W̳̿͟͞h̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞'s̳̿͟͞ t̳̿͟͞h̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞ F̳̿͟͞u̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞k̳̿͟͞

Chapter 26

It's been a week, and with Cooper's overactive positivity, she and the new prince has been sending messages to each other via letter. It's great to have found a new bestfriend, as Cooper labels them as, but Darnell had been acting more and more strange lately. And Keely doesn't know what to do with their situation that's slowly growing them apart, nor the fact that her hidden feelings for him just keeps messing up her mind with how much time she spends by herself doubting it.

'He's still your best friend, Keely. We just have to talk to him, that's all,' she convinces herself. Today's a special holiday, and also a half year switch to let another team take over while her and the rest of the batch will be on a half year well-deserved vacation, as King Quincy calls it. This may as well be a chance to fix things up with D and bond again, although nothing much really come into her mind.

"Yo, Keely!" the girl flinches as someone taps on the window of her room, seeing the one and only troll that was bugging her every thoughts.

"D!!!.... Hi!" Keely chuckles, coming over to open the window, "Well this is new."

"Sorry, I rushed over asap when I heard that you'll won't be working for a while. Did something happen? Did Brigs fire you or something?"

"What? Why would he do that?"

"I—uh—I'm just assuming things since... you know..... Did you quit?"

"What?! No!" she laughs.

"Then why—"

"Silly, I thought you would've known, but it's the winter-spring season team who'll take charge of the operational systems for a while."

Darnell stared at her for a moment before beginning to comprehend everything. Letting out a groan of annoyance, he plops his face on the window frame. 'I look so stupid right now. I should've waited for Dad's explanation before running off here.'

"D?" Keely knows he analyzes things before taking a move, so seeing him all worked up with a wrong thought surprised her that she didn't know exactly what to say that won't ruin his reputation.

"I... I'm thinking... maybe since you're not that quite busy now, I thought we could... you know.... hang out or something?" he lifts his head, forming a smile he could barely keep up. Darnell's face is flushed red by how embarrassed he is right now, but thankfully, the girl didn't say more and just nodded with a smile.

"Okay. I gotta tell my parents first."

"A-Alright. I'll meet you downstairs then..." he says before flying his hoverboard down to the entrance of the restaurant.

Keely closes the window, turns around and slid down to the floor, holding her chest as if it was about to burst. 'Don't think too much into this, Keely. He's just putting effort too in repairing this friendship. And we should do the same.' The girl takes a deep breath, readying herself from the inevitable, and continues her way down to get started on her Operation: Friendship Bond.