After class that day.....
Duke is glowing and smiling while Brianna and Brittny hold grins on their faces. "Brianna, how am I supposed to do anything properly without you there. I don't even know how to start with this project," Brittney whines, hugging Brianna from behind."
"Ha ha, I've had a good feeling since Luka helped me out this morning, but who would have thought we'd end up in the same group for our first project?" Duke exclaims cheerfully in response to Brittney's whine.
Brianna, on the other hand, is lost in thinking about her conversation with Luka earlier and thinks, "I'm not sure if it was just me, but his demeanor sort of changed for a second there and just warped back like nothing happened. What happened that's keeping him from opening up?"
"...na, ...anna, Brianna?!" Brittney calls anxiously. She blinked back to reality and gained her focus again, "Huh?. Oh, what were you saying again?!"
Duke looks back at her with a concerned grin, "What's wrong? I haven't seen you this lost in thought in ages," he says as he holds her hand. "Yeah, you've got me worried there for a second," Brittney adds.
"Sorry for worrying you guys. It's nothing serious, don't worry about it." Duke and Brittney exchange glances at each other, thinking the same thing, "It's nothing serious she says, but she isn't someone to worry over something that's not serious."
Brianna then beams up again, "Anyway, have you guys seen Luka?" she asks, trying to clear her head first. "Well, he's with the professor. The whole group just agreed and appointed him team leader, so he's busy gathering all the details of the project." Duke says. "That guy has a huge reputation already, and it's just his second day." He sneered.
"Is that jealousy I hear in your tone?" Brianna teased.
"Of course it's jealousy, how could someone ever grow that popular within the range of day one and two. I mean, it's also kind of infuriating that every girl on campus wants to date him, but he doesn't even give a damn about it." He says with a mock glare, his left eye twitching playfully, but his lips curving into a smile as if to hide his jealousy.
"I didn't think you'd admit it right away, but anyway, maybe he's had a past relationship like mine. One that left him in a state where dating is no longer a priority." She says, with her words suddenly losing their earlier enthusiasm.
Duke notices this immediately and falls back to her, "Brianna? Are you alright?" with his smile dying out. Brianna remains silent, and an air of awkwardness blows by. "Cheer up, Bri, you'll never have to go through that ever again. We're never going to let that happen to you again," he says, a hint of playfulness in his voice, holding her by the shoulders, hoping to lift her spirit. She cheers up a bit and smiles, "Alright, I'll take your words for it."
Luka finishes with the professor and comes out of his office, heading down the hall when he sees the situation between them, interprets it to himself, and thinks, "hmmm... they look good together." Walking past them, leaving a cool breeze as a reminder of his passing. So Duke catches wind of this and calls out to Luka for a confrontation, but Luka just walks away. They go after him.
"Luka!" Duke calls out. Luka stops and turns back, "Did I ruin the mood? I'm sorry if I did." He says softly. Duke thinks," I know he would say that," then speaks, "...what are you talking about? There was no mood to begin with," teasingly.
Luka looks at Brianna, her face a little puffy and redder than usual, "Well, it seemed like there was a mood, so I just walked by." Luka responds with nothing but emptiness attached.
Brittney, rather uncomfortable with the cheesy, awkward bit of drama going on, decides to change the Topic. "Uhm, Luka, about the project, what exactly are we doing? I didn't catch what we were supposed to do." She states.
"According to what we were told, the project should be a combined work of the three departments, which can be in the form of plays, documentaries, or an art gala if possible." Luka explains, "He didn't say much about it though, since we're the first ones to work on this project, but he said to be as creative as possible."
"So they just decided to throw us under the bus, did they?" Brianna questions rhetorically.
"But since we have a month, we should be able to get it ready right before Halloween, and if our presentations go in order of groups, we might have our presentation right after Thanksgiving," Duke says with mild excitement.
An idea suddenly strikes Brianna, "Luka, why don't you join us for our Halloween plans?" Duke bends to Brittney and whispers, "But we don't have plans for Halloween." "Well, now we do." She whispers back. Not even noticing them, "So what do you say?" she asks, waiting for an answer.
"I don't do Halloween, and besides, aren't you a little too old to be going around like a bunch of high-schoolers?" he replies. The response strikes a nerve; she didn't think the question through before asking him. "But can't you just hang out with us for a little while? That was our only class for today, and it's just eleven thirty." She insists, refusing to give up on a time to hang out with Luka.
Luka sighs, "Unfortunately, I have something rather important to do by noon, so I don't have time to spare. Duke, I left my contact with the professor, so you can get it and tell the other group members you can recognize. We'll have a meeting after class tomorrow," he says in a hurry after checking his phone to see the time.
"Alright, Luka, I'll do that. See you later then." Duke says. Luka leaves the school grounds and makes a phone call.
"I don't know why, but I feel like no matter how he ignores us, I can't just bring myself to get angry. "Brittney says with a confused look on her face. Duke then replies, "I know, right, he just gives off this calming presence..." Brianna just watches him leave, trying to sense all that just happened.
While Luka is walking on the street, a white BMW G61 parks right in front of him on the road, and the driver steps out and opens the back door. Luka sits in the car, and the driver also enters and drives off.