Synergism

Chapter 1

Zhan glanced at the time on his phone and then pulled out another worksheet he prepared for today. "It looks like we still have some time left, so I think we should go over some science," he said, placing the worksheet in front of his student.

The young boy he was tutoring groaned and his head hit the table with a thud. "I hate science and science hates me," he whined, dramatically.

"Max," Zhan said, pressing his lips together to try to stifle a giggle. "C'mon, that's not true. The fact that you even exist is a prime example that science doesn't hate you."

"Noooo, you don't understand. It really does... can't we do something else? Anything else? What about art... I can draw the Incredible Hulk for you," Max said, his face alight with excitement. "Wait, I can draw you as the Incredible Hulk!"

As much as Zhan was intrigued to see how he looked as an overly large, green muscled superhero, he had a job to do. "Science, Max," he insisted, shoving the worksheet at the 11-year-old.

"But Zhaaaan, I don't want to learn about," the boy looked down at the sheet and read the title, "The different interactions in the ecosystem." With a pout he pushed the sheet back and crossed his arms.

Zhan replaced a frustrated sigh with a tilt of his head and a patient smile. After three months of tutoring Max, he knew where this was going. The boy was on the most part teachable, but his parents spoiled him and he was used to having things go his way. So, whenever he didn't get what he wanted or didn't want to do something, he'd throw a tantrum or become extremely mean.

"Hey this stuff is really cool," Zhan said, trying to keep his voice cheerful and light. "Symbiosis is about the relationship between different..."

"It's only cool to you because you're a nerd," Max said, cutting him off.

Zhan bit back a retort, but his patience was starting to wear thin. At this very moment Zhan wished that science hated him. If he didn't exist then he wouldn't have to endure the torture of tutoring young bratty rich kids. Of course, no one was pressuring him to tutor, but the problem was he really needed to save up to go to University. Although he was doing really well in school, there was no guarantee he would be able to get a full scholarship. He didn't want to burden his aunt with the full cost of going away to University. The fact that she had raised him from when he was 6-years-old to his current age of 17 was already enough. When he turned 18 and went away to University, he wanted to make sure she didn't have to worry about him anymore.

Zhan furrowed his brow in thought and tried to come up with something that would entice Max into learning. "Did you know that the creators of Marvel used science to create characters?"

"They did?" The look on his face showed he was dubious. His arms were still folded over his chest like he wasn't entirely convinced that Zhan was telling him the truth.

"Duh, yeah," Zhan said with an exaggerated eye roll. "How do you think they came up with the Venom Symbiote?"

Max uncrossed his arms and leaned forward to look at the word Zhan was pointing to on the worksheet. "Symbiosis?"

"That's right," Zhan said and Max's eyes lit up with interest. "Do you want to see if the character was created from mutualism, commensalism, or parasitism?"

Max nodded excitedly and Zhan smiled.

By the time Zhan was done tutoring Max, he felt exhausted. It had been a long day beginning with choir practice in the morning before his classes started, Mathlete club at lunch where he scored the highest on the practice math contest, and then a chemistry test in the last period of the day.