Chapter 1: The Presentation
The countdown on the classroom clock felt like a ticking bomb. Five minutes until the bell. Five minutes until Mathew had to stand in front of thirty strangers.
Inside his chest, the pressure was building. It felt like a bubble of fizzing soda growing right beneath his collarbone. Not now, he thought, gripping the edges of his desk until his knuckles turned white.
“Next up is Matthew,” Mr. Davis called out, gesturing to the front of the room.
Mathew stood up. His chair scraped loudly against the linoleum floor. Right on cue, his neck snapped sharply to the right. Twitch. His eyes clamped shut for a second.
A kid in the front row smirked. Another whispered to her neighbor.
Mathew reached the podium and laid down his presentation object. He inhaled deeply, trying to push the fizzing bubble down.
“This is...” Mathew started, but the pressure exploded.
“HAH!” A sharp, barking sound burst from his throat.
The classroom went dead silent. Mathew’s face burned hot. He felt thirty pairs of eyes drilling into him. The familiar wave of embarrassment washed over him, but he forced himself to look forward.
“Sorry,” Mathew said, his voice steadying. “That’s just my Tourette’s. Anyway...”
