SUMMER HEARTS // Quackity X Reader

28

The day of your Classics midterm. You woke up earlier than usual, nerves driving you from your bed sooner than you would have liked. You'd tried to fall back asleep, but once your mind had started thinking about the coming presentation, you hadn't been able to stop. 

At least you would be able to make yourself a solid breakfast though. 

You made yourself some French toast (and some for Nieve and Reyes that you left on the island with a nice note), packed up everything you would need for your presentation today (making sure you had absolutely everything and anything you could think of, and checking that you had everything at least three times) and headed out the door for class.

Feeling a little nostalgic and more than a little nervous, you popped your earbuds in and switched on the playlist that you had been listening to the first time you had made the trek to class. The familiar music began to pump through your ears as you walked to class, passing the familiar sights of the town waking up.

You were going to absolutely nail this presentation because you had to. If you wanted to make up for Tercero's shortcomings, you were going to have to go above and beyond. Hopefully all the help from Alex would pay off. 

Armed with spite against Tercero for being a dick and your stellar presentation, you walked into the classics building and into the hall. 

Inside, people were milling about in their partners, going over last minute changes and additions before the presentations. In the front of the room, Professor Bernal sipped at his morning coffee while he read something on his computer, paying no mind to his students nerves. You made your way over to your usual seat. 

Tercero didn't bother to look up when you sat down, hood pulled over his head and leaning down into his phone. Just looking at him made you want to say something but you held your tongue and just waited. 

You would get him today. 

Soon enough class started and Professor Bernal called the first group to give their presentation. You watched as a pair of nervous girls made their way up to the front of the room to start talking, their presentation going in one ear and out the other. You were too wrapped up in your own head.

You wanted to make it very clear to everyone in the room that Tercero had done next to nothing for this project. 

The first group finished their talk, and after a spattering of applause, the second group took their place. 

You would speak over him at every opportunity.

The third group took the stage. 

You would make him look like the incompetent idiot he was.

And finally it was your turn. 

"Y/N and Tercero." Professor Bernal called.

You stood up and made your way to the front of the room, handing the professor your flash-drive with the slideshow. You took your place at the front of the room, ignoring Tercero ambling up beside you and smiled. 

"Hi everyone." You said, nodding at Bernal to start the slideshow. "For my take on the assignment, I chose the prosecution side."

You could see Tercero's look when he realized his name was no longer on the title slide. 

You moved to the overview of the project quickly, going over the points you would be making during the meat of the talk. You walked the class through your sources as well - explaining that you had used both the novel and real legal cases to make your point. 

You glanced over at Bernal, and noticed a pensive sort of smile on his face. You moved onto the next slide with a sly smile. 

"The first point I want to make is the obvious one - morality." You said. "Throughout the novel, we see that our protagonist falls into the morally grey category, and keeping this in mind, his actions during the rest of the book aren't out of character for him. The problem with this is though - you can't say that it's a mental illness. His actions match up with everything else he had done in the story up to this point, so it's obvious he's not mentally compromised, and it's not a fit of rage or passion."

You turned to Tercero with a smile, looking at him expectantly, like he was supposed to say something.

Tercero turned to the slide, beginning to read the quotes you had pulled and typed up for the presentation. He was halfway through the first one when you cleared your throat.

"I think they can read the slides for themselves..." You said, quiet, like it was supposed to be just between you and him, but loud enough so that the class could hear it.

Tercero stopped and pursed his lips. It was obvious that he wanted to say something, but he didn't just settling for pinning you with a glare. 

You smiled, enjoying the way that the class was whispering to each other. "Anyway, moving on..." You clicked over to the next slide. 

The rest of the slides went similarly, with you making your points with practiced ease, having gone over everything a few times throughout the days leading up to today. You would glance to Tercero or prompt him occasionally, like he was supposed to contribute or say something, but like you had expected and planned, he had absolutely nothing to add, and was getting visibly more and more angry as the presentation progressed. 

By the end of the presentation, your hunger for justice was filled by the way Tercero stomped back to his seat, trying to look  like it hadn't gotten to him and failing miserably. 

You walked over to the Professors desk to take your flashdrive back with a smile on your face.

"That was very well done." Professor Bernal said, a twinkle in his eye as he handed your drive back. "Especially for a project that was clearly done by yourself."

You tried not to smile too wide as you took the drive back and hopped back to your seat.