Making them proud

At Max's house, the phone rang.

Max's mom answered, "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Max's mother?" a man with a deep voice asked.

"Yes, and who are you?" she asked hesitantly, worried about her son. Her heart beat faster after the recent incident.

"I'm his school principal," he said.

Her heartbeat quickened.

"I-Is my son okay?" she asked.

"Oh... He is doing very well. Please don't worry," he said. She calmed down a little and thought to herself, 'Thank God.'

"I have some good news," he said.

"Good news?" she asked, confused.

"Yes, Max has come first in the school ranking. We were worried he would fail due to his medical condition and missing classes for months. But he scored very high. We are proud to have a student like Max," he said proudly.

"What? Is that true?" she asked, shocked.

"Yes. Congratulations," he said.

At first, some teachers thought he might have cheated to avoid failing. But it's impossible to steal every question paper. They know students sometimes try to score easily without studying, so they are always careful. Some teachers defended him, saying he'd been studying hard after coming back from a coma. They learned this from his friends Cedric and Gwen, who gave him notes and reported to teachers. His character is good; he wouldn't do such a thing. But the principal couldn't tell his mom about the suspicion. Who wants to hear their precious son being suspected? After some pleasantries, they finished talking.

After class, Max walked Gwen home. They talked about many things on the way. Max was happy with her company and got home late. When he entered the hall, he could smell an appetizing aroma of food.

"Mom, what is this smell?" Max asked as he inhaled the fragrance.

"Your school principal called and said you got 1st place in the entire school. I'm really proud of you, my son," she said.

Max's mom was really happy after the call, so she prepared a feast to celebrate the good news. Max was also happy seeing his mother happy.

"Mom, is Dad coming home late today?" he asked, noticing it was past the time he usually came home after work.

"I called him just now. He said he is preparing a surprise for you. Maybe that's why he's late," she said.

Max went to take a shower.

After some time, there was a knock on the door. Max's mom went to open it. It was Max's father. "Is he in his room?" he asked.

"Yes, he'll come down soon," she said.

"I'm proud of our son," Max's father said with a calm smile. 

Max's mother, equally happy, smiled and nodded in understanding.