The next day, they prepared everything they needed to face what is ahead of them. The class continued as per normal, but this huge anxiety and nervousness were hanging over the entire class because in just half an hour later, all of them would have to come to the next class and do their presentation to the entire class.

Miss Alison is a teacher who's rumored to be one of the most strict, judgemental, and critical teachers that have ever stepped foot in Torzawa High. Throughout the years, she gained popularity as one of the most beloved teachers due to her beauty and her intellect, she was labeled as one of the most attractive yet unforgiving critiques of Torzawa High.

The bell rang and the air started to change slowly. The energy from everyone drops in an instant. It felt like everyone has lost hope in themselves. Students who were happily playing and laughing soon turn to sadness and frown as the aura around them changes.

Everyone stood up and dragged their chairs in and headed out. Walking to the next class seems to take forever as they walk on like lifeless corps. They were all out of it and everyone was in their own world worrying about themselves and their presentations.

Miss Alison soon came in and greeted the class. However, the class didn't seem to have the exact energy they usually had, which concerns Miss Alison.

" Is everything ok? Guys? You seem like you haven't slept for days and your greeting is like an inflated air mattress."

" Yes, miss Alison. There's nothing wrong."

" Ok, then let's try that greeting again. Good morning everyone." Miss Alison responded with gusto

" Good morning Miss Alison." The class replied with the same tone but in a higher octave than before

Everyone sat down as miss Alison started her lesson. She briefs them on what was going to happen and how they were going to be graded based on their perspective and personal opinion and how they can support the reason behind their finding.

" A couple of things to take note of before we start since we only get 45 minutes for our lesson today, not every group will be able to present, and by the time I will be finished with the briefing, there will be only 30 minutes left.

" Let me repeat not every one of you will be able to present today, so anyone who thinks they're confident and want to get this over with should let me know. If not, we will do this as follows." She explained

" The first group will be this first row, so be prepared and confident before presenting. Secondly, the time frame of your presentation shall not exceed the time limit given, which is 5 minutes or less. Any more than that, I will not entertain."

" Alright, the first group is up I will give you 10 minutes to prepare and practice what you will have to present to the class."

" Ok first one's up will be Sarah's group, please come to the front and start with your preparation for your presentation."

" Yes, ma'am."

They walked towards the teacher's table preparing the laptop that Miss Alison brought as they plugged in their 2.0 USB drive in the USB port. They begin to repeat incessantly what they had written on a piece of yellow flashcard that looks like it has been well cared for and the words were written as if it was written by angles as each curve, each letter marking looks immaculate. They start whispering to each other

[Good morning, everyone. We are here to present to you the topic.] The words they spoke begin to become incoherent as they rehearse.

" Ok times up are you ready?" Miss Alison interrupted them

" Yes, Ma'am. We are."

" Alright! Everyone settle down and listen to the presenters because you will be there soon it's better to take in as much as you can before presenting"

" Good morning, everyone. We are here to present to you the topic that was given, which is how the two countries were affected and their resulting economic state. "

The group carried on with their presentation showing how much the two countries had suffered as well as the impact on their society and their economy.

The class was in complete silence, afraid to make any noise, not because they were told to do so, but it was due to their fear of presenting in front of the entire class. Especially a teacher that was known for her super high standard of presenting.

" In this slide, we have a comparison of Oxyln comparing their current global economy and how much money they spent on rebuilding their own country after the destruction that occurred." Ciri explain

" How are you feeling? "Harold spoke softly

Elizabeth didn't give a response as she stares in blank space, preparing herself for what is going to happen.

" Hey!" Harold brushes her shoulder

She quickly snapped out of her concentration and was knockback to reality.

" What is it? Can't you see I was busy?" Still a bit daze from what was going on around her

" Nothing, I was just checking up on you. After all, you did manage to finish the presentation yesterday and I don't think that was an easy task."

" Yeah, I'm ok. I told you there wasn't a lot of things left to do."

" Ok, if you say so. Anyway, what do you mean you were busy? You're just staring into space."

" I am thinking about our presentation and how we can deliver it properly and not messed up. Plus, I am also trying to memorize all the things that we are going to cover so that I don't have to look at the flashcard so much. You know how much of a pain Miss Alison can be." Replied Elizabeth

" I mean, I heard rumors about her being the devil queen of presentation and a history nut, but I don't think she would be that strict, right?"

" You would think that, but I heard around the upperclassman that there was this student who cried because Miss Alison scolded her in front of the entire class during her presentation. So what do you think your chances are if you just half-ass it."

" What did she do anyway? How come she was scolded?" Harold asked

" I'm not sure about the details. I heard that she was looking at her script the whole time and that her slides were all over the place even though the point she made were all relevant."

"Miss Alison got mad because she thought that she didn't put in enough effort, which made her think that she was just doing this to get a passing grade and nothing else." Explain Elizabeth

" Oh, that harsh well, I mean she kinda deserves it but come on in front of the whole class that's taking way too far. No wonder she cried."

" Well, that's how she got her other nickname as the Alison the ruthless."

He chuckled " It has a nice ring to it. How did you know about this anyway? I didn't peg you as the type of person who cares about rumors."

" You're right about that and I'm not but Harp told me about this and normally, I wouldn't care about the rumors she tells me or anything that is actually happening, but since she was our teacher, why not learn about what I am getting into." She said

" Ah, so it's better to be prepared in a fight than die without giving it a shot."

" I mean not to put it in that way, but yeah, thats close enough, I suppose."

" That's Elizabeth for you being extra prepared and being calculative about things before diving."

" Is that supposed to be an insult? Are you messing with me? Huh, cause I will stab you. I don't care what happens." She threatened him as she got closer to his face

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He held up his hand " No Lizzy. I wasn't insulting you I was just making an observation, that's all. You really are worked up, huh?"

" No, I'm not. It just pisses me off when you say something annoying, and I told you not to call me Lizzy."

" Ok, calm down. Come on, haven't you practiced enough? Maybe take a break from it and we can just listen to the presenter."

" No, I can't. I still need to memorize a bit more and you should too I don',t want to be dragged down because of you."

One by one, each group in the first row went out and gave their own views about the topic and each group has a unique take on the subject.

" Ok, I will, but you know our turn isn't until tomorrow, you know that, right."

" WHAT!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!"

Everyone turned their attention towards Elizabeth area thinking about what was happening. Miss Alison gave a dead stare at Elizabeth with fury in her eyes. She gave off an ominous aura before standing up and speaking.

" ELIZABETH, IS THERE ANYTHING WRONG!! WHY ARE YOU INTERRUPTING THE CLASS! YOU'RE BEING RUDE TO THE PRESENTER. DO YOU WANNA SHARE IT WITH THE CLASS?!" miss Alison yelled

" Oh, I'm so sorry for the sudden outburst. I was just surprised its nothing to do with the presentation. I'll be quiet from now on. I'm sorry about the disturbance." Apologize Elizabeth

" You better be. That goes for everybody. If anyone of you causes a loud commotion, I will deduct it from your presentation points as well as your overall grade for this subject. Have I made myself clear?" Announced Miss Alison

" Yes, miss Alison." Everyone responded in unison

" How did you know that we will be presenting tomorrow instead of today?" asked Elizabeth

" Well, as she said, she will be starting with the first row on the right so meaning there will be a lot of groups that are going to be presenting first. Seeing that we are in the last row and very well at the back of the class, there is a huge possibility that we will be presenting tomorrow.

" Additionally, by the way, things are going and the time each group takes, it won't be possible for us to present today. Harold Thoroughly explained

" Thank you for that long and detailed explanation. However, I'm still-"

" Also, she said that those who are confident with their explanation or I guess slide she said they could present first we just have to let her if wanted to do that." Interrupted Harold

" What! We can!! We should totally go for it! I mean, we already finish the entire presentation!" remarked Elizabeth

" What!! Are you kidding me! I'm not prepared yet! Hold on, Elizabeth, come on! Please don't do this!!"

She was long gone before he was able to finish his thought.

" She gone. Of course, she is. Why did I even say that I should have left it where it was?" He sighs heavily

As time passes by, the first row ended their turn and moved on to the next. Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen. Anxiety started to fill Harold's head, thinking that he might die if she went through with the plan.

He quickly flipped through the flashcards that Elizabeth has done up for the both of them reading and trying to memorize everything that he was supposed to say, squeezing every information as much as possible without time to spare.

" UGH! I can't memorize all of this in time with 10 minutes to go. Who knows what she might be planning. Damm, that ice princess, what am I supposed to do? I'm gonna fail this subject, aren't I?" he started to mumble and question himself

A few minutes later, Elizabeth came back to her seat. She was surprised to see what was happening in front of her. Harold was sweating bullets like he just got interrogated by a mad man.

" Are you ok? Why are you sweating so much? Stop looking around people will think you're trying to hide something. Its creepy." She looked at him with a distasteful gaze

" I'm lo..king for you. I wondered where you might have gone. After I told you that information, you sudenly ran out of your seat. You didn't even wait for me to expla..n wat I was going to say. I bet you didn't even hear what I said befor you left." He spoke, swallowing some of the words

" What do you want from me? I went to the toilet I had some issues. Let me guess what you were trying to say. You were complaining about your own books and how you missed out on some sales again, is that right? Or is it something to do with what people are talking about you behind your back? Am I right?"

" What?! No, that's not what I wanted to talk about, although I did miss another good discount on meat and it was such a good deal no less, it was half off for minced meat not to mention there was a buy 1 get 1 free promotion for chicken fillet. Thanks for the reminder, but that is not what I wanted to talk to you about."

She laughed at his misfortune " Is not? Then why were you even looking for me?"

" I wanted to ask you not to go through with asking miss Alison about us presenting as the next group."

" Well, I did think about it, and watching you crash and burn would be the ultimate satisfaction but since this is a group work, I can't let you drag me down either, so I wouldn't be crazy enough to do that. Besides, you haven't even read any of the scripts that we are going to present that would be suicide." Elizabeth explain

" Wow, thanks for that support Elizabeth. That sure was encouraging to hear." Felt as though his soul somehow left his body

" You are very welcome. Watching you crash and burn is the only thing I live for." Laughing uncontrollably

" The presentation is going smoothly. It's already the second row that was fast." She calmed down in the meantime

" Yeah, while you were away, the group that came before was pretty quick and some of them covered some similar point, so they quickly passed through those points pretty quickly."

" That makes sense. I mean, this topic doesn't really cover a lot of information, so some of the information will overlap. That's why the extra information I looked up will give us an upper hand when we present."

" Guess your right. I just hope we can make this work."

" Anyway, what do you mean by people are talking about me behind my back?"

"'Oh! You have no idea what I'm talking about. Hmm probably would be best if you find out for yourself. It won't help you either way." Answered Elizabeth

" I haven't heard anything. Just tell me, what were they talking about? Is it bad or good?" he question

" Oh, it is definitely not good. That's for sure. I'm surprised that you haven't heard anything about it. Even when I walked through the hallway, I could already hear your name being said secretly like you had the plague or something."

" Well, thats reassuring thanks for the honesty. How thoughtful of them. I bet they're having fun." He sarcastically spoke

" Can you just tell me already? I mean, there isn't really any point hiding it besides since you said it must have been something bad, so I want to know how bad the rumor actually is."

" Oh, look, that presentation is really interesting. We should pay attention to it we could get some points on how we can improve our presentation." Avoiding the question

" WHAT!! NO, COME ON TELL ME. STOP AVOIDING MY QUESTION!!" Harold shouted

" MR. HOLIDAY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP SHOUTING AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE CLASS!!" Yelled miss Alison

[What is wrong with that group at the back? They're problematic students]. She thought to herself

" What was that? She didn't even scold you. That's so unfair!!" Elizabeth complained

" I guess I was lucky. You know, since I'm a new student."

"That's still unfair I still got scolded by her. That's bias."

" Yeah, that's sucks. I know. Can you just please tell me what the rumors are passing around this school. It's bad for my reputation, you know if this continues to spread."

" HAHAHA, WHAT reputation do you have?" You barely got anything, to begin with.

" If you would like to know, I am starting to get by as one of the more popular students by hanging out and talking to our classmates. It's mostly the guys, but it's still working. Afterward, I will try to talk to more girls and become more popular than ever."

" You? Popular with the girls, how are you going to go about it?"

" It's none of your business, but I will use my charismatic charm and, of course, my gentleman ways to get closer to them."

" First of all, that sounds like a perpetrator trying to get close to girls and do unspeakable things to them behind closed doors. Secondly, You might win them over with your charismatic ways, but being a gentleman. Do you even know how to be a gentleman or are you just gonna act?"

" I'll have you know I was raised by my parents to respect women and treat them as though they're are the most important thing in the world."

" I mean, from the way you're acting towards me or any girls would have given me that your parents have failed in teaching you that."

" You really harsh, you know that. Just because I don't show you that part of me doesn't mean that I don't have one and that I can't do it when I need to because I sure as hell can do so."

" Excuse me. Can you guys keep your noise down, please I couldn't hear what they were saying?" She tapped Elizabeth's shoulder

" Oh, sorry about the noise Chloe." We will try to keep the noise down.

" Thank you." Chloe smiled at them

" See what you did. You disturbed the people who are listening to the presentation." Mocked Elizabeth

" ME?! the problem? I'm not the one who was scolded by miss Alison to keep her mouth shut. Harold retorted back

" You were lucky being a new student and she would treat you the same way she did with me if you've been here for a long time."

" Whatever, can you just tell me what's the rumor?"

" Oh, Harp is about to present next!! I should see how she is doing."

" Don't ignore me!! Elizabeth, come back here!"

Elizabeth squatted down and walked over to where Harp was seated.

" Hey, Harp. How do you feel? You're about to present next.

" Yeah, I'm feeling a little bit nervous. I mean, we're about to present to Alison the ruthless, so it's kinda frightening and terrifying how much she expects from her students. I'm just not sure if we can get a good result from it.

" That's true. Presenting to her is a tall order to do anyone would be, but you're prepared, right? You guys are done with your slides and scripts for the presentation?"

" Yep, we did it all last night, so we just need to practice and go over the script so that we can present properly and not mess up."

" That's good. You don't have to worry about anything. You will do great ok, don't you worry. You got this!!"

" Thank you. We will do our best."

" Alright, I'll head back. Good luck out there!!"

" I'm back. She is going to present next."

" Oh, ok. You're lucky miss Alison didn't see you or you'll be done for it. That was dangerous."

" Well yeah, I suppose it was, not to worry. I needed to check up on her."

" Why? Is everything ok with her? Did something happen?"

" Nothing bad happened to her is just that it's not easy for her to deal with these kinds of things easily."

He looked at her with confusion soon after thousand of thoughts ran through his head about the possible answer. The air around them became tense none of them was speaking as the silence continues. It was only a matter of time before the truth about Harper is revealed.