A couple of weeks later, Ken had noticed that Steve seemed rather anxious. It was as if a cloud of gloominess was following him around everywhere he went.
"Dude, you've been bummed out all day. What is wrong?" Ken finally asked. He had given the guy the opportunity to speak up on his own, but he just kept to himself.
Steve sent him a pitiful look, "I got my SAT score back last night… My parents are upset with me."
"What? Wait, the results are out?" Ken raised his eyebrow in surprise.
"Yeah… You can check them online." Steve replied, his face looking sour.
Ken nodded, he would need to check his own scores tonight after practice. He had already researched what a decent score would be, so he knew what to aim for.
"So… What was your score?" he asked surreptitiously.
Steve flinched, but he answered in a low voice. "900…"