This day was the deadline for the group assignment given two weeks ago and the lecturer asked every team to present their result. Hearing it, Evelyne was shocked because the lecturer didn't mention it when he gave the assignment.
"Every group representative comes here to get your number," asked the lecturer and one person from each group went to his desk. They drew a paper with a number written on it.
Evelyne, one of the group representatives, returned to her group. "We got the second turn. Make sure you understand the assignment," she warned her teammates, the only problem she had. There was really no problem with the sudden presentation except for her teammates who even didn't contribute to the progress.
"Yeah, understand," Wilson answered flatly, uninterested in the assignment.
Having no idea how to deal with those men, Evelyne decided to focus on watching the first group's performance. Yet that group presented their presentation greatly, making Evelyne more anxious about her performance. 'How can I make our presentation as good as theirs?'
Evelyne drowned in her thoughts until the first group closed their presentation and the lecturer took over. "You already did a great job! Excellent. Next group please." The lecturer then marked his scoring paper.
After taking a deep breath, Evelyne stood up and walked to the front of the class. She could feel the gaze from the entire room toward her. Her heart raced and it felt like it was about to burst in any second. 'You can do it! You have done it millions of times!' She tried to calm herself down.
"Ekhem… Good morning, everyone…" She started the presentation with a greeting and continued with the result. As everyone expected, she did it perfectly without any flaw in her presentation.
Yet, the problem came when Brandon's turn started. He didn't speak clearly enough and was stuttered in some parts. The whole class' interest in their presentation decreased significantly. It even got worse in Wilson's turn. He kept forgetting what he had to say. 'Oh my, I want to disappear right now!' Evelyne cried in her heart.
"So… This is the end of our presentation… thank you," Wilson closed their presentation.
The lecturer then took over the class and asked several questions to Evelyne's group. "There are several things I don't understand from your explanation. Can you re-explain how the system works at step four?"
"From the previous step, the third one, the sensor will detect the movement. Next, in the fourth step, the system responded to it correspondingly…," Evelyne explained everything in detail.
"Then, why did you choose this sensor?"
"It's be-"
The lecturer cut Evelyne's words. "I want Brandon to answer my question. This is his part, right?"
Evelyne looked at Brandon, wondering if he could answer the question. "It's… It's to make the system work more efficiently," answered Brandon, making Evelyne sigh. He didn't give an answer that matched the question perfectly.
"How does the sensor make the system work efficiently?" As Evelyne expected, the lecturer would ask that.
With a hope for a miracle to happen, Evelyne looked at Brandon. Yet, Brandon was way too far under her lowest expectation. "I'm sorry, I don't know the answer." Brandon's answer caught everyone's attention. The other students were murmuring while looking at Evelyne's team.
The lecturer was also confused. He frowned. "Why do you not know? You design the system, so of course, you know! Or, are you just adding whatever sensor you have?"
"It-it's Evelyne!" Brandon pointed his finger at Evelyne. "She did everything and didn't tell us anything. So of course I don't know." He continued. Not only him, Wilson also followed him to give a similar statement.
"You don't even want to take part in the project!" Evelyne groaned, trying to be calm. She was sure there would be a way out of this problem since those two really didn't care about the assignment.
"Evelyne, this is a group assignment. You can't simply do the job yourself like that! I'm sorry but I can't give you a high score this time." The lecturer's response was completely different from Evelyne's expectations. Before she said a word of protest, the lecturer cut her. "Next group please."
There was nothing Evelyne could do besides walking back to her seat. When she sat down, she gazed at Wilson and Brandon who acted as if there was no problem in their life. While Evelyne had no energy left in her body. She was silent the whole lesson.
"Evelyne… Evelyne…" Maria called for her. She shook Evelyne's body yet there was no response from her. "Evelyne!" She finally shouted.
With no interest, Evelyne looked at her. "What?" She asked.
"It's break time! You won't go to the cafeteria?" Maria pulled Evelyne's hand. "It's on me, okay!"
Evelyne was really not in a mood to talk or to eat. She let Maria's hand go. "Just go there yourself. I have things to do," she said and moved her focus to her bag, taking out a book.
"Is it about the presentation?" Maria, who previously was standing beside Evelyne, moved a chair beside her and sat. "You did great! It's just you're not lucky enough and have those two in your team!" She tried to cheer Evelyne up.
Evelyne ignored Maria. Her words wouldn't change anything that happened. It would never make her score better, so it was useless. It was much better if she worked on her competition progress. The deadline was near already anyway so she had no time to waste.
"Evelyne… don't ignore me like that! Let's go find delicious food to make you feel better, okay?" Maria stood up and pouted her cheek. Her hands were trying to pull Evelyne so she would move.
Evelyne couldn't focus on her work and turned her body toward Maria. "Maria… Don't you see that I'm working? You can go by yourself or with another friend for today." She focused back on her book and working.
"Hiks… Okay…." Maria left Evelyne alone in the classroom, acting as if she was crying.
'What a childish kid.' Evelyne rolled her eyes.