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Skupinový projekt je nová časť seriálu Medzi nami, pripravená ako dvojjazyčný detský príbeh v slovenčine aj angličtine.
Skupinový projekt: začína sa príbeh
Keď pani učiteľka položila na stôl farebnú krabicu s kartónmi, polovica 8.B prestala šušťať zošitmi. Druhá polovica sa ešte stále tvárila, že sa jej to netýka.
„Máme pred sebou projekt na niekoľko dní,“ povedala a na tabuľu napísala veľkými písmenami: MESTO, V KTOROM SA DÁ ŽIŤ. „Budete pracovať v štvorčlenných skupinách. Každá skupina navrhne časť mesta a pripraví krátku prezentáciu. Nejde len o pekné obrázky. Zaujíma ma, ako ste sa dohodli a ako rozdelíte prácu.“
V triede to zašumelo.
„To znamená, že budeme aj normálne pracovať?“ ozval sa Filip zo zadnej lavice.
Niekoľkí sa zasmiali. Pani učiteľka sa naňho pozrela ponad okuliare.
„Predstav si to.“
Filip si položil ruku na hruď. „Ťažký deň pre umenie.“
Nela si otvorila zápisník, ten so samolepkou malého satelitu na obale. Medzi poznámky z matematiky napísala: Skupiny sa tvária ako náhoda, ale nikdy nie sú úplne náhoda.
Okolo nej sa už začali presúvať stoličky. Niekto potichu volal na kamarátku cez dve lavice, niekto sa tváril, že mu je jedno, s kým bude, hoci sa pritom pozeral len na jednu konkrétnu partiu. Adam si prehodil čierny batoh z jedného pleca na druhé a sledoval triedu, akoby si v hlave rátal možnosti.
Pani učiteľka však zdvihla ruku skôr, než sa trieda stihla rozdeliť sama.
„Skupiny určím ja. Aspoň raz nebudete bojovať o to, kto s kým sedí.“
Zadné lavice zareagovali nespokojným povzdychom. Kaja sa narovnala a potichu povedala: „To bude zaujímavé.“
Potom učiteľka čítala mená. Keď zaznelo Nelino, nasledovalo Kajino, Filipovo a Adamovo, všetci štyria sa na seba na chvíľu pozreli.
Nebolo to zlé zloženie. Aspoň tak to navonok vyzeralo.
Kaja si hneď prisunula stoličku bližšie k Nelinmu stolu. „Dobre. To dáme. Mestský park, doprava, nejaké bývanie… môžeme mať fakt dobrú prezentáciu.“
„A ja budem morálnou podporou,“ dodal Filip.
„To sa dá známkovať?“ spýtal sa Adam.
„Ak to spravíš presvedčivo, možno áno,“ usmial sa Filip.
Nela sa usmiala tiež, len trochu. Už v tej chvíli však cítila, ako sa veci rozbiehajú rýchlejšie, než stíha premýšľať.
Kaja vytiahla čistý papier. „Takže ja navrhnem celé mesto. Nela, ty vieš robiť tie pekné veci v prezentáciách, nie? Mohla by si spraviť slajdy. Filip nájde obrázky a Adam…“
Na okamih sa odmlčala.
„Adam môže vymyslieť dopravu,“ dokončila. „Lebo prišiel z iného mesta, tak bude mať porovnanie.“
Adam pokrčil plecami. „Môžem.“
„Super,“ povedala Kaja rýchlo. „A zdroje si nejako rozdelíme cestou.“
Nela sa pozrela na papier. Slajdy. Zdroje. Možno aj poskladanie celej prezentácie, ak sa ostatní pošlú len obrázky a nápady. Chcela povedať, že by si mali presne určiť, kto čo urobí. Lenže Kaja už písala nadpis a Filip vedľa nej kreslil malý mrak s nápisom Mesto bez pondelkov.
„To tam nedáme,“ povedala Kaja.
„Ešte nevieš. Môže to byť hlavná myšlienka.“
Nela zavrela zápisník. Možno sa to vyjasní neskôr, pomyslela si.
Po vyučovaní vznikla skupina v triednom chate. Názov vytvoril Filip: Urbanisti 8.B, ale normálni. Kaja ho po minúte zmenila na Projekt – mesto.
Nela ležala večer na posteli s mobilom nad tvárou. Vedľa nej svietila stolná lampa a na koberci zostala otvorená taška, z ktorej trčal roh zošita.
Kaja: Ja zajtra donesiem návrh, ako by to mohlo vyzerať.
Filip: Ja donesiem energiu a možno aj obrázky.
Kaja: Nie možno. Obrázky.
Filip: Dobre, dobre. Obrázky. Aspoň päť. Nech sa naše mesto nehanbí.
Adam: Pozriem dopravu.
Kaja: A Nela spraví kostru prezentácie? Aby sme mali kam dávať veci.
Nele zostal palec nad klávesnicou. Napísala: Môžem, ale potom by bolo dobré, keby ste mi poslali všetko do stredy.
Prečítala si vetu trikrát. Znela jej príliš prísne. Alebo príliš ako dospelá. Vymazala ju.
Namiesto toho poslala: Dobre.
O pár sekúnd pribudlo pod správou Kajino srdiečko. Filip poslal palec hore. Adam nič.
Keď sa veci začnú meniť
V hlavnom triednom chate medzitým niekto napísal, že skupina pri okne sa už háda o tému. Niekto iný poslal fotku troch spolužiakov, ktorí sedeli v knižnici nad papiermi. Pod ňou sa objavila správa: My už máme polku hotovú.
Nela si predstavila, ako všetci sledujú, kto je pozadu. Nie priamo. Nikto nenapísal: Vy nič nerobíte. Stačilo však pár správ, fotka a čas pri odoslaní.
Otvorila znova skupinový chat. Chcela napísať, že kostra prezentácie nie je len pár prázdnych slajdov. Že ak ju bude robiť sama, potrebuje vedieť, čo má vlastne skladať. Nakoniec mobil položila displejom dolu.
Na druhý deň sa mali stretnúť po škole v knižnici. Kaja prišla prvá, s papiermi založenými v priesvitnej fólii. Mala nakreslený pôdorys mesta: park, bytovky, cyklotrasy, malé námestie a dokonca aj komunitné centrum.
„Pozrite,“ povedala spokojne. „Toto je centrum. Sem dáme park, lebo nechcem, aby bol niekde medzi panelákmi ako zabudnutý kvetináč. A tu budú obchody. Žiadne obrovské nákupné centrum, to je nudné.“
„A kam dáme stánok s hranolkami?“ spýtal sa Filip, keď si sadol oproti nej.
„Filip.“
„Dobre, dobre. Beriem to vážne. Možno len malý stánok.“
Adam prišiel o pár minút neskôr. Sadol si bokom a vytiahol mobil. „Našiel som mapu cyklotrás z môjho starého mesta. Sú tam celkom dobré nápady.“
„Výborne,“ prikývla Kaja. „Takže dopravu máš ty. Filip obrázky a nejaké zaujímavosti. Nela spraví prezentáciu. Ja pripravím, čo budeme hovoriť.“
„A zdroje?“ spýtala sa Nela skôr, než si to stihla rozmyslieť.
Všetci traja sa na ňu pozreli.
Nebolo to nepríjemné dlho. Len sekundu. Aj tak mala pocit, že sa jej tvár zohriala.
„No… každý si dá svoje, nie?“ povedal Filip.
„Lenže keď mi pošlete obrázok bez ničoho, nebudem vedieť, odkiaľ je ani kam ho dať,“ vysvetlila tichšie. „A keď mám robiť celú prezentáciu, potrebujem mať jasné, čo tam bude.“
Kaja sa oprela o stoličku. „Veď to nejako poskladáme. Máme ešte čas.“
„Máme dva dni,“ povedala Nela.
„Dva dni sú večnosť,“ vyhlásil Filip.
Adam sa pozrel z mobilu na stôl. „Asi by sme si to mohli napísať presne.“
Kaja si povzdychla, nie nahnevane, skôr netrpezlivo. „Dobre. Tak presne. Ja: návrh mesta a text, čo budeme hovoriť. Adam: doprava. Filip: obrázky. Nela: slajdy. Hotovo?“
Nela sa zahľadela na papier. Nebolo hotovo. Stále tam chýbalo, kto dá dokopy zdroje, kto skontroluje text, kto rozhodne, čo sa vôbec dostane do prezentácie. Napriek tomu prikývla.
Cestou domov ju hnevalo hlavne to, že prikývla. Nie Kaja. Nie Filipov úsmev. Nie Adamovo tiché „asi“. Ona sama.
V stredu poobede sa skupinový chat znova rozsvietil.
Kaja: Posielam návrh. Potrebujem, aby ste mi do večera poslali veci.
Priložila fotku svojho papierového plánu. Vyzeral dobre. Dokonca veľmi dobre.
Filip: Ja mám tri obrázky a jeden obrázok mačky pri fontáne. Neviem, či sa to ráta.
Kaja: Neráta.
Filip: Mesto bez mačky nie je mesto.
Adam: Mám dopravu, ale ešte to musím prepísať.
Kaja: Do kedy?
Adam: Večer asi.
O chvíľu pribudla správa od Kaje: Nela, máš už tie slajdy?
Nela sa na displej pozerala tak dlho, až obrazovka stmavla. Nemala. Mala otvorenú prázdnu prezentáciu s názvom Naše mesto. Pod ním svietil kurzor. Všetko ostatné bolo v správach, vo fotkách, v neurčitých sľuboch.
Napísala: Čakám na podklady.
Kaja odpísala takmer hneď: Veď ich posielame.
Filip: Technicky vzaté, všetci niečo máme. To je pokrok.
Kaja: Toto nie je vtipné.
Filip: Dobre, prepáč.
V hlavnom triednom chate niekto poslal otázku, či už ostatní majú prezentácie. Začali sa objavovať odpovede: My áno. My skoro. My máme aspoň tému. Potom niekto označil Filipa.
Filip: Náš tím tvorí pod tlakom. Tak vznikajú diamanty.
Nela cítila, ako sa jej stiahne žalúdok. Nebola to veľká hanba. Nikto ich priamo nevysmial. Len zrazu vedela, že ich skupina je viditeľná. Že ich malé meškanie sa dá poslať ďalej jedným vtipom.
Dôležitý okamih
Nasledujúce ráno sa stretli pred prvou hodinou pri voľnom stole na chodbe. Kaja položila na stôl vytlačený plán trochu prudšie, než chcela.
„Tak čo máme?“ spýtala sa.
Filip vytiahol mobil. „Obrázky. Sedem. Dve som fakt vybral podľa témy.“
„A ostatné?“
„Jedna je mačka.“
Kaja zavrela oči. Adam jej podal papier s dopravou. Bol krátky, ale uprataný. Cyklochodníky, autobusové zastávky, pešia zóna. Nela si ho prečítala a vedela, že sa to dá použiť.
„Toto je dobré,“ povedala Adamovi.
Chlapec len prikývol. „Mohol som spraviť viac. Nevedel som, či to chceš do slajdov alebo len ako poznámky.“
Práve vtedy Kaja pozrela na Nelin notebook. „Tak to tam dajme. Nela, ty už to môžeš poskladať, nie?“
Niečo v nej sa zastavilo.
Doteraz čakala, že Kaja si všimne, koľko toho na ňu zostáva. Čakala, že Filip sa sám prestane skrývať za vtipy. Čakala, že Adam povie viac než jednu opatrnú vetu. Lenže všetci čakali na niečo iné.
Nela položila dlane na okraj notebooku.
„Takto nie,“ povedala.
Nebolo to hlasné. Napriek tomu Filip prestal listovať v mobile. Kaja sa zamračila a Adam zdvihol pohľad.
Nela prehltla. „Nechcem robiť prezentáciu sama z toho, čo mi pošlete na poslednú chvíľu. To nie je rozdelená práca. Ja potom musím vybrať, prepísať, poskladať a ešte zistiť, čo kam patrí.“
Na chodbe niekto prešiel okolo a hlasno sa zasmial. Ich stôl však zostal na chvíľu úplne tichý.
„Ja som nepovedala, že to máš robiť sama,“ odvetila Kaja. Jej hlas znel ostro, no hneď potom sa pozrela na papier pred sebou. „Len som chcela, aby sme sa pohli.“
„Ja viem,“ povedala Nela. „Len sa pohýname tak, že niektorí stoja a niekto beží.“
Filip sklopil mobil. Tentoraz sa neusmial. „Dobre. To je asi aj o mne. Tie obrázky som mohol vybrať normálne včera, nie posielať mačku do fontány.“
„Tá mačka bola celkom dobrá,“ zamrmlal Adam.
Filip sa naňho pozrel. „Ďakujem za podporu, ale teraz mi nepomáhaš.“
Kaja si prešla rukou po krátkych vlasoch. „Fajn. Spravíme to inak. Každý teraz vyberie jednu časť priamo do prezentácie. Nela nebude len skladať všetko po nás. Ja dám plán mesta a hovorený text. Adam dopravu. Filip obrázky a… čo ešte?“
„Zdroje,“ povedala Nela.
„Áno. Zdroje,“ prikývla Kaja. „A ty spravíš úvod a záver. Ale ak budeš potrebovať s niečím pomôcť, napíš normálne. Nie iba ,dobre‘.“
Tá posledná veta ju trochu pichla. Nebola vyslovená zle. Skôr pravdivo.
„Dobre,“ povedala Nela automaticky, potom sa opravila. „Myslím… napíšem.“
Tentoraz sa Filip pousmial, ale iba krátko. „To znie sľubne. A ja pošlem zdroje skôr, než ich bude musieť nájsť archeológ.“
Práca potom nebola zázračne ľahká. Kaja dvakrát chcela zmeniť celý plán, lebo sa jej zdalo, že park je príliš malý. Filip poslal jeden obrázok bez názvu stránky a musel ho hľadať znova. Adam dlho mlčal, kým napokon sám dopísal, že pri škole by mohlo byť viac stojanov na bicykle.
Nela však už nenechala veci visieť vo vzduchu. Keď niečo nebolo jasné, spýtala sa. Keď chýbal text, označila v chate meno človeka, ktorý ho mal doplniť. Ruky sa jej pri tom netriasli menej než predtým, len už nečakala, kým to prejde samo.
Večer mali prezentáciu hotovú. Nebola dokonalá. Na jednom slajde zostala trochu nakrivo fotografia stromov a Filipova mačka sa napokon objavila malá v rohu pri návrhu parku. Kaja nad tým pretočila očami, ale nechala ju tam.
V skupinovom chate sa naposledy objavila správa od Adama: Vyzerá to dobre.
Potom Filip napísal: Úprimne, vyzerá to až podozrivo dobre na ľudí, čo sa ráno skoro pohádali.
Kaja odpovedala: Skoro nie je pohádali.
Po chvíli pridala: A díky, že ste to dokončili.
Nela sa na správu zadívala. Nebolo to ospravedlnenie. Nebola to ani veľká dohoda, ktorá by všetko napravila. Aj tak jej to stačilo na to, aby sa jej ramená trochu uvoľnili.
Čo sa ukáže neskôr
Pred spaním otvorila zápisník. Na čistú stranu nepísala dlho. Atrament sa jej na okamih zastavil pri hrote pera, akoby aj veta potrebovala nabrať odvahu.
Napokon napísala: Ticho v skupine tiež niečo hovorí.
Pokračovanie nabudúce…
Between Us, part 7: The Group Project
The Story Begins
When the teacher put a colorful box full of cardboard sheets on the desk, half of 8.B stopped rustling through their notebooks. The other half still acted like it had nothing to do with them.
“We have a project for the next few days,” she said, and on the board she wrote in big letters: THE CITY WHERE PEOPLE CAN LIVE. “You will work in groups of four. Each group will design one part of a city and prepare a short presentation. I do not only care about pretty pictures. I want to see how you agree with each other and how you divide the work.”
The class started to buzz.
“So we actually have to work?” Filip called from the back row.
A few students laughed. The teacher looked at him over her glasses.
“Try it and see.”
Filip put a hand on his chest. “A hard day for art.”
Nela opened her notebook, the one with the little satellite sticker on the cover. Under her math notes, she wrote: Groups look random, but they are never completely random.
Around her, chairs were already moving. Someone quietly called to a friend across two desks. Someone else acted like it did not matter who they were with, even though they kept looking at one certain group. Adam shifted his black backpack from one shoulder to the other and watched the class as if he were counting the options in his head.
The teacher raised her hand before the class could split itself up.
“I will choose the groups. At least once, you will not fight over who sits with whom.”
The back rows answered with unhappy sighs. Kaja straightened up and whispered, “This will be interesting.”
Then the teacher started reading names. When Nela heard hers, then Kaja’s, Filip’s, and Adam’s, the four of them looked at each other for a moment.
It was not a bad group. At least, that was how it looked from the outside.
Kaja immediately moved her chair closer to Nela’s desk. “Okay. We can do this. City park, transport, some housing… we can make a really good presentation.”
“And I will be moral support,” Filip added.
“Can that be graded?” Adam asked.
“If you make it convincing, maybe yes,” Filip said with a smile.
Nela smiled too, just a little. Even then, she could feel things moving faster than she could think.
Kaja pulled out a clean sheet of paper. “So, I will design the whole city. Nela, you can make those nice presentation slides, right? Filip can find pictures, and Adam…”
She paused for a second.
“Adam can think about transport,” she finished. “Because he came from another city, so he has something to compare.”
Adam shrugged. “I can do that.”
“Great,” Kaja said quickly. “And we will split the sources somehow along the way.”
Nela looked at the paper. Slides. Sources. Maybe even building the whole presentation, if the others only sent pictures and ideas. She wanted to say they should decide clearly who would do what. But Kaja was already writing the title, and Filip was drawing a small cloud next to her with the words City Without Mondays.
“That’s not going in,” Kaja said.
“You do not know that yet. It could be the main idea.”
Nela closed her notebook. Maybe it would become clearer later, she thought.
After school, a group chat was made for the class. Filip created the name: Urbanists 8.B, but normal. Kaja changed it after one minute to Project – City.
That evening, Nela lay on her bed with her phone above her face. A desk lamp glowed beside her, and on the carpet her school bag stayed open, with one corner of a notebook sticking out.
When Things Start to Change
Kaja: I’ll bring a design draft tomorrow, so we can see what it could look like.
Filip: I’ll bring energy and maybe pictures.
Kaja: Not maybe. Pictures.
Filip: Fine, fine. Pictures. At least five. Our city should not be ashamed.
Adam: I’ll check the transport.
Kaja: And Nela will make the structure of the presentation? So we have somewhere to put everything.
Nela kept her thumb above the keyboard. She typed: I can, but then it would be good if you sent me everything by Wednesday.
She read the sentence three times. It sounded too strict. Or too much like an adult. She deleted it.
Instead, she sent: Okay.
A few seconds later, Kaja sent a heart under the message. Filip sent a thumbs-up. Adam sent nothing.
Meanwhile, in the main class chat, someone wrote that the group by the window was already arguing about the topic. Someone else sent a photo of three classmates sitting in the library over papers. Under it, a message appeared: We already have half done.
Nela imagined everyone watching who was behind. Not directly. Nobody wrote: You are doing nothing. But a few messages, a photo, and the time of sending were enough.
She opened the group chat again. She wanted to write that the structure of a presentation was not just a few empty slides. That if she was going to make it alone, she needed to know what she was actually building. In the end, she put the phone down with the screen facing the table.
The next day, they were supposed to meet after school in the library. Kaja came first, with papers packed in a clear folder. She had drawn a city plan: a park, apartment blocks, bike paths, a small square, and even a community center.
“Look,” she said proudly. “This is the center. We’ll put the park here, because I do not want it hidden between block buildings like a forgotten flowerpot. And here will be the shops. No giant shopping mall. That’s boring.”
“And where do we put the fries stand?” Filip asked as he sat down across from her.
“Filip.”
“Okay, okay. I’m being serious. Maybe just a small stand.”
Adam arrived a few minutes later. He sat a little to the side and took out his phone. “I found a map of bike paths from my old city. There are some good ideas.”
“Great,” Kaja said with a nod. “So you have transport. Filip gets pictures and some interesting facts. Nela makes the presentation. I’ll prepare what we’ll say.”
“And the sources?” Nela asked before she could stop herself.
All three looked at her.
It was not uncomfortable for long. Just for a second. Still, her face felt hot.
“Well… everyone adds their own, right?” Filip said.
“But if you send me a picture without anything else, I will not know where it came from or where to place it,” she explained more quietly. “And if I am making the whole presentation, I need to know clearly what has to go in it.”
Kaja leaned back in her chair. “We will put it together somehow. We still have time.”
“We have two days,” Nela said.
“Two days is forever,” Filip declared.
Adam looked up from his phone to the table. “We could probably write it down more exactly.”
Kaja sighed, not angrily, more in a tired way. “Fine. Exactly then. Me: city design and the text we will say. Adam: transport. Filip: pictures. Nela: slides. Done?”
Nela stared at the paper. It was not done. There was still no clear plan for who would add the sources, who would check the text, or who would decide what even went into the presentation. Still, she nodded.
An Important Moment
On the way home, what annoyed her most was that she had nodded. Not Kaja. Not Filip’s smile. Not Adam’s quiet “probably.” Herself.
On Wednesday afternoon, the group chat lit up again.
Kaja: I’m sending the draft. I need you to send me your things by evening.
She attached a photo of her paper plan. It looked good. Really good, even.
Filip: I have three pictures and one picture of a cat by a fountain. Not sure if that counts.
Kaja: It does not.
Filip: A city without a cat is not a city.
Adam: I have the transport, but I still need to rewrite it.
Kaja: By when?
Adam: By evening, I guess.
A moment later, Kaja sent another message: Nela, do you have the slides yet?
Nela stared at the screen until it dimmed. She did not. She had an empty presentation open called Our City. Under it, a cursor blinked. Everything else was in messages, in photos, in vague promises.
She typed: I’m waiting for the materials.
Kaja answered almost at once: But we are sending them.
Filip: Technically speaking, everyone has something. That is progress.
Kaja: This is not funny.
Filip: Okay, sorry.
In the main class chat, someone asked if the others already had presentations. Answers started to appear: We do. Almost. We at least have a topic. Then someone tagged Filip.
Filip: Our team creates under pressure. That is how diamonds are made.
Nela felt her stomach tighten. It was not a big shame. Nobody had mocked them directly. Still, she suddenly knew their group was visible. Their little delay could be sent around with one joke.
The next morning, they met before the first lesson at an empty table in the hallway. Kaja put the printed plan on the table a little harder than she meant to.
“So what do we have?” she asked.
Filip pulled out his phone. “Pictures. Seven. I really picked two of them because they fit the topic.”
“And the others?”
“One is the cat.”
Kaja closed her eyes. Adam handed her his paper about transport. It was short, but neat. Bike lanes, bus stops, a pedestrian zone. Nela read it and knew it could be used.
“This is good,” she told Adam.
He only nodded. “I could have done more. I did not know if you wanted it for the slides or just as notes.”
Right then, Kaja looked at Nela’s notebook. “So put it together then. Nela, you can do that now, right?”
Something inside her stopped.
Until now, she had been waiting for Kaja to notice how much was left on her. She had waited for Filip to stop hiding behind jokes. She had waited for Adam to say more than one careful sentence. But everyone else was waiting for something different.
Nela put her palms on the edge of the notebook.
“Not like this,” she said.
It was not loud. Even so, Filip stopped scrolling on his phone. Kaja frowned, and Adam looked up.
Nela swallowed. “I do not want to make the presentation alone from things you send at the last minute. That is not split work. Then I have to choose, rewrite, put it together, and also find out what goes where.”
Someone passed in the hallway and laughed loudly. Their table stayed completely quiet for a moment.
“I did not say you had to do it alone,” Kaja said. Her voice sounded sharp, but then she looked down at the paper in front of her. “I just wanted us to move.”
“I know,” Nela said. “It’s just that we are moving in a way where some people stand still and someone else runs.”
What Comes Next
Filip lowered his phone. This time he did not smile. “Okay. That is probably about me too. I could have picked those pictures properly yesterday instead of sending the cat into the fountain.”
“That cat was actually pretty good,” Adam muttered.
Filip looked at him. “Thanks for the support, but you are not helping me right now.”
Kaja ran a hand through her short hair. “Fine. We’ll do it differently. Everyone will now choose one part directly for the presentation. Nela will not just put everything together for us. I’ll do the city plan and the spoken text. Adam, transport. Filip, pictures and… what else?”
“Sources,” Nela said.
“Yes. Sources,” Kaja agreed. “And you will do the introduction and the ending. But if you need help with something, say it properly. Not just ‘okay.’”
That last sentence stung a little. It was not said in a mean way. More like honestly.
“Okay,” Nela said out of habit, then corrected herself. “I mean… I will write.”
This time Filip gave a short smile. “That sounds promising. And I’ll send the sources before an archaeologist has to dig for them.”
After that, the work was not magically easy. Kaja wanted to change the whole plan twice because she thought the park was too small. Filip sent one picture without the website name and had to look for it again. Adam stayed quiet for a long time, then finally added on his own that there could be more bike stands near the school.
But Nela no longer let things hang in the air. When something was unclear, she asked. When text was missing, she tagged the person who had to add it. Her hands did not shake any less than before, but she no longer waited for things to fix themselves.
By evening, the presentation was finished. It was not perfect. On one slide, the photo of the trees was a little crooked, and Filip’s cat finally appeared as a small detail in the corner near the park design. Kaja rolled her eyes at that, but she left it there.
In the group chat, Adam sent the last message: It looks good.
Then Filip wrote: Honestly, it looks suspiciously good for people who almost argued this morning.
Kaja answered: Almost is not the same as arguing.
After a while, she added: And thanks for finishing it.
Nela stared at the message. It was not an apology. It was not a big agreement that fixed everything. Still, it was enough to make her shoulders relax a little.
Before sleep, she opened her notebook. She did not write for a long time on the empty page. The ink paused for a moment at the tip of the pen, as if the sentence also needed courage.
In the end, she wrote: Silence in a group also says something.
To be continued…