Mimi sneaks a glance at Kayla; her sister looks… overwhelmed. Her face is a little blotchy, an awkward blush. Is she happy? Mimi can’t tell

IF

Mrs. Price had been enthusiastic to announce the math challenge competition back in March, she practically vibrates with excitement now, the day after the results came in.

“Girls!” she cries dramatically, waving an envelope through the air. “I have our results from the challenge. As a class, you really did well, nicely above average, I was very happy to see. And best of all, we have a winner in our own class!”

There’s a murmur — curiosity, interest, a couple of we knew its — as Mrs. Price begins handing out slim white envelopes.

“Inside these envelopes you’ll see the grade you received on the challenge. I received the collated list of results from the math challenge moderators. And I’m delighted to announce that one of them is a winner — in the top 20 in the country, no less!”

The top 20? Whoa. Even for Kayla, that’s impressive. How many people had taken this test, hundreds? Thousands?

“Several thousand schools take part in this math challenge, so to have a winner in our own class is something very, very special,” Mrs. Price says, finally back behind her desk. “I’ll wait for you to all open your envelopes, and then—”

There’s a gasp from the side of the room. Kayla has her hand clapped to her mouth. She looks up at Mrs. Price, then down at her results again.

“Ah, I see you’ve seen it, Kayla,” Mrs. Price says, beaming. “So let’s all give a huge round of applause to Kayla Weiss, who received one of the top 20 grades in the entire country!”

A few girls cheer. Mimi sneaks a glance at Kayla; her sister looks… overwhelmed. Her face is a little blotchy, an awkward blush. Is she happy? Mimi can’t tell.