Chapter 20

Every time I walked down a hallway I always looked over my shoulder. I don't know why because I had never had that habit before. I didn't feel nervous and I didn't feel cautious. It was just every few steps I paused and looked behind me, as if I was expecting something. I would narrow my eyes at the shadows in the hallway, like I was expecting some dark figure to materialize from them and attack me. This continued for most of the day until it seemed I had finally snapped. Unfortunately, it wasn't in a secretive place either. It was in my own room, or rather in the doorway of my own room.

"I can't believe the year's practically over," I said to myself as I moved a box of mine into the hallway, "it feels like it's gone by way too quick."

"Yeah I know what you mean."

A hand reached out and gently placed itself onto my arm. I didn't think of it as a simple gesture, because I freaked out and drove my elbow into their stomach. I turned on my foot and went to grasp my hand on their throat, but a hand shot up to catch mine.

I locked eyes with my "attacker". It was obvious they weren't really my attacker at all, I was just jumpy, or something like that. To my relief the person had been Damien. I didn't know how he got into my room though. Maybe he had slipped in while I wasn't paying attention. I don't think I was ever going to know.

"You scared the living daylights out me," I frowned at him, "don't ever do that again."

"Don't worry Karin, you won't have to worry about that." He smiled at me.

Suddenly, I became a little scared. He was speaking as if we were never going to see each other again.

"Why don't I have to worry?"

He picked up my soccer ball off the ground and held it in his hands. "I remember this. I gave it to you before I left. Wow, I can't believe you still have it."

"Of course I have it. Just because you left didn't mean you were completely out of my life." I walked around him to continue packing things into another box.

"You took good care of it."

"You told me to."

There was a moment of silence as I placed things into the empty box on my bed. I didn't say anything because I knew there was something Damien wanted to say. He was just wondering if this was the right time to say it. I patiently waited and put more things into the box.

"Karin, there's something I need to tell you."

I felt my insides roll over. That wasn't something I didn't want to hear anymore. Especially since I had gone through quite the experience last night. I didn't need someone else telling me they loved me, or anything along those lines. I was flattered that I was in the hearts of more than one guy, but I didn't need anything complicating my relationship with the one guy I had chosen.

"What's on your mind, Damien?" I inwardly prepared myself for his answer.

"I'm not coming back next year."

I looked over at him with furrowed brows and a tilted head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm not enrolling here next year. I'm transferring."

My attention was now on him. I didn't see a reason for him to transfer. He seemed to enjoy his time here and he seemed pretty happy with just everything that went on. I hoped that I hadn't done anything in his decision to leave.

"Why are you leaving? I thought you liked it here. You have plenty of friends and you're doing really well in all your classes."

"I know. I know," he looked over at me, "I like it here. It's nice, but I think I'm due for a change of scenery."

"Oh... well, where are you transferring to?"

"It's a school back in Redwing Minnesota."

A small smile came to my face. "Ah, so you're going back home?"

"Yeah," he smiled back at me, "I think I should just reconnect, you know?"

"Completely," I turned my attention back to the box, "when are you leaving?"

"Today, in an hour or so."

The smile on my face suddenly became bittersweet. So that's why he was talking to me like it was the last time he'd ever see me. I didn't know what to do, or even say. If there were more time I'd offer to hang out with him, to spend some time together, something like that. There wasn't any time, though. I had to finish packing all my things and I didn't know where we could go and hang out within an hour. I closed the box and looked over at him.

"Wanna go to the soccer field and just hang for a bit before you go?"

His eyes brightened and so did his smile. "Okay."

We headed out onto the soccer field and didn't do anything amazing or extremely hard. All we did was pass the soccer ball back and forth between each other. As we did, we told stories yo each other. They didn't really have a theme, they usually started with "Oh I remember this one time" or "Do you remember when". It was nice to talk to Damien though. I hadn't really talked to anyone about anything lately and just talking to someone who knew me on a deeper level made me smile.

"Oh, and what about that time with the plastic dinosaur?"

"You mean when we were throwing them at each other and then you got so mad you flushed them down the toilet?" I laughed.

"Then your mom found out because the toilet backed up and there was water all over the bathroom floor."

"She made you clean it all up and then scrub the toilet with a toothbrush," I laughed even harder as I trapped the soccer ball under my foot.

"But then my mom made you help her with dinner with dinner that night," he chuckled, "you burned the macaroni and cheese." He trapped the soccer ball underneath his foot.

"You still ate it though."

"I was being nice."

"Yeah right. You loved it!"

There was a honk of a car and we both looked to the parking lot. Our happy feeling washed away, along with our smiles. He picked up the soccer ball and held it in his hands. My smile faded a bit and I stared at him as he turned the ball. The sad look on his face made my mind urge me to say something to him, something comforting.

"A lot of girls will be happy that you're back in the state," I said.

Smooth, that was as smooth as the frickin' rocky mountains. I looked down after I said that. Had that really been the first thing to come to my mind?

"Question is, how many will be sad that I'm leaving this one?"

I wasn't sure if he seemed serious about that question. The lop-sided smile he had on his face told me he was just asking a question between friends. Then again, he always had a talent for hiding his true emotions. I looked down quietly, then looked back up at him with a smile.

"I'll miss you. That's for sure."

His grin grew and he opened his mouth to say something, but another series of honks from the car interrupted him. He shook his head and walked over to me, then placed the ball into my hands.

"I'm gonna miss you too," he ruffled my hair, "take care of her, she's my favorite."

"Don't worry I will."

He winked at me before walking away. "I wasn't just talking about the soccer ball."

I blinked at him as he walked off, then I looked over my shoulder and saw that Kevin was suddenly standing with me. He kept watching Damien's back as it got smaller in the distance, and then finally was driven away.

"Did you know Damien was leaving?" I asked quietly as I stared at soccer ball in my hands.

"He was planning on transferring long before you came here," he glanced over at me, "so don't try to tell yourself you're the reason why he's leaving. It's far from it."

"Are you lying to me to make me feel better?"

"... well is it working?"

I tossed him a grin and nudged him. "Thanks."

"You don't have to thank me," he smiled, "it's what I'm here for."

I smiled back at him and poked his nose. "That is what you're here for. To serve me."

His rose an eyebrow and the smile on his face grew wider. He tried wrapping his arms around my waist, but I moved away too fast for him. I laughed, dropped the ball, and dribbled it down field. He chased after me and we laughed at one another. He finally caught me after I had just taken a shot on goal. His arms were around my waist and my back against his chest. He rested his chin on my shoulder and breathed in. I leaned my head against his gently.

"Something on your mind?"

"When are you leaving?" he asked me.

"Either tonight or tomorrow morning... whenever mom says it's time to go home, I suppose."

"So you're not staying here?" he sounded kind of sad.

"I've spent enough time here... I need to go home and see my friends."

"But you have friends here," he held me closer, "you have me here."

"There's such a thing called e-mail, Kevin. There's also something called the cellphone."

"But you're two hours ahead of California. I don't want to catch you at a bad time."

"You're just going to have to wake up extra early then."

I heard and felt him chuckle softly. "I guess I'll just have to do that then."

There was a honk of a car and we both looked over the parking lot. A limo was parked and waiting, apparently for me. I watched as students gathered around the limo while a figure stepped out of it. I recognized that figure and it brought a smile to my face. Kevin seemed to remember too, and made a small noise of acknowledgement.

"It's that one girl," he said, "your friend."

"Her name is Raya, you dunce. And she wanted to hang out today, before I leave."

"You should be spending time with your boyfriend, not your best friend."

I gently pulled myself away from him. "I think my boyfriend has gotten enough of me today."

"No he hasn't."

I laughed and backed away from him slowly. Raya called my name, but Kevin gave me the puppy dog look. I shook my head and rolled my eyes at him. It looked like he gave up, seeing as he made a gesture to me that mean okay fine, go ahead and hang with her. I smiled and went over to Raya. The students whispered and leaned on the limo with charming grins, each one a special little something of its own. They made passes at Raya, in response she smiled at them kindly and thanked them for their kind compliments.

"Hey Raya, long time no see, eh?"

She smiled at me brightly and hugged me tightly as well. I noticed the stares by the male students around us. "Karin!"

"Ah, whoa. You wanted to hang out, right? So, let's go!"

"Okay!" She pulled me into the limo and I stumbled in.

"Let's hurry before they think I swing both ways..."

Raya merely blinked at me, but told the limo driver to drive off. I looked around the rest of the limo and noticed that it was just us, sadly I was surprised at that.

"No Blair?" I asked.

"Well I wanted to hang out with you, just us! Blair had some other stuff to do today."

"What about you, did you have stuff to do?"

She looked at me oddly. "Why do you ask that?"

"I just want to know is all..."

"Well I had things planned with Terri, but I don't think that matters. I re-arranged things for us-time!"

"Oh," I gave her a soft smile, "so where are we heading?"

"Well I hope you don't mind if we head to the beach," she gave me a weary smile back.

"It's like another home for me, of course I don't mind."

-x.x.x-

I had somewhat of an agenda for today's time with Raya. Since she was a really close friend to me, pretty much my best friend, I thought she deserved to know about everything that happened to me at Pacific Blue Academy. Once we reached the beach I let out a breath before telling her everything, and I do mean everything. I don't know how long it took me to tell her, but she never said a word as a told her. She just patiently listened and waited until I finished my story. In fact we sat there on the beach for what seemed like hours before she said anything. We just watched the water lick the sand under our feet and let the cool ocean breeze caress our faces. Then she looked over at me with a small smile.

"Thanks," she let out a soft laugh, "thank you."

I looked over at her oddly. "For what?"

"For trusting me with all this... it's nice to know that you hold me so close to you, Karin."

I had known Raya for a long time, well maybe not as long as I had wanted, but long enough to know that she barely talked like that. Sure there were times where she seemed serious, but she seemed like she was... well I couldn't put my finger on it exactly, but there seemed something off about her.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

She nodded as she gazed out at the ocean, then she looked to me and grinned. "I'm just happy to know that we're really close to each other."

I smiled back. "We're practically sisters joined at the hip."

"That has to be an awkward way to go to the bathroom."

I laughed and nudged her. "Freak."

"Only because you love me that way."

I rolled my eyes and nudged her arm. "C'mon, let's surf."

Even though it was a sweet moment that was being shared between us, I didn't really wanted to think about the deep friendship I had with her. It was true that there was more than a best-friend-relationship between us, but we were both sure that it wasn't anything romantic. She was like the sister I wasn't able to have. We fought and had disagreements on occasions, what friends didn't? I'm sure that there were times where I had hurt her feelings, only to regret saying what ever I had the next day. I kept thinking about the history she and I shared as we paddled out into the ocean. I probably didn't deserve a friend like her. The kind of friend who stood by me no matter what. The kind that respected all the decisions I had made up until now, even though some- if not most- were childish and stubborn. But she was just always there, even if it felt like I was always alone.

She looked back at me as a wave began forming and coming towards us. "Are you okay? You seem a little quiet?"

"Is quiet a bad thing?"

"No... it's just that you usually say more."

"I'm just cherishing time, that's all." I gave her a small smile.

She looked at me oddly then shook her head. "I thought we made a no riddle-speaking law when we're hanging out."

"I remember no such law."

"Uh-huh, of course your don't Karin."

She let out a small laugh before looked back at the wave that was getting closer and closer. The anticipation inside of me grew and I heard the water growing louder as well. Raya looked back at me once more with a wide grin and a thumbs up before we were both lifted up by the wave. Our cries of joy and excitement were let out simultaneously as we stood up after a few moments. I could hear my board slicing through the water, I could hear Raya's too. We weaved with one another, at time being side by side for a few seconds before one pulled ahead of the other. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the rush of it all settle down. I could hear the loud roar of the wave settle down as well, it seemed to be distant in my mind now. I imagined the wave curling over us, into a barrel. I wasn't worried that it might curl over us, wiping us out. I didn't have any worries right now. I was just happy.

I was just enjoying the ride.

-x.x.x-

End Note: This was the most pain-staking chapter I have ever written. I don't think that I've ever had this much trouble writing a single chapter ever. The reason this took so long was because I was still coping with the fact that the next chapter was going to (probably) be the last chapter in No Biggy. I was honestly really sad because I enjoyed writing this story so much. Although there are things that I would definitely change about how I went about with this story, I know that I have no regrets about starting this story and sharing it with you all. I'm not going to make this end note longer than it has to be because I have next chapter to tell you guys my feelings and how glad I am about the success of this story.

On another note, there is some personal touch to the part containing Karin and Raya. I know it's a bit of a big no-no to include personal matters and feelings of the author into that of the character, but I just felt the need to add that and put a bit more detail into that bit because there isn't much description as to the deep bond between Karin and Raya. It kind of resembles a friendship I have with another friend, no names will be announced of course. But I'm quite lucky to have met such a friend and I hope that our friendship will continue, even though we're going through a rocky patch right now.

I love all my readers. I love all my reviewers. I even love those people who don't really like the story, BUT YET YOU CONTINUE ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER DON'T YA? HM, WHAT DOES THAT SAY- just kidding. I'm pretty much saying I love you all.

Until the next and final chapter. KEEP THE NO BIGGY LOVE GOING STRONG GUYS.

-Nikki