ORLANDO, TEXAS | 11:30AM

For Malakai, taking exams was like strategically setting up and waiting for his own demise. He doesn’t study often besides the 15 minutes of cramming he does the morning of any test, and it was the same circumstance every time.

You and Malakai were sitting at the long, rectangular tables in the schools library, counting the seconds before both of your scores were uploaded. You quietly celebrated your successful 97% while Malakai just stared at his chromebook screen. You leaned over to see what he got and was slapped in the face with a big, fat 49%.

It’d have to be a very lucky day for Malakai to ever score above a 80%. Normally he’d brush it off, used to his standard intelligence, but he was taking this one harder than ever. You were always getting such perfect scores while he had to settle for less than average.

You finally turned to Malakai to see how he was holding up and to your grave surprise, his eyes were red, hot tears welling in his eyelids.