Damien has the nicest eyes. Like seriously. I could look into them forever. And the sexiest smile. He is so my type. If only I could tell him how much I like him. But I'm scared he would laugh at me. Like, how dare a whale like me like a soulful, serious artist like him. Like, how dare I!

"So this is Saskia. She's my best friend. She goes to Western. She's here for the weekend." Damien said something. I looked at his mouth. It was moving. And suddenly a pair of panda eyes were looking at me. I was seriously shocked. That quickly pulled me out of my trance.

"Hello, I'm Saskia.." The redhead with the panda eyes said in deep drawl. She had her arm around Damien's waist. And she was incredibly petite. She was wearing harem pants with a jeweled bra thing. And her hair is in huge knots. She looked a little scary.

"Oh, hi. I'm Charlie. Nice to meet you," I said as I smiled at her. She did not really smile back. She looked me up and down and smirked slightly. I was suddenly pissed off. What's her deal?!  

"Um, Damien, get me something to drink..?" Saskia said, putting her lips so close to Damien's ears that they're almost touching.  Damia nodded his head and walked off to the refreshment table. When he was gone, Saskia went closer to me.  

"Look, I can tell at a glance that you like Damien. And I don't like it. He's mine. So please hands off. Get it Miss Piggy?" Saskia said acidly. She was tiny so she had to look up. She looked like this miniature threatening person. I stared at her, surprised at her warning. I swallowed and cleared my throat.

"We've been best friends since forever and I am not about to let some whale swoop in and causing me trouble. So, you better stay away from him!" Saskia poked me on the chest. That made me upset.

"I think you got everything wrong-" I started to explain when Damien came up and gave Saskia her drink. She smiled sweetly at him and snuggled in his arms. They do look cute together...I sighed. Who am I kidding? She's right...

"Hey you. I couldn't find you before. You ready to go?" A familiar voice came behind me and the familiar arm wrapped itself around my shoulder.  I could feel and smell comfort and I was grateful Caleb came to rescue me. I was floundering and was about to drown in awkwardness when he came. I was so relieved, I could kiss him!

"Um, yeah. I'm done.Uh, Damien, Saskia, this is Caleb." I said simply as I wrapped my arm around his waist. 

"Hey, I know you. I've seen you in a swim meet a few years ago. It was in our school. Damn, you're good!" Saskia gushed suddenly, quite out of character. Damien looked surprised and nodded his head appreciatively. 

"Um, yeah. Okay, so it's nice meeting you guys. I have a swim meet early  tomorrow morning, so just getting my girl." Caleb said with a smile as he tightened his arm aound my shoulder.

Saskia stared at us. She couldn't believe it. Well, I wouldn't if I were her,too. I mean come on.. Caleb is beyond beautiful and I'm...well..me... Plus he's Dara's brother...her YOUNGER brother.  I'm such a perv.

"Um, okay. Damien, I gotta go. Saskia, it was nice meeting you. Goodnight!" I said casually. I was feeling vulnerable at the moment so I just let Caleb bring me outside. We walked to his bike.

"You okay? I saw Miss Scary there giving you a hard time, so I thought I'd interrupt. It's okay, right?" Caleb asked as he helped me put on my helmet. I just smiled at him.

I looked at Caleb as he concentrated on buckling my helmet. Just 1 week after he got here, I've seen him around more often than I did when we were back home. It feels really good not having to be alone sometimes. I felt the 2 years I've been here was like a blur. It was classes and obsessing over Damien. And after Saskia's warning, I was a bit wary.

Caleb drove me back without teasing me, like he knew I wasn't in the mood for his teasings and stupid jokes. He was also driving in a reasonable speed. I held him tight and lay my head on his back. It's nice having someone to lean on for a change. Being on my own and fighting my own battles alone is tiring.

Caleb's POV

When I saw her face became ashen at the party, I knew something was wrong. She had been quiet the whole way and she was holding onto me like her life depended on it.

When we arrived at her dorm, she hopped off the bike and started struggling with the helmet buckle. I smiled and helped her with it.  She didn't say anything just looked at me with a tiny smile on her lips.

"So, tomorrow, you're coming to see me swim, ok? At the sports' complex. 9 am. Sharp. Alright? I need all the support I can get." I said as I helped smooth her hair.

"Oh, that was true! I thought you only said that to get me out of there," Charlie said suddenly. I looked at her and chuckled.

"No, it wasn't a ruse. I really do have a competition tomorrow. And you're coming, ok. I'm gonna look for you at the bleachers tomorrow. You're my good luck charm." I said as I looked at her. I can never get tired of looking at her. Her dark blue eyes twinkled and she smirked.

"Hey, you've won before, just fine without me! And getting up before 9 am on a Saturday is crazy." Charlie said and rolled her eyes. I chuckled.

"Come on, you never actually saw me swim. I just wanna show off what a sexy champion swimmer I am, you know." I really, really hoped she would come. Charlie sighed and smiled.

"Fine, I'll see you there at 9. It's 11 now. I'm already sleepy. Good night Caleb. Drive carefully ok." Charlie said as she absently kissed me on the cheek. The spot where her lips had touched tingled and radiated warmth all over my face and neck. It was really nice. I looked at her and smiled, barely hiding my emotions. It had been so long, it wasn't easy bottling everything up inside. I quickly put on my helmet and hopped on my bike before I did anything we both might regret.

"Okay, so I see you tomorrow, alright! Goodnight!" I started my bike and waved before I sped off. She smiled and waved after me. From my rear view mirror, I saw her looking after my bike, probablyy making sure I didn't suddenly break out into Evil Kneivel  mode. I couldn't wait for tomorrow morning to show off my swimming talent to my girl Charlie..
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Ok, end of Chapter 8. Hope you guys enjoy it. Thanx a lot for taking the time to read and vote on my story. Thank you, thank you!