Minutes Before Entering The School Gates
They pull themselves out of the crowded procession with Luka looking as calm, composed, and handsome as ever, and Aria looking like a hot mess, with her hair all raveled up, breathing heavily, and limping.
"Are you alright?!" Luka asks, looking at her with a little concerned grin on his face.
Aria, who's bent down on her knees, breathing heavily, looks at him with a faint smile. "I'm fine. I'm just wondering why I'm so exhausted and you look so fine, even though we both passed through the procession and I was the one being pulled."
Luka extends a hand to help her up, and she takes it, stretching a bit while rising. "What about your leg? Can you walk?" Luka asks.
"It's fine. I just stubbed my toe, and then it got stepped on. I'll be fine."
Luka, trying not to get too involved, takes her words at face value, but Aria sees this as a one-chance opportunity. "I'll be fine, but I'm gonna be stuck limping for a while. Can you help me get to class?" She asks with glistening eyes as she clings to him.
Luka sighs, "Alright. As far as you remember, not to stop me when next I'm walking on the street," he says.
"Thanks, Luka." She joyously wraps her arms around his right arm, and they begin walking in.
"Could you not hold me like that?" he asks, but Aria doesn't respond as she seems to have clouded up above.
Back To The Present...
Luka and Aria walk together until they reach where Brianna is standing in front of the school auditorium. Brianna, on the other hand, is still in shock at what she saw. The scene of the confrontation piqued the interest of many, and so people stood about waiting to see what would happen next.
Whispers and Gossips begin.
"Isn't that PSS?"
"PSS?!, What's that?"
"It's short for Prince Star Sapphire. It's the new Nickname people have been calling that handsome guy over there. We call him Prince Star sometimes."
"Oh, well, that makes sense. He does have blue sapphire-like colored hair."
"But, anyway. What's going on over there?"
"Isn't that the girl he was with on the first day?. Looks like he's cheating on her."
"We can't say for sure. No one has actually confirmed if they're dating."
"But still, that could be the possibility..."
Luka then speaks, "Hey, Brianna."
"Oh. Hi, Luka. I had no idea you were coming into school today. I heard that P and S students don't have classes today," she replies after pulling herself together from the shock.
"Yeah, I just came to meet Professor Ludwick. I couldn't get all the info I needed yesterday since I was in a bit of a hurry."
"Oh, alright. But who's she?. You didn't mention that you had a girlfriend," she says with anxiety lingering in her tone.
Aria notices this and quickly replies, "I don't mean to butt in, but we're not in a relationship or anything. We're just friends."
Brianna looks at her, and a bit of relief sweeps through her, but she's still uncomfortable. "Friends, huh?! So that's the case..." she says, faking a little smile, "anyone would misunderstand, seeing you wrapped around his arm like that."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize." She says, releasing Luka's arm a bit while smiling with a mild blush, which sets Brianna off a bit, and a peculiar tension arises between them.
Luka feels the tension but doesn't particularly recognize the cause of it.
He sighs, "It's just like she said, we're just friends. She's holding my arm cause she got hurt on our way here."
Another shock hits Brianna, "That means you guys were already headed to school together!" Luka and the purple-haired girl waltzing to school together, holding hands, sharing a drink at a cafe. She begins imagining all sorts of things. "I feel like I've lost," she says, drooping with her head faced down.
Aria lets go of Luka and heads over to Brianna. "Don't be like that. We're just friends, that's it. At least, for now," she says, smiling at Brianna.
Brianna then faces her with a look of determination, "I accept your Challenge. I'm Brianna, nice to meet you," she says with a new spark in her eyes.
"I'm Aria, likewise. Be careful, I don't go easy on my rivals." She says, brimming with determination. "I should be telling you that. Good Luck, you're gonna need it."
Luka watches them fill up with determination without really knowing why, and then sighs. Aria turns back to Luka, "I think my toes are feeling all better now, so I'll be heading to class now."
"Alright." Luka shrugs with his normal blank expression.
"Bye, Luka. See you later." Aria smiles as she walks away, but then she stops and comes back. "Luka, could you let me see your phone for a minute? "Luka, being clueless, hands over his phone. Aria taps the screen a few times, then saves her contact on his phone and dials it. Her phone rings and she immediately disconnects the call. "Call me, or I'll call you," she says, then leaves.
Brianna thinks, "Interesting, so that's how you want to play it." Then she asks, "Luka, can I borrow your phone too?!".
Luka, already hesitant about keeping Aria's phone number, then asks, "Why?"
A brazen shock runs through Brianna's body, "But you let her have it. Why won't you give it to me?"
"I'll be honest with you. If I knew she was gonna save her number on my phone, I wouldn't have given it to her."
"But since you already did, why not give it to me too?" "No, I'm not even sure if I'm gonna keep it."
Brianna continues to beg and whine for it. "I'm gonna have to get Duke's number too eventually," he thinks, then sighs. "Okay. But there's no guarantee that I'm gonna answer your calls." Then he hands over his phone to her.
She collects it and quickly saves her contact on his phone. "Thanks. Now, can you tell me? Where and how do you know Aria from?. Last I recall, you said you didn't want to keep any friends. Yet you accepted that she was your friend without any hesitation."
"You can ask Duke for that information." He shrugs and then heads inside the auditorium.
"Duke, Huh?!" She smirks devilishly.
Duke, In his Room, at Home.
"Achoo...," he sneezes, "...Huh... I hope I haven't caught a cold."