TCOTRB: The Case of The Red Bubble

🔵 Chapter I: Circa III

Chapter I: Circa III
[September 5th, 2050:
Island of Circa III]

It was a humid morning in the neighborhood town of Aspin. Milo groaned while packing all of his stuff in his backpack. The first day of school. A whole day far from his comfortable air-conditioned room. His tuxedo cat, Hades, circled around his legs and emitted a sad meow.

"I know, but at least we've got weekends to spend time at home together!" Milo winked as he patted Hades' furry noggin.

His dad, Jason, was already seated in the driver's seat. He pressed the button on the dashboard to automatically open the car door for him.

"Both father and son on their first day of school! I'll be your class' new gym teacher while you get to meet some new friends ... Ha-cha!" He then started making that corny dance gesture as he snapped his fingers.

Milo leaned against the window with his head propped on his wrist. He brushed his hand all over his dark wavy hair and let out a small sigh.
They drove past the busy street occupied by children, food stalls and the grouchy elderly playing cards in front of the house. He feels sick deep down whenever he happens to be in an unfamiliar place.
He thought leaving Greece meant no more than being introduced to some family friend's daughter during parties and insufferable chatter.
Little did he know those are common in Filipino culture. Not only do they love throwing parties with families, but also they have a habit of prying into your personal lives.

"It's time you step out of your comfort zone, son. You may never know that meeting new people and accepting changes can do you wonders," Jason told him.

Milo was an odd kid.

Both of his parents are extroverts. His dad once served in the military back in Greece. His mom, Gladys, was a professional visual designer and linguist who worked with various people.

Why can't they understand that he mostly thrives in isolation?

At 6:30 a.m., they arrived at Mariner Academy right before the morning assembly commenced. Upon entry, everyone taps in their ID cards. Jason pointed out to him the third line of high school students at the covered court.

"Class 2 is right there," he reminded Milo before disappearing.

All eyes were focused on him. He felt like sinking into the ground in shame. As the tallest, he stood at the far end of the line.
Once the national anthem started playing, everyone placed their hands on their chest while the military students saluted. The flag waved in the clear lilac sky.
Standing right next to him is a brown-haired girl wearing an emerald hijab. She began speaking to him.

"Hey, newbie! What's your name?"

"M-Milo ... Milo Sidaris," he stammered.

"Seriously? Your parents named you after a sports drink?" the girl blurted out.

"They thought my name was cool since it meant 'soldier' in Greek," Milo mentioned.

"Well, a skinny boy like you can't be a soldier either! By the way, I'm Kaira Faez."

Their conversation was interrupted as one of the teachers, Mr. Castro, caught them chatting. The boy in front of Milo turned to reprimand them as well.

"Hehe ... That's what you get for being loud."

"Shut up, roti boy!" she frowned and hissed at him.

"Roti?" Milo asked.

"That's Rohan Kumar. We call him that because he gets fat for eating too much cauliflower roti* ," Kaira whispered.

Rohan has always been the teacher's pet; so much so that everyone hated him for snitching on them.
Heck, he put a student in trouble because her skirt went an inch above her knee.
The girl happens to be much taller. Are they forgetting she's from Russia where being tall is normal? She had dealt with enough bullying already and the last thing she ever wanted was to be accused of breaking school rules.

•••

Their first period is English.

Since it's their first day, they can choose to sit anywhere. Milo chose to sit next to the window far from the crowds.
The blue-tinted dome splits open whenever there is clear weather. The vast blue skies overlooking the whole town and huge buildings rising from the city areas offered such a marvelous sight.
Between the suburban and metropolitan areas are vast green fields. A small village belonging to these farmers were surrounded by these exotic flora. To them, the moment when they see the sun feels like a blessing to them. They also needed its rays to tend their harvest.

The entire class were very intimidated by his unusual height and reserved personality.
They wouldn't know a lot about him until their teacher, Mr. Williams, calls him up for an introduction. They all rushed to their seats after Rohan rushed in.

"Mr. Williams is coming!" he announced. They all hurried over to their seats.

"Alright, a lot of you may have known me before. To those who are new here ... " Mr. Williams scanned the entire room.

He starts checking the class list on his tablet upon glancing at Milo.

"Ah, Milo Sidaris ... Please come forward and introduce yourself," the teacher called.

* NOTE:
Cauliflower roti is an Indian cuisine with fried-breaded cauliflower, roti bread and spicy sauce.