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died, they believed that they became gods and lived in a wonderful
afterlife." At least Melanie had learned something during her research.
David nodded in approval and asked Heather to show them hers.
Heather's topic was a general history of Egypt, but her picture
was of a sailboat crossing what was supposed to be the Nile River.
"What does that have to do with anything?" David asked. Alex
looked at it and started laughing.
Heather looked distraught. "I don't know!" she shouted. "Why
couldn't we have done a talk show? This whole thing is so stupid!" She
tried to fling her picture at the boys, but the air caught it and sent it back
146 | Leah
towards her where it landed gently at her feet.
"Come on don't get upset," David said.
It was too late. Heather felt humiliated and furious, and she
sought to take her anger out on someone else. Her eyes searched for a
victim and found Leah, who was now holding her drawing face up in her
lap, in anticipation of showing it to the group.
"Well, if you think my picture is stupid, look at hers!" Heather
said, pointing at Leah's drawing. Everyone looked and Leah stiffened
under their gaze. "What is that? A crown?! The Egyptians never wore
crowns like that!"
David jumped in: "I never said your picture was stupid, Heather.
Just relax. We'll use it it's fine." Meanwhile, Leah's feelings were hurt,
and she turned her picture face down again. She would have liked to have
torn it up, but she didn't know what else to draw. She hoped for some
comfort from David, but the best she got from him was "There's nothing
wrong with anybody's picture." Leah still felt ashamed and Heather
continued to sulk.
"Fine," Heather muttered, "we'll just do whatever you want."
Unhappy and irritable, the group left their pictures indoors and
went back outside to start filming their reports. Alex and David turned
the camera back on and got it ready to record. The girls sat down and
waited quietly.
"Are we ready?" David asked Alex after a moment.
"Yeah."
To the girls, David said, "OK, I guess we'll sit in the order in
which we'll be giving our reports. I'll introduce our project and then give
the first report, so I'll sit there on the end. Heather, you'll go second,
then Melanie, then Leah. Alex, since you're not saying anything, you can
just sit at the other end. And everyone remember to speak up!"
"And speak slowly," Melanie added.
Everyone took their places and got ready. David checked the
camera one last time, pressed the record button, and sat down in his
chair. A red light started flashing on top of the camera to signify it was
recording. Leah watched it, and cleared her throat. She was nervous.
J.M. Reep | 147
David sat down and, after a brief pause, said, "Hi, today, we're
going to tell you about ancient Egypt " He was suddenly interrupted by
Heather and Melanie who started laughing and giggling. "What?!" David
demanded.
"You sound like some stupid news reporter," Heather laughed.
"'Today we're going to tell you about ancient Egypt!'" she mocked, and the
two girls laughed harder. Alex started laughing too, and even Leah had to
smile.
"OK, come on, grow up," David said. He waited until they
calmed down, and then he began again. "Hi, today we're "
More laughter, this time from everybody.
David stood up and walked over to the camera. He turned it off
and faced his partners. He was smiling, but he was angry, too. Leah didn't
want him to be angry with her so she stopped laughing and put on a
serious expression. She pinched her hand in an attempt to try to keep her
giggling in check. It worked. Clearly annoyed, David said, "Go ahead and
laugh just get it out of your systems." After a moment, the giggles
subsided, and everyone, including Heather and Melanie, promised they
wouldn't laugh any more. David didn't seem to believe them, but he
wanted to get back to work so he accepted their word. He started
recording, sat down in his chair, and tried to begin again.
David read his report straight through this time without any
interruption. But although everyone was quiet, they weren't exactly sober
and serious either. Leah didn't look at the faces of Heather and Melanie,
because she was staring directly at the camera and trying to concentrate,
but if she had looked at either of the two girls, she would have seen their
faces contort as they struggled to keep their laughter within. In fact, their
facial expressions looked so ridiculous that if Leah had looked at them,
she would have started giggling herself. It didn't occur to Heather and
Melanie that the camera was capturing on video their heroic battle against
laughter, and had the video ever been shown in class, it would have
caused them a great deal of embarrassment.
When David finished reading his report, they took a short break.
David's partners remarked on how well he had delivered his speech. No
148 | Leah
one kept time, but everyone agreed that David's report must have taken
up four minutes at least. He spoke slowly, sometimes straying from
what he had written so that he could explain a point differently. Alex
suggested that if everyone could read their reports just as well, they
wouldn't have to worry about the length of their presentation at all.
Heather was next. David started the camera again and Heather
began reading. She wasn't even two sentences into it when the laughter
returned, but this time it came from David.
"And you thought we were being immature!" Heather scolded.
"I know I know," David said, trying to control himself. He
cleared his throat and apologized, "I'm sorry I won't do it again don't
worry about me."
He didn't laugh again, but his laughter only rekindled what the
others had tried hard to extinguish. Alex and Melanie continued to laugh
and giggle, and on more than one occasion, Heather interrupted herself
when laughter escaped from her lips instead of information about
Egyptian history. Leah laughed the least, but she was smiling the whole
time.
Almost twenty minutes passed before Heather was able to read
through her report without any interruptions. Heather's report wasn't as
long as David's, but Heather said she believed it had taken longer to read
than it had earlier when she read her report in the house. Melanie was
next. By this time, everyone had grown tired of laughing; even Leah
didn't have to pinch her hand any more. But Melanie's laughter was just
getting its second wind. She couldn't even read the first word of her
report without cracking up. "I feel like an idiot talking to a camera!" she
cried.
David stood up and decided it was time to take up his mother's
earlier offer for a snack they all needed a break. He led his partners
back into the house, and Leah was thankful for the opportunity to stand
up and stretch. It seemed as if all she had done since she had been at the
house was sit and listen to the other four. And besides, she felt drained
after devoting so much energy to preventing herself from laughing that
she needed to recharge. Mrs. Parks had long since returned to the second
J.M. Reep | 149
floor of the house so the five teenagers went into the kitchen and helped
themselves. David poured soft drinks for everyone and opened a bag of
cookies. Leah had a drink but she declined the cookie. As the five of
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