CHAPTER 9

Okay, I did say that Operation Grabbing Damien would commence asap..Urgh, that is such a stupid name. Okay, I'll change it to Seducing Damien..Eww.... I threw up a little in my mouth. I couldn't believe I am that gross. Fine, no name, whatever. But the idea is to seduce Damien and make him mine. And with Caleb distracting Saskia, I might just be able to get him. But first, I have to let Caleb in on the plan. I'm sure he'll agree to help. Of course he would. He's a sweetheart like that. Okay, so first get these pesky tickets printed and cut and sold. At least 10 of them. Urgh, I am so bad at selling stuff. Maybe I'll get Caleb to help.

I walked out of the printing store with 200 pieces of small red cards. Yeah, I paid extra to get them cut. A few extra bucks saved me a lot hassle. I sighed in satisfaction as I walked to my car and got in. Just as I was about to start my car, my phone rang. I picked it up and glanced at the screen. I smiled. Caleb! Goody!

"Hello, my friend. What do you want?" I asked in a sing-song voice. Caleb chuckled on the other end.

"Nothing. Just got up. I was so beat from yesterday! What are you doing?" Caleb asked in a sexy, just-woke-up gravelly voice. I was distracted by his throaty sexy voice for a bit that I forgot what I wanted to say to him. I gave myself a shake and spoke quickly.

"Oh, so you're still tired. I thought I'd ask you to come have lunch with me and then maybe we could go to the library or anywhere to study. Got a pop quiz coming up in 2 weeks." I said, a little disappointed. Just then, I heard a muffled rustling and a thud. I also heard a faint groan and a loud laughter from the Caleb's side.

"Hey, Caleb, what happened? You ok?" I asked worriedly.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Um, sure. let's go have lunch and you know, whatever. Um, so what time do you wanna meet? I'll pick you up in an hour?" Caleb spoke in a rush.

"Um, yeah, ok." I said, ignoring the rustling sound as I shook my head in amusement. I do not want to know what's happening over there.

"Okay, great! See you later!" Caleb said and I hung up. I started my car and drove back to my dorm. I thought I could cut the tickets while I wait for Caleb.

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Caleb's POV

I hung up and groaned as I smoothed my sore a$$. I was a little over-excited about going out with Charlie that I fell off the bed. My roommate Glen just laughed at me as he put on his shoes. He didn't even help me get off the floor, the worm....

"Hey, I'm going out. You ok, dude?" Glen said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. No thanks to you!" I said and groaned as I got up on my feet, my back aching a little as I stood up. Glen laughed some more and stood up and walked to the door.

"Ok, gotta go. Hang in there, dude! Later!" Glen said and I waved him off.

I got up gingerly and waddled to get my shower. After a thorough shower, I doused myself in cologne and got dressed in something that I thought Charlie would like. Leaving my hair kinda messy, I took my helmets and dashed out the door with my backpack.

It took me less than 5 minutes to reach Charlie's dorm. After I parked my bike, I ran up the stairs to Charlie's room. At her dorm room door, I took a deep breath and just opened it, without knocking, as usual. When the door was opened, I gave a ready smile.

"Hey, Caleb. Don't you ever knock?" Charlie said in a n annoyed tone. She was at her desk, writing something, her back to me. She didn't even turn around. I sighed.

"Sorry." I said, not sounding sorry at all as I sat on her perfectly made bed. I took a small maroon pillow and hugged it, secretly sniffing the thing. Smells nice, just like Charlie. Just then she turned around and I put the pillow on my lap instead.

"So, you're ready to go?" I said, looking at her expectantly.

"Yeah, let's go. I'm hungry!" Charlie said as she got up from her chair. She grabbed her bag and jacket and breezed out the door, as I scrambled to catch up with her.

She was not very happy about riding my bike since she said she wasn't a fan of helmet. I had to convince her she looked okay even with helmet hair. She was unsure though. I actually have an ulterior motive for insisting Charlie ride the bike instead of taking her car. It's the only way I get to feel close to her without her suspecting anything. I know, I'm awful...

"Fine! But don't go too fast or I'll beat your a$$." Charlie said as she put on the helmet and looked at me sharply. I just smiled and helped her buckle the helmet securely. I patted the top of the helmet as I said, " All done."

We decided to have lunch at a diner outside campus. After we ordered, Charlie looked sheepishly at me. She was biting her bottom lip and squirming like she was flirting. Wait, is she flirting with me?!

"Caleb, can I ask you a favour?" Charlie asked as she cocked her head to her right side, her blue eyes huge as she looked at me expectantly. I cleared my throat.

"Sure, with what?" I asked as I moved closer forward towards her, waiting for her to tell me what she wants me to help her with.

"Well...I have these tickets that I have to sell for Art Club.There are like 200 of them. And I have to sell at least 50 tickets. The show's in a month and I have to get cracking. I mean, do people want to see a play about blood? I mean, really?" Charlie said in exasperation. I chuckled.

"Hey, you gotta try to sell them first. Do they have flyers or posters about this play? Wait, I think they do.. I've seen it. Is it that black bloody flyer I saw a few weeks ago? Look, just sell as much as you can. I'm sure it's okay if you can't meet quota right away. You still have a month, right? " I said as I stifled a grimace. The flyer was nasty. I hope people do buy those tickets despite the God-awful flyers.

"Yes, that's true. I don't know why I'm freaking out. It's just that I really want to make sure all the tickets are sold." Charlie said as she sighed.

"Look, I'll help you, ok?" I said and Charlie beamed. She looked around the diner and I took the opportunity to stare at her. She had her hair up in a loose ponytail and soft wavy brown tendrils escaped the light blue band that holds her hair in place. She was wearing dark skinny jeans and a slouchy top with one shoulder always falling off , giving me the view of her creamy shoulder. Her spaghetti strap could be seen and I swallowed hard. She is so seriously sexy that she didn't even know it. Suddenly I caught her blue eyes looking at me and her mouth was moving like she's talking to me. I blinked my eyes, trying to listen to what she was saying.

"Uh, yea, what were you saying?" I asked as I try to focus on what Charlie was saying.

"I said, do you remember Damien, the guy we met at the party a 2 nights ago?" Charlie asked. I racked my brain, trying to remember who the heck was Damien.

"Oh, um..A little refresher might help." I said and Charlie scrunched up her face and looked up, like she was trying to find an easy way for me to remember this DAmien guy.

"Umm, the art guy? The guy who came to your swim meet with the weird, scary Saskia girl?" Charlie looked expectantly. Then I remembered. Oh. The art geek. Yeah, I remember him alright.

"Oh yeah. The art guy, right? So, what about him?" I asked and Charlie sat up straighter, looking directly at me.

"What do you think of him?" Charlie asked vaguely. I frowned. Huh?

"Uh, he's okay I guess. I mean, I just met the guy, so I'm not really sure if he is who he says he is. Why?" I asked.

"Well...If you're a girl, would you like him? Like, hypothetically." Charlie asked a little anxiously as he leaned forward closer to me. Under normal circumstances, I would meet her halfway and who knows what would happen, right? But this, I don't think so. This whole conversation is seriously not what I had in mind.

"Um, well..I don't know since I'm a guy. Wait, why are you asking me this?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer since it's obvious and clear as hell!

"Welll....I think he's cute. What do you think? He's cute, isn't he?" Charlie said and kinda giggled girlishly. Erk, what was happening? She'd never acted that way before.

"Uhh, I don't know. I'm a guy. Guys don't know if another guy is cute, ok. Unless they're gay. Which I'm not. Gay, I mean." I babbled as I sat there, wishing I was somewhere else.

"Well, I think he's cute. Look, you're a guy. What would you look for in a girl? And, um how do I make him ask me out?" Charlie said, a little out of the blue. My eyes blinked rapidly, taking in this very badly. I may look normal on the outside. But on the inside, I was slowly dying and a little angry at myself. No, no way am I letting Charlie like another guy. At least not that pretentious tool. Yeah, he is pretentious. Art buff, my ass.

"Um, uh..Really? Ok Um, well.. I'm not really sure. If he really likes you, he'd ask you out, I guess. I mean, why wouldn't he? You're hot!" Aw, f**k! Didn't mean to let that slip out. It was all I could say as I tried really hard not to let my disappointment show. It wasn't easy keeping a casual composure when all I want to do was roll into a tight ball and go into a corner to sulk.

"Aww, really?! You think I'm hot. Okay, that's weird. Hmmph, I guess you have to say that to make me feel better!" Charlie said, not noticing my face being drained of blood. Thank goodness she didn't notice anything amiss.

"Yeah, okay, now that's out there, I really want him to ask me out. But come on. Who'd want to date me? I look like a butterball. Urgh, maybe I should lose weight." Charlie said in disgust as she groaned. I frowned.

"You don't need to change yourself to make a guy like you. That's messed up. If he doesn't like you for you, then maybe he's not worth the trouble." I said as I shrugged, hoping fervently that Charlie would listen to me.

"Okay, can you do me a favour?" Charlie asked suddenly.

"What is it?" I asked, feeling some dread.

"Can you help me to sell the tickets? Please...??? I mean, sell them to your fangirls, whatever. Please..If I finished selling the tickets, he might notice me through my dedication. Pretty please??" Charlie begged as she stared at me with those blasted eyes. Her pitiful look can rival a cute tiny kitty begging for food.

"Um, I..I don't know Charlie. I just..I don't think I have time to do that. What with with swimming practice, classes and all.." I said lamely. I knew she was disappointed. She sighed.

She looked at me. Just then, our food arrived. She looked at her chicken salad sandwich and sighed. Yeah, I have officially lost my appetite now.

We ate our lunch quietly after that. I could feel her feeling anxious. I tried to make myself finish my burger, but it tasted like sandpaper. I sighed. I looked at her. She kinda looked at me with that huge blue eyes and I felt myself melting. Like, literally a messy melted mess of myself, sliding off the table. Damn it, I am so weak. After lunch, we paid and walked out the diner. Charlie was quiet but she didn't look angry. She kept walking farther, kinda left me behind. I groaned inwardly and knew that she had beaten me. I hate myself for being such a wuss.

"Fine. How many do you want me to sell?" I asked with a heavy heart. Charlie perked up and squealed as she hugged me tight. Argh Caleb! You are so weak!