Chapter Six

By the time Arya woke up the next morning, she was quick to rehearse her apology in her head while stepping out of her room. She jogged down the stairs with a smile on her face but much to her shock; the dining room and the seating room was empty. Her eyes flew to the digital clock on the wall and it read few minutes’ past 9am in the morning, her parents were early risers and most of the time as early as 6 in the morning, they would be up.

She quickly jogged back up the stairs and knocked on their doors. Receiving no reply, she swallowed her saliva and pushed the door open. The sight of the empty room and well laid bed brought Arya to a pause.

Her parents had left the house without a word to her.

The realization reeled back and hit Arya in the face. She slowly closed the door and walked to her room plopping on the bed and staring into space. It had never, never happened before. her parents were busy people; her Dad worked in one of the biggest hospitals in Denmark and was also one of the best medical doctor and surgeon that they had so he always in the hospital but then always had time for his family. Her mom as well worked as a Professor at the State University and also worked in a research lab alongside lecturing so they were very busy people.

But despite their schedules for the past seventeen years of her life; they had never gone to work without talking to her, giving her early morning kisses and gossips.

Arya’s thoughts made her realize that the argument with her mom the night before was much more serious that she had thought. Rubbing her forehead and making her way to the bathroom, she grabbed her toothbrush and started brushing her teeth.

The school bus left the school by eleven o’clock and so she didn’t have time to visit her parents work place and try to make up with them. Deciding to solve the issue when she came back; she hurriedly took her bath and packed her bags.

The school gates were rowdy with students with a lot of bags and them shouting on top of their voices, Arya didn’t miss the parents hanging around their children whilst waiting for them to leave first before leaving. Of course those could only be sophomore parents, no second year or third year student would allow their parents to follow them to school, they considered an embarrassment; not that Arya minded. Her parents were really cool so if its anything; it would be a nice view.

Her eyes searched all over the place before spotting Eileen talking to a few boys. Lifting a smile to her face, she hurried towards the later.

“Hey baby girl” Arya purred as Eileen turned to her with a shocked face.

“You came?” she asked in shock while Arya stared at her with a bewildered face.

“Why not?” she asked and Eileen chuckled.

“You sent me a text saying your parents didn’t want to let you go and that you had this big disagreement with them” Eileen replied while Arya waved her arms as if the matter was not so important.

“Could you believe that they had left the house before I woke up? Eileen, my parents would never do that” Arya said dropping her bag beside her feet.

“I don’t understand them one bit, it’s just a mountain trip. What harm would a mountain trip bring me?” Arya asked while Eileen stared at her without replying.

“I tried talking to them and making them see why a mountain trip is nothing but Mom wouldn’t even listen. She talking about stuffs I wouldn’t even understand and then Dad supported her, if Mom is not on my side, should he be on her side too? Ugh!” Arya added shrugging her shoulders.

“Your mom refusing to let you go must be because of a reason, can’t you just respect that and stay put. A lot of our classmates are not going, apparently a lot of parents also don’t like the fact that we are going on a mountain trip” Eileen said while Arya scoffed.

“Eileen, please don’t. It’s enough that my parents were on my neck all night, don’t add to it” Arya said offering a smile to one of the girls who had greeted her.

“Arya, your parents went to work without saying a word to you. Your mom refused so strongly and I have never heard or seen your parents reject or disallow you from doing something or going somewhere in my entire life. And you know it; shouldn’t that tell you that there is something wrong?” Eileen asked.

“Eileen, I just told you not to talk about this issue. We are best friends, aren’t you supposed to be on my side? What’s this about? You know I’ve been really excited about this school trip for a while now and you are telling me to listen to my parents for whatever reason that I don’t even have an idea about? Are you being serious right now?” Arya asked.

“The only reason why you are hell bent on going for this trip is because Brad has always wanted to go a mountain trip for some I don’t even know stupid reason. And here you are; risking your safety for a mini dastard!” Eileen replied her voice notched higher making heads turn towards them. Arya stared at Eileen with surprise all over her face.

“Just because we are best friends doesn’t mean you get to call my boyfriend all sorts of names Eileen” Arya fired back whilst chuckling lightly.

“Look, I see the way you’ve been acting around Brad and I these things, the body language and how you disappear each time he’s around. I don’t care what’s going on in that peanut sized head of yours; but I won’t let you come in between us. If you like…” Arya barely got to finish her statement when Eileen burst into laughter shaking her head.

“Like Brad? Brad Ferguson?” Eileen asked her eyes narrowed before laughing again.

“I don’t remember having such lowly tastes” Eileen added her tone cold and slicing through Arya’s heart like a dagger.

“Eileen!” she yelled her eyes bulging.

“I’ll tell you your problem Arya. You are way too cocky and too full of yourself. You think you deserve everything and anything. You think no one should say no to you why? Because all your life you never had to work for anything or do anything, you just had to ask and it will get served to you on a silver plate. And you know that mentality of yours; it’s so twisted that it’s sickening” Eileen continued her words showing no mercy to her best friend.

“People sacrifice their lives and safety every single day to keep you safe and you are here throwing yourself to the wind, walking to the doors of danger yourself just because of a boy, a dastard at that” Eileen added before shaking her head at Arya.

“What you are looking for Arya; I desperately hope you find it” Eileen said before turning and walking away. The teenagers that had crowded around them instantly made way for Eileen as the latter grabbed her bag and disappeared from sight.

Minutes after Eileen had left, Arya still couldn’t come back to herself, she could barely notice the murmurs and looks that were sent her way by the other students. She quickly found her seat in the bus and opened the window allowing the morning breeze to blow across her skin and neck. Arya couldn’t believe that Eileen had talked to her like that, she had called Brad a dastard and her an ego oriented idiot and then spouted some nonsense about danger and safety.

Arya didn’t remember Eileen and her disagreeing over something before. Eileen never had an opinion concerning issues. She always went along with whatever she said or did or better still, she was wrong. Eileen always had an opinion and for reasons known to her kept silent and agreed with hers instead.

Her parents weren’t talking to her, she and Eileen had a big fight; those signs were too much of a shock for Arya. There were events that had never happened before. Her parents anger had never lasted overnight before, Eileen and her had never gotten in a fight before but in the span of twelve hours, both things had happened. Swallowing her saliva, she grabbed her bag and stood up from her seat.

“What’s up babe?” someone said and Arya felt a wet patch on her forehead. A tired smile wore its way to her lips.

“Hey Brad” Arya greeted back while Brad dropped his bag on the seat beside her.

“Why are you carrying your bag? You want to change seats?” he asked and Arya immediately shook her head.

“Not at all” she replied with a smile dropping her bag and seating down.

“I woke up late, I had to rush here” Brad revealed while Arya laughed lightly.

“You played games overnight again?” Arya asked folding her arms with disapproval watching as Brad smiled at her.

“I’m sorry okay?” Brad said laughing again.

“I had to nothing to do and I planned to play for just one hour. Daniel kept shouting for one more round and before I knew it; it was a few minutes past 4am in the morning” Brad added.

“Daniel and games” Arya said laughing lightly.

“It didn’t help matters that my Dad suddenly didn’t want me to go” Brad revealed bending down to search through his bag. Arya tensed up in her seat.

“Your Dad didn’t want you to go for the mountain trip?” Arya asked and Brad nodded still searching through his bag.

“He blabbered about the mountain been dangerous and how the news talked about some folks falling off” Brad replied chuckling.

“It’s not like we going to be tethering at the edges. I don’t know what he was so worried about” Brad added raising his head and looking around the bus.

“Where’s Eileen by the way?” Brad asked as he turned Arya who was trying to look nonchalant.

“Don’t tell me her parents also didn’t allow her to go” Brad added laughing.

“I think so too” Arya replied trying to sound normal as possible. She could feel her voice breaking. Brad hadn’t been around so she could still cook up a few lies and explain to him later. There was no way she was going to tell him that Eileen called him a dastard and told her she had lowly tastes for dating him. Before Eileen and her solved their misunderstanding; it was best to leave Brad in the dark.

“Give me a minute. I need to get the camera to take all our moments” Brad said winking at Arya while the latter tried to laughed.

“Okay” she replied watching as Brad slapped handshakes with some of the boys and stepped out of the bus running towards the school building.

Arya threw her head backwards and closed her eyes. Everything around her seems to be screaming that the mountain trip was a bad idea but Arya couldn’t figure out why going on a mountain trip was so dangerous all of a sudden. She looked out a window and frowned her face. There was a figure on by the railings and the person seemed to be looking at her. Furrowing her brows again, she tried to make out who it was.

“Is that angry bird?” she asked no one in particular.