CHAPTER 7

Caleb's POV

The student centre was teeming with people. I parked my old Harley. Charlie was still gripping my waist. I chuckled. Yeah, I may have driven faster than I should...It 's fun messing with her.

"Hey, Charlie. You can get off now. We're here. Or you wanna just sit here and hold me all night..well, that's okay, too!" I teased her as I took off my helmet.

Quick as lightning, she dismounted and hit her helmet on my back. Ouch!

"That was too fast Caleb! Do this again, and I will cut this rusty piece of crap and burn it, get it?!" Charlie threatened, her hair wild and her face red in anger. Damnit, even with helmet hair, she looks gorgeous. I got off my bike and put my hands up.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was too fast. But it was fun, right?" I said as I slung my arm around her shoulder, as per usual. I love holding her. A lot!

"Fun, my ass! Urgh, you're so annoying!" Charlie said exasperatedly and pushed me away from her a bit. I hugged her right back.

"But you still love me!" I teased in an annoying singsong voice.

"Like hell I do! Urgh.." Charlie groaned as we walked to the party. The room was packed with gyrating bodies. I took Charlie's hand and pushed through the crowd. She tried to wrench free. I gripped her hand tighter, not wanting to lose her in the crowd.

"Ouch, Caleb! Let go of my hand! You're gonna break it! " Charlie called over the loud music. I looked over my shoulder at her. She was wincing. I quickly let go of her hand and she rubbed her aching her hand as she frowned at me. Now I felt bad.

"Sorry. I didn't want to lose you.Is your hand really in pain? Aw, Charlie. So, sorry." I said as I looked at her in the middle of the crowded room. She just sighed and gave a small smile.

"Nah, it's not that bad. It's-" Charlie suddenly stopped talking when her eyes caught something in the crowd.

Suddenly, she turned to me, looking all mysterious.

"Hey Caleb. Don't do anything stupid and be safe. I gotta go! Bye!" Charlie said as she slipped out of my arms and into the throng of people in the middle of the room. Then I saw her talking to a guy. I looked at him. Yeah, the guy from the quad last week. She was smiling at him. No, she's flirting. I do not like him. At all.

"Caleb!Dude, you made it! Let's go meet everybody! Come on!" Darius, the captain of the swim team came and dragged me to the other end of the room. Everybody cheered when I joined them.

Throughout the night I watched Charlie and that guy out of the corner of my eye. He was doing most of the talking while she was..well..laughing. I gritted my teeth when I saw her hit him playfully on his shoulder as she was laughing. The guy looks like a total bore. .Does she like him? For reals? That can be a problem. He's not even cute...all scrawny and that hair.. What's up with that hair?!

Countless girls have been throwing themselves all over me, trying to get my attention but I wasn't interested. I was too busy catching glimpses of Charlie. Wait, where the heck is she?! She'd disappeared. I looked around and over people's heads. I couldn't see her. I couldn't see the scrawny guy she was with either. I wandered around the crowded room, looking for Charlie but she was nowhere to be seen.

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Charlie's POV

"People keep on harping about Michelangelo's David, that they never really look closely at his other great works, like the Pieta. It never gets the attention it deserves..." Damien went on and on and on and I was not listening to a word he says. I mean, I heard him, but I have no idea what the flying eff he's talking about. For the past 20 minutes, he's been listing down names of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and saying that they're sculptors and whatnot. Hmm, I wonder if Splinter knows that.... Swoon..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!

Suddenly, a short, redhead slunk between us and looked at me pointedly. Damien stopped talking and smiled when he saw the tiny redhead.

"Hey, where have you been?" Damien asked.

"Around...Who's this?" The redhead asked as she gave me a once over.

"Oh, sorry. Saskia, this is Charlotte. We're in Art Club together. Charlotte, this is Saskia. My roommate." Damien introduced us. Say what?

"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?!

"So, you guys are roommates. You live in an apartment around campus?" I asked, trying to be friendly while I tried not to frown as Saskia's possessive hold on Damien.

"Yeah, about a few blocks from campus, actually. Saskia's an Art Major, too." Damien said pleasantly. All the while, Saskia was quiet and stared at me with a blank face.

"Oh, really. Um, ok." I said awkwardly, not sure what to say. Damien just smiled and finished his drink.

"Oh, I'm getting more drinks. You ladies want a refill?" Damien asked looking at both me and Saskia.

"No, I'm okay." I said, raising my mojito a little bit. I'm not much of a drinker. I usually just drink cocktails. The more colourful and elaborate the cocktails are, the better.

"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.

"So, what kind of art are you into?" Saskia asked as she cocked her head to the side. She looked like a little girl when she did that.

"Oh, um I write poetry and prose mostly. I'm not that great with visual arts." I admitted. No use lying to her. Saskia may looked adorably cute and petite but her eyes looked shrewd and all-knowing. She kinda gave me the creeps. Like she could read into my soul or something.

"Ohh..Okay. I'm into performance. I mostly do monologues, stage arts and I sculpt." Saskia said matter 0f factly, a hint of pride in her voice. Just a little but it's damn detectable. She flipped her weird knotty hair and smirked a little. I shifted uncomfortably from one leg to another.

"You know, Damien likes his girls small. And thin. And gorgeous." Saskia said out of nowhere. I stared at her. What the hell did she just say to me?

"Excuse me?!" I said in surprise. Saskia just scoffed and looked bored. I felt like punching the little bitch.

Just then, Damien came back, thank goodness. I was relieved. Saskia immediately took her drink and snuggled at the crook of Damien's arm, giving me the vibe that they're together. They're not, are they??

"So, how's it going with the tickets? Have you sold any?" Damien asked. Tickets? What tickets? Suddenly, I remembered. Shoot, I haven't even touched the darn thing. Wait, where the hell did I put the masters copy? Darn it. Gotta look for that first thing when I get back to my dorm later. I quickly gave a huge smile and nodded.

"Oh, it's going fine. Sold 10 already!" I lied successfully. SHoot, I might have to buy the 10 tickets myself if nobody buys any. Or I'll get Caleb to buy some and sold them to his fans..which means the female population on campus. Just then, I heard a cheer and laughter from the middle of the huge room. I caught glimpses of Caleb laughing and dancing with a bunch of very pretty girls while other guys dance along with their partners. I noticed the area Caleb was dancing in was filled with the very beautiful of UW. I sighed. Must be nice. I looked back at Damien who was actually speaking to me. I got a little distracted and didn't know what he had said.

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked.

"No, I said that you can give me some of the tickets. I'll get Saskia to sell some too." Damien said as Saskia gave him a 'Say What?!' look. I swallowed hard and just smiled.

"Um, I'll take care of it. I'll give them to you if I couldn't sell much." I said and Damien agreed.

"Hey Damien, come on. Let's dance. You're such a stick in the mud." Saskia said as she pulled Damien to the dance floor. Damien hesitated. He looked over at me. And raised his eyebrows while offering me a hand. I looked at him, questioningly.

"The more, the merrier." Damien said as he took my hand. I caught Saskia looking not very happy but didn't say anything. SO, the three of us went to the dance floor. Immediately Saskia started dancing this very sexy slinky dance that was like the actual act of sex itself. I stared at her. But Damien seemed unfazed and were dancing as if it was nothing. I looked around and saw nobody was fazed. I felt myself blush. Then I guess Damien got into it, somehow and Saskia pulled him close and started gyrating her crotch to his while she kinda poked me with her huge wedges when she had her leg up around one side of his waist. I scooted away a little and felt weird looking at them. Like, what the hell. I self-consciously tried to get out of the dance floor but it was so crowded that I started to feel smothered. I caught Saskia looking at me with a look of satisfaction on her face. Just then, somebody stepped on my foot and it hurt like hell.

"Ouch! Damnit!" I cried out in pain. Suddenly, a hand grasped mine. I looked up at a smiling Caleb. He pulled me to him and started dancing and singing along to the music. The pain on my foot forgotten, I laughed at his silly dancing and awful voice.

"Hey you. I couldn't find you before. Where did you go?" Caleb asked me as he tried to twirl me. He failed. I laughed.

"I was here. Where else would I be?" I said, my mind drifted to Damien for a bit. Caleb shrugged and started swaying me to the music and I followed suit as I giggled. I loved it when he gets silly.

"Hey, you ok Charlotte? I heard you hurt yourself." Damien said out of nowhere. I looked over at him and Saskia. She was looking at me and then Caleb, her face looked confused.

"She's fine. Aren't you, babe?" Caleb said as he looked at me questioningly. He now had both arms wrapped around my waist. My boobs were literally resting on his chest. This was the closest we have ever been since Caleb started high school.

"Yeah, I'm good. Um, Damien, Saskia, this is Caleb." I stuttered as I awkwardly introduced Caleb to Damien and the she-devil.

"Hi. Don't mind me, I'm just coming over to get my girl. So, you're ready to go, babe? I got an early swimming competition tomorrow. And I want you there to cheer for me" Caleb said as he looked at me and smiled the flirtatious smile he always gives to other girls or me when he's messing around with me. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. I had a feeling Caleb was doing me a favor. He's great like that. I was floundering and was about to drown in awkwardness when he came. I was so relieved, I could kiss him!

"Um, yeah. I think I'm done. And I'm beat, too." I said and was about to leave when Saskia spoke up.

"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. Like I said, I got a competition early tomorrow morning, so just getting my girl." Caleb said with a smile as he tightened his arm around 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... Urgh, whatever...At least he's helping me get out of this awkward situation and I'm very grateful.

"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 doing this weird tantric sex ritual thing , so I thought I'd interrupt. Since you looked very uncomfortable. It was..eeww..what was that?! " Caleb asked as chuckled in disbelief while he helped me put on my helmet. I just laughed when the image came back to me.

I looked at Caleb as he concentrated on buckling my helmet and cracking jokes. I giggled at his stupid remarks. 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. But I wasn't giving up on Damien without a fight. Saskia can just suck it.

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Caleb's POV

When we arrived at her dorm, she hopped off the bike and started struggling with the helmet buckle and started cursing like a veteran sailor. I smiled and helped her with it. She sighed with relief when the helmet was off her head. She smoothed her hair from her face and handed me the helmet.

"So, tomorrow, you're coming to see me swim, ok? At the sports' complex. 9 am. Sharp. Alright? I want to show off a little bit." I said as I helped smooth her hair. I wriggled my eyebrows at her.

"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, probably 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..