THREE SHADES OF LOVE

Three shades of love
Chapter - 9

On the final day of the eleventh grade exam, Saranya was seen quite worried.
Mriganka said, "Why are you so worried? All the exams are over. Today, it's just your Social Science and my Physics. That's it, right?"
Saranya replied, "Oh, you don't understand, only extraordinary people like you don't worry. But ordinary people like me do. Concerns about passing, you know. And then my dad keeps saying what he'll do if I fail, kicking me out of the house and all that."
Hearing this, Mriganka chuckled, "If he kicks you out, you can come to my house. It'll be fun."
Angrily, Saranya retorted, "Shut up! I don't like it at all."

Mriganka found himself seated at his usual place but noticed Saranya sitting on the opposite bench. Mriganka turned around and saw that behind him, on the bench behind, were Sagnik and her friends, the ones who was cheat during their surprise tests. As soon as the exam bell rang, the teacher distributed answer sheets and question papers to everyone. Mriganka's exam was going well until suddenly the teacher stood in front of him and asked, " Mriganka, what's under your feet? And is this on the bench or on top of it? What is this paper for? Where did it come from?"
Mriganka couldn't understand properly.
Mriganka said, "Sir, I can't understand what you're saying."
The teacher said, "What's that paper under your feet? And which bench are you sitting on, and whose paper is this? Where did it come from?"
Mriganka looked down and indeed found two small pieces of paper under his feet and on his bench.
Mriganka calmly said, "Honestly, sir, I don't know anything about these. Where did they come from?"
The teacher said, "Alright, I see what's going on. Then everything will be clear.”

The teacher opened the two pieces of paper and found that they contained some answers to today's exam and some additional notes. Angrily, the teacher said, "What is this, Mriganka? We thought you were a good student, and you turn out to be...!"
Mriganka was somewhat surprised and said, "I'm telling the truth, sir. I didn't do anything. I don't know anything about this."
The teacher said, "Everyone says the same thing when caught. I don't know where these came from?"
The students sitting on the bench behind said, "Yes, sir, we knew Mriganka Choudhury is like this. Doesn't someone do the same thing every year?"
The teacher said, " Mriganka, you've been caught red-handed. You were cheating. Your exam will be canceled."
Upon hearing this, Mriganka looked tensed. As the teacher was about to leave the classroom with the answer sheet, one of the students from the adjacent bench stood up and said, "Sir, Mrigank Choudhury is not a cheater."
The teacher asked, "What do you mean?"
The student replied, "Sir, he wasn't cheating."

The teacher, with a stern face, sighed and said, "Do you know what you're saying? Are you so sure of what you're claiming or just saying it without any basis?"
Samprikta spoke up, "Please forgive me, sir. I saw that Mriganka didn't cheat. Actually, those pieces of paper were dropped in front of him moments after the exam started."
The teacher asked, "What do you mean?"
Samprikta replied, "Yes, sir. Those pieces of paper were dropped in front of him and on his bench by the students sitting behind him."
The teacher asked, "Are you sure about what you're saying?"
Samprikta affirmed, "Yes, sir, I am absolutely sure. He didn't cheat."
The teacher said, "Do you have any evidence? On what basis are you saying these things? Can you provide proof?"
Samprikta was a bit surprised and said, "Evidence?"
The teacher continued, "Yes, evidence. As long as you can't provide evidence, Mriganka won't be allowed to take the exam. And the little that he has taken, we won't count."

Samprikta looked towards Mriganka, who was standing with his head bowed down.
The teacher said, "If he really didn't do anything, then why did those papers end up in front of him? He knows everything about it."
Mriganka replied, "Sir, I'm telling the truth, I didn't cheat. And I have no fear of speaking the truth. It pains me that you canceled my exam just because of this."
The teacher said, "Did you think that I would still allow you to take the exam after hearing all this? That would have been unfair of me. And you've been unfair."
Upon hearing this, Mriganka forcefully exclaimed, "I didn't do anything unfair!"
The teacher chuckled and said, "You're saying you didn't do anything unfair by being unfair."

Samprikta said, "Mriganka is indeed telling the truth, sir. He didn't do anything unfair. If anyone did something unfair, it was Sagnik and his friends."
Upon hearing this, one of Sagnik's friends from the back bench suddenly exclaimed, "Why are you pointing fingers at us? Do you have any evidence that we did this?"
Samprikta said, "I have evidence."
Samprikta 's friend, Oindrila, stood up and said, "Yes, sir, I also saw them throwing those pieces of paper towards Mriganka. One piece was thrown in front of his feet, and the other was thrown on his bench."
The teacher asked, "Are you sure you saw this?"
Both Samprikta and Oindrila replied, "Yes, sir, we saw it."
Then, a boy among the students spoke up, "But how can we trust your words? You need to provide evidence. Sir, nowadays, people say a lot of things, and besides, what did you see, sir? Did you see us doing anything to him?"
The teacher replied, "No, I didn't see anything."
The boy continued, "That's the point, sir. Only they both claim to have seen it. No one else did. From this, it's clear they're trying to frame us."
Samprikta said, "Why would we try to frame them? And besides, are we the ones trying to frame you? We heard with our own ears that you're conspiring against Mriganka, trying to do something wrong to him. We knew about it, so we kept an eye on you. That's all."
One of the boys among the students said, "Sir, it's wasting our time for them. We can't believe in such things just based on words."
Mriganka couldn't figure out what to do and remained silent like a statue.
After a moment, Samprikta said, "Sir, do we have CCTV in our classroom?"
The teacher replied, "Yes, we do. Why?"
Samprikta said, "Sir, if we watch the footage, we can understand who is guilty and who is innocent, right?"
The teacher responded, "That's correct. Watching the CCTV footage will clear everything up. Mriganka, until we have evidence, you won't be able to take the exam. You'll have to wait until then."
The students sitting behind said, "Sir, what will happen if we watch the CCTV footage? It's wasting our time."
The teacher said, "Be quiet. You guys give your exam. Mriganka, Please come with me."

Samprikta said to Oindrila, "Indrila, you don't go, I, Mrigank, and the teacher are going. You make sure to do your exam well."
Oindrila replied, "No, I will also go."
Samprikta stopped her and said, "I'm telling you not to go. You give your exam. I'm coming now."
Mriganka, the teacher, and Samprikta went together to watch the CCTV footage.

Having received the question paper, Saranya greeted to good. Upon examining the question paper, she found that the questions were more or less within her expectations. While she was busy writing the answers on her sheet, she suddenly heard a commotion outside. Despite her attempts to understand, she couldn't grasp what was happening.
Their teacher also moved a little closer in that direction.
In the midst of this, Saranya heard someone outside whispering, "Has Mriganka gone to cheat?"
Upon hearing this, Saranya's heart trembled for a moment. She thought, "What! It’s impossible. This cannot be true. Mriganka can never cheat, no matter what."

Saranya finished her exam and came out to see a large gathering in front of Mriganka's classroom. As she approached the crowd, she overheard a boy saying, " Mriganka has finally become the first among us. We all know he's a smart cheater."
This statement shook Saranya to her core. She moved closer to the boy, feeling the urge to confront him, but Surya and Anima held her back, saying, "Saranya, calm down. Don't react like this."
Saranya thought to herself, "How dare he call Mriganka a cheater? He can never cheat, no matter what. He is not capable of such things."
The boy sarcastically remarked, "Oh... Oh... Look at how shocked you are. Have you seen the expression on your face today? It seems like he's become the first after cheating for so many years. And our responsibilities have been buried in the middle."
Angrily, Saranya said, "Will you be quiet, or do you want me to hit you?"
The boy shrugged and said, "Are you trying to threaten me?"
Saranya retorted, "I'm not threatening you; I'm warning you.
Anima just let go of me. I'll confront him today."
Anima intervened, "Oh! Saranya, calm down a bit."
Surya added, "Yes, Saranya, just calm down."
The boy chimed in, "I also want to see."
As they were about to confront each other, suddenly another boy said, "Look, Mriganka is coming."
Surya asked, "What's happened to Mriganka ? Tell me!"
Saranya looked and saw Mriganka standing calmly.

To be continued ……………………….