Xhemin was shaking.Everyone, from the San Sebastian students to their teachers, and Darryl too left already and went to the registration area while she remained unmoved from where she previously was.
She couldn"t quite believe what just happened. That was one heck of unexpected beast attack!!
Helpless, Xhemin swung her gaze away and instead looked for her best friends. She caught the two of them Huzey and Ziggy, drilling their eyes at her in a distance. Ziggy"s knitted brows and questioning look gave Xhemin a hint that they saw what happened and just like her, Darryl"s presence at the camp as well as how he acted came in a surprise for them.
"What the F!" Xhemin saw Ziggy"s mouth breathe those words out as one heavy brow of him slanted in disapproval with Darryl"s act. Huzey on the other hand gave Xhemin a worried look, he knew she was upset.
"I"m okay" She hand-sign those words to them giving them an a.s.surance that she was fine even though she felt the opposite.
The two boys knew Xhemin was lying about how she felt and they both have the urged to run to her side and comfort her, however all their plans halted when the place was filled by whistles, loud enough to capture everyone"s attention.
The whistle was a call for grouping. Each student who had their names registered already had to report to their a.s.signed camp officers and get ready for the hike to the main camp. With that, just right after the whistle halted, the place become chaotic than it previously was as each camper find his or her a.s.signed group.
Soon, station zero was divided into different groups of students; each group composed eighteen to twenty six members. Huzey and Ziggy who were camp officers had a group a.s.signed to them each and the students could only wished that they could either be a.s.signed to either on the Diamond Prince or the Montreal"s youngest sire"s group. Those who realize they were in their group become frantic and thrilled the moment they report to them.
Xhemin also knew it was time to go, but unlike everyone else, she did not go and register herself so she wasn"t a.s.signed to any group. However, she didn"t want to go hiking alone so in order to not look pitiful for being alone, she tag along on Huzey"s group and acted as if she was a.s.signed to him.
Not long, the hike started. The flock of students went to follow their camp officers as they move along the trail to the main camp. The trail offered layered of breath-taking views of terraced farmland and multiple hillsides. Xhemin hike quietly as she tagged along Huzey"s group and before the first five miles of the hike, she already noticed that Darryl was actually there tagging along Ziggy"s group where most of his students were a.s.signed to. Xhemin then wondered why Darryl was there when he was neither a student nor a camp officer, and as far as she knew, coaches and teachers were not supposed to be there babysitting their students. However, with what happened earlier where Darryl ignored her, she didn"t have the guts to ask him anymore nor act that they were close.
"Coach, wasn"t that the girl who went for an autograph?" One student who noticed Xhemin called Darryl"s attention. "That one, the one in the Diamond Prince"s group"
"Leave her be" Another student chided " She was rejected by coach so she find someone else to stalk"
"Oww, the diamond prince. Not a bad alternative" another intervened giggling at her own words.
Every San Sebastian student laugh about the recent conversation and their eyes were all in Xhemin. Of course their mockery annoyed Xhemin because it seemed that the mean San Sebastian students made her their prey for the day just in front of her face, yet she acted phlegmatic about it, in order not to trigger more bullying from them.
"Be carefull with your steps, this part of the mountain is a little slippery" Huzey warned his group as they reached a section of uneven stone steps. He had watched over the students a.s.signed to him one by one making sure they were safe.
Huzey also noticed that Xhemin seemed to be disturbed and soon he too realized Darryl was there, hiking with them. Knowing that, he anch.o.r.ed his eyes on Xhemin most of the time for he knew how she felt. She had been accustomed to having special attention from the Lagdameo heir and then suddenly, she got ignored and rejected. However, he was somehow happy that it seemed Darryl took his advice and plea, so this whole Xhemin and Darryl love affair would end before it ignites some fire.
Xhemin tried so much to ignore Darryl"s presence but such was a hard thing to do after everything between them. She thought she had invested so much emotion with the boy that it came pretty hard to pretend he was just some kind of stranger—just like the way he was treating her.
Drowned in her own thoughts and staring intently ahead, Xhemin lost her focus on the road and while making her way to the slippery stones, she miscalculated a step and in just a heartbeat she heard her camp boots squeak, and the next thing she knew she was sitting on the rocky earth floor groaning—she hurt her feet in the process.
"Ouch!"