Today was Friday, the day Kiku and I had to present our thing for Social Studies. I had gone to his house a couple times during the week to work on this. The research didnt take long since, well, we know our countries fairly well. We had decided to do a power point presentation for this. And sort of talk about it.

As I sat in science, I started to get nervous. My black eye, though a little better, hadn't gone away. I wasn't excited to have a bunch of people stare at me. The guys must have noticed my discomfort as I felt someone nudge my side. I jumped slightly in surprise but looked to see Ludwig with a concerned look on his face.

"You ok?" Ludwig whispered. I noticed Kiku give me a concerned glance, while Feli...he was taking a nap. I nodded in response to Ludwig.

"Y-yeah. I'm just not excited for next class" I replied. Ludwig thought for a second.

"Oh yeah, you and Kiku have a presentation, right?" Ludwig questioned. I nodded with a smile. I looked down at my hands, which were intertwined as I played with my thumbs.

"I don't like being in front of people... Especially with this" I silently laughed, pointing to my eye. Ludwig gave me a patient smile as he nodded.

"That's understandable. But try to imagine no one is there. Maybe look at the back wall just above everyone's head. It'll help distract you and give you something to look at other than the people there" Ludwig suggested. Before i could respond, the teacher caught our attention again.

"Alright, there's no homework today, but make sure to study for the quiz on Monday! You may take the rest of this time to work on your projects!" The teacher announced. With that, students began to move their desks. Ludwig woke up Feli and proceeded to push their desks together, along with Kiku and I so we were in a group.

"I know we don't have anything to do, since our projects are outside of school, but about ours Kiku. Are we gonna measure/take pictures today or Monday?" I questioned. Kiku paused for a moment.

"Well, they haven't sprouted yet, and won't until next Friday I believe. But you could still come over if you would like. Ludwig, Feli, would you two like to join is?" Kiku replied, smiling at his friends.

"Ve~ sure! What do you think Luddie?" Feli responded. I could see a blush form on Ludwig. That's when I remembered, Kiku was gonna set up a place in his backyard for Ludwig to confess! I started to get excited, but calmed myself as best as I could when Ludwig nodded.

"J-ja, that would be nice" Ludwig admitted, his blush ever growing.

"Luddie, are you ok? Your face is red!" Feli questioned, concern laced his voice.

"I'm fine, just a little warm" ludwig lied. Kiku and I glanced at each other, smiling at the fact that Ludwig was bad at lying. However, Feli accepted the answer.

After 10 minutes of laughing and joking around, the bell rang. This reset the dread I felt. Kiku gently placed a hand on my shoulder for comfort, which helped a little, but not much.

We said goodbye to Ludwig and Feli and made our way to class. Once we entered the class room, I gave Kiku a smile and headed to Yao's desk.

"Hi Mr. Wang" I started. He let out a small laugh.

"You dont have to be formal at school (y/n)!" Yao mentioned. I let out a laugh as well, scratching the back of my head.

"I know, I just dont want people to look at me weird for calling you by your first name. But I'm, speaking of weird looks...i was wondering if Kiku and I could present first? You know, get it done and over with." I explained. A bright smile spread across his face.

"Of course! And don't be so scared, I saw how much work you and my brother have put into this. I have no doubt it will be nothing but perfect" Yao encouraged. i smiled with a small nod.

"Thank you Yao!" I stated before heading to my seat. I looked over at Kiku, who gave me a patient smile. We waited a few minutes, students still piled in. Finally, the bell rang and everyone took their seats. Yao stood up and stood in front of the class, pulling down the projector sheet.

"I hope everyone is ready for your presentations today! Im sure we wont get through all of them in just one day, so if you aren't done today, be sure to be done on Monday. Your grade will drop 10 points each day past monday" Yao explained. I heard a few groans, which made me laugh slightly. Thank God we were done.

"Ok, so we already have our first volunteers! Once we run out of vonunteers, I'll start going down the list! Anyway, Kiku, (y/n), come on up!" Yao mentioned. I took a deep breath as we walked to the front.

Our power point was hooked up to the projector and we began. Everything went smoother than I expected. Once we got into the groove, we started talking with enthusiasm.

At one point, it was Kiku's turn to speak. I looked at him, seeing his smile and a new kind of life in his eyes that I haven't seen before in the week I've known him. I really enjoyed seeing him like that, I couldn't help but smile.

Finally, we finished, and we got to sit down. The tips Ludwig gave me definetely helped. Ill have to thank him when I see him later.

There were a few other presentations the rest of class. I had a feeling ours was the most exciting, since everyone else spoke almost monotone and a few kids fell asleep. This helped boost my confidence a little as well. I always liked when I did good on something. It made me feel like my life really is worth it.

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This time, I got a question. Should I start making each chapter longer? I usually try for 1,000 words, but I'm starting to feel that this may be too small. What do you think? Should I bump it to 2,000? 3,000?