The next week, the girls were settled in school. And Andrea and Debra were in their English class, prepared to present their collages along with the other students who did the project.
The teacher enter the classroom once the bell rung. "Good morning, class. I see you all got your assignments done. Except for you, Horace." He walked up to a male student who was sitting by the middle aisle of the desks.
"Hey, I got it done," Horace answered. "I just didn't bring it with me."
"Because there's nothing to bring?"
"You watch. I'll bring it in tomorrow."
"Yes, and I will see how undone it turns out. So, class, who wants to present their collage first?" he declared.
The classroom was silent.
"Anybody?... Anybody. Nobody? Come on, you all are going to have to present someday. Any takers?... No takers? None? Just none. I will give you extra credit... Huh, so you guys don't want extra credit? If you didn't know, it improves your grade. Nobody?"
Slowly, Andrea raised her hand.
"Ah, Andrea. Thank you. I am proud that somebody has courage. I'm not going to give you extra credit, though, because you responded too long."
Andrea picked up the folded-in piece of cardboard by her chair. She got up with it and walked in front of the classroom. The teacher brought in a chair for Andrea to sit her display on.
Before she spoke, she took a deep breath and held her hands together. "It took me a while to complete this project. However, I got over my fears and created this collage. Before I reveal it, I want to say that the reason I was struggling with this is because I had no idea who I wanted to be. But I got some help and now I know my aspirations for the future."
She opened the flaps of the cardboard to expose her collage. It consisted of pictures of Andrea's best friends with lengthy descriptions taped under them along with bright colored paper as borders and backgrounds. Seeing the collage opened Debra's eyes much wider.
"My aspiration is to be just like my best friends," Andrea continued. "My friends are Madeline King, Lizzie Duvall, Skye Carter and Debra Lincoln. Wave, Debra."
Debra grinned and waved to the class.
"See, Skye wishes to become a veternarian because of her love for animals and healing them when they're hurt. However, if she could do something on the side, she hopes to be a rock musician for her love of music. Who inspires her are Bono, Jack White and Kurt Cobain. Lizzie wishes to be a supermodel based off her love for fashion. She told me that she 'loves to walk' so she hopes to march on runways and appear in magazines. Models like Karli Kloss and Kendall Jenner inspire her. Debra, hi, wants to be a yoga instructor. Her love for exercise and relaxation inspires her to pass this dream onto others to promote serenity. Debra will probably explain more later when she presents. And lastly, Madeline aspires to be an actress. The next Judy Garland. She says Audrey Hepburn but I say Judy Garland. She dreams to be in Hollywood movies and plays in Broadway. And the thing is she really believes in herself. Now, how does all of this have anything to do with me you might ask? Well, I aspire to be just like my friends because they all have dreams. And I don't have any dreams. I wish to be as ambitious as them one day so I can know what I really want to do. They also inspire me to work hard, keep my head up high, and just stay true to myself. And I hope that they do so every day because friendship is important for my future. Thank you."
The class immediately applauded her. Andrea did a little curtsy before handing her collage to the teacher and sitting down in her seat. Debra leaned over her desk and touched Andrea's shoulder. Andrea turned her head.
"That was amazing," commented Debra.
"Thanks, Debbie," Andrea held Debra's hand.
"Maybe, one day, I can aspire to be like you."
"Girl, you already know what you want."
"I know. But that was great."
"Thank you."
"That was very touching, Andrea," said the teacher.
"Thanks," Andrea mouthed.
"Maybe that could inspire Horace to do his project as his response is crying."
Horace wiped one of the running tears from his cheek. "I'm not crying," he said in a quavering voice. "I was chopping onions."
"How you going to chop onions in class, you crybaby?"
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