Constantly prodding each other to better their act, the gang of four put up an impressive performance. Billi had performed very well, and was now one among the first three cadets in the merit list. After an excellent performance in the sand model exercise, she had raced far ahead of the LCs and most of the GCs too. More importantly, she was in the race for the Sword of Honour, which is awarded to the best overall cadet in the academy. Shiny lagged not far behind. Lucky was among the above average performers. Nutty was the only laggard, and the gang pushed her all the time. Although she had improved her grades, a lot remained to be done.
The first week had been hectic for both Billi and Shiny, who were the SUO and CSM. As a result, all four of them could meet only twice a week.
It was only a fortnight later that they could get back to their routine of sitting together more often. The timings were getting streamlined, the first-termers were also settling down. The jungoos were given a regular dose of lectures and punishments immediately after lunch and then again after dinner. Sometimes, the punishments lasted beyond midnight.
After the championship, the gang focused on individual performance. Now that the cross country hurdle had been successfully crossed, the other tests required their attention.
‘The PCKs are essential if we want to beat Cockroach,’ surmised Shiny. ‘Having said that, let me confess that I don’t want Nutty to repeat her dubious methods.’
‘Nor do I,’ Bill endorsed. ‘We have a lot at stake. Being the SUO and CSM, we can’t take risks. Can you imagine the humiliation if we are caught?’
‘Aaron has passed a few PCKs to me, but we need many more,’ remarked Shiny.
‘Where does he get them from?’ Nutty wanted to know.
‘His overstudy gave them to him after passing out.’
‘Aaron is a lucky guy. My bloody overstudy gave me nothing but trouble,’ lamented Nutty.
‘Don’t worry, I will find a way to get the PCKs,’ decided Lucky. Next weekend, while the others were busy, Lucky pedaled towards the photocopying shop. She wanted to know if any of the GCs were getting PCKs photocopied. To her delight, she ran into Mathur just as he was stepping out of the shop.
‘What brings you here?’ she asked the strutting chap.
‘Nothing! I came to grab a sandwich at the café,’ lied the idiot.
‘Well! Let me not delay you,’ Lucky threw him a winsome smile. She was convinced that the guy was there to get photocopies of PCKs. She was also aware of his weakness for her, and she was determined to use that weakness to her advantage.
A shy smile followed by a flutter of lashes à la Nutty did the trick. ‘Why don’t you join me?’ offered the floored fellow. ‘We can spend some time together.’
‘Why not?’ replied Lucky, surprising the chap. He had expected her to refuse.
Delighted, he led her into the café and pulled out a chair for her. After that, he proceeded to empty his wallet by ordering not just sandwiches but also cutlets and ice cream sundaes. Mathur wanted to keep the girl for as long as possible.
The stupid oaf was over the moon with the pretty girl’s attention. He boasted of his achievements, while Lucky pondered over a plan to slip into the photocopy shop.
Once Mathur stopped crowing about his imaginary feats, she excused herself saying, ‘I will be back in a jiffy, after picking up a few things from the canteen. In the meantime, you can finish your drink.’
‘I will wait for you,’ he said, the chivalrous side of his personality emerging after a long hibernation.
‘I will take not more than five minutes,’ she promised, rushing out of the café.
She dove into the photocopy shop, where Nutty’s young friend was busy churning out copies of PCKs. Her eyes were attracted to a stack of photocopies on a table.
‘Whose copies are those?’ she asked the young Lothario. ‘Do these belong to GC Mathur?’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ admitted the gullible fellow.
‘I will take them,’ she pulled out her wallet. Then, noticing the doubtful expression on the chap’s face, she added, ‘Mathur is speaking to a couple of friends at the café. He’s asked me to pick them up for him.’
The young shopkeeper, who had noticed Mathur speaking to Lucky, winked suggestively. ‘GCs requesting LCs to pick up their stuff is rather unexpected.’
Lucky decided to ignore the guy’s comment. Counting out the money, she smiled at him, ‘Can you make one extra copy for me, please? Either Mathur or I will pick it up.’
‘My pleasure,’ he basked in her attention. ‘I am here to serve you, ma’am.’
She knew Mathur would pick up the lot after leaving the café, and hoped the shopkeeper would not mention the extra set. Even if he did, the braggart couldn’t do much except curse her wily ways. She chuckled.
It took all of three minutes for Lucky to collect the full set of PCKs and exit the shop. With a wicked smile, she tucked the lot in her satchel and rushed to the canteen to buy chips. Ten minutes later, she was back at the café, a big smile pasted on her lips.
‘You took a long time,’ complained Mathur. ‘That’s no way to treat a guy. I have been swatting flies for the last 15 minutes.’
‘So sorry, Mathur,’ she grinned in a conciliatory manner. ‘There was a long queue at the canteen, but I requested a GC to buy my stuff.’
‘I am not surprised. With a smile like that, you could convince an eskimo to buy an air-conditioner.’
Little did he know of the wicked deeds she was capable of.
That night the gang was in a jubilant mood. The PCKs had taken them a step closer to success.
‘Tell us how you managed to get the set,’ insisted Shiny.
‘I got them through a lot of lies,’ laughed Lucky, and went on to narrate the entire story.
‘Are you sure the shopkeeper will not tell Mathur about the extra set of photocopies that you carried away?’ asked Nutty, envying her friend’s quick wit.
‘I don’t think he will share the information with Mathur. If my judgement of people is correct, the shopkeeper hates the guts of that GC,’ Lucky smiled.