"Aga did a stellar job at making my Sociology paper sound like me. I'm super happy with my A-," Molly announced when the trio looked at her expectantly.

The four of them were sitting at the Sailor's Deck, a BBQ spot near the harbour. It wasn't an exclusive restaurant, but it wasn't exactly a cheap spot to eat at either. A plate of buffalo wings is about two or three dollars more expensive than the BBQ place near their campus, but what Molly wants, Molly gets, so she said.

The math genius ordered a seafood platter and salmon pasta to be shared. She insisted her friends order other dishes too. Ballqis and Iqball politely declined, but Agamemnon asked for fruit salad in order not to disappoint his CTC partner.

"You really didn't have to do this, your assignment was a piece of cake because you already have most of it written down," Aga said.

"Oh I know facts collecting, but stringing proper sentences... I'd rather go through 10 CTCs!" she replied.

That Sunday, she had invited them to join her at cafe for an early dinner. Iqball, Ballqis and Aga came to see her already waiting with a ride and a driver. They humoured her, thinking a night out would be fun. Even Ballqis did not mind the prospect of having to spend, given that Mrs Jogh had paid her handsomely, twice.

"So what's with Mr Evil calling you two 'Balls'?" Molly asked Iqball and Ballqis as they all stab their forks into the oversized bowl of salmon pasta.

Aga sniggered.

"You two are officially teacher's pets!"

"Hey," Ballqis protested.

"It was Micah's doing," Iqball said and explained what happened during their last trip. 

At Mr Evans' last class the day before, he was berating the students whose standing grade was less than B+ after their recent mid semester test.

"Mr Lee, help your partner Miss Fitz! She's doing B and you're doing A-, how is that team work? Miss Sokolov, will you let Mr Ong die in his sea of C? Is your conscience really ok with your B+? Come on!" he scolded each student who was unlucky enough to have ended up with a low grade.

Out of the 42 students, only a dozen were mentioned favorably.

"Ms Razi and Mr Gregory, you two are so close to A as well, given that you both now have A- as standing grade. Same goes for Mr Toh and Ms Smith as well as Ms Nguyen and Mr Patel. Work harder!" 

"I applaud Ms Molly Lara for her stellar effort in dragging her partner Mr Agamemnon towards the light, A and A- for you both, that is what I'm hoping to achieve through this forced partnerships and CTC. Another good example, The Balls," he went on and sat in between Iqball and Ballqis.

"Mr Iqball's charm worked perfectly next to the diligence of Ms Ballqis. A for you two! Tell the class, I didn't put a gun to your heads now, did I?" he asked.

They both replied with a 'no' in unison as a few students were heard laughing at their shared nickname.

"Don't you laugh, Mr Brand, Mr Goh. We're having our last CTC soon and this is your last chance to affect your partners positively," he reprimanded.

"Balls," teased the so-called Ms Smith who happened to sit behind Iqball in a whisper as soon as Mr Evil vacated the seat next to her.

Iqball reddened. Ballqis, for some weird reason, felt quite pleased. It's probably the first something that she and Iqball shared, minus the talking fish, that could be talked about in the open.

A tiny snigger escaped from her mouth, surprising Iqball. And Iqball thought at that time, he must have looked quite stupid with his red face.

"Forget Micah. You two are officially Balls now, thanks to Mr Evil," Molly announced, bringing their attention back to the seafood platter that had just arrived.

"I think that's quite sweet," Aga spoke, residues of his broken heart showing through his sad smile.

"Oh, man, are you still hung up on that ex of yours?" Molly snapped.

"No! No!" Aga quickly replied as he grab a crab leg. "Here, Molly, crack it. You deserve all my help after what you did for me last CTC. If it weren't for you, I would've died in the sea of C too," he added.

Molly flipped her long, jet black hair and took the crab leg. She then shoved her hand up.

"A+ for all of us!" she shouted, shocking several nearby patrons.

"Sounds good to me!" Ballqis agreed and sent another crab leg to the same height.

"Crab legs and A+, I'm in," Iqball agreed and followed suit.

"You guys are the best," Aga said wistfully. 

"Aw..." Molly said as she clink her glass of passion fruit juice to Aga's mug of root beer. Iqball and Ballqis joined in, and Aga showed his teeth through a smile as good as he had always given before his heart got ran over the heartbreak truck.

"I would not have been able to get over her if it hadn't been for the three of you shaving off my student allowance with super sized pizzas," he joked.

"You're strong enough even if we didn't interfere, Aga," Ballqis said loyally.

"You're stronger and wiser now," Iqball chimed in.

"I'm with Balls," Molly agreed as she made sure everyone had gotten a ladle-full of salad.

"Hey," both Iqball and Ballqis protested.

"OK, OK I'll stop dribbling. Let's just eat!" Molly hollared, once again startling several tables of BBQ lovers around them.

***

"So you guys are going to yet another off-campus, away from the city trip? You're so lucky!" Aga said after hearing the 'Balls' had been recruited by Mrs Jogh to help out with her next presentation.

"I'd definitely recommend your name if she ever asks for more people to help," Ballqis quickly answered.

"I bet Mrs Jogh is a great benefactor during the trips you've had so far?" Molly inquired.

"Yes, she took care of all the meals and accommodation for each of us," Iqball replied.

"During that presentation at Farmeca she got stalled by the TV interview. But even then so she had Mr Evans take us to dinner at quite an swanky restaurant," Ballqis replied.

"She must be getting a lot of grants and fund money," Molly mumbled.

"She must be! I saw new tanks being brought into the lab. I wonder if those tanks labeled with the green tags will be thrown out soon. I'd love to keep one. I could use it to keep a pet spider or maybe a hamster," Agamemnon said.

Ballqis and Iqball stilled.

"Did you say green tags?" Ballqis checked.

"Yeah, Mrs Jogh had me labeled a few tanks after those arrived. The green tags had the word 'DISPOSE' printed on them," Aga confirmed.

They did not need T7's telepathic powers to know what each other were thinking. Ballqis and Iqball knew, they need to get into the lab and find out if T7's tank has a green tag on it... as soon as possible!