Writer's Recipe vol. 3 (2018)

TRUTH

Written by : Nurhanina binti Hisham

The cold grey sky greeted May as she looked out of the window. It was Science class – her least favourite subject – and having to be in the classroom for two hours was not just horrible, it was a complete and utter torture. Usually, she would doze off throughout the period, but today was different. She could not sleep – not when Miss April's eyes were locked onto her the entire time.

May glanced at the watch on her right wrist for the umpteenth time. "Finally," she whispered to herself. A few seconds later, the school bell rang. Joyful laughter filled the classroom; the sound of rebels celebrating their independence from the tyrannical regime that is school.

"Don't forget to discuss with your partner for the Science exhibition next month. Class dismissed," Miss April announced with a high voice before she walked out of the class. After the dismissal, the classroom was in complete chaos. June, May's best friend approached her and shot her a look of worry. "What's up with that look June?" she asked while playing with her long, soft silky hair. It was a habit of hers that terribly irritated June, but one she had learned to live with.

Before June could even utter a word, a piece of paper landed on her table. PARTNERS FOR SCIENCE EXHIBITION – read the title in bold. May spontaneously looked for her name. She searched meticulously, line by line. Her hazel coloured eyes stopped when she saw her own name. She blinked her long-lashed eyes in disbelief and read it for a second time, and then a third. She gave a small gasp. A haze of fear surrounded her. She turned her head to the far end corner of her classroom, where a boy in a black hoodie sat on his seat like a statue.

"I'm dead."

August. Unless you are insouciant, everything about him seemed bizarre. Normally, the student there would wear the school's uniform but not August. Every day, he would wear the same black hooded sweater with a pair of blue jeans. However, the sweater he wore was definitely one of a kind – it had a motif of fierce dragon embroidered on its back, which made him look intimidating, like he was some kind of a gang member. His face was never fully revealed, as he always wore his hoodie. Once, he literally kicked another student who tried to take off his hoodie and the poor kid was hospitalised for 3 days. I don't really blame him, if I had a scar like someone had carved a line on my face with a steel knife, I wouldn't be keen on showing my face either.

That's not all, bizarre words were spreading on the grapevine about his family; supposedly, his father was cursed and became a giant black dragon. Meanwhile, the rumours were also suggesting that his mother had died because his father – now a dragon – had gobbled her. It was as ridiculous as it sounds. All these rumours, however baseless they may seem, came to May's mind when she knew that August was going to be her partner for the exhibition. Frightening thoughts raced through her mind. She hated Science, but she was not going to fail because of August. "I'm going to talk to Ms. April about this," she said to June before she stormed out of the classroom.

The next morning, June came to school with a dejected face. It was shown vividly on her face that whatever she had to say to her teacher yesterday was futile. "Who knows you might be best friends?" was what Ms. April told her when May voiced her dissatisfaction. "As if," she whined. She literally died inside. Having to cooperate with such a troublesome boy was not just bad, it was horrid. She needed to do something, or else she would be in deep trouble.

"Hey," June greeted her, "Are you alright?" However, June's question evaporated like a dream as May had already made her way towards August. "We need to discuss," she said curtly, while knocking on his table. August, who was sleeping in an odd position, opened his eyes and looked at her. His shiny, bright eyes stared at her blankly. Suddenly, there was pin drop silence in the class. May could feel that her classmates' eyes were fixed on the two of them. She started having second thoughts. Unexpectedly, August got up from his seat and said something before he walked out from the classroom. His voice was deep and husky, but June could clearly hear his words, "Not here. Let's talk at the rooftop." That was the very first time anyone had ever heard of his voice in class.

May trudged the stairs, following behind August towards the rooftop. Upon reaching there, August stopped, turned around and shot her a look, but no words came out from his mouth. Determined not to be intimidated, May crossed her arms and said firmly, "The Science exhibition is just a month away."

"I know," he replied, much to her surprise. He fished out his blue commonplace book from the pocket on his sweater and flipped through the pages until he stopped at a particular page and handed it to May. What she saw in the book surprised her even more; it was filled with sketches and notes about Science and do-it-yourself machine, indicating that he had already prepared for the exhibition. As amazed as she was by his book, she was even more amazed when she lifted up her head from it – August's hoodie had been blown back by the breeze, revealing the much talked about scar, but what she wasn't prepared for was his absurdly amazing good looks.

May's eyes were fixated on that face. She wondered why August chose to hide his face and lived a humdrum life. There was a moment of silence until he let out a fake cough. "Don't look at me like that. It's uncomfortable," he said while pulling his hood again. Realising her what she had been doing, May's cheeks reddened and she quickly apologised. August grinned – another thing that took May by surprise. "So, when should we start?" he asked. "Tomorrow would be nice," May replied after a short pause. Shortly thereafter, they parted ways. From that moment, May's perspective towards him had flipped 180 degrees. She felt surprisingly at ease around him. And now, the only thing she was eager for was going to school tomorrow.

The next day, May went to school with excitement. She glanced at her watch. 7:00 a.m. It was still early, so she waited patiently for August. She waited, and waited but there was no sign of him. When the first bell rang, her excitement started to wither. Undaunted, she waited, hoping he would come at any moment. But until the last bell, his seat was still vacant. She knew something was up. "I'm going to his house," she mumbled to herself, but was clear enough for June who sat next to her to hear it.

"Whose house?" she asked.

"August."

"Are you out of your mind, May? It's dangerous! What if you met the drag – I mean his father?"

"Wouldn't that be awesome?" she said sarcastically while putting her things in her bag and dashed out of her classroom. As the words about him kept floating around, she happened to know where he lived. It took her less than 10 minutes to reach his house which was a huge mansion. A huge run down mansion. She hesitated for a bit, but then knocked on the gigantic front door.

"August! Are you there? It's me, May!" she hollered when there was no response. At that moment, the door creaked opened, as if she was in a scene of a horror movie but fearlessly, she stepped inside. To her surprise, the interior of the mansion nothing like the exterior – it was spick and span, as if someone had taken good care of the building.

Suddenly, she heard a rattling sound from up ahead. Fear gripped her even more when she saw a massive, black dragon in front of her. Its unearthly appearance struck terror in May's heart and her feet turned into jelly. All she could do was to scream at the top of her lungs. "Leave me alone!" roared the beast in a croaky voice before it lunged towards her. May thought that it was curtains for her, but the dragon appeared to be held back by an array of chains around its body. The creature let out a deafening roar.

"It's okay Dad!" a voice barked. Although May had only heard that voice for three times, she was certain that it was August's. "Don't worry, she's not here to harm you," he said as he put himself between May and the dragon. Everything that happened was way too much for May's feeble mind to process. She blacked out. When May finally opened her eyes, she was lying on her own bed inside her own house. Was it all just a dream? May was bent on finding out the truth. She needed to talk to August.

The next day at school, August was absent once more. "Didn't you know? He's moved to another school," explained June casually. May told June everything about what happened when she went to August's house but June simply laughed it off. Was it real, or was it just a figment of her imagination from all the rumours that were spreading around. Nobody knows for sure.