Beautiful,silent and dangerous disaster Ally/You :)

Chapter 6

Your POV
Ms Lovato started with the projects...

I'm beyond nervous because I have to read the essay out loud oh my...

Lauren's POV

Today is the day Y/N will read out loud oh my...

I'm excited...

"Y/N," Miss Lovato said gesturing to where she sat. "Are you happy to read your essay out first?"

Y/N looked at Lauren who gave her an encouraging nod.

"Umm," Y/N said, fumbling with the sheets of paper which Lauren was handing back to her and almost dropping them on the floor. "Ok."

"Are you sure?" Miss Lovato asked, sensing Y/N's reluctance.

Y/N looked back at Lauren who nodded once again before standing up."

"Yeah," she said her voice almost inaudible as she made her way to the front of the class.

"Great" Miss Lovato boosted as Y/N came to a stop beside her and turned to face the class.

Lauren could see that Y/N was grasping the papers so tightly in her hands that her knuckles were turning white and she silently prayed for Y/N to take a breath and relax for a moment.

"When you're ready then," Miss Lovato prompted, perching on the front of her desk to listen to Y/N's presentation."

"Ok," Y/N said, rummaging through the pages of her assignment to find the start. She'd made sure to print the text large so that it would be easier for her to read.

Y/N looked up to meet Lauren's eyes for a second and Lauren raised her eyebrow expectantly waiting for Y/N to start speaking.

"We decided that for our mines and Lauren's assignment," Y/N started, "We would look at the theme of misconceptions in Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird.'"

Y/N turned to look at Miss Lovato uncertainly. She smiled at Y/N, a silent sign of approval and for her to continue.

Y/N started reading out her assignment, discussing the prejudices and misconceptions that Jem and Scout have regarding their father, Jem's misconception of Mrs Dubose and the towns delusions of Boo Radley, albeit slowly and deliberately.

She paused for a moment in her presentation, glancing at the room around her and it was then that Lauren saw it, that subtle change in Y/N's face which meant that she was starting to panic. Y/N glanced back down at the paper in her hand, trying to speak the next word, but, it wouldn't come out no matter how much she tried to force it from her mouth.

Y/N raised her eyes to find Lauren who smiled at her reassuringly, giving her a thumbs up, urging her to continue, Lauren's confidence in Y/N's ability exceeding her own. Y/N managed to complete a few more sentences her speech deteriorating slightly as she continued and Lauren felt her stomach drop when Y/N starts stuttering, incomprehensible noises and simple syllables being vocalised instead of actual language.

Around her Lauren could hear a few of the other students in the class laugh under their breaths
and she could tell that Y/N heard the sniggering too by the way her face fell and her gaze dropped to the floor disheartened. Lauren fought the immense urge to hit them which suddenly overcame her as Miss Lovato scolded them from the front of the class.

"You're doing great Y/N ," Miss Lovato said encouragingly. "Your essay is well structured and you've clearly understood the topic area you've chosen...go on," she prompted.

Y/N pushed on, managing to drag out some more painfully slow sentences which explained how misconceptions and stereotypes related to her life, but, the power of her words were lost with the lack of fluidity and, the key message, which Lauren had really wanted the class to hear regarding how people often had misconceptions of Y/N since the accident did not strike the chord Lauren had hoped it would.