Abhimanyu was sitting in the car which was swiftly passing by tall Cedar trees. The trees were jamming on both sides of the single-lane road. His head was tilted against the cold window of the car. His neutral eyes were set on the trees which were gradually coming into his sight before fading away in a blink. He looked calm with no distinguishable expressions on his face.
His nose and ear lobes were slightly pink. Thankfully, his long light brown coat with tight black trousers and a sweater under it was able to save him from the low temperature of this unfamiliar place.
Winter had ended on the hill station long ago but the chilling and little humidity of it was still lingering in the atmosphere there thus giving Abhimanyu a hard time. He was not from here so it was difficult for him to adjust to this new weather easily.
He really wanted to use his karate skills on the weather reporter who claimed that this hill station would be shining and sparkling under the burning sun!
Liar… Scammer; that TV reporter. He thought.
"It's so cold around here!" His mother, who was sitting in the front row, said while rubbing one hand on the other. She had a noble aura. Loose hair fell to her waist, a lemon-colored Saree hugging her softly with a fine gray cashmere shawl covering her shoulders with a tiny and attractive pendant of a golden peacock dangling on her neck. She said calmly with a smile, "It is good that it's not Winter season or it would be troublesome for Abhi."
Abhi was his nickname. Well, due to Abhimanyu being such a big name to speak so everyone simply preferred to call him Abhi. He could not tell if he even liked being called that. But going out of his way to tell his Mom and others to address him by his full name seemed too hectic so he just let them name him whatever they liked.
He sighed and some white fog came out of his mouth and covered the window. Seeing the foggy and blurry spot, his long-straight fingers rubbed the window. His uninterested eyes were still glimpsing out of the car.
The sky was really blue without any clouds and the Sun shone dazzlingly but it was not hurting his eyes when he looked at it because it was pale and somehow even soothing to look at. It eased his frustrated heart lightly. He never thought that he would ever feel good about coming here but the atmosphere brought him some peace.
Whoever said that nature, especially mountains can make you feel tranquil didn't lie about it. He thought.
"Abhi is fortunate to have become a student of The International Elite Boarding School." His father, who was driving, spoke without much emotion, his tone a little dominant. "Now, he can learn some manners and won't embarrass us any further."
His Father's ridicule made him frown. Abhimanyu didn't know what to even speak but he really felt that he had to say something or the irritation built up inside of his stomach by those stinging remarks wouldn't die anytime soon.
The knot in his heart that just started to untangle itself witnessing the mountains and the greenery again turned into a complete mess.
He opened his mouth and saw that his father glanced at him from the rearview mirror of the car.
His eyes met his father's fierce eyes, he stared at him before diverting his attention to the outside again. Somehow suddenly he was not ready for another quarrel with him so he shut his mouth and chose to stay silent in the end. He clearly knew that even if he opened his mouth and did say something, still, he wouldn't be able to come up with anything to defend himself and his Father will definitely find every small and big mistake of his to scold him again---as if the first time he made those mistakes and his Father scolded him and slapped him was not enough to make him understand his faults.
His father was a strict and disciplined man who had the last say in their family of three. He respected this man a lot just like he respected and loved his Mother but what happened in the last couple of weeks made him a little angry at his parents---
One day his parents suddenly announced that he has to attend a boarding school in a different state, away from his home. He tried to persuade them to let him stay close to them but no one listened to his pleadings. He rebelled, yelled, cried, and even begged yet they didn't change their decision. He never wanted to attend this so-called "Elite" boarding school. However, his parents were determined to send him there. He tried many times to change their minds and made them believe that he will definitely become a better student with great marks but they were not ready to even listen to him - stubbornly doing everything to send him off to this school anyhow.
What could he do when even his begging didn't work out except finally give up and come here disheartened. At least this way he could save his pride and wasn't dragged out of the house by his parents.
After whatever happened between him and his parents before coming to this hill station, he lost the will to speak even one word to them. He just didn't want to say anything anymore, just didn't want to make anyone understand anything. He was finally done with everything.
What is the reason to even speak when no one would listen? He wondered. If they want me to stay away from them, I will never return.
His brows tightened as he closed his eyes to ease his complicated feelings.
He sighed with closed eyes. The golden light passing through the glass window spread itself on his face as if it wanted to touch him to relax his mind.
And miraculously he felt relaxed by the soft sunlight.
Because of such a long journey, he was so tired and had no energy left to think about anything; he felt drowsy just by sitting. It was his first time coming out of his house and so far away from it that he had some unusual anxiety about this whole thing of starting a new life in the boarding school.
As a result of his introverted tendencies, he didn't like crowded places that much and his strict parents were actually too reluctant to let him ever leave his home for any fun activities. So coming to this magnificent hill station was completely a new experience to him, it could have even felt better and vacation-like if only he would have come here for enjoyment not joining some elite boarding school.
"Bad, so bad," he murmured under his breath, which was the dirtiest and worst words in his dictionary.
Things were clearly not in his favor. He already tried many times to change his parents' minds to no avail. Now he just let them do whatever they wished. He just wanted to stay far away from his Mother and Father and their so-called discipline for a while. He promised himself to have all the fun he didn't have in his entire life of seventeen years.
When he was about to fall asleep the car abruptly stopped and made him jump in his seat. He opened his eyes in discomfort. His Father was gritting his teeth in anger and pushed the horn three times. His mother, who looked a little worried, put her hand on her husband's shoulder, politely saying, "Dear, calm down. Something must have happened ahead on the road to create such traffic. Let's wait for a while."
His father didn't push the horn's button again even when his palm was on it. He just "hummed" and then leaned his back toward the seat with crossed arms.
Abhimanyu watched everything silently, not having any urge to speak because he already knew his parents would not listen to him even if he said something. His sleep was already disturbed and after sitting for more than six hours his body was also numb. He again started to glance outside for some distraction and completely lowered the window's glass.
He paused for a moment and looked at the forest beside the road which was spread for miles.
On a hill, among some trees, a guy of his age who was wearing black clothes from top to bottom and a black beanie was dragging a girl of the same age who was wearing a purple floral dress by her ear.
He was not so close to them so Abhimanyu did not have any idea about what that guy was saying but he looked pissed and maybe was scolding the girl. The girl was making a funny and pleading face while being dragged away by the guy.
He had one elder sister who eloped with her husband and since then his parents disowned her. He also had only two school friends whom his parents didn't like much so he wasn't allowed to meet them after school. Living a life only hitting books and also having a loner-like personality who was 'allergic' to people was enough to make him a rare species. Yet despite all this, his heart was not made of stone. He liked intimacy. He craved affection, teasing, and care like that. He wanted to have friends or siblings or even anyone like that who would do all that he only wished for and was seeing in front of his eyes.
So when he saw the girl and the guy he felt a little happy in a way he couldn't understand himself. The duo looked a little hilarious to Abhimanyu hence a light chuckle left his lips. His eyes finally showed some life.
His Mother looked behind when she felt like something happened to her son. She saw him looking outside while having a small smile that she missed on her son. It had been a long while since she saw him smile, thus she also smiled and turned back, satisfied that her son was finally accepting this new place and their decision.
His Father coughed once before saying, "It does not look like the traffic is going to end anytime soon. The school has already sent a Teacher to the gate of their school to receive us. We cannot make them wait or they will not have any good impression of us."
At the words, Abhimanyu turned his attention to his Father. He had a gut feeling that he would tell him something again.
As he thought, his father called his name shortly after, saying, "Abhimanyu, take your Mother through the forest which is on the left side of this road. There is a road ahead of where this forest ends. Take the road and go along with it and you will see the school's gate. There you will find Mr. Bansal who is waiting for us to escort us inside the school."
He had no will to walk but he knew refusing would bring his Father scolding him for another hour. And when he thought carefully he felt that walking and stretching his legs was better than staying with his parents in the suffocating environment. He nonchalantly replied, "Okay. Maa, come with me," un-belting himself.
He quickly opened the door and came out of the car, while taking a black bag with him. His eyes looked at the vast blue sky. He couldn't help inhaling some fresh air. His nose turned pink while he rubbed his arms slightly. The wrinkles on his forehead which he had the entire journey disappeared.
The sound of another door of the car opening came. His Mother came near him and gave him a pleasant smile. Even though she was a tall woman, still, her head was only reaching the shoulder of her son. She had a white bag in her hand. She said, looking a little upward for her son, "Abhi, leave your bag in the car. Your Father will bring it to you."
Abhimanyu stole a glance at his Father who was impatiently tapping the steering wheel with his index fingers.
He had nothing important in the bag except two notebooks and a pen but he did not want to leave them behind in the car. The reason was simply that he felt protective clenching its strap with his right hand.
Due to his sudden circumstances, he had no time to even adapt to all of his situations therefore he could just squeeze the straps to reveal his stress. But he could not say all that to his mother who was already disturbed by their awkwardness and soreness in their relationship after they argued about attending the boarding school. He answered neutrally, "It is fine, Maa. It's not heavy. I have some important notebooks inside and I don't want to leave them in the car."
His mother looked worried and said, "...but.."
"Leave him be." His Father's mocking and a furious voice came out of the car, "It is not like he listens to us or understands our worries for him. Do not worry about him, Rashmi. Just go, I don't want Mr. Bansal to think that we don't value time."
Abhimanyu turned his head slightly after hearing Father and smirked, "You value everything except me and my opinion."