Anxiety filled Harper and her thoughts began to move a thousand miles an hour. Her thoughts were all over the place she doesn't seem to know what was going on. She began to feel nauseated as sweat begins to form on her forehead.

Every tick-tock, every second the clocks winds down the pressure begins to build slowly. She couldn't breathe properly it felt as if she was being suffocated.

She was in a world of her own unable to get a grip on reality no matter how many times her teammate called out to her it was no use. Finally, her teammate caressed her back and it made her come back to reality.

" Are you doing ok, Harper?" She asked

" Oh huh?? I'm sorry what is happening?" she was caught off guard the air around her felt heavy and her eyes looked like she had just experienced a trauma

" Oh no don't apologize, I was just checking up on you. You're not looking so good are you sure you're able to go through with this?" she worried

" AH. Yes, I am, don't worry about me I am sure I will be ok up there's no need to worry at all." she tries to hide her true feelings but no matter how much she tries it was written all over her face.

" You don't have to hide it from me it's written all over your face. It's gonna be ok, we talked about this and I am ok with leading. You don't have to be nervous so calm down take deep breaths and we are gonna need to go in 3 minutes. Everything will be ok." She gave her some needed reassurance

" Thank you I will. I really appreciate your help."

The silence continued to echo between Harold and Elizabeth as he stared blankly trying to process whatever she was about to say fearing the unknown.

The silence finally broke when Harold spoke with little words he can muster up as his thoughts were still in disarray feeling afraid to know what lies beneath the underbelly of his fellow classmates. The presentation continued and there were only a few minutes before Harper's group come up and present.

" Sooo.. what happened?" He asked with the number of words he could gather at that moment

" How can I put this well it's not easy to explain these kinds of things." She spoke thinking about how she gonna explain it to him

" It's like, for example, public speaking in a large crowd isn't something that comes easy to her. It makes her feel tense and at times she can't breathe normally which makes it even harder for her to speak in front of people.

" That's the only way I could explain it in simple terms. I know there's more to it than that, but it seems hard to explain it in words. So I was worried it might cause her to have a panic attack or even faint." She explained

" That serious. I mean, doesn't everybody have that kind of issue, having stage fright. Isn't that normal?"

" It's true that it's normal for most people, but her issues are not as simple as that. There was this incident where she fainted because she was asked to give a speech in front of everyone in the morning ceremony a few years back."

" Really!! She fainted. That's really hard to believe. I mean, looking at her, you would think that she excels at anything she put her mind to it."

" You're right, honestly she is absolutely perfect at handling anything but if you asked her to speak in front of more than a dozen strangers, she would freak out and get so anxious that shell get a panic attack and she wouldn't be of any help afterward. So she tries her best to avoid every possible way to speak in front of everyone." She explained as much as she could

" Wow, that's really hard for her. I mean this class have a lot of presentation to do it's going to be difficult for her to handle. How is she gonna be able to get through them?"

" I'm not entirely sure myself but based on the conversation we had she is trying her best not to freak out and go into overdrive. She also told me that she explain her issue to her teammate so that she won't burden the load that they were going to do." She answered

" Although she still has to present some of the stuff, they agreed that she's only going to present the ones with the least amount of explanation so she won't push herself too much." She added

" Ah, that's good. At least she was able to explain her situation to her partner, which will make things a lot simpler. It's still surprising to hear about her fear of having panic attacks. I wouldn't have guessed that if you haven't filled me in about it."

" You're not the only one who was surprised to hear that. I was too. Honestly, I thought she was good at everything she does, but when she told me this, I was just as surprised as you are right now."

" Are you sure you're allowed to share these kinds of information with me?" he question

" Yeah, I don't think it's a secret. It's fine if people know about her issue if it is necessary, I suppose."

" Thank you for the presentation, Haley's group. Next up will be Harper. Your group will be presenting, please prepare your slides and get ready to start." Miss Alison informed them

" You ready to do this Harper?" asked Fate

" I guess so. I just want this to be over with. Thanks for asking." She responded with more hesitant in her voice

" Yes, ma'am." They stood up and walked over to the front of the class and set up their slides on her laptop and began

" Good morning, everyone! I am Harper and this is Fate and we are here to present to you our explanation about the dispute between Oxyln and Westeria.

" Hey, about the thing we were talking about. You know about the rumor. Can you tell me what they're talking about?

Elizabeth was fully concentrated on what was being presented at the front of the class ignoring everything around her as she listens intently to Harper and Fates' presentation.

Her facial expression changed as Harper was presenting, worrying about how much stress she might be feeling while she is presenting. She thought that she might faint or freeze up there, which will hurt their chances of having a good result.

" Hey, Elizabeth!! Hello? Can you hear me? I'm trying to say something." Trying to get her attention even for just a second

" Elizabeth!" He nudges her to bring her back to reality

" Yeah! What do you want?! Can't you see I'm busy right now!" She snarled at him

" Oh, I bet. Your laser focus on what's happening in front. I just wanted to ask about the rumor you've been hearing about." He replied

" Is that all you wanted to ask me about? Can that wait until later on? I'm listening to their presentation and I'm worried about Harp."

" Yeah, I can tell from your facial expression. It looks like you're bipolar. Which is pretty funny."

" What do you mean bipolar? It's not funny."

" Well, your facial expression changes each time Harper is the one doing the presentation. Every time she stops and she starts. Your facial expression changes it's pretty funny looking at you."

" What it does?" I didn't realize. Her face was flushed

" I was so focused on what is happening and worrying about what might happen to her."

" You really are a good friend. She should be happy to have you as a friend." He compliments her

" You think so. I was just doing what I can to look after her so she won't get stressed even further. I'm just doing what a friend would do that's all nothing special. If you don't mind I wanna listen to the rest of the presentation." She spoke

"Oh sure don't mind me."

" These are some of the examples of the armory and the arterially that Oxylyn built after the war to better prepare their own nation if ever they were attacked by the neighboring country. They have also set up various defense forces to fight against the impending danger that might occur." Harper explained briefly

"The nation of Oxyln was colonized by one of the superpower countries Argonia back in the 18th hundred and they were only able to become independent when the duke of Argonia handed the country to sir Welford the leader of the country before they were colonized." Fate explained

" After the duke left. The country was getting by, but the success of the country was slowing down, and there we lesser ships docking in their port meaning there was a lesser business which causes the economy to go down.”

“After 20 years, the country found another source of business which was a big risk it was their last and only hope to increase the gross domestic product. Not long after that, the country started to flourish again on its own and they tried to come up with more ways to keep increasing their gross domestic income so that they won't depend on other countries for help." Fate continued

" At the beginning the business was successful but after a few years, there was an outbreak of a disease which halted the production of the stock causing an economic downgrade around the world. Since trading between ports was becoming rare there were a lot of supplies being wasted resulting in losing more profit causing the country to be in great debt." Fate drawled

" However, a few years after that the country started to gain all their losses as the country agreed with the nation of Rograrion that they can use the country's port without any tax exemption and train their soldiers in Oxyln in exchange for doing business with them." Added Harper

" This caused a great economic boost to the country of Oxlyn which help them win over the war against Wisteria. They had more advanced equipment and were capable of getting more troops to help them fight against Wisteria. This also helped the country to increase its revenue after the war had ended which contributed to the increase in their economic growth." Fate carried on

" Thank you for your kind attention." In unison

"Alright, that was a good presentation. Now anyone of you has questions for them?" asked Miss Alison

Silence could be heard for a moment. Soon after, a student wearing a blue spectacles frame with braided hair and a fringe resting on her spectacles raised her hand and broke the silence.

" How did Argonia colonize Oxyln? Rose question

" Back then Oxyln was just a piece of land with a few villages and ruins around when the war started between Warbeton and Targobon the nation of Argonia formed an alliance with the country of Warbeton."

"When Oxyln was in danger of being taken over by the opposing party the ruler of Argonia asked duke Gorge for help to defend the country which helped the nation and the people to survive and after that Argonias king decided to colonize the country." Fate answered

" I have another question. What was the business that they made? and what makes Oxyln business so successful that it helped their economic growth?" Henry spoke

" That's a good question. After the duke left in 1850 sir Welford-"

" Sorry for interrupting but can Harper answer this question. I would like to see how she is going to explain it and I can see that you explain more of the presentation than Harper did.

I would like for her to explain since this is a pair of work I would assume she also knows as much information as you do. Demanded Miss Alison

" Yes, ma'am." Fate responded

"Harper you're up please explain."

Harper was paralyzed with fear she stood there staring at a motivational poster that was hanging at the back of the class. She begins to perspire the air around her seems to be thinner causing her to breathe heavily.

She tries to speak but nothing was being heard it was as if her mouth has a mind of its own defying her will to speak.

She started shaking in fear forcing herself to say something anything that would help her respond to what miss Alison was telling her. Finally, she regains her strength to speak but she could only muster up two words.

"Oh...kay." Her voice trembles with fear

" Well, I’m waiting, go on please explain it." Miss Alison spoke

Harper started to sweat profusely and she can't seem to speak no matter how much she tries. Her face looks pale as though she has seen a ghost as she stood there petrified her hand started shaking. What felt like a minute feels like forever in her time.

Fate tried calling her to bring her back to reality but to no avail. Fate gripped Harper's hand which made her snap back she looked at Fate as she let go of her hand.

"Are you feeling ok?" asked Miss Alison

Before Harper could speak she started running out of the classroom

.

” Hey, where are you going!! Come back here you still have a presentation to do."

Fate chased after Harper she stopped at the nearby toilet where Harper had gone to. Fate rushed in only to see her vomiting out everything she ate for breakfast. She stood behind her caressing her back and trying to prevent her hair from getting in the way. Soon after, Elizabeth came.

" Are you ok?" Elizabeth asked

" Ughh!! I think I just vomited all I had in my stomach." Replied Harper feeling whizzy

" What happened, back there? You just ran out of the classroom. Miss Alison was so mad after you left.* Elizabeth added

" I had to! I was about to vomit in front of everybody I had to get out of there it was just way too much pressure to deal with." She replied

" Sorry about this Fate. Now cause of me well probably get a bad grade from this I'm really sorry about this."

" It's ok just as long as your feeling ok. Come on let's go back to class she's probably still piping hot from this."

Walking back to class Elizabeth and Fate walked in front of her rushing to reach the classroom before the next group comes up and present. Suddenly, they heard a huge noise behind them before they manage to turn around they knew what had happened. Harper laying there on the cold hard floor like a corpse.