This is my short story, Group Work. We wrote these in English. This story is the basis of this project. My short story is basically the written version of my animation, photo narrative, and illustration. My inspiration for this story came from some of my life. Standards are impossible to avoid, especially with other siblings who may be better at you in something.
Group Work
"Someone shoot me" Kim thought, as she stared at the board with the list of groups. Not only was this the last project of the year, it was the one that would determine whether her stumbling eighty-nine percent could turn her 'B' into an 'A'. It was a Tuesday morning, and as her teacher puts it, "the most productive day of the week". This did not apply to the first period class though. With the snow laying itself across the school campus like a blanket of crystal fuzz, it all the more lured students to sleep on their desks. Droopy eyed students dragged themselves up and out of their seats to formulate into groups. All but Kim.
Her eyes glued to the board, she could not believe her bad luck, which was getting worse as realization hit her. She glanced at her group in the corner of their cubicle classroom, and was appalled to see that she had been put with people that did not even realize the significance of grades. "Why couldn't I be put with the 2400 people?" Kim wailed under her breath. She stalked over to her co-workers for this project and plopped down in an empty seat.
"So, how do you guys want to do this thing?" Kim suggested with an acidic tone to her voice. No interaction or response whatsoever. She turned to her left, and the girl sat next to her was texting with social fervor on her phone. The whole little piece of technology was shaking as her thumbs punched in numbers meticulously. Kim whipped her head to the right, only to be greeted by a guy with ipod headphones jammed into his ears, and fiddling with a tech-deck mini skateboard. Kim stared at the ceiling in disbelief. This project would dictate her grade, and whether her parents would unleash their fury. Kim sat in silence as she thought about the last time her parents were disappointed in her. Her sister, Kerry, had set the bar high, too high. There was no way she could live up to her parent's expectations after her sister had already done it, and made sure that Kim could never get there. Kim cringed at the thought of her parents shaking their head with dismay after reviewing her report card. "I am not going to let this group do this to me." Kim thought and bit her lip. It was time to take initiative.
Kim jerked up out of her seat abruptly. "Do you guys not care that we have a major project due in like less than a week?" She burst. The girl next to her jumped a little from the sudden blast of noise beside her.
"Whoa, you don't have to yell at me, you know. I'm right here!" she said, waving her free hand in the air at Kim, and clutching her cell phone in her other.
"Well, I wouldn't have yelled at you if you were actually helping me do the project! I am not doing this whole thing by myself" Kim retaliated.
"You could of asked me to help you!"
"I did! But I guess texting right now is way more important than this final project of the year right?"
"Sheesh, we still have thirty minutes to work on it! It's not like you're going to die if you don't get it done."
That hit a nerve, and suddenly, it was like a switch had been flipped on in Kim's mind.
"You. Have. No. Idea." Kim spat out. She was seeing red, and she swore that her blood was boiling like a huge vat of soup. All that resentment against her parents, her sister, and their expectations were pouring out of her.
"If I don't get an 'A' on this, then I'm going to let Mr. Anderson know why. It's because I have a group that doesn't do anything but sit here!" Kim threatened as she gave her a long hard glare. Kim felt herself breathing heavily, and her heart throbbed. "I'm sick of this. I'm sick of the expectations. I'm sick of being a failure to my parents" was all she could hear in her mind. It was like static inside her head, with her conscience fighting to get a connection with her mind. Kim felt a headache creeping up on her from the left side of her brain. She didn't notice that her hands were balled up in fists, and her legs were trembling from all the weight of the argument and the standards that she knew she could not reach.
The boy on the right stared at Kim, and slowly removed his headphones as if he were under inspection at the airport. The girl immediately picked up a sense of offense radiating from Kim's pissed off face. She backed down with shrug and picked up a marker to start decorating their poster. The boy followed after her actions, picking up a textbook and feverishly flipping through pages, scrounging up information to please the witch standing next to him.
Kim glanced around, and several other people quickly snapped their heads back to their books when her glare landed on them. "So I'm the bad guy here. Oh I see how it is." Kim replied everyone's stare as she seated herself back down. Feeling a twinge of guilt for exploding on her team, she sneaked a look at the girl next to her. She was scribbling out lines of detail about the French government. Kim turned to the boy, only to see that he was taking notes diligently for the presentation.
"A 'sorry' wouldn't help much." the girl muttered in Kim's direction, and tossed her a marker.
Kim looked at her and then back down at the poster. She could not get what she wanted without being made the enemy. Kim sighed, and began to work on the project.
