If you feel yourself start to struggle,” Lauren said, dropping her voice so that no one else could hear, “just look at me alright? Pretend that it’s just the two of us and you’re practicing in your room. I believe in you Camz.”“Lauren…” Camila began but, Lauren cut her off decidedly with a quick peck on the lips, not caring who was watching. Luckily, no one seemed to notice, all eyes attentive to Miss Lovato who was writing something on the board at the front of the class.‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, Lauren read when her and Camila had separated and she’d turned to look.“Ok,” Miss Lovato started, dropping her pen onto the shelf at the bottom of the whiteboard and turning to address the class. “So we’ve all finished reading Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird,’ and you were given free rein to write an essay on any aspect of the story that you wanted to, relating the messages or characters from it to your own life.”Miss Lovato paused to glance at Camila whose leg was once again bouncing up and down uneasily.“Camila,” Miss Lovato said gesturing to where she sat. “Are you happy to read your essay out first?”Camila looked at Lauren who gave her an encouraging nod.“Umm,” Camila said, fumbling with the sheets of paper which Lauren was handing back to her and almost dropping them on the floor. “Ok.”“Are you sure?” Miss Lovato asked, sensing Camila’s reluctance.Camila looked back at Lauren who nodded once again before standing up.“Yeah,” she said her voice almost inaudible as she made her way to the front of the class.“Great” Miss Lovato boosted as Camila came to a stop beside her and turned to face the class.Lauren could see that Camila was grasping the papers so tightly in her hands that her knuckles were turning white and she silently prayed for Camila to take a breath and relax for a moment.“When you’re ready then,” Miss Lovato prompted, perching on the front of her desk to listen to Camila’s presentation.“Ok,” Camila said, rummaging through the pages of her assignment to find the start. She’d made sure to print the text large so that it would be easier for her to read.Camila looked up to meet Lauren’s eyes for a second and Lauren raised her eyebrow expectantly waiting for Camila to start speaking.“I decided that for my assignment,” Camila started, “I would look at the theme of misconceptions in Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird.’”Camila turned to look at Miss Lovato uncertainly. She smiled at Camila, a silent sign of approval and for her to continue.Camila started reading out her assignment, discussing the prejudices and misconceptions that Jem and Scout have regarding their father, Jem’s misconception of Mrs Dubose and the towns delusions of Boo Radley, albeit slowly and deliberately.She paused for a moment in her presentation, glancing at the room around her and it was then that Lauren saw it, that subtle change in Camila’s face which meant that she was starting to panic. Camila glanced back down at the paper in her hand, trying to speak the next word, but, it wouldn’t come out no matter how much she tried to force it from her mouth.Camila raised her eyes to find Lauren who smiled at her reassuringly, giving her a thumbs up, urging her to continue, Lauren’s confidence in Camila’s ability exceeding her own. Camila managed to complete a few more sentences her speech deteriorating slightly as she continued and Lauren felt her stomach drop when Camila starts stuttering, incomprehensible noises and simple syllables being vocalised instead of actual language.Around her Lauren could hear a few of the other students in the class laugh under their breaths and she could tell that Camila heard the sniggering too by the way her face fell and her gaze dropped to the floor disheartened. Lauren fought the immense urge to hit them which suddenly overcame her as Miss Lovato scolded them from the front of the class.“You’re doing great Camila,” Miss Lovato said encouragingly. “Your essay is well structured and you’ve clearly understood the topic area you’ve chosen…go on,” she prompted.Camila pushed on, managing to drag out some more painfully slow sentences which explained how misconceptions and stereotypes related to her life, but, the power of her words were lost with the lack of fluidity and, the key message, which Lauren had really wanted the class to hear regarding how people often had misconceptions of Camila since the accident did not strike the chord Lauren had hoped it would.Camila reached for her head, placing a hand to her temple as though she was starting to get a headache. Miss Lovato stepped over to her, placing a hand on Camila’s arm and rubbing it reassuringly.“That’s great Camila,” Miss Lovato told her sincerely. “You don’t have to do anymore if you don’t want to…”Camila dropped her head, handing Miss Lovato her assignment in defeat before walking back to her desk. However, instead of sitting down at it, Camila leant to pick up her bag, throwing it over her shou
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