I am betting on O - Part II

[Continued from 'I am betting on O - Part I']
The last person in the mix who makes it even more unpredictable is the 12th standard contestant - J. Now no one remembers when the last time was when someone from 11th or 12th standards contested. They are too old to bother about silly elections. They have 12th boards looming and the all important entrances to tackle, who would have the time for these elections is what collective wisdom suggests. But J's different. Never the one too interested in studies, he even had to repeat class 9. Always at the bottom of his class, barely scraping through in the exams. It's an open secret that he is not even taking his entrances and will join his father in their family business when he finishes class 12. But he is a different person on the cricket ground. A vicious fast bowler who has helped the school win the inter-district cricket tourneys each year, for the past 4 years. His 5 wicket hauls are always talked about, primarily because he is constantly talking about them. He never tires talking about how important his last haul was to win the match and never bores describing the way he bowled out the opposing caption the year before that. He cuts classes, smokes in the parking lot and has a different girlfriend each session.
But the thing he likes most is to call himself a 'maverick'. Not many know exactly what that word means, except that it carries a general heroic connotation. Not many question why he keeps calling himself ‘J The Maverick’ all the time because they are either too afraid to ask him directly or think that term vaguely relates to his on-field exploits and let it be. He even has 'Maverick' emblazoned on his bike's petrol tank, in flaming red.

But the real twist in the tale for this year's school elections are the deputy picks O and J have made.

While many predict H to win because she's just so smart and organised and will make the ideal school president, there are more factors stewing in the brew. She is secretly counting on all votes from the Book Worm and its sister clubs. As well as votes from many of the girls voting because, well, if she were a voter herself and someone like her ran, she would be damned if she voted for someone else. She is perfect, isn’t she? She would run a thorough campaign the last 2 weeks and inform every one about her intentions to beef up the first aid kits ceremoniously hung on each class wall. Everyone knows that these first-aid kits are always empty and students use it to measure their heights against it.

While H is the initial favorite, everyone openly talks about O being too young to be the school president. After all he was class monitor for just 2 years, surely that's not enough experience. He wouldn't know how to negotiate more PT time, he wouldn't know how to convince teacher's to postpone unit tests - things the school president does on a daily basis. "He's green behind the ears, too young", they say.

While campaigning H had thought that she would she could use the line "When you have a day for your tests and you want them postponed, who would you rather have as school president?" to show how she was better suited for the job. (It is another case that she personally frowned upon those wanting tests postponed, she was always well prepared, why couldn't they be?)

To counter this, O chose another 12th standard guy - JB as his deputy. Now this was definitely not seen before. A 12th standard guy, who was a close friend of J to boot, had agreed to be O's deputy. How could that be?

"O's a good friend guys, you know he's a smart kid. He practically begged me for a month to be his deputy, it's a personal favor I'm doing. He owes me big time!", he would say to anyone who cared to listen.
With JB on his team, no one could call O 'young and inexperienced' anymore. JB's association made O no more look like a gawky over-eager 8th standard kid.

Now J could have picked anyone he wanted. He could have picked a friend from his class, but that would alienate the young votes. ("They remind me of my pesky older brothers who make me set their beds, I would rather vote for O", they could say) Any one from a lower class would have jumped on the chance to be his deputy. J was 'cool' and association with him made you so too.

But he chose S. The pretty kid from O's class.

Many knew about S because she was a heart breaker. She entertained no one her age and had a string of admirers from classes 9 and upwards. She was decidedly average in studies and passed out somewhere in the bottom half. She fared a little better on the field, but nothing would distinguish her there either. But she was a good dancer, a regular in all the school dances. She recognised the advantages her looks granted her and didn't shy from using them, albeit in mostly harmless ways. But why would J choose S to be his deputy? She was never the class monitor. She was not the star-anything, she didn't care for the election and everyone knew she didn’t like O because he never gave her any bhav. But she had one advantage that no one else had. She was possibly the only person in school who could rival J's twisted 'cool quotient'. When asked (and even when not asked) J proclaimed how choosing S was another example of his being a 'maverick'. Of course, no one else understood why.

The school elections are just about a week away. If the teachers who routinely pick the winner are to be believed, O should be the winner. H doesn't stand a chance between the other two. But we can never rule out the J-S combo.

But I am betting on O!