A/N

So this chapter is..... dark.

Read at your own discretion

Toodles! :)

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Max's POV

I have 100% confirmed that Kim is the worst partner to work with.

"Kim, focus! We need to understand the book," I groaned again as Kim lost interest and began scrolling through Netflix.

Of all literature we were to be given, we somehow ended up with one of the hardest aspects of it: a Shakespearean play. And of all of them, we were given a Midsummer Night's Dream, with an easy reading level of 27% statistically speaking, meaning that if we don't put in effort into this project, we're toast.

Well I'm toast. I cannot afford my GPA going down by even 0.1, due to reasons I will not mention, and I cannot afford getting second place to anyone, because that would be a disaster.

"Come on Max," the meathead groaned. "We can always do the book report later. Besides, we can always copy off the answers to the questions from Google!"

"Kim, while I appreciate you for trying to make our work less tedious, I am afraid we cannot. We are to use our own words, meaning that Ms. Candice would probably do enough research to see our work would not be original. Kim? Kim are you even listening to me?" I asked in frustration as I watch him fiddle with his phone. After a few seconds he begins to leave.

"Where do you think you are going?" I ask annoyed.

"I've got swimming practice, bro! And a date.... with Odine!" Kim grins.

"But the project! This is due on Monday and today is Saturday!" I protest

"Just do my share of the project for me. At the end we'll get the same mark won't we?" he grins before trying to make his way out.

"Oh no! Not this time! I will not be doing this alone!" I say angrily.

"And will you want to risk your grades just because I don't want to do it?" Kim smirks, towering over me. I fall silent. "Exactly, you do our project for us and I'll read it through before Monday, got it?" he says before pushing me aside and walking out the door. "And oh, I borrowed your math note to read for our maths quiz this week, bye!"

I sighed in defeat as Markov and Kaalki floated to my face.

"Are you okay, dear master?" Kaalki asks worriedly

"I'm fine, Kaalki. I'm just stressed," I sigh again.

"Who is this Kaalki you are speaking of Max?" Markov asks curiously, making me laugh.

"Kaalki is a kwami, Markov. Meaning you cannot see or hear her," I explain before turning to Kaalki. "Do you know anything about Shakespearean fiction, Kaalki?"

"Oh I love Shakespearean fiction!" squealed the little horse-like kwami. "My past holder loved reading plays! Romance, tragedy! Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Othello....."

"How about A Midsummer Night's Dream?" I ask hopefully.

"Midsummer Night's Dream?" she repeated confused. "I never heard of that one."

I groan again, burying my book into my hands.

...

"I know you guys were expecting a quiz today," started Mr. Richard. "However, I've noticed that most of you do not have complete notes. Since we have had ten classes so far, I will be assessing your notes as part of your GPA," he smiles wickedly.

The class groans, however I smile to myself. I take pride in having my notes complete. I turn to Kim. "My math notebook," I ask.

"Huh?"

I arch my eyebrows confused. "What do you mean, 'huh'? I gave it to.... correction, you took it from me last week when you left my house on Saturday. Where. Is. It?" I ask.

"Oh that," he chuckles, nervously. "So I may or may not have accidentallyleftyournoteinthepoolandmisplaceditthere..."

"YOU WHAT?!" I yell

"Mr. Kante, is there a problem?" the teacher asks annoyed, causing me to hush down.

"Relax, buddy," Kim chuckles. "It can't be that bad, I mean you're just gonna flunk one test..."

"Just one test? I am not just failing this assessment, I am losing a whole one hundred marks when I do in fact deserve it!" I whisper-yelled.

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," he jokes but he shuts up, noticing my glare. He then has the nerve to bring out his own note for submission. Not like it was complete anyways; he ended up with a 20%

"Monsieur Kante?" he asks.

I raise my head nervously. "S-Sir...."

"Your note?"

".... I can't find it sir," I respond shamefully. As expected, gasps filled the room. I am not known to misplace my things.

"Wow.... never expected it from you, Max. However, rules are rules. You get a 0," the teacher says coldly.

More gasps filled the air as I hang my head, trying my best not to cry.

After a few minutes, the bell rings and I walk out of the class as soon as I can, Kim running behind me.

"Cool down, bud! A zero is not the end of the world," Kim says carelessly.

"It is for me," I shiver worriedly.

"You remembered to turn in our English project right?"

"Yeah, I did," I sigh.

"Thanks man, you're the best!" he praises, causing me to roll my eyes.

We all walked into English class and I sit down and listen to the lesson of the day: Significance of Words. The lesson ended quite early and it was actually interesting.

"Now to the moment we've all been waiting for... your project results!" Ms. Candice said gleefully. Most of you did well and were able to summarise the pieces given to you. However, the group that impressed me the most was the group of Adrien and Ivan."

Everyone clapped as the two came forward while Ms. Candice continued.

"Your work was based on an African play named the Lion and the Jewel. I love the way you both shed light on the major theme of change, tradition and how the village head got the village belle. You guys did very well, and you earned a 96!"

She then went on to speak on other people's works, pointing out where they had excelled and aspects they should work on. When she finally reaches my project, she hesitates.

"Kim and Max, you were assigned on the Shakespearean play, a Midsummer Night's Dream. You guys did well to expose the themes of love, monarchy of the ancient times as well as deceit. However..... I am far from convinced that this project was done together, but was done as an individual work."

I look surprised and so does Kim. How did she find out?

"Kim Le Chien, I want you to answer this question honestly. Did you partake in this project?"

"Of course I did, what makes you think otherwise ma'am?" Kim answers ervously.

"Because I remember asking for two individual summaries for each book, but I only see Max's. Or do you have your own summary here?" she asks.

I then realise that she said she wanted two summaries, but I only wrote down one.... this is not good.

Kim, on the other hand, is a nervous wreck.

"Ma'am I am quite sure that I turned in my summary with Max's. It may have gotten lost," he defends.

"Alright, since it is that way, can you briefly summarise the book for us and highlight the theme of love in the play?"

Silence followed as Kim was unable to answer.

"I thought so," Ms. Candice sighed. "Well, if you had done your share of the work you may have had a grade over 80%, but since you didn't I have no choice but to give you both a 64," she says.

"That's not fair, Miss!" Alix exclaimed. "I am very sure Max worked hard for his grade. He shouldn't be punished just because Kim didn't do his own share! And he shouldn't be made to share that score with Kim who did nothing at all!"

"I appreciate your concern, Alix; but that's the way the world works. If Max was serious about his grade, he would have tried to convince Kim to do his share. However, I am more disappointed in Kim, because Max is not a French Lit student, meaning that Kim should be the one putting Max through at least, not the other way around. However, Kim would not go unpunished. He'll be getting an after school detention, and I will deduct marks from his score."

I sigh as the bell rings and I just walk out of the class for lunch, only to be pulled back to look into the eyes of Kim which were full of fury.

"Why didn't you do my share of the project?" he growled.

"Why should I do your share of the project in the first place?" I glared at him.

"You claim to be my best friend! Well, you didn't prove to be my best friend by making me get a 60 in this! It was a group project and I was partnered with you, the smartest student in our grade! I was expecting to get a 90 at least, not a 60!" he said.

"Excuse me? What do you take me for? Someone to dump all your homework on?" I ask annoyed

"You are the smart one! Not me! You're supposed to help me do my own summary as well you dumbhead!" Kim defends

"Just because I am intelligent and you are my friend does not give you the right to hassle me for a project you clearly did not help me with! And now, because of you, my GPA is going to suffer!" I yell at him exasperatedly. "I'm sick and tired of being your buttwipe for all your homework! I'm sick and tired of letting you copy off my test answers!!"

"You don't need to yell-"

"I'M SICK AND TIRED OF ALWAYS HAVING TO FORCE YOU TO FOCUS IN CLASS!!!! AND FINALLY, I'M SICK AND TIRED OF BEING FRIENDS WITH A DUMB MEATHEAD WHO CARES ABOUT BEING AN IMBECILE MORE THAN HIS FUTURE!!! OUR FRIENDSHIP IS OVER!" with that said, I push him aside and walk past the large crowd we've attracted.

Before I get far however, I feel a buzz from my phone. I unlock it with my iris-recognition and see that a file had been sent.

Grade 10 GPA Results.doc

"I have analysed the content of this report," said Markov. "And I'm 89.78% sure you would not be happy about the contents of this report."

I sigh and open the report, seeing the biggest shock of my life.

Bi-Weekly Result Placement for Grade 10
1st- Adrien Agreste: 4.77
2nd- Max Kante: 4.61
3rd- Marinette Dupain-Cheng: 4.49
4th- Iris Verdi: 4.28
5th- Sabrina Raincomprixx: 4.16
6th- Alya Cesaire: 4.12
7th- Alix Kudbel: 4.02
8th- Nino Lahiffe: 3.91
9th- Nathaniel Kurtzberg: 3.87
10th- Rose Lavillant: 3.84
11th- Juleka Coffaine: 3.81
12th- Ivan Bruel: 3.61
13th- Mylenne Harprelle: 3.55
14th-Kim Le Chien: 2.98

No.

No. No. No. No. No.

"I did not just drop to second... I DID NOT JUST DROP TO SECOND!" I scream.

"Master, are you okay?" Kaalki flies out of my shirt pocket, worriedly.

"No I'm not fine!" I wheeze. "My GPA not only went down, but so did my ranking, which means that..." I get interrupted by another buzz from my phone.

This time it was a text.

Father: I know your bi-weekly results are out. Come home now. You have 5 minutes.

"I'm dead"

I speed-jog back home which is fifteen blocks away. I had managed to make it home and walk into the living room in about four minutes, before composing myself and turning to Markov.

"Markov, I'm sorry buddy, but I need to do this," I whisper before I power him off.

"Why are you switching off your robot friend?" Kaalki inquires.

"Kaalki, please go off and hide! You're not safe here!" I whisper-shouted before the door creaked open, Kaalki immediately speeding away.

My father walked in with a chain in his hand, an evil smirk on his face.

"Your results," he says, looming over me. I hesitate at first, and that earns me a hard slap on my cheek. With tears in my eyes and trembling hands, I reluctantly hand over my phone to him. He looks at the file and throws my phone in anger. I try to back away, but he still looms over me.

"Not only did you drop in your GPA, you dropped to SECOND?! The Kante family does not accept second!" he says, punching me in the gut, knocking air out of my lungs.

I stagger and sway until I fall onto the floor.

"It's....It's not my fault! It was a group project, and my partner did not do his share of the project!"

"I. Don't. Care."

Those are the last three words I hear before I am struck in the face with the chains in his hands . I scream but he covers my mouth while proceeding to give me a very serious thrashing.

He then wraps the chain around my neck, and making me crawl on all floors around the house.

"Look at you... such a failure. You're a failure! Say it to yourself!"

"I am a failure," I whisper defeatedly, earning a smak on my head.

"Louder!"

"I AM A FAILURE!!!!"

"Tell the whole world how useless you are!"

"I AM USELESS!!!"

"You are useless! You are just a waste of space! After all we do for you! And you bring shame to the family name! You're a disgrace!" and with that, he continues his assault on my body and mentality. When he's finally done, he leaves me with a dislocated shoulder and a bleeding jaw.

When I am sure he has left the house, I begin to sob.

Kaalki comes out of hiding, her face mortified. "Oh, Max..."

"I really am a failure, aren't I?" I say to myself

"No you're not, Max..."

"I AM!!!! If I had done the stupid project right, I wouldn't be in this mess!" I yell at her with glassy eyes.

All just because I was partnered with Kim.

Kim.

The name is so repulsive that I am filled with vile and hatred for him.

Kim is the reason I my grades dropped.

Kim is the reason I haven't completed some personal projects.

I've sacrificed most of my time to help Kim be a better person, and where does that get me?

I hate Kim.

"Calm down, Max. You may attract- OH MY LITTLE PONY, AN AKUMA!!!" Kaalki screams

But I don't care. I want so desperately to hurt Kim for hurting me. I let the negative feelings of hatred for him overwhelms me and the akuma goes into my glasses.

"I will give you Chat Noir and Ladybug's miraculous. Just let me destroy Kim," I say as soon as I feel the cold connection.

Very well...Elite.