I sit down in the living room facing Christine, who's sitting across from me. We've been sitting here in silence for about five minutes, but it feels like an hour.

Christine stares at me almost as if I'm a map she's trying to figure out. She's probably wondering how I've taken off the mask that I've worn every time that we have our therapy sessions. And now that I'm not wearing the mask today, it seems pretty shocking to her.

She sits up straight, putting her notepad and pen to the side, then crossing her legs to again look at me. "I don't think that it was me who helped you," she says with a smile on her face and then she asks, "How?"

I almost sigh in relief that she has broken the silence and smile at her in return. "You're right... You're kind of the one who didn't really help me," I say, pausing to think on how I should answer the question she asked, but I just sit back, deciding not to answer.

"Hmm... Then who is the one who helped you?" she asks.

"Well, I've been spending lots of time with a... friend," I start, and I can see as Christine's face brightens, eager to hear what I'm going to say next. "He's actually been really nice to me... I would go to his house and we would do the project, that we've been assigned, together. We would sometimes put the project aside and do other things, such as hanging out around his house, doing stuff..."

"Your friend is a he," she says almost to herself, but I nod my head anyway. "So I'm guessing the way the both of you communicated with each other is by texting, right?"

I nod my head in reply to her question. "You're right, again, but most of the time, he would actually be the one to talk to me while I reply to him by texting."

"He seems like a good guy..." she says. "I want you to tell me how he got you to take off the mask."

"He's just been giving me tips on how to stand up to someone at my school. He's told me that I should be confident in myself. Well, that was one of the tips. The other was that I should take off my mask," I say to her.

"Where were you guys when you took off your mask and was it you who took off the mask or was it... him?" she asks, now sounding curious.

"It was him who took off the mask," I say, and her eyebrows shoot up. "We were sitting down at the back of his house on a bench staring at pretty much nothing in particular. He complimented me on how confident I was the day before and told me about the next step. You can already guess what happened."

My mind flashes back to that day and a small smile slides onto my face as I look down at my hands on my lap, fiddling with my fingers. When Chance had told me to hold my smile and I hit his arm as he took the picture of me while I'm laughing, that moment was so perfect that I wish I had a video of it to watch it over and over again.

Christine notices my sudden flashback and clears her throat to bring me back to the present. "Yes, I sure can guess what happened," she says, smiling. She takes up her notepad and pen that she had set aside and starts writing down what I think to be notes of our conversation. She stops writing to look up at me and says, "Well, I guess this is our last therapy session, Annie."

A sudden sadness lands on my shoulders and I look down slightly. Even though I didn't really like having these therapy sessions, I sure did start to like her company. Christine not only talks to me about my mask but also about different things that aren't so... boring. Now that her company is going to be gone, I'm going to miss her.

"Yeah," I say with a sigh and a small frown on my lips. "You're a pretty good person to talk to, Christine. I'm going to miss the small conversations we would have with each other..."

"Thanks, Annie. Me too," she says with a frown, but still laughs lightly. "Well, I should get going. I have another therapy session that I should get to in about an hour."

She stands up and I do so as well, walking behind her as she walks towards the door. My mom walks down the stairs in good timing and stands with me and Christine by the door.

"Leaving so soon, Christine," my mom says jokingly, and Christine laughs.

"Yes, Ms. Hunter. This is actually Annie and I's last therapy session," Christine looks at me momentarily.

"Oh, wow," Mom looks at me, then at Christine, walking over to her to give her a hug. "It was great having you here."

Christine hugs her back and they both let go of each other. "Well, goodbye the both of you. It was nice having you as one of my clients, Annie," she says and opens the door to leave. I stand by the door and watch as she walks to her car and enters it. She turns on the engine and notices me waving at her, she waves back at me and drives off.

It was nice having you as someone to talk to.

~ ~ ~

"...and that's how the Bill of Rights became the first ten amendments of the United States!" Ms. Goodnick says as the video ends. The students in my class all clap without enthusiasm and some of them shout 'Yay' to make it even more dramatically live in the classroom. Ms. Goodnick holds up both of her hands and moves them back and forth to indicate silence, "Quiet down class!"

Everyone quiets down and waits for Ms. Goodnick to speak. Ms. Goodnick smiles, pleased. "Okay, so, I know that this class subject is English and you're probably wondering why I'm teaching you this, but I'm doing this because you'll be having another project soon. Doesn't that sound fun?!"

Everyone groans, including me and Chance, who's sitting at the desk next to me in the other row. "Why does school have to be so horrible?" a student yells. "Yeah! Why?!" another student yells from their desk, slamming both of their hands down on the top of their desk.

"Settle down! I wouldn't want to hand out any detentions or referrals today!" Ms. Goodnick says with a serious tone, loudly. "Trust me, I didn't agree to this, but I have no choice. Don't worry, though... I won't be handing out the rubric until we're finished with the lesson!"

My classmates seem to calm down by what Ms. Goodnick said and starts talking to each other quietly. I turn my head to look at Chance. He doesn't notice me looking at him as he writes down some notes in what seems to be a planner.

"Taking notes I see," I whisper to him. He looks up quickly like he's been caught off guard.

"Oh, yeah," Chance says with a light laugh, resting his pencil down on his now-closed planner. "I was just writing down dates on homework that are going to be due soon for my other classes."

"Oh-" I start, but get cut off by Ms. Goodnick.

"Okay, class! So, remember that project that I assigned you for quite a long time?" she says, and some students murmur in reply. "I take that as a yes. Well, today is the day that you present your projects with your partners!"

I swallow hard as I sit still at my desk. I thought today was going to be a good day where nothing was going to get in the way of me smiling, but now my heart is beating with a sudden fear; the fear of everyone's eyes on me as I stand in the front of the classroom.

Questions bombard my mind. What if they laugh at me if I mess up on what I'm going to say? What if I just forget what I'm going to say and just stand there, making Chance do all the work? And most of all, what if I black out or go into that awkward mode when Chance finishes saying his part and it's my turn to speak?

I feel a tap on my left shoulder, causing me to turn my head to look at Chance. "You can do this," he says with a warm smile, but it doesn't seem to calm my nervousness down. "Just imagine everyone to be sitting on a toilet while they stare at you."

I giggle quietly under my breath, not able to hold it in, even though I'm feeling very nervous.

"You sure know how to make me feel a bit better," I say.

"I know, it's my specialty," he says, causing me to smile widely at him.

"Okay, up first is..." Ms. Goodnick says, calling the first names of the pairs that are up. The pairs walk up to the front of the class and start presenting their project.

Five pairs of students later, it's Chance and I's turn. I almost sit rooted in my spot but decide that I should walk to the front of the class instead. I'm standing in the front of the classroom with all eyes on me. I didn't even notice when Chance has pulled up our project on the projector as I just stand still with no ounce in me to move or at least, look at anyone.

"Hello, class. My name is Chance Beckett..." he begins, turning his gaze to me. He seems to be waiting for me to say my name, to introduce myself.

I quickly snap out of it, looking up. "My name is Annie Hunter," I say, adding to the introduction, slightly looking back down again. Some students gasps and others whisper, causing Ms. Goodnick to shush them.

"And we did our project on Maya Angelou," Chance finishes the introduction. He now looks at the students, sitting at their desk, with determination in his eyes and posture as he starts presenting our project, "Maya Angelou was an American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights, activist. She was born in 1928 and died in 2014."

I turn around to look at him as he presses a button on the laptop to change the slide. He faces our classmates again, opening his mouth to speak, but I interrupt him, "She's best known for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. She received several honors throughout her careers, such as the Langston Hughs Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Marian Anderson Award, and etcetera."

Instead of looking at those we're presenting to, I look at Chance. I can see the amusement in his eyes. One corner of his lips, tug upward into a smirk. I smile sheepishly at him, not caring who notices as we continue with our project.

* * *
A/N:

Hello, there!

Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I really appreciate it! As always, please leave a vote and your comment/s!!

- Tanya <3

Song: . . . Lost by Shallou.