'Red... red... it's the ceiling...
the ceiling is red. Blood? not dripping? color.... but why red?'
I was staring blankly at the ceiling.
'Oh, I am at my grandparents...
Okay, let's get up now.
one finger, two fingers...
Yes, you can do it... you can get off the bed.'
l kept thinking.
"snore...."
"Dean babu, boro(elder) babu is calling."
I jolted awake from Bijay's high pitch calling. How could someone with a deep voice call this loudly?
"Huh... already 7... I am gonna be late..."
I stepped down from the bed only to step in some fluffy thing. I stumbled while trying to correct my steps and fall flat on my chest.
I was about to get up when I saw someone approaching. A stranger offered me his hand.
I looked up. It was a man. He seemed slightly older than me. But one look and anyone can say that he was an adult. His hair was brownish-black. Might be dyed... or not? His eyes were remarkable.
'But I can't determine what is so remarkable about it. Is it his slightly curved perfect brows? Or is it his dark eyelashes? The eyes are somehow similar to the Phoenix eye. I guess, it is the gaze or the color... His nose is thin... and what a fine jawline.... this perfection felt somehow irritating...'
"Are you not gonna get up?" He spoke.
I got startled. I was thinking so hard that I forgot I was lying on the floor. How embarrassing!!!
I stood up immediately. 'Woah, he is so tall…'
"How tall are you?" I asked bluntly.
'Shit,' I spoke out loud.
He seemed a bit startled. "Dean, you really are unique."
'That's right. I should have asked who he is, yet what I said was...'
"I am 188 cm." he smiled.
'Great. He smiles like a gentleman... Wait, he is 6'1''. And I am only 5'6''…' The irritation increased. I turned my head to see what I stepped on.
'A cat? Oh, it's that white cat.'
The cat stretched its body and again lay down.
'Has it shrunk since yesterday?'
Well, the fur seemed a bit dirty. I reached out to pick it up. But sensing the movement, it jumped up and hissed. "What the... hey, I was just trying to pat you," I approached it. And once again it hissed. This time it also scratched me. I yelped in pain and retreated my hand.
"Dairy, don't do that. You will hurt him." that stranger said.
'What? Dairy? What a weird name!!!'
Yet dairy didn't retreat. Rather she gave her master a cold glare.
"Sorry, my cat is a bit impudent." He said glaring back at the cat. The cat bowed and walked toward him. And then she opened and closed her mouth as if she were talking, but there was no sound. Surprised, I looked up, at that unknown man. His facial expression changed. Somehow, it was a bit sour.
"You already encountered that." He looked at me. As if he was confirming something. In the next moment, he picked up the cat. "No wonder you look so dirty. You must be feeling tired." He started to walk. I couldn't understand a thing. Confused, I stood still.
"Dean, please hurry up or you will be late for school."
"Yeah." Still confused, I walked toward the washroom. I dressed up within fifteen minutes and headed to the dining hall. The table was arranged with fruits, vegetable curry, and bread.
'I don't like vegetables.' I stood there, still.
"You don't have any choice. You need to eat all kinds of food to grow. Your parents said you are a picky eater. This is why you are not growing anymore." Grandpa said as if he can hear my thoughts. The couple only returned from a walk.
He caught me off-guard.
So, I sat down. "I am gonna eat it all and grow a lot," I said, sulking. They laughed.
"Did you meet Iyan? I saw him going upstairs. He was the one I talked about yesterday, the caretaker." Grandma asked. She pulled a chair and sat down.
'So his name is Iyan.' I nodded, "Yes, I did."
"How is he? Do you like him?" She asked.
My mouth felt bitter. 'How could I like someone who is more handsome than me, taller than me? And why the heck is she being ridiculous?' So, I didn't say anything.
"That's too bad. You used to like him a lot when you were a child. Iyan adored you a lot."
"Huh? When did I...?" I couldn't finish my word.
"Master, Madam, you are back..." Iyan came out of the kitchen. I looked at him angrily. Though I didn't know why I was angry.
"Oh, Iyan! Are you done with your work? Please take Dean to the school. I was intending to do that. But you see, Cheng's coming today for the deal. And I need to go there." My grandpa said so gently.
"Okay, master," Iyan said with a stern face.
My grandparents absolutely adored Iyan. No, actually it seemed Iyan was someone superior to them. 'This boy is superior to my grandparents? How could it be?' I looked at Iyan.
Iyan was looking at me as well. When our eyes met, he smiled.
'Something is fishy here.'
"If you finished eating, shall we go Dean?"
I stood up. Sure, we needed to go.
"Iyan, when you are at it, talk with the principal on my behalf. Tell her to put Dean in a special class. His lessons should be in English as he won't understand otherwise. And tell her the special requirement too." Grandpa said. He handed some paper to Iyan.
"Dean, try to make friends. Your parents told me how unfriendly you are."
His words stabbed me where they hurt. Sure, I was unfriendly. So, I only nodded. Iyan walked toward the car, and I followed him.
"I don't see Bijay." I looked at the driver's seat and said.
"Because I am going to drive it," Iyan said. He opened the door and got in the car. Then he signaled me to get in the car too.
'I thought he was gonna open the door for me.' I walked to the other door and got in the car.
"You should have said that you would prefer me to open the door for you."
'What? Did he read my mind?'
"No, I didn't. Your face is so easy to read," he chuckled.
'How embarrassing!!!' I turned my head.
The car started moving. The northern area of Ipoh of Malaysia is surrounded by mountains. Our house was on the smallest mountain, a bit far from the valley. It would take almost 45 minutes to reach the city from the house. The road went straight down the hill. There were only a few houses near us. So, the scenery was so beautiful. I didn't notice yesterday as I dozed off.
"Bijay is not our regular driver. He sometimes helps us." Iyan said suddenly.
"Oh." I only nodded. I didn't wanna talk. The scenes were too great. I didn't wanna miss any of it.
"Dean, you must like the scenery. You always..."
"Why don't you call me young master?" I interrupted.
"You call grandpa master. Doesn't that mean I am the young master?"
Surprised, Iyan looked at me. "But you told me not to call that..." He paused.
"Don't you remember?" He asked after a while.
"I don't."
There was a long silence. Then he laughed. "It's okay if you don't remember, you were a child after all. If you don't like me calling you by your name, then I will just call you 'Dean babu' as Bijay does. Will it be alright?"
I nodded.
'It's alright. He should show me some respect. He is one of our servants anyway.' I convinced myself.
Iyan stopped talking. That time I thought it was alright as I was too used to silence. I didn't notice his depressed face. We entered the town. I couldn't afford to be late on my first day. So, I was looking around to see where the school was.
"Dean babu, were you scared last night?"
"What are you talking about?" I was still searching.
"Last night when that thing called you, were you scared?"
I recalled what happened. Hearing it from him, I was surprised.
"How do you know? Were you there?" I asked with suspicion.
Iyan was looking in the front, watching the road. "No, I wasn't there. I will tell you about it later. But please don't be afraid or startled by 'That thing'. It was weak, but it still could hurt you. So, be strong if you face something like this. It was a relief that dairy was there."
"I wasn't scared," I said. "But what did dairy do?"
"Nothing much. He just scared that crap and changed the dimension." He answered. "We've reached. Let me park the car." We got off the car.
Kenby school was quite big. The school provided two types of education, one was an international curriculum and another one was a Malaysian National curriculum. It had a huge football court, an indoor playground, a swimming pool, and boarding facilities. No doubt it was famous in the area. But I wasn't expecting that to be this big.
There were things going around my head that I couldn't understand. 'What the heck was that thing? What is the rubbish about dimension? Again, Isn't dairy a girl?' We entered the school.
"Um... hey, isn't dairy a girl?" 'Here I go again, asking the least important question on my list (Sigh)'
Iyan looked somewhat lost as if he was searching for words. 'Ah... as a cat dairy is she..."
"If not a cat, then what is it?"
Iyan looked around. And as if he was afraid of someone hearing us, he lowered his voice.
"I will tell you later."
I didn't ask anything but couldn't shake off the questions. We went to the principal's office.
The principal was a woman in her late 50s. Yet she looked strong. She smiled at me. After talking with Iyan, she told me to follow my homeroom teacher, Nathan Joachim. I followed him.
My class was in block G. I entered the classroom with 'dimension, dairy, that thing' in my head.