Beyond the Mysteries... [PART ONE OF THE SERIES]

TSOOP - Four

Susanto

By the time, half-yearly exams came down, knocking on the front door, one thing was clear to me – Sam was really good in Chemistry. In class, she could answer even the toughest of questions. Her answers used to be so definitive; they even outsmarted Dominic sir at times. On the other hand, Physics was her kryptonite – something I strived at. Jeetu Bhaiya – our physics teacher even advised her to take private tuitions and said that she could hang back after school if she had any doubts, just like I did. Sam had nodded to the proposal, but never acted on it.

Then came the half-yearly exams, through the front door and onto our lives. The first two subjects were First Language (English) and Second Language (Bengali), with one day in between them.

After that came History. Now, my method of passing in this subject was, hiding a palm-size piece of paper on the side of my shoe with the important dates written on it.

Then Geography puzzled me with maps and kinds of crops and rains and rotation of planets and what not!

Finally, the four sciences came along – Mathematics, Biology, Physics and the dread of my life Chemistry.

In the exam hall, I was sitting in the last bench and Samrita was right in front of me. Usually, I depended on the person in front of me, or behind me to help me with biology and chemistry. This time, though the person behind me was 'wall' and the one in front gave me look as if she'd die before helping me out. It meant one thing – this time, I was all alone (which can be a frightening experience).

Mathematics went like a breeze – arithmetic, geometry – piece of cake. On the day after the next day was biology. Getting no help from Samrita, I had to rely on the bits and pieces I remembered from the class, things I had read yesterday and... that's it – I had nothing more.

The Physics question was challenging but doable. While writing the paper I noticed, Sam was looking here and there, looking for a friendly face to help her – there were none. I tapped her on her shoulder. She, without moving her body, turned her head sideways and asked, "What?"

"I can help you with this exam – if you agree to help me tomorrow."

She eyed at the invigilator who was pacing with his hands behind his back and his head rotating like a robotic scanner.

"No," came Sam's reply, "I'll pass the exams myself." She held onto her pride and turned back.

"Fine," I returned back to the paper. Fifteen minutes later, I heard a, "Sshhh..." from the person in front of me. I looked up and whispered, "What? Need my help."

She swallowed her pride and said, "Yes, question number-"

"Promise you'll help me tomorrow."

"I promise," she whispered. She told me the question number and I whispered the answers to her. It was dangerous for both of us, but it was thrilling as hell.

And then came my arch-nemesis in the shape of a three paged booklet with CHEMISTRY written on top of it. The entire paper was puzzling for me. I somehow managed to answer the objective type questions and tapped on Samrita's shoulder. Her reply was an involuntary shrug.

"You promised, you'd help me!", my words didn't flinch her. She raised her hand for an extra sheet. I added, "Please dude, just the two long answer types." – No response. I was betrayed. There was no way, Samrita was turning back. I sat helplessly, cursing her and Dominic at the same time when something hit my leg. I looked down – it was supplementary sheet and on it, written in feminine cursive handwriting was the answers to all of my questions.