Chemistry - A Sander's Sides Fanfiction

- 48 -

Sorry this update has taken so long, everyone! I've been totally slammed with work this week. On a positive note, it's so nice to see all the new readers that have been coming in lately. I've been loving the comments.
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Anyway, enjoy!

The day had arrived: It was time for the project presentation.

Somewhat unfairly, Logan had insisted on presenting on the Tuesday after they got back, convincing the entire group a number of weeks before that they would be ready. And thank god he was right, because otherwise, Roman would be pulling his hair out.

To be honest, Logan had pretty much put the whole project together. Even though the other three had protested, not wanting to put the workload on him, he was steadfast in his position. Apparently, the nerd actually enjoyed -- full heartedly -- the Sisyphean task of staying up late to write a research paper and compile a poster. Luckily, Logan had been convinced to hand off the poster to Roman and let him decorate it, but that was about all anyone else in the group contributed outside of administering the actual experiment.

To be honest, it was sort of unsettling just how eager Logan was to subject himself to tedious writing and excessive research. To each their own, I guess, Roman had decided.

So on Tuesday afternoon, Roman stood in front of the class, poised and confident -- more so than normal to distract the half-attentive crowd from paying too much mind to Virgil, who was cowering behind him.

It began smoothly with Logan, speaking in his robotic, informative way. He described with ease the concept of the project and the supplies, his speech never short of unnecessary background information. Next Roman spoke, explaining the procedure to the best of his ability despite not possessing as much information as Logan. He did not stutter or stop, which he was very proud of, and then passed the figurative torch to Patton. The boy cleaned up the end, tying everything together by reciting the results. And that was it -- or, it should have been.

Mr. Tamm sat for a moment, scribbling notes on the grading sheet. Then, he cleared his throat and turned. "Virgil," he asked, "do you have anything to add?"

Roman could practically feel the chill of poor Virgil's blood freezing in his veins; it was like someone had opened a fridge behind him. Roman heard Virgil take a deep breath as he scoured his own mind for rescue options. When he came up with none, he simply stepped back a little and grabbed onto Virgil's hand for support. No one could see it from where they were stood -- not even Mr. Tamm at his desk.

A pause. "Sure," Virgil said, his voice wavering behind a film of nonchalance.

Roman hoped with all of his heart that he had something good planned.

Virgil cleared his throat, fiddling helplessly with his left sleeve, clutching Roman's hand. "In a broader sense," he began, "this research could -- can be applied to all other plants and p-potentially allow us to farm more efficiently in the -- in the future." With each word he spoke, Virgil's voice grew a little with confidence. "Especially con-considering how quickly the world is running out of space and resources, any possible method to increase food production is vital to the continual expansion of society and humanity as a whole." He took a deep breath at the end, and even though it wasn't a very long speech, he still looked as though he had just been underwater for a very long time.

Mr. Tamm paused and slowly began nodding his head. "That's a very important point, Virgil," he conceded with a smile, writing down some final notes on the grade sheet. "You boys are done. Fantastic job -- I'm glad a couple of groups chose to do this project." He then held out his hand for the poster and allowed the four to walk back to their seats.