Jack and Martin were best friends. They had been friends since kindergarten. Now the two friends were about to start fourth grade. Jack and Martin were a little nervous, but excited to start a new school year. Martin felt especially excited, he was determined to work hard and get good grades.

The first day was fun but Jack was a little distracting. He kept trying to play around with Martin and talk while class was going on. Martin just thought that it was just because Jack was still used to summer. But the next day, Jack continued to mess around. Martin tried to concentrate but he just couldn’t focus. Jack tossed paper balls around and talked, even after the teacher scolded him.

By the third day of school, Martin just gave up. Instead of working and paying attention in class, he played with Jack and talked. He ignored his schoolwork and even his teacher. Martin had to admit it was relaxing not to do work.

Weeks passed by of nothing but fooling around with Jack and ignoring work. One day in class, Martin was dozing off when his teacher said something about report cards. He sat up with a jolt, panic settling in.

“Reports will be sent home with you this afternoon,” the teacher announced. “They should come back signed by your parents by the end of the week.”

Martin gulped. When was the last time he had even turned something in?

He bit his lip as his teacher passed out the report cards. His stomach sank as he saw a big, fat zero right at the top of the page. His teacher had scribbled a note in the corner.

“Martin I expect better from you. Only hard work allows people to achieve their goal!” -Ms. E

Martin shoved the piece of paper in his bag. His parents would not be too happy about it.

After showing his mother and father his grades, Martin sat in his room. His parents had given him a scolding for the report card.

“I know you can do better,” his mother had said. “You’re a good student but you need to put in hard work!”

Hard work. Martin kept hearing that phrase. He had been determined to work hard but had fooled around with Jack so much he lost sight of his goal. The boy took a deep breath. He could get his grades back up again, he would just have to work twice as much.