Maddox Academy: Grievous Beginnings - Wattys 2022 Shortlister

Chapter Thirty-Seven - Never Picture People Naked

"On behalf of all the students and staff, I want to thank the parents for being here today. I would also like to extend a thanks to the girls themselves for the work they had put into their projects over the past few months. They have all worked remarkably hard this year and I am sure that will be reflected in their presentations this morning," Mrs Maddox said on the stage.

Mrs Maddox looked across the crowd of people scattered on the grounds, no one appeared to be paying too much attention. Emma was picking at the grass around her and sprinkled it onto the blanket. Beatrice was plaiting and unplaiting her hair. The only people who seemed to be paying attention were the adults, well, minus Michael who was poking me in the back with a stick he found on the ground.

He certainly wasn't going to have the attention span to sit through every single presentation. I didn't mind, he just had to stay awake for mine so he could sleep through all of them for all I cared.

"Without further ado, our fourth-years and their independent study projects. Today we will be starting with Emma Greenwood!"

I joined in with the applause from the parents and other students, watching Emma as her Grandmother poked her to get her attention. She dropped the grass she was holding, gathered up her stack of notes and approached the stage. Mrs Maddox walked down the steps and offered Emma a small smile as they passed her, but she quickly rearranged her face and walked to Mr Havisham and Mrs Clarington who were acting as the other judges. The entire panel looked a little intimidating and I didn't want to make eye contact with any of them.

Emma took the stage, reorganising her notes a little and taking a breath. She launched into a presentation about how communication in Shakespeare's work would have cut the run time in half. I was inclined to agree with her on that, almost every play could have been solved if the characters spoke to each other. She didn't appear all that nervous, speaking in a clear voice and only using her notes if she really needed them. They had picked the best person to go first.

When she finished, Emma stepped down from the stage and joined her Grandmother on the blanket whilst Mrs Maddox took to the stage once again to introduce the next presentations. I found myself drifting in and out of focus and paying very little attention to the presentations given. It wasn't as though I didn't care about them, I was amazed that so many had even finished the project – most wouldn't have even started at my old school – it was just that I didn't want to psych myself out because of how good all the other projects were.

Some, like Emma's, were insightful arguments about literature or society and others were monologues performed with costumes and props going into depth about how it felt in a bomb shelter or in the workhouses. Mine didn't appear all that intelligent and it certainly wasn't an examination into works of literature. It was history facts and a little model for dramatic effect. It certainly didn't seem like a winning project.

"Our next presentation will be given by Victoria Havisham!" Mrs Maddox said from the stage. My head darted up and I started to spin the bracelet around my wrist.

"You should probably close your eyes and ears, hearing Victoria's presentation will only make you nervous," Katie whispered.

"I doubt I can get any more nervous. My butterflies have butterflies."

"Just picture everyone naked, that's what I used to do," Michael hissed from behind me. I turned to look at him.

"No chance. That's just weird."

He nodded his head towards Victoria. "Is this one of those girls that think they're above everyone else for no reason?" I nodded. "I thought so. She looks like on."

"She's a pain is what she is. Needs taking down a peg, or seven," Katie said.

Michael turned to Mum. "Can we keep her? I like this one?" That earned him a light tap on the back of the head by Mum who pointed to the stage where Victoria was about to start her project.