It was one of those rare summer days when the heat actually felt good. There was only one week left before swim season started, and before Ben would be permanently pre-occupied with his determined attempts to beat the state record for the 200m butterfly. After arming herself with her three secret weapons: Binaca, her lucky tube of lipstick, and some cherry flavored lip gloss, Stacie stuck her "No Doubt," tape in her walkman and took off in pursuit of her goal for the moment, knowing she had no time to waste. As she hopped into her deep green Chevy Comaro, she thought of how dear Ben was to her. How could she let something so gorgeous slip through her fingers SO many times? He had been the object of her obsession for years now, and even though she and Ben were great friends, she was too shy to ask him out. He was the strong silent type, with a great smile, and dark brown hair that always seemed to hang perfectly in front of his gorgeous face. His eyes were a compeletly different world; Baby blue with hints of gray. No one could ever tell what was going on inside that head of his, Behind that smile that lit up every room he entered. There were many days that she would just sit there watching him at basketball practice, his tan muscular body glistening with sweat. He was just SO perfect, he was smart, funny, athletic, and increadably irresistable. Afterall, Stacie hadn't been the only girl whom Ben impressed....He was the center of the universe as far as half the girls in California were concerned. Had it been up to Stacie, Ben would have been hers the moment she laid eyes on him. Everytime she saw him, however, she turned crimson, and nearly passed out. She eventually started talking to him, and they became great friends, but, even though every girl she knew admired her emensly for her positon as his best friend, that just wasn't enough. One night she tried to tell him how she felt, but every time she even thought about what she was goi...
