Luck

The boy and girl had been sitting in the college cafeteria for about
an hour now. Everyone was irritated with them. For one, they had
ordered nothing. From the time they had taken the corner table they had
been holding hands and looking deep into each other's eyes. They had
managed to keep mum even while the rest screamed their hearts out. This
made the cafeteria regulars uneasy. Some way had to be found to get rid
of the silent very-much-in-love duo. Suddenly a noise was heard at the
door. A tall lanky boy was seen hitting a shorter boy with fists. As
their respective friends egged them on, the scene of the fight kept
moving. The fight moved from the door, to the counter, to the centre,
to the corner where the lovebirds were seated. And it got more and more
violent. After a while the shorter boy was seen bleeding from the
forehead. Suddenly he was thrown onto the lovers' table. The table was
toppled and the flower-vase placed on it broken. The lovers were
obviously disturbed and together uttered,
'What&;#8230;Who&;#8230;When'. With these words they realized
that the whole cafeteria was looking at them. They collected their
things and left the premises as soon as they could hand in hand. The
fist-fighting stopped too. The tall lanky boy who was called Neil told
the other boy who was called Barry, 'Give me my 20 pounds. And wipe
that ketchup off your forehead'. Barry sheepishly took out twenty
pounds from his wallet and handed it over to Neil. Everyone was told
what had just happened. Like the rest of the students Neil and Barry
were not comfortable about the lovebirds in the corner. Neil had bet
Barry twenty pounds that he would throw the lovers out without any
protest from anyone. And that is how it all had happened.
It was now ten-thirty. The college beauty contest had taken place two
days earlier. The beauty queen Lisa was moving around the premises with
her gang. She was known to be very haughty. Both Neil and Barry were
going to class when they saw Lisa in the distance. Barry said to Neil,
'I bet a hundred pounds you can't get Lisa to say I LOVE YOU to you in
the next fifteen minutes.' Neil said, 'I'll do it'. Five minutes later
he and Barry were following Lisa's gang all through college. When she
was alone Neil approached her. He said to her, 'Excuse me, I am new to
this college. I think someone has stuck some paper to the back of my
shirt. Can you tell me if anything is written on it?'. Lisa took a good
look at Neil. He appeared to be innocent enough. He turned to allow her
to look at the paper stuck to his back. The writing was poor.
Nevertheless Lisa read out. 'I LOVE YOU'.Lisa was so embarrassed she
ran into the nearest class room. Barry silently handed Neil hundred
pounds. It was now around eleven pm and the principal was on his
rounds. Neil had an idea. He told Barry, 'If I can make the principal
kneel before me, will you give me hundred pounds?'Barry checked his
wallet, 'Okay'. The principal was very near. Suddenly Neil was on his
knees and appeared to fall at the principal's feet from behind. Then he
suddenly stood up. He looked at the principal and said, 'Sir, someone
has tied your laces together. The gentleman looked down and saw that
the state of affairs was indeed so. So there it was. Neil was standing
upright and the principal was at Neil's feet tying his shoelaces.
It had been a lucky day for pranks. Neil and Barry decided to play one
final prank. Neil rang his father up. He pretended that he was a
gangster who had kidnapped Neil. He demanded a million pounds for his
release. He knew his father did not have that much money. Barry went to
collect the money at the appointed place which was the Victoria
Memorial disguised as a bearded man. As Barry was about to take the
briefcase from Mr Johnson, Neil's father, he felt someone tugging at
his ears. It was the Chief Inspector of Police and with him was Barry's
father. The college had sent complaints to the parents of both Neil and
Barry. Neil's father had recognized his son's voice when he had made
the ransom call. Well, luck had run out for the two pranksters,
finally.