"How many times do I have to tell you Gabriel?" Frankie sighed as he handed a drink to one of the resort guests. "Don't let Jason catch you not on the stand!"

Gabriel responded, "Relax! He's not going to see me!" He ran a hand through his spikey blonde hair and groaned. "I swear some days I hate this job so much."

Frankie sighed again. He and Gabriel had been through this many times. Gabriel wanted to be a pro surfer, but instead he had to spend most of his life on the lifeguard stand at the Waimea Resort, watching the rich guests take their children swimming.

At that moment, the bar phone rang and Frankie picked it up, grateful for the interruption.

"Hey," MJ said with a smile as she sat down at the bar near Gabriel. "What's up?"

Gabriel smiled weakly, "Just me, complaining, as usual."

MJ laughed, "Of course, like I'd expect anything else. Who's Frankie on the phone with?"

Gabriel shrugged, "Probably some guest ordering a drink from a cell phone instead of getting of their lazy rich ass to come get it."

MJ laughed, even though she knew that Gabriel was really angry. "Just relax okay? You're chance to go pro will come."

"Hey MJ," Frankie smiled as he hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" MJ asked, gesturing towards the phone.

"Oh, it was my niece, well step-niece, she's moving out here. Remember?"

MJ nodded, "Oh yeah, and she's staying with us until she finds somewhere else right?"

Frankie nodded. "She should be here in about an hour."

"See you guys later!" Gabriel announced, leaving them. He really didn't care right now about some little girl that was going to live with Frankie, Jason and MJ.

"Uncle Frankie!"

Gabriel turned around towards the bar to see Frankie's nice and to his extreme surprise, he did not see the tiny little girl with pigtails that he expected. She was close to his age, and she was... Well the most surprising thing was that she was completely white. Frankie had some African blood in him, and that's what Gabriel was expecting of his niece. She was also very pretty. She was short, with shoulder length brown hair. She gave Frankie and hug and then, after introducing her self, gave MJ one too. Deciding it was time for a break, Gabriel came down off the stand.

"I am so amazed at this place!" Frankie's niece was saying as Gabriel neared the bar. "There is so much beauty! It's just like... Well, it definitely puts Nebraska to shame."

MJ laughed, "You're just saying that."

"Am not. It's the most gorgeous place I've ever been in my entire life!"

"Oh," Frankie said as he looked up, seeing Gabriel. "Callie, this is Gabriel, the lifeguard."

Callie pushed her sunglasses onto her head and shook hands with Gabriel, smiling politely, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Gabriel smiled right back.

"Dude," Frankie said after a second, "I don't mean to be on your back, but you better get back up there. Jason is going to come down for his check in soon."

Gabriel groaned, sounding just like a little kid. "Frankie I hate it up there on the stand! I get so freaking bored! I can't even talk to anyone!"

Frankie groaned, "Well I don't know what to tell you... It's your job."

"I'll go on the stand with you," Callie volunteered suddenly. "I was going to spend the rest of the day at the beach anyway. And I have no one to talk to either, once Frankie starts working again."

Gabriel smiled, "Awesome! Thank you so much!"

Callie smiled and hopped off the bar stool, "No problem!" She followed him to the lifeguard stand and climbed up after him, noticing that he had an awfully nice butt.

"So what's your story?" Callie asked as she sat down next to him, pulling her shirt over her head to get a tan in her maroon bikini.

Gabriel asked her, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Callie explained, "You weren't born here right?"

Gabriel nodded, "How'd you know?"

Callie shrugged, "You just don't look like you're from here. Plus, you were being a little uptight."

Gabriel was about to reply angrily when he realized that she was teasing him. He laughed, "Well I was living in Daytona..."

"Home of the Daytona 500." Callie added.

"Yes, "Gabriel nodded, confused, "Are you a NASCAR fan?"

Callie nodded, "Yes, but I didn't mean to interrupt your story, please continue. It's intriguing."

Gabriel realized she was teasing him again and he grinned. "Anyways I was big on surfing... but Daytona wasn't enough for me. So I moved out here to try to go pro..." he trailed off. He didn't want to explain how his dream of going pro was far away at this point.

"And instead of being this famous surfer right away, you're a life guard?" Callie supplied.

Gabriel nodded, "Yeah. 'Cause I needed a job, but now, I hardly have time to sleep let alone start a surfing career."

Callie smiled sympathetically, "God, that sucks."

Gabriel nodded, "You're telling me." Then he looked over at her, "What about you? What's your story?"

Callie enlightened him, "I lived in Nebraska my entire life. Then two years ago, when I was fifteen, I visited Frankie. The second I walked onto this island and the overweight Hawaiian man put a lei around my neck, I fell in love with it."

Gabriel chuckled, "That fast huh?"

Callie nodded, "Well you know how it is. Would you ever leave here?" When Gabriel didn't answer, she added, "I mean, leave her permanently to live somewhere else."

Gabriel shook his head, "No. I love it too."

"Yup," Callie smiled, "So I graduated high school and moved out here."

"What are you going to do?" Gabriel asked, interested if she had a career or college in mind.

"Whatever I want," Callie told him honestly, her blue eyes sparkling. "I didn't plan anything. I have no job lined up, nothing. Only a place to stay, temporarily, and I'll just.. find something."

Gabriel admired that she was so easy-going. "That's amazing." He told her.

Callie just laughed, "Not yet, but it will be."

Gabriel grinned and stretched his arms back over his head. He didn't notice Callie watching him intently.

"God, I never would've seen that one coming," MJ said as she rested by Frankie's bar during a lull in the afternoon.

"What?" Frankie asked.

"That. Callie and Gabriel," MJ explained, pointing at the lifeguard stand. Gabriel and Callie were both laughing and Callie had just hit him flirtatiously.

"If he hurts her in any way..." Frankie started to say.

"He won't. He's a good guy," MJ said, "Besides right now all they're doing is flirting."

"Oh come on," Frankie protested, pushing a dreadlock out of his face, "You know how Gabriel is with relationships. He dates the tourists that come down here for one week. He has all kinds of flings."

MJ nodded, "Yeah, but they can't make him happy."

Frankie laughed, "You're such a girl MJ. As long as Gabriel is getting ass, he's happy. And he better not get it from Callie. She's only 17."

"And she graduated high school?" MJ asked.

"She graduated a year early," Frankie explained, "She's crazy smart. She should be at Harvard or Stanford, not here."

"Maybe she knew she'd be happy here," MJ suggested, standing up to go back to work. She motioned to the lifeguard stand again, "She looks pretty happy right now."

Frankie smiled, "I know. I shouldn't judge, but she's got the potential to be something great."

"Aren't you going to miss all your friends and stuff?" Gabriel was asking her, "I mean didn't you have a boyfriend at home who's going to miss you?"

Callie looked at him seriously, "Do you miss all your friends?"

Gabriel nodded, "Yeah but I have some great new friends here." Then he realized he had just answered his own question. "Oh, same thing for you right?"

"Yeah," Callie agreed, "And no, I had no boyfriend. What about you? Any of the girls on the beach yours?"

Gabriel shook his head, "No."

"Oh come on, I don't believe that!" Callie exclaimed. "You must have women throwing themselves at you at a place like this."

"Just because they throw themselves at me doesn't mean I accept it." Gabriel explained seriously. He looked her right in the eyes, "I used to have a lot of flings with the guests here...But then I realized that they didn't really care and it was so fake and I got sick of it."

"Like Patrick Suaze in Dirty Dancing." Callie added when he finished.

Gabriel laughed, "Sure, I guess."

They stared out at two young men surfing and Gabriel sighed with envy. What he would give to be out there. Callie sighed too, but for a different reason.

"I wish I could surf," she said wistfully.

"You don't know how to surf?" Gabriel asked, in shock.

"No, God, you say it like I have four heads or something." Callie snapped, a little offended.

"Sorry," He apologized, "I just figured ..."

"We don't have the best waves in Nebraska," Callie told him with a small smile.

"Well I'll teach you to surf," Gabriel offered, "you shouldn't live in Hawaii without knowing how to surf."

Callie shook his hand, "Deal."

Gabriel thought about what he had just offered and then added, "I mean, it might be hard because of all the work and how I spend like every hour of my life working on my surfing..." he kept mumbling until Callie interrupted him.

"I have an idea!" She said, here blue eyes lighting up with excitement, "Why don't we see if Jason or Vincent will hire me as a second lifeguard!"

Gabriel didn't seem as exited, "Callie, this job really sucks and you have to be certified..."

"I am certified, and I don't care if it sucks. Do you think they'll hire me?"

Gabriel now nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah they definitely will! I've been complaining for weeks, they'll love it!"

"And then," Callie exclaimed, "You can work on your surfing career and then teach me a little bit."

"This is perfect!" Gabriel practically screamed with eagerness. He pulled her into a spontaneous hug, "You saved my life."

Callie grinned widely as she inhaled deeply. She smelled a mix of soap, ocean water, cologne and sunscreen. Gabriel smelled good. She was sad when the hug ended.

Don't do this again. He mind kicked in. Just don't. You are here for life, not guys. Then another part of her interrupted, Guys are a part of life. Just get over it.