Behind Every Failed Exam, There's a Girl

Lately I have been at an all time low when it comes to interesting things happening to me. Usually all the unwanted, stupid and embarrassing things seems to follow me wherever I go and strike me the moment they get an opportunity. They just continually deliver these blows, killer ones at times mind you, and more often than not I am left to be the laughing stock of whomever that is present at that time. But of late, things haven't been the same and I might even say I miss them at times. So, well, perhaps I should relive the past.

This was like good ten years back, when I was still in my A/L class. Day before the first term test in my A/L class, to be precise, and if I'm not mistaken it was the Physics paper that was scheduled for the next day. First term test means just about three months into the A/L class, the warmth of being the big guys of school is still there, and studying all important Physics, Chemistry and stuff is still in your head, and by all means you already are an engineer at that time. Reminds me of something this teacher told us back then. He was the A/L mathematics teacher, and once he said that right after being admitted to the Maths class, everyone in the class is an engineer, a year or so into the race and half the class would have given up and by the time A/L exams come up, you can hardly find a student in the class, let alone an engineer. So very true, we realized when the A/Ls were so close.

Anyway, since the want to do well was still there, me and two other guys, lets call them D and S, decided to spend the night at D's place and prepare for the exam. It'll be a whole nighter, and that we'd somehow finish the whole syllabus before going to bed, or rather exam as we had no intention of going to bed, and would be able to write the exam eyes closed, was the plan. A brilliant one, I'm sure you'd agree, but even the best of them succumb to the above mentioned fate of me, you'll see in a min. Thus we gathered at his place at about 4 in the evening and started studying like three obedient students. Everything was going according to the plan when around six in the evening D's mother asked us to go get some bread for dinner. The Kadey was quite close by, not more than five or six minutes walk, so we were supposed to walk there. In those days D's mother did not allow little kid like D to handle a car by himself - it was a necessity for a parent to be present at all times. But when D asked for the keys, perhaps because we were there, she didn't refuse and we were happily trotting off with the keys in hand a moment later.

We got in the car and headed towards the Kadey when this idiotic idea hit D. Those days, I had a crush on a chick, let's call her M, but neither D nor S had seen her. So he said "machan, let's go see her"! She happened to live about a couple of kilometers from where we were and it was the perfect opportunity. Going to see the girl you dig, on a car, with some friends could be put in the 'cool' category those days, and I had no objection. Not sure if it still is the case, though. Anyway, bread was forgotten and we headed towards her home hoping to return soon.

But then the disaster struck.

Right when we were taking a bend, there were some twigs with leaves still on them were lying around to the side of the road, but D didn't mind and ran the car over them.

THUD!!!

The car stopped immediately and we just literally jumped out of it to see what it was. It was around six in the evening, and was quite dark so unfortunately we hadn't seen the tree trunk lying beneath all the twigs. The buffer of the car was shattered and we were, in every sense of the word, doomed. You've got to realize the implications there. First, we were not supposed to have the car. Two, a car accident, even when nobody's hurt was a big deal those days and you will probably be never given the car for the rest of your life. Or until you buy one for yourself. And D's mom letting mine and S's parents know this wasn't really out of the question either. Besides, usually however small the accident was a car repair costs a lot and that too was a big concern. We were panicking, and had no idea and had nowhere to go, really, when this brilliant mind of mine threw me an idea.

There was this vehicle repairing garage close to my house (I should have mentioned that mine and D's houses were very close by) and the dude there was quite friendly with me. So we decided to first park the car at D's house without telling his mom anything. We had our dinner and went about studying until his mom went to sleep, and then we got to work. Sneaked out of the house at about midnight, pushed the car for some distance without starting it, and then went to find the garage dude to his home which also was close by. We woke him up in the middle of the night and told him the story and literally begged to get it fixed. He was quite a nice guy and agreed to do it (*relief*) and off we went to his garage. The whole night was spent fixing the car and finally at about four in the morning it was done. And he did a fine job with it too that all the cracks were perfectly covered and you couldn't really notice it unless you knew it. And he refused to take any money either, he knew our parents and all that, and promised to keep the whole business quiet as well. We returned to D's home, parked the car where it was and went to get some sleep. Physics was considered a lost cause and there's always a next term test anyway.

Obviously, marks for the next day's exam were forgettable, but when we finally did tell D's mom that this happened, she thought we were kidding and told us off for making up adventure stories. How cool is that?