As Autumn Leaves by Kate Sands Page B

friends weren’t going to be able to fix. Hannah didn’t get it, but maybe Kayla had someone she could at least talk to about all the overwhelming problems she dealt with.
    But there was someone she should speak to first.
     
     
    FOR ALL the mixed-up feelings she was having, Kayla knew she had to temporarily push them aside. For her group project partners, her friends, today was too important to dwell on her insecurities and the fragile friendship with Althea that might break apart. She had to focus.
    The group project had to be completed.
    It was one way she could make it up to them, making sure she didn’t fail. Giving it her all.
    It was their day to present to the class. Theirs wasn’t the first project to be scheduled, and the couple of other groups that went the week before had done well. They’d been interesting and diverse. But Kayla knew in her gut that their project was going to top them all, as long as they didn’t bomb on the oral presentation.
    Mr. March had a television and DVD player available, and Althea had come to class early to make sure their copy would work properly in the equipment. They had a backup on a flash drive and one on a tablet with the right cables to hook to the TV in case they needed it. They had thought of everything.
    When it was their turn, the four girls—Kayla, flanked by Hannah, Chantelle, and Althea—made their way to the front of the classroom.
    Althea introduced the video. “We decided to combine our talents to make a music video based on The Tell-Tale Heart . Um. Well, this is it.” Someone in the back of the class tittered, but at a sharp glance from Mr. March, it ended. Kayla took a deep breath, and smiled at Althea encouragingly. Althea smiled back, and pressed play for the video while Chantelle turned down the lights.
    The eerie music filled the classroom, and Kayla’s face appeared on the screen. Kayla couldn’t take watching herself again, instead glancing around the room to gauge reactions. Everyone was watching. Jason and his crew in the back tried to look bored, but other students paid attention. Some intently. There was even a gasp as the music made a crescendo, and then it was down to the beating heart and the tell-tale heart falling to the ground, Kayla’s red hair spilling over the leaves.
    The television screen went black, and the room was deathly silent for seconds too long. But as Chantelle got up to turn on the lights, applause started. First from one student, and then another, and then it quickly filled the room, a much warmer tone than the eerie music. As the lights flickered on, the applause quickly ebbed away, but Mr. March was grinning broadly and still clapped. Kayla looked at her partners, and saw they all looked as bashful and surprised as she felt. Usually presentations got a polite clap when it was all over, but they hadn’t even finished yet.
    Kayla was used to performing in front of crowds, with cheer and dance. Speaking in front of her classmates was something else altogether, but their reaction bolstered her confidence. With a steady voice, she spoke her piece about how they brainstormed the project. Then Hannah and Chantelle took over to talk about recording the music, what they picked and why, and how it added to the atmosphere. Kayla interjected with a couple small notes on her choreography. Althea rounded it up to talk about the setting, how it had changed during the course of their project, and about the editing and how it all tied together. She wrapped it with speaking to the themes of the short story and how they came through in the video.
    When they concluded, Kayla asked if there were any questions. The students didn’t often come up with anything, but Mr. March usually had one or two things to ask. This time, he did not. When no one had a question, he smiled at them. “Well, I think you covered everything. Thank you for your presentation, girls. It was a treat.”
    Althea gathered the DVD and the final, neatly put-together