Storm's POV

Eyes. Boring into my soul.

Stop staring at me!

What do you want them to do, Storm? You are presenting your project...or at least you're supposed to be! How is it that you always have something to say and now that you have to use your mouth, you're somehow mute?

What do I say?

Tell the class the name of your presentation.

Right!

It takes me longer than it should to open the plastic bag I'm carrying due to the uncontrollable trembling of my hands(definitely not awkward!). The scratchy feeling of the cardboard shoe box, which is inside my bag along with other objects that will remain unnamed for now, greets my hand and I debate whether or not I should pull the item out.

Don't let the fear of what could happen make nothing happen. Somebody has to stand when other people are sitting, somebody has to speak when everyone else is quiet.

My eyes meet with Miss Cooke's face, which has the question are you okay? written all over it. It's just occurred to me now that I owe her my gratitude because if it wasn't for the project she set in September, my life would be spent the same as it was before: being someone else. If it wasn't for this project, I would have never got the chance to know Stella, who taught me what friendship really is. If it wasn't for this project, I wouldn't be stood here, trying to make a difference in the life of myself and others; I would have realised too late and regret would have eaten me up.

Turning away from my teacher, I face the rest of the class; there's an impatient silence floating around the classroom. I start to get emotional just thinking of how I've known most of the people here for so long yet I've never felt free enough to express my true self to them. Up until now.

I pull the box out of the bag and place it on the desk at the front that is filled with the projects of everyone else. While I turn the cardboard box around to ensure the side that has the words 'Secondary School' written in my messy handwriting is visible for the audience, I announce:

"The title of my project is 'The Box That Secondary School Puts Us In'."

As expected, this is the cue for an outbreak of mutterings among my classmates.

"I'm disappointed, Storm! I would have preferred for the subject of your presentation to be your partner, Stella!" Liam's voice rings above the chatter.

The smug smirk from when he was causing trouble for Stella earlier on in the lesson returns to his face. I meet his gaze with a look of pity because it's like Albert Einstein said, the lesser the knowledge, the more the ego and the boy who enjoys seeing others in difficulty wouldn't understand the power of knowing if it even slapped hum in the face.

"That would have been nice to know, Liam! That is, if I had asked!" I tease and as soon as the insult has been thrown, most of the class share their cries of amusement.

"Miss Cooke said that we're allowed to give constructive criticism," Liam points out due to embarrassment.

You probably don't even know what that is!

"I did but you must have missed the part where I told everyone to be polite. Liam, do I need to set you your own special piece of homework to search up the definition of 'polite'?" Miss Cooke comes to my defence, which is making it almost impossible for me to keep a straight face. Liam doesn't reply immediately so she repeats the question for him again and on the second time around, I'm no longer alone in the struggle to be serious: Stella has her hand clamped over her mouth as if a giggle will burst out of it any second, now.

"No," Liam responds, his eyes focused on the carpet beneath his feet.

"So glad we're all on the same page! You were saying, Storm?" Miss Cooke nods in my direction as a signal to continue. I take a sheet of paper full of words from my bag and start reading them out aloud.

"Raise your hand if you've heard of the metaphor 'think outside the box'," I instruct the class and sooner or later, many hands are in the air so I continue," That's good! Keep your hands in the air if you know what it means."

Most of them remain in the air, which is perfect. I randomly pick a girl with her hand up to tell me the meaning of this phrase:

"It's a way to say to do things that other people don't do. Don't be scared of being different!"

"Exactly! I especially love that last part! Don't be scared of being different. I've heard that so many times in my life that unfortunately, I have lost count and I'm sure many of you - if not all of you - can agree with me here! However, it's so common that students at secondary school don't think outside the box! They are scared of being different. They are scared of standing out. They are scared of being themselves. Why is that?"

I pause for effect and notice that everyone seems so engrossed in what I am saying.

"One reason is because we're going through a period of change. We're going through our teenage years, the worst and the best years of a person's life. It's the time when we're supposed to have these fun adventures before we become adults so that when we're ancient, we can look back at them and smile," I read aloud the last sentence, which makes Miss Cooke chuckle.

"But many people mistake this part of a person's life as just smiles when actually there are tears, too. Lots of them actually. Why is that? Well, maybe it's because people have made rude comments about your appearance or you feel like you can't talk to any of your friends. Or you just wish you were somewhere else. Or you get into arguments, which you learn the painful truth from. Or you simply see a lot of people you don't want to see. That's the story of high school. One time, when I was on Google, I found this quote that said the definition of high school is where self-esteem, innocence and dreams go to die."

When I read this quote out, I hear someone mutter," That's deep!"

That's the same thought that crossed my mind when I read it for the first time!

It's insane what effect quotes can have on you: it's just a recording of a group of words said by an ordinary person yet it can hit you where it hurts or help you get out of a dark place.

"There are three parts to that. The first one is self-esteem. The confidence in one's worth or abilities. Self-respect. Self-love. One of the most important things you need to have to be happy. So why does self-esteem die in high school? Well, let's go back to the part I mentioned rude comments. This Canadian writer, Robin Sharma, once said: words can inspire. And words can destroy. Choose yours well. You may say something mean to someone else but then forget about it and even when you remember it, you may be like: it wasn't that mean! The point is that it was mean, anyway, and it still affected someone! It hurt that person and when you start hurting someone it leads to that same person hurting themselves. You're probably thinking why would someone hurt themselves? Why would someone be mean to themselves? Why would someone bully themselves? The human mind. If you don't train your mind to not let what people say to you get to you, you're end up doing yourself worse damage than that mean person. Personally, I want to say sorry to all the people who hurt themselves because of some insensitive thing I said."

At the same time I say this last sentence, somehow, Stella and I lock eye contact and for a split second, I see forgiveness shining in her eyes.

"Maya Angelou once said: the real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If there is one thing I've learnt it's that what holds someone back is not what they are but it's what you think you aren't. There will always be someone who can't see your worth. Don't let it be you. Let it be so that you are in love with the person in the mirror. Because that person may have been through so much but they are still standing. And how you love yourself is how you teach others to love you. Self-esteem is the ability to see yourself as a flawed individual and still hold yourself in high regard."

"The second part to the quote is innocence. The lack of deceit or corruption. Purity. Something every child has because they're unaware of what is going on around them. Because of that, you are less likely to be insecure in that time before your teenage years. Because in that time the only thing you know is how to be yourself. It's natural. Why wouldn't you be yourself? Then you reach your adolescence and that changes. You become more like other people than yourself."

"Ouch!" I hear my classmates whisper.

"How does that happen? How do you change for other people? Well, that is by living up to others' expectations. I don't know if you've ever watch this rom-com called '10 Things I Hate About You'-"

"Omg is that the film with Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger!" someone from the audience interrupts.

"I still can't believe he's gone!" another voice chips in.

"Yes, it is. And for those who don't know it or have never watched, the plot follows a high schooler called Cameron, who cannot date Bianca until her ill-tempered older sister, Kat, has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy named Patrick to date Kat. I highly recommend it, especially if you like 'The Taming of the Shrew' since the movie is adapted from this William Shakespeare play."

As soon as I mention Shakespeare, Miss Cooke watches me, even more interested since the man is like the king of English language.

"You're probably wondering what does '10 Things I Hate About You' have to do with living up to others' expectations. Well, even if the movie is focused on a  lot of romance and comedy, there are really important lessons to take away from it. The main character, Kat Stratford, teaches viewers  the only person whose opinion really matters is your own, which is just one of the reasons why she is such a good role model in her own way. Another lesson is that you should never be ashamed of who you are; Kat being blunt and sarcastic is what makes the audience love her. In one scene, Kat reminds her younger sister, Bianca, that she doesn't always have to be what they want her to be which is her way of saying: you can and you should do whatever you want to do in life because after all, it is yours. Another topic that comes up in '10 Things I Hate About You' that really links to my presentation is peer pressure. We've all heard those two words before but do we really understand what they mean? Because I didn't until recently."

Before I can even ask for people's contribution, there are already hands up, which feels my heart with joy that there are some people in my class who are really getting into this. My goal is that by the time I finish speaking, everyone will be inspired to create change and if they're not, then I won't stop. I'll never stop trying because if this project has taught me something, it's you have to be the change you want to see in the world. I point at one of my classmates with his hand up as a signal to answer my question.

"It's the influence of other people to act in a certain way," he replies.

"Exactly! It's this stupid voice in our head that tells us we have to follow the crowd! It's this stupid voice in our head that turns us into something less than what we truly are. It's this stupid voice that tells us to chase being 'cool'. Don't give into it! Don't give into peer pressure! Don't follow the crowd, create your own path. Don't turn into something less than what you truly are, be the brilliant person you are! Don't chase being 'cool'! Because guess what: that word 'cool' doesn't mean anything outside of high school!"

"That's true!" Miss Cooke murmurs in agreement.

"During one of the scenes of '10 Things I Hate About You', Bianca is talking to Cameron about her sister. She tells him that Kat used to be popular but she must have got sick of it and later on in the film, Kat tells Bianca how she was once a victim of peer pressure and how at one point, she swore she'd never do anything again just because everyone else is doing it. This scene allows the teenage audience to relate to Kat, no matter how different their personalities are, which is another magical element of the movie. Near the end of '10 Things I Hate About You' is the most famous scene: Kat reads out the poem in which the film is named after and as the audience sees her burst into tears in front of her teacher and her peers it shows people of any age that you should always show how you really feel. Don't hide your emotions to make everyone else comfortable because that's the deepest pain you would ever feel. Feelings are like waves, we can't stop them from coming but we can choose which one to surf. You don't have to come off as strong in front of others when you fell asleep crying. You don't have to act like nothing is wrong when deep down, you know you are lying. It's funny to think about it but pillows are not only used to support our head when lying or sleeping but it also supports us because sometimes, we feel the need to cry into our pillows when we're super upset. So, actually only our pillows know the amount of emotions we hide from the world."

"I never thought about it that way!" there are whispers of assent.

"So, finally there's one more important lesson from '10 Things I Hate About You': you shouldn't buy into other people's expectations of your life. Climb your own ladder! Free yourself from the pressure of other people's expectations. So, while we're still on this topic, let's talk about some examples of expectations of secondary school students might have of their peers."

"Number one: being 'too smart' is a bad thing. Well, it's not. It's funny what culture we live in because we are swimming in an ocean of information but drowning in ignorance. So for anybody here who has ever mocked someone for being educated, intelligence is always the loudest voice so therefore, it's something to be praised not teased. So, next time one of your peers gets a good grade or gives a good answer, don't jeer but just cheer because the highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about. And no, that rhyme was not deliberate; I hadn't even noticed it until I proof read it. On the other hand, for anybody here who has been mocked for your knowledge, don't be discouraged but instead be encouraged. Why? Because you aren't the danger. It's other people's sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity that is dangerous. This is my first time admitting this aloud but I used to know the answers to a lot of questions in class but I would rarely put my hand up. It wasn't because I was scared of getting the answer wrong but I feared too much about being called a try-hard by all of you. I had witnessed so many being made fun of for being clever that it forced me into silence. Martin Luther King Junior once said: our lives begin to the end the day we become silent about things that matter."

"Number two: in order to be 'beautiful', you have to look like the models and influencers on social media. Wrong! According to research, before phones and social media, teens weren't so insecure about their looks. Why is this? Due to social media, society has become more judgemental over what makes someone 'beautiful'. Don't give into society because it's the ugly one, not you! Don't compare your looks to others because comparison is the thief of joy. Beauty goes beyond your appearance. Beauty is what you feel about yourself, not what you see in the mirror."

"Number three: Everybody else's business is your own. Especially when you reach secondary school, gossip becomes a big thing and minding your own business almost becomes non-existent. We need to put a stop to that: we shouldn't be sticking our noses into matters that don't concern us just for our own entertainment. We need to stop running our mouths to others as a deliberate attempt to cause trouble. We need to stop the 'oh, do you know this person said this about you'. Why? Because you are just proving to others that you have a weak mind: strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events and weak minds discuss people. Remember, only insecure people need to speak badly about others as an underhanded way of praising themselves. Don't be one of those people! And to those who have been gossiped about, rumours are carried by haters, spread by fools and accepted by idiots. Never waste your time trying to explain who you are to people who are committed to misunderstanding you!"

"On a final note, I've learnt from preparing for this presentation that not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path. So today marks of the ending of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. The door to my past has closed and the door to my future has just opened. The old Storm is out and the new her has just arrived. Thank you for listening!"

Silence. Again. Everyone in the room is watching me cautiously as if I'm an alien, arriving on a spaceship from outer space.

This is so awkward! This didn't happen in the other presentations! Can you all just clap so my face can return to its average temperature?

Then, there's the sound of a chair scraping across the carpet. My eyes follow the direction from where it came from and now, my feeling of discomfort is being replaced with puzzlement and shock. Stella has risen from her seat and has now, attracted all of the attention in the classroom.

What are you doing? I mouth this question to her and she responds with a small, sincere smile, which tells me that I shouldn't fear whatever she's planning to do. That's why a grin crept onto my face.

Then, Stella starts clapping. At first, it's the only sound that fills the room but then, I can hear the echo of applause but even more nearby. Almost like another pair of hands has joined in. I turn to discover why it sounds even closer than before: Miss Cooke, sat a few metres away, is clapping. The effect resembles the Mexican wave because after Stella and Miss Cooke had put their hands together, gradually the whole class participated(of course Liam was the last person to join in but I think he did it more out of feeling obligated rather than rightfully congratulating me, but who cares!).

"Thank you, Storm, for a spectacular presentation! I'm proud of all of you for working so hard this term and I hope you keep this up even after the holidays!" Miss Cooke praises just as the bell rings, signalling freedom," Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!"

As I'm gathering all of my belongings, I suddenly feel a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I receive the second shock of today when I find Stella is responsible for attempting to get my attention.

"That was a really good presentation," she compliments, not a single hint of the smile from earlier showing.

"Thanks," I say, uncertain because I feel like there's more to the praise she's giving me.

"You were wrong about one thing, though," Stella adds, her straight face amplifying the seriousness to the statement.

"Oh, what?" I ask, shifting from one foot to the other as a sign of my uneasiness.

"You said the old Storm is out and the new her has just arrived. I disagree. The old Storm, aka the real you, was always there, she was just hidden all this time. The new Storm, aka the fake you, has just left because you've found the old you."

She's right!

"Well, I am grateful to be graced with your words of wisdom, Miss Johnson," I say playfully.

Stella laughs.

I laugh.

Maybe, this is a sign that life is going to start becoming good again.

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Author's Note

Next part is going to be the Epilogue! I can't believe this story is almost at its end!