He thought it would have been easy enough to enlist a young recruit. But no, it had to go all wrong. There were no female agents in situ, they were all out of the country. He had eyed some of the kids while he was getting to the location, and considered pulling one out of the crowd and 'persuading' them to do what needed to be done.
Somehow though, it all went amiss. First, as he had made his way across the lawn to the building, he was accosted by a group of misfits parading around with crosses and handmade signs. Frosh Week. He'd tried to ignore them, but they refused to let him go. They pressed pamphlets into his hand. Proclaimed that Jesus was the Answer. Asking him had he had pledged to give his faith unto the lord and to repent and receive the Lord Jesus Christ for the answer to all questions was Jesus. He had grunted noncommittally at them, and had, for a few seconds, considered knocking one or two out. But that would have been disrespectful. So he'd shrugged his way through, nodding and waving his pamphlet at them, jogging to the building.
Now, as he slid behind the desk, he was experiencing another problem. He couldn't fit. The space between the desk and the puny chair was tiny.
'What the beep is this? Barbie doll furniture?' He muttered to himself, struggling with the desk now, as he had somehow got himself stuck between the desk and the chair.
'Hi. Can I see your id please?' A small girl stood expectantly at his side.
'What do you need my id for? This isn't a bar.' He finally extricated himself from the dimunitive furniture.
'Um. This is the exam room. That means you have to show your student ID.' She stated primly.
'Yeah. Okay. But I can't fit in this tiny contraption.' He kicked at the leg of the desk. It almost fell over.
The girl looked around, 'There's a desk over there by the window. I think it's bigger than the regular desks.'
They walked over to it, and Smoke looked over the desk. He made a face, then sat down with a sigh.
'Your ID, please?' She asked again. He patted himself, looking for where he'd kept it. He found the wallet and pulled out the required card. He looked at it, then looked sideways at the girl a few times. He tut tutted a few times, then handed the card over.
The girl looked down at the card. A cute girl with long black hair was smiling poutily at her.
She looked at the man, and he was facing out the window, his hand covering the right side of his face.
'Um. Mister...Basanti?' She read from the card. 'There seems to be a mi-'
'Yeah, I know. Ehm. It's not a very flattering picture. I, ehm, had to take the photographer out.'
'Out? You went on a date?!' The girl's eyes were round like saucers.
'No! Ehh. Out like, out. TKO.' He fidgeted.
'TKO. Um, okay. Why would you do that though?'
'Listen, is this an interrogation? I came to write the damn exam. Who are you anyways, to ask me these questions?' He huffed, a bit put out. 'You're not a professor.'
'No. I got selected from my school for a student exchange!' She beamed at him proudly. 'I'm fulfilling the duties of an invigilator.'
'Invig..Aren't you kind of...young?'
She looked offended. 'Aren't you kind of OLD?' She gestured with the card.
A bustle at the front of the room distracted them both, as at the same time another invigilator slapped an exam booklet on the desk. It was time to begin the exam.
In the ensuing silence, Smoke turned the exam over. What the hell is all this? He flipped through to the second page, then the third, and kept flipping to the end. Holy sheet what am I doing here?
He fidgeted with the pen, looking at the clock, his mind racing. Answer, answer, answer, answer. The questions on the paper seemed to be taunting him. He glared back.
He read over the exam again. If he had any clue about the subject matter, he was sure this was an easy exam. All he had to do was choose one of 5 different questions, answer 5 short word answers about the question, then explain all his answers in one last question that was worth half the exam grade. Simple
Or not. He glared at the girl who was walking down the aisle, and she seemed to be laughing at him, with a smirk on her face. She knows I'm not supposed to be here. She thinks I can't answer anything. Psh, I'll show her.
He flipped back to the first page, and read through all the questions, nodding to himself. Yes, he could do this. He looked out the window. But how? The sounds of bells tolling caught his attention, across the wide lawn of the campus was a church.
He turned to the first question. Answered it. Went to the next. Answered it. He made short work of the rest of the questions. Then threw his pen on the desk, he leaned back and sighed. He stretched out lazily again, crossing his arms behind his head.
