Encouragment Dismissed

It's the morning of the day Emily is supposed to give her senior presentation in order to graduate. Her nerves are going insane and she consults her characters for advice or some comfort. Of course, them being the characters she created, they may not be of much help as she hopes... "James would you mind grabbing my backpack from my room, my note cards are in there." Emily walked out of the bathroom in the middle of straightening her hair. Earlier there was a loud noise coming from the kitchen. She feared something bad was happening.

Sure enough, as she walked into the kitchen she saw Dave Erickson standing with a knife in his hands looking at the ground at Edward Tyson's shaking body.
"Dave what did you do?" Emily shouted.
"I didn't do anything! He just collapsed and started having a seizure."
"Yeah right. You probably threatened him." She knelt down to tend to him, but once he started to foam at the mouth she panicked, "James, come here quickly!"
"What is it?" James was immediately to her side.
"Help him, please." She got up and walked over to Dave, "You come with me." She grabbed his arm and escorted him out of the kitchen. It wasn't the time to be dealing with him, but she had to keep him in check. They walked over to the dining table and shoved him to sit down. It was bad enough that she had to prepare for a presentation, but now she had to deal with a serial killer. She ripped the knife from his hands and walked back to the kitchen to put it back.
James was still on the floor helping Ed who had apparently stopped shaking.
"How's he doing?" Emily asked.
"Better. How are you? Still feeling nervous?" He looked up at her.
"Yeah." She rubbed her hands through her hair, "When you get the chance, mind coming to the dining room?"
He nodded his head.
She walked back to the table and saw that Dave was still obediently sitting. His arms were crossed and he majorly slouched in his seat. Acting like a child, he was pouting. She had grabbed her backpack earlier and pulled out her note cards. She flopped down on her chair and began going over them. There was a long silence exchanged. Neither of them spoke for the longest time, until Dave was about to speak and James came walking in.
"Alright, did you need me for something?" He asked as he sat down next to her.
"I need some advice. I'm giving this presentation at lunch today, and I don't feel like I'm prepared at all."
"Well, do you have an introduction?"
"Yes."
"A conclusion?"
"Yes."
"How about a-"
"Yes!" She interrupted.
"I have enough of this!" Dave stood, "Why do I have to listen to you! You don't like me, and you assume I am the cause of everything that goes wrong!"
"That's not true! I like you. You're one of my favorite bad guys I've created."
"No! You favor Ed and Jeremiah than me. You didn't even bother to hear my side of the story in the kitchen!"
"Fine! What happened in the kitchen?" Emily shouted.
"I walked into the kitchen to make myself some toast. I put the bread in the toaster and grabbed the butter and a knife. Ed walks in. Sees me with the knife the knife and freaks out. I didn't even say anything to him."
"Liar!" A voice came from the kitchen. Edward walks into the room, "You wanted to kill me when I walked in the kitchen. I saw that look in your eyes."
"Oh no, now who do I believe?" Emily closed her eyes and lowered her head.
"And speaking of my life being in danger again, Emily how come I had a seizure this time? I thought I had a weak heart. How come you're always changing my health problem? Why don't you do some actual character development, like personality..." Ed kept going with his rant.
Emily looked away from Ed and saw Vincent walk into the room. He had a smile on his face as usual.
"...I'm serious Emily! What's next? Am I going to be in a wheelchair tomorrow?" Edward finished.
"That's actually not a bad a idea." Dave commented, "That way I don't have to kill you just by looking at you."
Edward glared at him.
"Hey do we got anything to eat?" Vincent asked. He stood in the hallway leading towards the kitchen.
"I-i don't know. Go look for yourself." Emily shooed him away. Her stress level was increasing by the minute with Dave and Edward complaining and James unable to help her in any way.
"Hey look! There's toast in here!" He shouted.
"Don't you dare touch that toast!" Dave was gone in an instant, "that's my toast!"
There was a sound of a struggle between the two, something hitting the ground, and then Vincent walking out of the kitchen with toast in his hands. He sat down where Dave originally sat and eating feeling victorious.
"What did you do?" Emily asked.
He shrugged as he continued to eat.
She rose to her feet and walked to the kitchen. Dave lie on the floor curled up in a ball groaning in pain.
"I hate him. I really do." He barely whispered, "Tell me Emily. Why in the world did you create a character such as him?"
"Actually, I didn't create him. He was my brother's idea."
He grunted, "I hate it."
It felt like an awkward moment. Emily wasn't sure how to respond. She almost thought that she apologized to him for having to go through something painful, and for not treating him fairly like the others. She walked over to him and whispered, "Would you like me to make you some more toast?"
He nodded his head.
"How about a knife you can spin around?"
Nodded again.
She smiled and grabbed the bread from the pantry. Dave didn't move much as she made his toast, but he did talk. He started talking about the good old days and how much he enjoyed killing people. It was a rather disturbing topic for Emily to be engaged in, but he was her character and she had to treat him fairly. Once she finished buttering the toast she handed it to Dave and went looking for a knife for him to play with. By the time she found one Dave was in the dining room with everyone else. Things to have looked like they calmed down, and for the first time today Emily felt like she could relax. She sat down with the others and started to look over her notes again.
Not a minute later did Joshua come running in looking frantic. He looked at the table and when he saw Vincent, he said, "Oh thank goodness! I found you!"
Before anyone spoke James piped up, "Have you practiced your presentation out loud yet?" He sat up in his chair feeling proud of himself.
"No, I haven't." Emily looked away.
"Come on then! Stand up and give it to us." He pulled her up from her seat and stepped back, "Go ahead."
She felt rather stupid. Giving a speech in front of her characters was making her nervous. She really hated speaking in front of anyone.
"I did my internship at...at..." She looked at each one of them. All listening intently to what she was about to say. She continued to speak, going through her notes she said everything she needed to say in her speech. Once she finished she asked the question, "So does anyone have any advice?"
Silence.
"Anyone? Come on. None of you have given a speech before?"
Joshua raised his hand, "Honestly, I'm terrified of giving speeches."
Everyone shook their head in agreement.
"That can't be right! James, you gave a speech at your graduation ceremony. Vincent, you are not even sane enough to be afraid of crowds. Dave...seriously? And Edward, how can you be afraid of crowds if your CEO of your own company? You didn't inherit your position. You work hard to where you are at now, so you must have some skills in giving speeches!"
Edward's face lit up, "Are you saying you are giving me a characteristic?" He said with excitement.
"Yes, it's official. You are good at talking in front of people. It also helps that you are ridiculously smart. Now come help me."
"Yes!" He said with delight.
Finally, things were looking up.