" Madison replied crossing her arms.

"Well, I want to help you, stubborn Stacy" he moved his chair closer to hers so they could look at the screen of her computer together. "It's not a bad sentence to start with. You just need to follow it up with facts."

"Thank you, bright Brian! I couldn't have figured that out on my own" she said sarcastically and leaned back on her chair.

"Show me your notes" he reached for her notebook but she quickly moved it away from him. "I've seen you take notes, Maddy. There has to be something in there we can use."

"There aren't any notes inside" he wrinkled his forehead. "It's just drawings because I draw when I'm bored in class so it looks like I'm working on something.

"Show me your drawings then!" she hadn't anticipated him to show genuine interest for her silly drawings.

Her first response was to hold the notebook closer towards her chest. Hailey was the only person who had seen her drawings and she would like to keep it that way. But if showing him the drawings distracted them from working on the project it could be worth it. After some hesitation she made the decision to open the notebook. For the most part she drew things she saw, she kind of got inspired by her surroundings.

"These are actually really good, Madison!" he exclaimed after seeing a few pages of drawings. "What if instead of writing, you illustrate something?"

"Are you insane? I'm not that good and I don't think drawing is a part of this project" she responded cautiously.

"I'll write your part of the essay if you read through and draw something for every paragraph" and just like that they had made a deal.

As Lawrence was clicking on his keyboard Madison filled page after page with suitable drawings. All of a sudden she had a better understanding of their topic. By reading through the sentences multiple times to come up with something to draw she could take in the information a lot better than ever before. For once she was using the images in her head instead of letting them distract her. By mixing school with her hobby she could finally enjoy working on a project.

"Where are you going?" Madison asked Lawrence as he got up all of a sudden.

"Don't mind me. I'm just getting something" he answered and left her alone.

Once he got back, just minutes later he had a huge orange paper with him as well as some smaller white papers. In his other hand he had a pair of scissors and a glue stick. He placed everything on the table and began cutting the white paper into smaller squares. Madison noticed there were full paragraphs written on them.

"We're making a poster" he explained gluing on a piece of paper to the big orange one. "So your drawings can shine!"

The way he changed their entire project last minute just to include her drawings was kind of endearing. Together they glued on everything and she got to write a big title in cursive at the very top. In the bottom right corner she wrote their names: by Madison Hill and Lawrence Franco.

The following week it was finally time for everyone to present their history projects. Most people had a regular presentation with a well rehearsed text and some kind of visual aid on the screen behind them. Coralie and Hailey had went all and gone as far as to dress up as some of the historical people they were talking about.

When it was Lawrence and Madison's turn she felt sick to her stomach. It was probably just the nerves of standing in front of everyone and show them her art for the first time. Usually she didn't really mind having attention on her and talking in front of everyone. Maybe it was because she usually didn't care about performing well.

They took turns reading every other paragraph from the small note cards they have made after finishing making their poster. The presentation went pretty good and afterwards they let the poster be passed around the room so everyone could have a closer look at the artwork.

"Did you draw the images yourselves?" Mr. Graham asked as the poster got passed back to the front of the classroom so he could have a look at it.

"Yeah, or Maddy did. She's amazing! I can barely draw a stick figure properly" Lawrence answered which made Madison start blushing.

"Well done, Miss Hart! I'll keep an eye out for your name in museums in the future" Mr. Graham joked before letting the next group go up and present.

Madison and Lawrence sat down at their desk again. He put his hand on hers and she could feel that spark again - that warm feeling in her body.

"I told you the two of us would make a great team" Lawrence whispered and smiled.

"I guess we do" she whispered back with a small smile on her face as well.