The next day, after catching Nathan up on everything that had happened with Hunter, he told me, "Hey, my parents are out tonight. I was thinking we could have a sleepover or something at my place? We could also invite Alexis and Liam and Adam. Oh, and Hunter, of course."
A smile spread across my face. "Can you ask him?"
Nate nodded, but there was a weird look on his face as he did so.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Uhm... it's just..." Nate huffed and ran a hand through his hair. "Every time I tried to talk to him over the last few days, Victoria was with him. And Alex told me that he spends most afternoons with her, too..."
My jaw hardened at the thought of that. "Apparently she's taking what she can get, now that she has some control over him."
Nate opened his mouth and said something, but his reply got drowned out by the sound of the school bell announcing the start of the next period.
I groaned and adjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder. The next class was Biology. I had spent the better part of last night working on the presentation and had read it so many times I knew the words by heart by now, but the thought of presenting it in front of the others made my skin crawl.
"You coming?" Nate asked and pointed at the school entrance.
I followed him inside wordlessly, going over the text once again in my head.
My loathing of presentations and speaking in front of strangers in general had started around the same time as my anxiety: after Luke's death. The shrink I had been seeing back then, Mrs. Meyer, had said that an anxiety disorder wasn't rare after a traumatic experience. I had been dreading this day for the past week now, knowing that I would have to speak for at least five minutes with everyone listening and staring at me.
When Nate and I slithered into the classroom only seconds before Mr. Smith waltzed in, my eyes darted to the last row immediately. As usual, my heart skipped a beat when I spotted Hunter, and then continued to beat twice as fast. I wondered if it would always be like this, or if I would someday get used to this feeling.
Hunter was on his phone, strands of dark hair falling into his eyes while he cradled his chin in one hand. His mouth was curled into the tiniest smile, making me wonder what he was looking at on his phone.
As if he had sensed me staring, he looked up just then. Our eyes met almost instantly and Hunter's lips broke into a secretive grin.
I smiled back timidly and started to walk towards him, when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder, gripping so hard that I spun around with a startled yelp. To say that I was surprised to see Victoria would have been a lie.
As always, there was a cruel sneer playing around her bright red lips. "Watch where you're going," she said, nodding towards Hunter, who was watching us warily. He looked like he was about to get out of his seat to break us up, so I lightly shook my head at him. "I don't think that's where you're supposed to sit."
I slapped her hand away and walked off to where Nate was sitting without another word. When I turned around again, Hunter wasn't looking at me, too busy glaring at Victoria.
The first few minutes of class went by and the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach grew, accompanied by a nervous fluttering in my chest. It wasn't only because of the knowledge that Victoria was sitting next to Hunter, so close that she was almost in his lap, but also because I knew I had to give my presentation in the next few minutes.
By the time my name got called, I felt like I was about to choke. I went up to the front of the class without looking at anyone, keeping my head down and my eyes on my notes.
Mr. Smith silenced the class and told me to begin.
I took a shaky breath and willed myself to face the students in front of me. My voice sounded thin even to myself when I started. "Index fossils are fossils that can help archaeologist determine the age of other archaeological finds in the same sedimentary layer. Uh..."
I swallowed and looked around for a moment. Everyone was gaping at me with more or less bored faces. Emily and Nate both seemed slightly worried. The only person looking remotely friendly was Hunter. He gave me an encouraging smile and gestured for me to continue.
"Uhm... Common index fossils are ammonites and... and different kinds of corals..."
Whispering arose in the last row, making me look up from my notes.
"Can you understand what he says?"
"Why is he stuttering like that?"
"Am I supposed to take notes of this gibberish?"
My breath quickened, until it came in short pants. The urge to sprint out of the class was overwhelming, but I knew that that would ruin my grade, so I stayed where I was.
"There are also-" I muttered, but before I could finish the sentence, Victoria cut in.
"Hey, I didn't understand anything you just said... Could you repeat it please? And try to talk a little louder."
Approving murmur sounded, so I cleared my throat and tried again: "I said that index fossils a-are..."
"Louder," Victoria demanded again.
I looked over at her smirking face. She didn't seem to notice the dirty looks Hunter sent her. Or maybe she just didn't care.
"Index fossils are-"
"Sweetie, no one can understand you," she said.
For a few seconds, I just stared at her, too perplexed by her audacity to even say anything. Then my gaze dropped to the sheet with notes in my hand. I tried to read the next sentence, but my vision seemed to blur. The letters were nothing but swirls my brain refused to decode. None of it made sense.
My palms were sweating, my heart was racing, my tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of my mouth. More and more people started to grow impatient and whispered loudly, their voices like a swarm of hornets in my ears.
I opened my mouth to say something, but before a single word came out, another voice beat me to it.
"Can you all just shut the fuck up? What the hell is wrong with you that you can't just let him talk?"
Barely suppressing a flinch, I looked over at Hunter. He was still sitting in his seat, but his right hand was balled into a fist, knuckles white where it was resting on the table. Even from where I was standing I could see that his eyes were burning with anger.
"Language, Hunter. Keep it down," Mr. Smith boomed from where he was sitting at his desk, immediately making Hunter's head whip in his direction.
"Oh, really," he ground out, ignoring the look I sent him. He was going to earn himself detention if he kept talking, but he didn't seem to care in the slightest. "You're just sitting there while everyone makes it impossible for Jules to give his presentation but when I say a bad word you suddenly care?"
"He's right," Liam cut in before Mr. Smith could even open his mouth. "What you're doing doesn't make sense. You're witnessing a student getting harassed to the point where he can't complete his task and you don't do anything about it."
A few tables in front of me, Nate nodded in agreement. "Yeah, not to mention the lack of attention you pay to what's going on with the students here in general. I mean, shit, do you have any idea about what's been happening here the past few weeks? Jules and Hunter-"
"Really, Nate?" I slowly turned my head to look at Victoria. "Are you sure that this is the time and place to address that?" Looking at Mr. Smith, she smiled tensely. "I'm sorry that my simple request for Jules to speak louder caused so much unnecessary commotion. Please, let's just forget about this and go on with the class."
"No one fucking believes your act, Vicky," Alexis suddenly snapped, making not only the students, but also Mr. Smith stare at her in shock.
Alex was his favourite student, always polite and eager to learn. It was probably the fact that even she was mad about this that snapped Mr. Smith out of his daze. "Quiet, everyone!" he said, slowly getting to his feet. "What in God's name is going on with you today? Is there anyone else who'd like to further disturb my class and put up a fuss about this?"
"Yeah, actually." I had to fight a smile when Emily suddenly spoke up. "What you're doing isn't fair. Victoria should be the one deserving a reprimand, not Hunter."
"What they said," Adam said, slouching in his chair with apparent disinterest. "If standing up for someone is worse than bullying, I'll gladly show myself to detention."
Quiet fell over the classroom. My heart felt like it was about to burst when I glanced at my friends and then at Mr. Smith, who looked completely taken aback.
"Well," he finally said, awkwardly clearing his throat, "I suppose I owe you an apology then, Julian. As for you, Victoria, I will have to give you detention if this behaviour recurs. Now, Julian, if you could please continue with your presentation?"
I quickly nodded. "Y-yeah, sure. Right, uh... Index fossils are also known as guide fossils, indicator fossils or zone fossils..."
This time, no one uttered a word. The entire room was quiet and listening attentively, which usually would have only made me even more nervous, but the encouraging smiles of my friends and the echo of their words gave me the strength to get through the rest of my presentation without messing up once.
I was done only seconds before the bell rang and everyone started to get up. Mr. Smith beckoned me over to his desk to tell me my grade.
Leaning back in his seat, he said, "Alright, Julian. What you said was great, how you said it needs some improvement, alright? Loosen up, don't be so nervous."
Having heard this dozens of time over the years, I just nodded silently.
"It's a B," Mr. Smith said.
"Thank you," I muttered, exhaling a quiet sigh of relief.
He dismissed my thanks with a wave of his hand. "Don't thank me, that was all you."
Not knowing what to reply I was about to turn around, when he added, "Quite the posse of defenders you've got there. You're lucky to have friends like that."
I couldn't help but smile at the thought. "Yeah, guess I am."
Mr. Smith regarded me for a few more seconds, then he made a shooing motion. "What are you waiting for, get out of here. And work on your delivery! Next time I see you giving a presentation it better be an A."
I didn't hang around to wait what else he had to say but immediately headed towards the door, surprised when I saw Hunter still waiting there.
However, upon reaching him I quickly noticed that Victoria was beside him, clinging to his arm with a dark expression.
I warily looked form her to Hunter and then back. "What do you want, Victoria?"
"I heard that you'll be having a little slumber party tomorrow," she spat. "I just wanted to let you know that Hunter will be going out with me. Oh, and if I were you, I wouldn't wait for him. Might get late."
My good mood vanished immediately, making room for the familiar sense of helplessness as I looked at Hunter.
Victoria dragged him away before I could answer, but she couldn't stop him from brushing a hand over my lower back in passing and softly muttering, "I'll be there afterwards."
Nodding wordlessly, I tried my best to return his strained smile, only for it to shatter the moment he was gone.