Counting Raindrops

Chapter 16 of Counting Raindrops

"Good morning class, as you all know today is the presentation day of all of your projects. To make this easy we'll start from the back and work our way to the front, okay? Okay . . . Max and Carson." Mr. Goodman seemed to be in a pretty good mood right now so let's hope nothing changes that fact by the time we get up there.

Max and Carson made their way to the front, both holding an end of the model. They placed it on the table up front then turned to us so they could start. By the end of their project I was struck shocked, they had a solid presentation and their model was very good to say the least.

I was kind of nervous now . . . Jayce noticed this of course and nudged me, rolling his eyes when I faced him, "quit." He whispered strictly, his eyes not budging either as he urged me to stop twiddling my fingers.

"That was very good, you two! Great job. I'll have your score by the end of the next presentation, good job." The two students smiled, nodded, then hurried back to their spots, high-fiving once they sat back down. "Jaxon and Thomas," their heads shot up from the table and I immediately knew that they were looking at their phones. "You guys are up." They cleared their throats and stood.

Wait . . . Jaxon?

Studying Jaxon as he walked passed I was washed with disappointment when the boys didn't match up, that would have been something.

Anyways, as they stood up at the front they quietly giggled making Mr. Goodman looked at them suspiciously and quite irritatedly. "Boys, I would much appreciate it if you two would start now . . ." Great, now we're dead. Jaxon and Thomas cleared their throats and gave us all a serious expression, for a few seconds, at least. This wasn't going to be good . . . They're the type of kids who would goof off in the back of the class then act completely innocent when the teacher confronted them. Not even Jayce was that bad, he just needed to work on not mouthing off to the teacher when he got in trouble.

The boys started their presentation and let me tell you, they laughed and giggled the whole time, especially when they showed their model . . . I swear they only spent about twenty minutes on that thing. "And then . . ." Giggle, cough, "we used Popsicle sticks for the legs and these are shells for the ears." A laugh from Thomas then caused Jaxon to jam his fist into Thomas' arm, groaning and glaring at him, Jaxon just smirked.

Mr. Goodman just sighed and motioned for them to go sit down. He moved down the rows, making everyone present whether they liked it or not. Some were really good, and others were quite bad which made me level out the amount of nerves zapping with worry.

Would we get a good grade? He wouldn't fail us would he? What if our presentation isn't good? What if I mess up or choke?

My line of thoughts were destroyed as I felt a breath of hot air wisp passed my ear, "calm down, Kat, seriously. You've got yourself so worked up that you're gasping for air. Calm. Down." Jayce's whisper had worked, but only a little, and he wasn't lying when he said I was gasping. So taking a deep breath, in and then slowly exhaling, I allowed all my shaking nerves to dissolve into the air.

"Kat and Jayce . . . You're up." And here comes the nerves, I nervously glanced at Jayce only to see him roll his eyes and pick up the project and carry it up to the front, commenting as he passed by me,

"Gosh you're acting like you're going to find out whether your pregnancy test was positive or not." I glared at his retreating back and huffed as I got up and rushed after him.

"Now, explain to the class and I what time frame you chose." His voice sounded distant as if he were miles away, my vision strictly focused on our project as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. I could almost hear Jayce rolling his eyes beside me and answering the teacher's question gruffly,