"Look! Levian! The report cards have come!" shouted Livia, Levian's sister. Livia was standing at the Weber mailbox. Livia had sharp eloquent blue eyes that looked thoughtful when she smiled. Her hair was very blonde and looked almost artificial.

Levian was a boy that was about as popular as the mud when the dirt field around their school got wet. "Oh, great." Levian put his face in his hands. Levian's grades were horrid compared to Livia's, and hers exceeded the grade. Livia had never, no, not ever, missed a single day of school.

Livia grabbed the mail and followed Levian inside. "Welcome home, darlings. What's in the mail, Livia?" Mrs. Weber said.

Livia, being a goody-two-shoes, replied very sweetly, "The report cards for the trimester have come, Ma."

Levian glared at his sister. Could you be nicer, Levian thought edgily.

Mrs. Weber took the report cards envelopes from Livia and opened them carefully. First, she tore open Livia's, which was on the top. As expected, Livia had straight A's.

Levian braced himself for the worst. Mrs. Weber read the page, and in less than ten seconds she sighed. 

"Levian, oh, I don't know how to begin, Levian... This is—," she shook her head,"—simply not acceptable..." and so began the long scolding from Mrs. Weber saying how his grades were horrid horrid compared to Livia, ending with Levian promising that he'd do better next time.

Levian slowly walked up the stairs behind Livia, who was twirling and hopping about. When Levian reached the platform marking the end of the stairs, Livia whispered loudly to Levian, "Listen, I— I've got a plan, Levy. How about I tutor you everyday—,"

Levian cut Livia off. "Livy, I'm telling you, I don't want you to I— I don't want to be seen as— as the loser who needs tutoring from his genius sister," Levian snapped, though there was a hint of sadness in his voice. Then with a roll of his eyes, he stomped into their shared room.

***

"It's dinner time, kids!" Mrs. Weber called to the twins.

Livia hurried down the stairs, but Levian slowly trudged down. He had no reason to hurry, really.

When he finally got downstairs and in the kitchen, Mr. Weber was already home. Usually, Mr. Weber didn't get home until everyone was halfway done with dinner, but that day, thanks to Levian's time wasting, was already there. Mrs. Weber wouldn't tell any bad news to Mr. Weber, who typically already had enough stress from work.

Dinner went by with some small talk, with Levian remaining silent. But Mr. Weber was a kind man who noticed things, and he saw how Levian was feeling.

After dinner, Mr. Weber pulled his son aside and whispered to him, "What happened, Lev? It's okay." Mr. Weber had a way of sounding reassuring.

Levian was speechless for a second, still thinking. "Well, Pa, you know how sometimes you already know how something is happening..."

Mr. Weber patted Levian on the back as he spoke, "Son, get to the point."

Levian grimaced. "Well, I kind of expected to get all C's, I mean, I got an A in Creative Writing, but apparently it doesn't matter. Ma was really disappointed... I really hate report cards. And school. And... my life."

Mr. Weber looked at Levian. "Levian, don't be like that. Life will go on. It's no use to wish. You got to change. Get used to failure and learn from it to succeed next time. And next time, if you fail again, try again. One day, Lev, I promise you, you will bring home straight A's. I can help you. Maybe your Ma and I could get you a tutor or something to help you."

Levian groaned. "Livia said that she could tutor me. Please don't make her my tutor!"

"No, not her. Like a professional. Yeah?" Mr. Weber said quickly.

"Deal." Levian smiled.