Pressure

"Okay", Phil said, entering Alex's shared bedroom, "Pencils down. You're taking a break".

"No. I can't afford to take a break", Alex said, looking up from her index cards, "Sanjay Patel's not taking a break".

"What about Zephyr?", Claire asked, "I messaged Matt and he said that Zephyr's been relaxing today".

"Zephyr's an anomaly", Alex replied, returning her attention to her notes.

"That's a rude way to address your boyfriend", Zephyr said.

Looking up, Alex found herself looking at Zephyr who was video calling. "Zephyr. Why are you calling?"

"Your Mom told my Dad that you've been busy revising", Zephyr replied, "And I, as the loving boyfriend that I am took it upon myself to look after your wellbeing. Unfortunately, I have to finish all the Biology homework that I never did and give them in tomorrow".

Rolling her eyes, Alex replied, "Of course you forgot to do your homework".

"Hey", Zephyr exclaimed indignantly, "I'll have you know that even though I don't do the homework, I'll beat you in every exam".

Snorting, Alex looked away from the screen, "You're not normal. It's unfair how you top all of the classes even though you get shouted at every day for not doing your homework".

"It's not my fault", Zephyr argued, "Who told the teacher's to be so boring? What's more, why do they give us so much homework?"

Rolling her eyes once more, Alex remarked, "You're just saying that because you're lazy".

"I'm not lazy!", Zephyr exclaimed, "It's just that I already know what the teachers are teaching".

"Only you have that problem", Alex retorted.

"Anyways", Zephyr interrupted, coughing into the back of his hand, "That's not what I called you for. Although it's necessary to study the day before an exam, it's key to take regular rests so you're at optimum condition for the exams".

"But what if Sanjay beats me?", Alex worriedly asked, "I've been second the whole year for History and Sanjay's been catching up recently".

"That's because his parents hired private tutors for him", Zephyr answered, "And besides. You should be confident in your abilities. You've maintained you're grades throughout the year and have constantly beaten Sanjay. As long as you try your best, you'll beat him".

"Are you sure I'll beat him?", Alex asked.

"I know you will", Zephyr replied, a smile on his face.

"Thanks", Alex muttered.

"No worries", Zephyr said, "I've got to go now, but make sure to rest for today. Okay?"

Alex nodded her head, "Okay. Bye", she said, waving.

"Bye", Zephyr waved, ending the call.

"See", Phil said, "Even Zephyr's telling you to relax"

"You've done a lot of revision throughout the whole year", Claire stated, "You need to listen to Zephyr and take a rest. No matter what happens, you'll do well. We know you will".

Alex nodded her head, happy by the concern they showed.

[Time Skip]

"Now", Ms Wilson said, clapping her hands and bringing everyone's attention to herself, "I've finished marking all of your history exams. If you would like me to tell you your scores and your rank, please raise your hands".

Immediately, the hands of everyone in the class shot up, causing a small smile to appear on Ms Wilson's face. "Good. As usual, we'll start from the bottom". Walking over to her desk, Ms Wilson pulled out a large stack of paper. Picking up the first, she announced, "In last place, with a score of 40 out of 100 we have, unsurprisingly, Mr Hans".

Immediately, a scream of "Yes!", came from a blonde boy in the middle row, "I didn't fail".

"To pass, the requirement is 40% and that's exactly what you got Mr Hans", Ms Wilson agreed, "However, scraping a pass is nothing to be proud of, especially with end-of-year exams right around the corner".

"Whatever", Michael muttered under his breath, "I passed, that's all that matters to me".

Shaking her head, Ms Wilson continued announcing the scores.

"At fifth, with 86 marks, we have Mr Lorenzo", Ms Wilson stated, followed by a swift "Ha. I beat you" from a brown-haired boy.

"You probably just got lucky", Paolo retorted.

"I still beat you, that's all I care about", Raul replied, a smug grin on his face.

Coughing, Ms Wilson returned attention to herself, causing the boys to stop arguing. "At fourth, with 87 marks, we have Mr Martinez".

Hearing this, Raul looked at Paolo with a very large smile. "At third", Ms Wilson continued, "with 92 marks, is Mr Patel. Congratulations". A moment later, the class began clapping. However, Sanjay wasn't happy with his result and looked down at his table, depressed.

"Then, at second we have Ms Dunphy with 95 marks", Ms Wilson said, "If not for some minor mistakes with the dates of the American Civil War, you'd have gotten full marks". The class once again clapped, although it wasn't as loud when compared to Sanjay's.

Sighing, Ms Wilson looked at the last paper, "In first, as usual, we have Mr Blake with full marks". Unlike Alex and Sanjay, no one bothered clapping, having gotten used to Zephyr's position as the smartest in the class. Looking at the clock on the wall, Ms Wilson looked at her students and said, "You may have all passed this history exam, but don't get arrogant and believe you'll pass the real ones, especially you Mr Hans".

"How come you're mentioning me specifically?", Michael asked, offended by her singling him out.

"Because had I not gone over your paper, you would've failed", Ms Wilson deadpanned. As soon as she finished, the bell rang, "Now go, and make sure to revise for your other exams".

As they walked out, some students nodded, while others were too engrossed in talking to each other.

"See. I told you you'd beat Sanjay", Zephyr muttered, walking right beside Alex.

"Thanks", Alex muttered, "But I think if you let me revise yesterday, I'd have gotten 2 or 3 more marks".

"Those 2 or 3 marks wouldn't have changed anything", Zephyr replied, "It was better for you to take a rest yesterday, especially with how stressful things have been lately".

"And yet you somehow still had time to create a game", Alex retorted, "How's your game doing anyways?".

"It's doing great", Zephyr answered, "I've got over 150000 downloads on Apple and around 125000 on Android. I've made almost 100k in one and a half months, quite a bit comes from the ads revenue".

"That much?", Alex asked in shock.

"Yep", Zephyr replied.

"Luke and Dad have been complaining about how they don't have unlimited hearts anymore", Alex added.

"That's because they're addicted", Zephyr stated.

"They are", Alex agreed, "They would play the game non-stop but Mom's making sure they don't".

"That sounds like Claire", Zephyr voiced.

[Time Skip]

"Hey honey, how'd you do?", Claire asked, looking up from her laptop.

Placing her bag on the table, she proudly answered, "Second higher in the class".

"Ooooh. That's great", Claire replied, clapping her hands.

"Zephyr came first?", Phil asked.

"Again", Alex muttered, rolling her eyes.

"How far off this time?", Claire questioned.

"5 marks difference", Alex replied, peeling a banana, "Zephyr got full marks again. I think he's trying to set a new school record by the end of the year".

"That's a 3 mark improvement", Phil said, "What about that other kid? Sanjay. What did she get?"

"It's a 'he'", Alex explained, "Sanjay is a common Indian boy name. There are probably millions of them", she said, taking a bite out of her banana.

"You got a great score", Claire said, "I hope you're not beating yourself up because we made you relax yesterday".

"I'm not", Alex said.

"That's our girl", Phil complimented.

"Zephyr's mom was a university professor, his dad is a big shot in the financing world and he's a child prodigy. I can't compete with that", Alex stated, "I'll just have to do the best I can with what I was given".

"Good for you", Phil exclaimed.

"We're proud of you", Claire added, walking back to her laptop. Rolling her eyes, Alex walked out of the room. "Wait a sec, did she just call us dumb?"

"I don't know", Phil replied, "I'm still thinking about all those Sanjays. I've never met one but I know three Miltons".

"Did you not hear?", Claire asked, "She said she's going to do the best with what she was given. She's saying we're stupid".

"Well, she's wrong", Phil said, "We're smart. We're college graduates. We read books. We're bright people. I'd go as far as saying we're as sophisticated and intellectual as- Sweet! Croctopus tickets confirmed", Phil said, taking a bite from an apple.

[With Zephyr]

"I'm home", Zephyr said, walking into the house.

"Cool", Matt half-heartedly replied.

"That's it?", Zephyr asked.

"Is what it?", Matt replied in confusion.

"You're not going to ask me how school was?", Zephyr questioned.

"Why would I?", Matt retorted.

"I got my history results today", Zephyr said.

"What's the point of me asking?", Matt remarked, "You came first and got full marks. Am I wrong?"

"Well. No", Zephyr replied.

"Exactly my point", Matt stated, "Now. Go away. I'm tired and sleepy".

Shaking his head, Zephyr walked away and up to his room.