All of the club members were currently in the VSW club room apart from Alex. Each one of them was discussing the results they got for the test that term. Everyone was surprised by Novis's test results being the lowest out of the four of them and surprised that Dan was quite clever.
"Hey so what do you think Alex got?" Ashley asked.
"Oh right, you're only a first-year so you don't know do you?" Scarlett replied. "The thing is Alex gets the number one spot in school all the time without fail.
"Wow his that good, maybe I should ask him to tutor me some time."
"Speaking of Alex, where is he, shouldn't he be here by now," Dan said.
Just then, every single one of them received a message on their phone.
"Oh, it looks like Alex isn't coming today," Scarlett said as she read the message on her phone. "That's strange he didn't say anything earlier, maybe something happened?"
"Well, what do you want to do?" Novis asked.
Scarlett thought for a while before replying.
"Maybe it's best if we just take a break for today, we all have that interview tomorrow from Tick so think about what you want to say to them. We can't make the team look bad."
Everyone nodded and then started to head home.
Of course, Alex was already on his way home but he was walking back slower than ever. Alex's mind was occupied with what he would say to his parents when he saw them.
After walking slowly for a good 20 minutes he had finally arrived home. Alex took a big deep breath before going in.
"I'm home!" Alex shouted as he usually did when he stepped through the front door.
Alex then took off his shoes before going into the kitchen where his mum would usually be at this time of day preparing dinner. Due to both of his parents working as doctors, they were quite strict with their schedule, everything happened at a perfect time and Alex could predict where his parents would be, or what they would be doing because of this.
"How was school?" His mum asked as she just finished putting something in the oven.
Alex put on a brave face before replying.
"It was great, I got called up in front of the school today to congratulate me."
"Oh really, was it because of your grades!" His mum said excitedly.
"No, it was actually because we entered the quarter-finals of the VSW tournament I was in."
His mum didn't reply as her excitement quickly went away.
"You remember the tournament I was talking about" Alex continued but there was no interest from her as usual.
Alex then put his bag down on the table and took out his test result. He stared at the score once again and took a gulp this time before speaking.
"That reminds me." His mum said, "Weren't you meant to get your test results back today?"
As his mum turned around, she could see that Alex already had it held out in his hand. She took the piece of paper gently before looking at it and just like Alex, she couldn't stop staring at the number in the corner.
Alex stood there in silence with his head down to the ground, He wasn't able to look his mother in the eye.
Suddenly, his mother started to move without saying a word, she had left the kitchen and went straight upstairs.
"What is she doing?" Alex wondered.
When his mother finished doing what she was doing upstairs, Alex could see his mother coming downstairs with his VR headset held in her hand. She then went straight outside with it.
Alex rushed to his mother and shouted.
"Wait what are you doing!"
His mother was now stood by the bin and threw the VR headset down into it.
"We had a deal, Alex!" His mum shouted. "You would only be allowed to play the game as long as you kept up your grades."
Alex's mum then walked back into the house and grabbed the test result once more and shoved the paper in Alex's face.
"What is this, you said your grades wouldn't drop, one or two points I can understand but you always got above 90 until you entered this tournament."
"butbut.."
Alex didn't know what to say, he could see his mother's anger was just getting worse and worse. She had already gotten rid of the VR headset but he knew there was something else she had to say.
"You are no longer allowed to play that silly game of yours, you will quit that club and be home 20 minutes after school finishes. If you are not home by then the door will be locked and you can live outside for all I care."
Tears started to fill Alex's eyes. So many tears that Alex was unable to see a single thing.
Due to all the research Alex had put into the team's games, Alex had less and less time to study. Originally it wouldn't have been so much of a problem but he was playing with completely new players.
Alex had taken more time than he usually would to show the others how to play and implement the strategies they needed to win. Alex was hoping by giving his mother the good news about the game that she would change her opinion about it but that didn't happen.
As usual, she completely ignored any accomplishments Alex had made unless it was to do with his studies.
"Why Why..." Alex managed to say, "I worked so hard, why can't you let me do what I want. I'm not a doll, I'm not something you own!" Alex shouted back.
His mother then lifted her hand and slapped Alex across the face.
"I raised you, I carried you in my belly for 9 months. Me and your father work night and day to put food on the table for you and this is how you treat us back. Will that game of yours ever be able to put food on the table?"
Alex was just in too much shock to reply back and ran into his room. He shut the door behind him and sat on his bed with his quilt over his head, rocking backwards and forwards whishing all the bad thoughts away.