Enough | ✔️

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● qυorra neverѕea ●

"Okay, group five, please present your project next," Slater looks over at my group as group four returns to their seats.

"Wait, what was our project on again?" Martha-Make-Yourself-Useful-For-Once-In-Your-Goddamn-Life asks stupidly, head cocked to the side and corner of her lip raised in the most unattractive expression man has ever seen.

Joseph stands up first, pausing before heading to the front, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', of course. Didn't you do your assigned part of the project?"

We all head to the front, preparing for the worst.

A dizzying feeling washes over me as soon as I turn around to face the room full of students. I grip the folder in my hands securely, ignoring the fact that I am probably crushing all the pages I worked on over these past few weeks.

"You may begin," Slater says, writing something down on his clipboard and sliding his glasses on.

"Good morning and welcome to our presentation on George Orwell's 'Mr Jekyll and Dr Hyde'," Martha-May-Have-Not-Done-Her-Research introduces with an oblivious smile.

I clear my throat and reintroduce the project, "Good morning and welcome to our presentation on Robert Louis Stevenson's 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'."

The audience of students all laugh in unison, as do the rest of the members of our group.

"We will begin with an analysis of the context and background the novel revolves around. At the time, reputation was an incredibly important value to the population. How you were perceived by others was more significant than how you viewed yourself..." Joseph begins, as I find myself tuning out until my segment.

The presentation passes smoothly for the next fifteen minutes, Slater looking up from his clipboard now and then to nod in agreement. He catches my eye once or twice but I look away before he can do any serious damage to my cheeks.

"So to wrap up this discussion, we will quickly run through the morals and lessons that we can take away from this novel. Martha-May?" I finish my section with only a few stumbles, holding back from giving Martha-May a ridiculous nickname.

"What?"

I look over at Martha.

She's looking at us in confusion as she asks, "Did I have to do something?"

Again, a mutual laugh passes over everyone - except the rest of the group.

"Martha, that was the only part we gave you," Joseph whispers under his breath, "Even Clara and Jesse did their parts."

"Miss Jameson?"

We all look up at the sound of Slater's voice. Martha turns flirtatious, sending him a coy smile, "Yes, sir?"

"Please explain why you didn't complete your part of the project. A huge part behind this project was learning the skills of co-operation and self-discipline, which are values that are very important in the working world."

All of a sudden, a pang hits me in the stomach. And the head. And everywhere, all at once.

My legs and arms are screaming at me with this aching pain that feels as if it's emanating from inside my bones.

I feel as if I'm shaking, but I can't tell if I physically am. My brain hurts but I don't know from what, and all the sounds in the lecture hall are gathering into one, huge, muffled cloud of uninterpretable cacophony. It concentrates in my ears and rings like a bell.