Tricked

Sid was awfully quiet today. He never sat quietly in the class. It was unusual and he looked sad too. His friends didn't notice but his teacher did. She asked him the reason behind his sadness. Sid started crying and surprised the teacher by his sudden outburst of emotion.  The teacher- Ms. Lin- asked him what was wrong. He replied in between sighs that he was scared for the exams. Ms. Lin smiled and tried soothing him, telling Sid that it was only an obstacle he had to overcome with flying colours. But that wasn't enough for him. Sid kept asking her to tell him a little about the blueprint and the questions that would come. Being the softy that her students thought she was, Ms. Lin ended up revealing a lot about the question paper. By that time, a few of Sid’s friends had gathered around them and were trying to eavesdrop, but with one cautious glare from Sid, they backed up. Finally, when Sid thought he knew enough, he swept away his fake tears and ran to his friends to tell them what he’d just heard- to reveal the question paper. Ms. Lin had been tricked! Or had she?

“But don't these questions sound familiar?” asked one of Sid’s friends.

“They should. They’re last years questions,” came Ms. Lin’s voice, startling all the students.
She was a teacher, and she knew her children better than the lines of her palm. She knew when she was tricked, but she played along, and finally tricked the trickers!