2 weeks later, Emily's POV

I inhaled deeply, trying to prepare for our presentation. I fiddled with my hair and fidgeted in my seat. Alfie put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"C'mon, it can't be that bad. The worst that could happen is that if I forget and you fill in. Or I fall off the stage." I rolled my eyes in spite of it.

"You won't fall; I'm the one that would fall. I tripped kneeling once."

"Then I'll catch you." Alfie said matter-of-factly. The current group finished their trivial presentation and the teacher announced us, the next presenters.

"Ready?" I asked, voice quivering and eyes wide. He pulled me up and we walked to the stage.

"Hey," Alfie began, "We did our project on the correlation of relationships in school and schoolwork." I never knew how to start presentations, so I was glad Alfie opened. I launched right in.

"So our hypothesis was that if you had good relationships at school, then you'd have better grades. We made a questionnaire for people to think for themselves, and we tested our grades and others'." I pointed to the questionnaire and the graphs on the poster board. I picked bright colors for the graphs, and that made me a little less nervous

"And if you would look to the graph of our grades," Alfie said, as I pointed them out, "Our grades have improved since the initiation of our relationship." I chuckled to myself. He sounded so professional, completely unlike himself.

"See, in Math, I went from a B to an A. And Emily went from an A- to an A+."

"Or in P.E.," I added," I went from a C+ to B. And that's big for me. I hate P.E." A few chuckles emanated from the audience. I continued on, empowered.

"And we also asked some other people. Person A, who has a lot of friends, mind you said this in her interview: 'Yeah, I definitely think having friends in school is better. I would get so lonely, and then start cutting or whatever.'"

"She also said she gets less reprimands in class," Alfie replied.

"That was the general consensus by others interviewed, too," I pointed to a pie chart.

"So, in conclusion, having friends and other happy relationships in school," Alfie glanced at me, "Helps your grades and keeps you happy." I thanked the audience and we left the stage. As we got back to our seats, Alfie asked me, "See? Was that so bad?" I looked at him and answered truthfully.

"It would have been worse without you."