CHAPTER 31: FAREWELL

People meet to part, and part to meet. That was something that every single soul on the planet knew very well.

Just like how the vacation started with a bang, it also ended with a bang. With rejuvenated students and teachers, everyone left Darwin's Island with more memories and lingering feelings.

It was another trip that they would never forget. And it was faithfully documented on relevant websites for other students and fans to see.

After all, apart from having fun, the student council, especially Darica, was in charge of taking endorsements and promoting the clients' businesses. And at the same time, promote the school as well.

In just a few months, a fresh year was coming and everyone was looking forward to the surge of more freshmen. Something that was every single school's dream.

They spent two days on the road, and everyone was energetic. That was if they had to ignore the tension between Darica and Duke, which was completely very difficult to ignore at the same time.

Instead of dropping everyone at the school the same way they were taken, the buses dropped everyone at the main bus rank.

Since other students weren't local, they needed to take another mode of transport to return to their homes.

And those who lived locally simply needed to find a taxi or cab to go back home.

And since the last speech was already made, Darica's job was finally done and there was no need for her to keep on pampering everyone.

She was eager to go home and check the progress of the job she gave to Uncle Travis. At the same time, ponders deeply about her relationship with Duke.

The other, despite getting on her bus, was still giving her the cold shoulder. Wasn't the girl supposed to be the one acting that way, and not the other way around?

She just couldn't get it, and she also felt that there was no need for her to apologize. After all, it's not like she was going to change herself for him.

Lying can be done at any time, but not when it concerns her heart. That was one thing that she couldn't compromise on, no matter what.

On the other hand, Duke was feeling frustrated as he never thought that Darica would be colder than him.

Honestly, he wasn't expecting that at all. He understood well that Darica was just like that and it would be difficult to change her in a short time. He just wanted her to admit her mistake and treat him like a man, but it seemed that she wasn't even willing to do that.

And now they were both stuck in some strange stalemate he didn't know how to breach and move forward.

He looked at her as she talked with a female lecturer, who seemed to be blushing while stealing peeks at her. Duke clenched his fists in anger.

He couldn't help but glare at her, and it was too obvious to his sourness. He had forgotten her charm in the past two days and seeing her practically seducing a lecturer right in front of him, though it wasn't intentional; he felt his intestines turn.

"Dude, if you love her, then do whatever you should. Otherwise, you will be regretting pretty soon. Since she is the one that you chose, then bear with it and if you can't, then part in peace," a familiar voice suddenly said to him.

Duke turned his head to check if it was really that person he was thinking about, and surely by his side, Tristan was standing there. His gaze fixated on Darica who was now smiling after that lecturer said something.

Looking at the young man who had been by Darica's side for years, he was jealous of their relationship. Tristan and the others had been with her for so many years and there were a lot of things that he didn't even know about her.

And yet these people knew her better than him. And the fact that another man was telling him about that made him feel sour and the feeling wasn't great.

"When it comes to her, you don't have to think much. Just follow your heart always and always bear in mind that no one can force her to do anything. Since she chose you, then she will stick to you," Tristan decided to advise Duke, who seemed to be in a tricky situation.

After knowing Darica for years, he knew one great trait or weakness about her. She was unyielding. She was never wrong and will never admit her wrong unless you reason with her.

And reasoning with her was a major mistake, one that would make the accuser suffer so much in the future.

So, they all vowed to never do that again, for the punishments they suffered before were enough for them. And they didn't want to have a second taste of that brutality.

He didn't want to see Duke giving up so early when he had just started. What would he do when he finally got to know Darica's major secrets?

If he couldn't stand her now, Tristan found that it wasn't worth it for him to fool himself to continue.

"So, what are you trying to say?" Duke asked with gritted teeth as he glared at Tristan as if he was an enemy.

Seeing Duke looking at him like that, Tristan wanted to laugh at him for being petty.

As a man, he understood the emotions in Duke's eyes and what he might be going through, but the other was showing them to the wrong person. After all, dating someone who was part of their gang needed one to be strong and not weakhearted.

"If you want to be with her, then go to her to apologize and make up with her. But if you don't want to continue, then walk away and make sure that you don't approach her ever again!" Tristan sternly said as he looked at Duke with firm eyes.

Hearing the part of warning and threat in his tone, Duke knew that the issue might be getting even more serious than what he was thinking.

"You_"

"I admired your persistence over the year. Which is why I don't mind. In fact, we all don't mind about you getting with her. However, if you use her, break her heart and act the way you are doing. Hehe, Duke, I can promise you that, you will surely regret ever falling for her in the first place!"

Tristan, without caring about Duke's feelings, straightforwardly threatened Duke before walking away without waiting for the other to say a thing.

Looking at Tristan walking away from him and making his way towards Darica, he couldn't help but recall Darica's words.

'They are indeed born from the same mold. How can they all say the same thing?' he couldn't help but wonder as he compared the two.

However, what Tristan had told him made him sort his mind. He still remembered what his friend Richard chided him about when he called the other time.

'Indeed, the more I drag things out, the more I will suffer. Since I fell first, then I guess I should just continue being on the losing side!'

Thinking of how unbalanced the scale was at the moment, Duke finally acquiesced.

If he were to continue to drag things out, he was going to surely lose her, and he could sense it. And with every single sacrifice he made in the past year, there was no way that he was going to let it go.

Since he once vowed that he was willing to wear the skirt in the relationship, he was going to do that as long as he had her.

As long as she was with him, then everything else would be slowly taken care of in the future.

With a new resolution and firmness, Duke suddenly smiled as he started walking toward Darica.

'Babes, I am coming for you!'