How Far We've Come

Chapter 19

    The next day, Mr. Marvin began explaining the project. We were supposed to make a movie based off of the Civil Rights topic he gave us, using the groups he assigned us. He told us to write on an index card who we wanted to be in a group with. After a moment, Jessica raised her hand.

    "Can the people be from different classes?" she asked. Clary gave her an incredulous look, but I wasn't surprised. I had told her that Jessica was moving away from us, but she didn't listen. Now, we would see how much of a friend Jessica really was.

    Mr. Marvin nodded. "But choose wisely. These will be the people you will be working with for the next few weeks."

    Seemingly satisfied, Jessica began writing the names on her card. I didn't know who they were, but I wasn't about to ask. I simply picked up my pencil and wrote down Clary and Jessica's names. Despite the fact that she was moving away from us, she was still a harder worker than Lina. No offense.

    We turned in the cards to Mr. Marvin and he had the groups formed in under fifteen minutes. He was a surprisingly fast worker. He told us the groups were posted on a document and we all rushed to the computer carts. The one minute of waiting in line was torturous, but I finally grabbed a computer and pulled up the document. I scrolled down the first page until I found my name.

    Group 7:     Anasika Grandle             Jessica Kim

            Clarissa Johnson             Aidan Bander

            Zachary Darton             Matt Glisan

            Benjamin Hendall             Cameron Kong

    I grinned when I realized that all three of us would be in a group together. I saw Jessica pulling up the list. She didn't look happy, but she didn't look disappointed either. I'd eventually figure out what that mean.

    Once Clary saw it, she turned to me. "Yay! We're in a group together! But what's our topic?"

    Mr. Marvin held up his hand to stop the rush of talking students. "I'm sure everyone has many questions," he acknowledged. "But, all I can tell you right now are your group topics. I don't even know the due dates. It's the first time I'm doing this project in seven years. Seven years ago, it was a flop. I hope it will turn out better this time."

    We all nodded in agreement. Jeanine raised her hand. "Why did you choose this year to bring it back?" she asked.

    "You are a very unique group of students," Mr. Marvin told us. "I have full faith that you will be able to successfully complete this project."

He waved the rest of the questions away. "Now your groups." He began listing off the topics for the groups. My head shot up when ours approached. "Group 6 is the Little Rock Nine School Integration. Group 7 is the Greensboro Sit-Ins..."

Clary clapped her hands together. "Yay! I love the Greensboro Sit-Ins!"

    I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "What are they?"

"They are a group of African Americans who went into a White Only restaurant and sat there every day until they were served," she explained. "There was a lot of media coverage. They were four college students, I think, and they were extremely determined." She began giving me a long synopsis about racism at the time, until I shot her a look that said, "You're over explaining things again." Her voice slowly trailed off and she turned back to her computer.

We spent the next few days researching the topics. I began to understand why Clary had a tendency to over explain things. As much as I hated to admit it, these historical events were interesting. The heroes were rather admirable in their determination and bravery, and they were real. They made for pretty interesting stories, and dare I say, movies.