Calista said with feigned concem, “Maybe there was a system glitch. Why don’t you try checking again? Coincidentally, my brother is checking his scorche right now. He could give it a try for you.”
“No need,” Aria said. “Ms. Gibbs, I’ll pass the phone to Lily now.”
“Alright,” Valerie replied.
Aria closed the door behind her and finally got some peace.
Valerie told Lily, “There are a lot of outstanding students in this year’s senior class. We just learned that the SAT scores for the state’s top 50 students are being withheld and won’t be available to check for another four days.
“You seniors this year are truly outstanding. Including you, three students in our class have their scores withheld. I’ll go and gather the scores and estimate the score range for the state’s top 50.”
Lily replied, “Alright, Ms. Gibbs, you go ahead.”
Meanwhile, in the kitchen.
Tina glanced around the spotless kitchenware and concluded, “Aria doesn’t cook. There’s not a single sign that she’s ever used them.”
Curious, Calista asked, “So how do her two younger sisters eat? Do they order takeout every single day?”
Vanessa shot her a sidelong glance. “They order from Amour Bistro.”
Calista said, “Wait, doesn’t Amour Bistro usually not take standing orders?”
“Cloe is her friend, and we all know each other. We just pulled a few strings, that’s all,” Vanessa explained.
Calista was speechless. She’d had enough of talking to Vanessa, so she turned to chat with Luther instead.
After compiling all the seniors‘ SAT results at Larkridge High School, Valerie called the other two students first before calling Lily. She said, “The statistical results are out. Eleven of our students made the state’s top 50. Excluding those with withheld scores like yours, the highest mark is 1475.”
After Vanessa and the others finished cooking, Calista suggested, “Why don’t we have Aria’s two sisters come out and eat with us? They’ve been cooped up in their room all morning. We can blur their faces even if they don’t want to be on camera.”
Inside the room, Lily turned to Aria and said, “Aria, I just heard that girl being snarky. I’m coming out to eat with you.”
Given Pearl’s condition, Aria didn’t trust the food others had prepared and had already arranged a special meal for her. Since Pearl had already eaten, she didn’t need to come out.
Vanessa came over to fetch the three of them and asked about Lily’s SAT score. After Lily explained, Vanessa visibly relaxed. Her face broke into a bright smile. “Come on, let’s go out and put Calista in her place.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Lily said.
At the dinner table, Calista, as expected, asked, “So, have you figured out what happened with the SAT score? How come it’s zerc
Lily gave a faint smile. “It’s all sorted out.”
Then, a staff member said, “Mr. Greer, check the trending topics. The scores for the top 50 in the state got withheld.”
Everyone froze, stunned by what they saw.
1/2
Chapter 486
“All top 50 scores in the state are showing zeros!”
“I checked the comments section. People are saying all the state’s top 50 scored above 1475!”
Vanessa immediately burst into applause. “Top 50 in the state. Above 1450. Lily, you’re freaking amazing.”
‘Above 1450, top 50 statewide!‘ Calista snapped out of her daze. Just moments ago, her brother’s 1350 SAT score seemed impressive, but now, faced wit a score above 1475, it suddenly felt insignificant.
Lily cast a subtle glance at Calista and smiled. “Nothing special. My estimated score is only around 1500, so I probably won’t be the top scorer,
‘1500? And she won’t be the top scorer?‘ Calista’s face stiffened further.
Tina smiled and asked, “Lily, you must be a straight–A student at school, right?”
Lily replied modestly, “Well, I only performed well during the second semester of junior year and throughout senior year at Larkridge High School
Luther asked curiously, “So your performance before that must be excellent, too, huh?”
Vanessa finally found her chance to interject, “She only transferred to Larkridge High School late in her junior year, right before finals.”
Everyone was stunned at this.
