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…"
"900!?" Ken's voice rose in shock and horror, causing everyone in the hall to face his direction. Some of the gazes were full of sympathy, while others showed schadenfreude, reveling in someone else's plight.
Steve shrinked back, with tears almost forming in his eyes. "I know! I just suck at tests okay."
Ken shook his head, ignoring the gazes sent their way. "Dude, even if you're the best athlete, no College is going to be happy with a score like that."
"I know, I know… You sound just like my father." He replied gloomily.
Letting out a sigh, Ken massaged the bridge of his nose and began to think. "Looks like we'll be seeing each other a lot more often." He said, a hint of resignation in his tone.
"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"
"Well it's obvious that you need tutoring, and who better to teach you than me?" Ken replied simply.
Steve shook his head, "Man, you didn't even study, your score can't be much better than mine." He stated, getting a little defensive.
Ken shrugged, "I haven't checked my test scores yet."
"Hah! Well let's go check now then. If your score is higher then 1200—No 1100, I'll let you tutor me. Hell, I'll even call you Sensei from now on." Steve stated, wearing a confident expression.
"Deal." Ken instantly grabbed Steve's hand, his face stone-cold and serious.
Taken aback at the abrupt movements of his friend, Steve suddenly had a bad premonition.
'Why is he so confident?' He thought. However, he shook his head in the next moment. There was no way someone could score well on the SAT's without any prior study, he even remembered the pitiful expression Ken made before the test.
The two made their way to the computer lab and secured one of the PC's. Since it was lunch time, there were only a few people present.
Steve typed in the address and had Ken enter his information. The two waited while the slow internet loaded the results.
"Hmm, 1550… That's almost a perfect score." Ken muttered, nodding his head in satisfaction. He turned his attention to Steve whose jaw was wide open, as if he'd seen a ghost.
There was a few moments silence as if the guy was coming to grips with the situation. But in the next moment he threw himself onto the ground and kowtowed, "Please teach me your ways Sensei!"
"Hehehe, so you have now seen the light my disciple. Very well, I shall impart my knowledge unto you, so that you may prosper in the future." Ken said dramatically, raising his chin in triumph.
A figure at the back of the computer lab suddenly stood up and saw the scene, her face turning weird. "What the hell are you guys doing?"
Steve raised his gaze from the floor and saw Stephanie's judgmental gaze directed at him, though he felt no shame. "Oh hey Steph, Ken said he was going to tutor me." He said nonchalantly, as if he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.
Stephanie blinked a few times, her blue eyes filled with both confusion and annoyance. Without a word, she walked out of the room, not sparing him another glance.
Ken let out a light cough, feeling the awkwardness deep in his bones. He had gotten a little carried away with his acting, but Steve was the one who started it.
He looked towards the guy who seemed to be a little forlorn at the moment and cleared his throat. "Ahem, so you gonna tell me what's up with you two?"
Steve got up off the floor and slumped into a nearby chair, his body like jello. "I dunno man, I think she hates me for some reason." He admitted, ruffling his hair in frustration.
Ken nodded, leisurely taking a seat of his own. "And what do you think you did to deserve the treatment?" He asked, crossing one leg over the other. If he had a pen and notepad, one might think they were in a therapy session.
"Do you think I would know!?" Steve snapped, letting out a resigned sigh. "It started after I left homeschooling to join McCallum High."
"Mmm, interesting." Ken mused.
Ken tapped on the desk with his index finger a few times, but his mind was blank. In all honesty, he didn't really understand women. The fact that he was able to get with Ai was still a complete mystery to him.
After chasing her in his previous life, it was rather confusing that she would go after him this time, even joining the baseball club as a manager to get closer to him. This left him with a single conclusion.
'Women are too mysterious.'
"So what do you think it could be Sensei?" Steve asked, his eyes filled with hope.
"Mmm… Did you stop wearing deodorant?"
"…"
"Is that even relevant? What kind of question is that…"
Ken shrugged, "Well its either that or she thinks you're cheating on her." Out of ideas, Ken just blurted out the first random thing that came to his mind that would cause his own girlfriend to hate him.