It's results day. I am not at my school to collect the results but I will be emailed them. Around midday I get an email with an attachment, a pdf. I read the email,  and my grades (numbered 1-9.)
I open it, and see my name, my candidate number. I scroll down a bit and the list of subjects appears. Maths - 9, English Language - 9, and so on. Until Chemistry - 8, English Literature - 8, Computer Science - 8.
Eight 9s, 3 8s. I should be overjoyed, these are amazing results. But there is a bitter taste in my mouth. These aren't enough. I could have done better, I know I could. I'm good at all these subjects, and I could have been the best. My parents ask how I did, and I tell them. They congratulate me. My sister makes a self-deprecating comment, comparing her own (very good, but slightly less good) grades. We comment that her year was the first of the new exams, as always. 
I continue walking down the street, for the whole day it sticks in my head. My confidence is shot.