Gene believes that in order to be even they both need to be good at a certain thing. Gene knows that Finny is an excellent athlete but poor when it comes to academics. Gene needs to feel that he must be the academic superior to be equal to his friend, but what gets Gene to come to the meeting is when Finny tells him “I thought you were just smart naturally”. By then Gene is kind of pissed because he puts lots of studying and effort into his work so he decides to come out of jealousy. When they were at the meeting it was Finny’s turn to jump but while he was moving towards the edge of the branch Gene bends his knees which are just enough to shake the branch and throw Finny downwards