Diadem's Birthright

Chapter 9: The journey

I have been in a shitty mood since this journey started but Ashley was definitely in high spirits enjoying herself. The source of my unpleasant mood you ask? Seated on the aisle next to mine glaring at me and making me uncomfortable was 'Carmen' the obnoxious, arrogant and flashy tramp of our faculty. Upon reaching the airport by 8:45am this morning where we were to meet up, most of the other members of our department had already arrived. I looked around the crowd searching for Ramzan but I couldn't find him anywhere.

" Hey Mira" Ashley nudges me " I can't find your Mr sexy anywhere in the crowd. You think he isn't coming? Maybe he got caught up in something and he couldn't make it. You can't even call to inquire since you don't even have his number yet"

Upon hearing this, I suddenly started feeling disappointed but before I could become more disappointed, a sleek white mustang drove up to the airport gate and parked directly in front of us. The two passenger doors opened at once and out sprang Ramzan followed by his friend Evan. The driver got down from the car, opened the trunk, rolled out two suitcases to where they were standing before going back into the car and driving away.

After the car's departure, Evan stepped forward and waved " hello guys, my name is Evan and I am here to accompany you lot on this field trip as the Supervisor sent by the board. I hope you will all take care of me" he says in greeting. The professor immediately rushed forward to meet him and they began to engage in discussion while they moved away from us leaving behind a nonchalant looking Ramzan who seemed to be bored to death.

Murmurs and squeals of delight sprang from everyone but the latter came mostly from the ladies whose main attention was centered on Ramzan who was looking through the crowd as if searching for someone. His eyes scanned everyone until it finally locked unto mine making my heart thump fast. He took some steps forward as if to come over to where I was standing but before he could reach me, a blonde haired bimbo with a slim waist and slender body suddenly intercepted him.

" Hi there" she says in a shrill voice while flipping her hair over her shoulder " you must be the new transfer student the girls in the department has been raving about. It's Ramzan right? My name is Carmen Busches by the way" she reaches her hand out to touch his chest in a seductive manner before continuing " I have heard a lot about how exotic you look like and also how well proportioned you are too so I have been very excited for us to get to know each other but you never attend any of our classes nor the frat parties but I never expected that you would be loaded too. You are everything I need in a guy so you can hangout with me from now on okay? I will take care of you real good." She says while rubbing her body on him invitingly.

Ramzan looks down at her and I could see a distinct hint of annoyance on his face. He shrugs her off him before saying " I'm sorry I have never heard of you and I am doing great on my own already without you taking care of me. Besides, that ride you saw wasn't mine. It was for my friend over there" he points to Evan "so if you can excuse me I have something important to do and you are obstructing me." After saying that, he looked over her head to where I stood and opened his mouth to say something but before he could get anything out of his mouth, the trip coordinator's voice rang out from the speaker of his megaphone

" Everyone please make sure you have your ticket, ID and passport are on you, go through the gate , check in at the ticket counter then hand in your luggage at the aircraft hold before moving through departure gate 14. Please ensure that you don't get lost in the crowd."

I felt depressed just watching the two of them so I turned around alongside Ashley who had a disgusting look on her face to do exactly what the coordinator just instructed.

" Ugh! That disgusting tramp of a b***h" exclaims Ashley angrily as we lined up at the ticket counter " I knew that she was arrogant but I never expected her to be so shameless as to come unto a guy In broad daylight and in plain sight of her other course mates. At this rate, she will snatch Ramzan away from you before you can even have a chance at him Mira." She says while looking at me with worry.

" Don't bother about that Ash, lets just get checked in and board the plane. I am in no mood to think about that or to even comment about it". I say tiredly while turning sideways away from Ash " I can't do anything even if I wanted to since we aren't even dating each other. It's just me alone that has feelings for him and he doesn't know about it. So there is nothing to be worked up about with this matter". Tears sprang to my eyes as I say this words but I quickly blink them away before turning back to Ashley with a smile on my face trying to tell her that I was doing alright but by the look of pity on her face I knew I failed terribly at my attempt at pretending.

After checking in our luggages at the cargo hold, we boarded the plane and moved towards the rear cabin. Our seats were located at the right lane of the aisle and was different from each other because we both opted for the window seats but we were still seated in front of each other.

" Ahhhh!" Ashley exclaims while sitting down and getting comfortable on her seat. " This is definitely one of the best seats on the plane. Don't you think so huh, Mira?" She says while looking at me over the headrest of her seat.

" Hmmn yeah" I agree absentmindedly. " it does feel nice to be seated close to the window. I am sure the view of the sky will be amazing to see". I say tiredly while resting my head on my headrest.

" Oh! Oh!! Oh!!! Mira look" Ashley exclaims excitedly from her seat.

I stand up immediately to check what was making her excited. " What is it Ash? what is going on?" I ask worriedly

" Look over there at the front, it's Evan. It seems like he is coming over here" she says in a shrill voice laden with over excitement.

I shake my head in exasperation. So this is what has her panties scrunched up in a bunch. I could feel her excitement from way across the seat. I chuckled a little at the memory of how she reacted when she met him for the first time. To my surprise, Evan stopped at Ash's row and said to her

" Hi, is this seat number 136?"

" Yes, it is" she replies shyly

" oh, then I guess this is my seat. May I take this seat?" He asks her with a polite smile on his face.

" Yes, yes, you are free to sit wherever you like please" she replies in a rather meek voice which was a total contrast to how she normally sounds like.

". Thank you" he says before proceeding to put his carrier bag down and sitting down. After settling down, he turns to look at Ash then said " you look interestingly familiar. I feel like I have met you somewhere before".

" Ah, yes. We have met before"

" Really? Where?".

" We met each other the other day in front of the department where you asked my friend and I about the whereabouts of your friend, Ramzan"

" Oh! I remember now, you are..... Hmmn.... Ashley right? And your friend's name is Mirabel correct?" He says with interest ladened in his voice.

" Yes, yes that's us. So you remember us? That's impressive. Mira! Can you hear that? He really remembers us" she says while looking back at me. Evan also looked back at me and waves at me in greeting " Hi Mira, nice meeting you again". I nod back at him in reply.

" I can't believe you really do remember us." Ash returns the conversation back on track quickly forgetting about me.

" Nah, it's not really as if it is an impressive talent. It's just that you were of great help to me that day and I was very grateful to you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have known about that rascal's skipping school and he probably would have missed out on this field trip too. Besides, I tend to always remember people who were of great assistance to me and most if they are pretty just like you" he says with a dimpled smile and a wink which I was sure made Ashley blush beet red.

I settle back in my chair and decided to finally ignore those two to enjoy their chatting. I take out my headphones, connected it to my phone before inserting it in my ear. As I looked up from selecting a playlist on my phone, I catch a glimpse of Ramzan coming up the aisle heading towards our lane at the rear cabin and following closely behind him was Carmen. My eyes locked with Ramzan's but I immediately glanced away and closed my eyes while silently praying that they should pass and ignore me.

After some seconds, I feel some movement coming from my left and someone settling down in the seat beside me. I open my eyes to check out who my co-passenger was but I was surprised to see Ramzan occupying the seat and standing next to him while glaring aggressively down at me was Carmen. When he kept on ignoring her after some seconds more, she humphs before turning around to seat herself at the next aisle seat beside him. Seeing them again made me depressed and brought my shitty mood back so I decided to close my eyes with the determination to ignore the two of them because I already knew at this moment that I won't be able to enjoy this plane ride.

This is going to be one hell of a long journey indeed.