At times like this, Miley Stewart truly hated her job. Every adult out in the work force has their fair share of days when they feel like quitting, but she was sure no one shared the extreme hatred she had for her job.

Miley was a journalist for the Happy Life Magazine. The magazine was just as cheesy and corny as the title led one to believe it would be; it was all about the wonderful things in life. Ironically enough, the magazine was perhaps the cause of most of the frustration and unhappiness Miley had in her life.

She had majored in English in college because she wanted to be able to share her writings with the world. This, however, was not at all what Miley Stewart had in mind. At Happy Life Magazine, Miley was forced to write exactly what the editor wanted. There was zero room for creativity. Never was she allowed to share her own personal opinion.

Now, she sat at her desk trying to finish an article about how the color of your nails could affect your life. It was possibly one of the dumbest articles Miley had ever heard of and could not come up with enough words to meet the minimum for the life of her. She had been working on it for the past hour and had made very little progress. After all, how much was there really to write on the connection on the color of your nails and your life?

Miley just wanted to let out all her emotions and scream at the top of her lungs. She couldn't do that, though. She needed the money to pay her rent and buy her groceries. Miley groaned as she tilted back in her cheap swivel chair. All she wanted was to go home and relax.

A knock came at the door of her office.

"Come in," Miley called, trying her best to at least attempt to sound happy.

"Hey, Miles!" Lily said, happiness in her voice. If there was one thing that stood out about Lily Truscott, it was the fact she was almost always happy. It was a very rare occasion to see her anything but bubbly and energetic.

"Hey Lily," Miley responded, forcing a smile. The only good thing that came out of working at the Happy Life Magazine was that she got to work along side her very best friend. Her best friend who happened to hate the job almost as much as she did. Almost.

"Sooo.. I'm thinking we go out tonight! We have got to find you a man!" Lily announced.

"Not tonight, Lil. I'm not really in the mood at all. Today has just been really sucky."

"Come on, Miles! It's been so long since you've had a man in your life! I'll find you someone good," Lily said confidently.

"I don't know, Lily. It's been a rough day.." Miley responded. She ran her hands through her dark, wavy hair.

Lily crossed her arms across her chest and gave Miley a pointed look.

"Exactly why a night out will do you some good!"

"Alright, I'll go, but we're not staying out too late," Miley said, seriously. As much as she didn't want to go out, she agreed because she knew how much it meant to Lily for her to go.

"Yay yay yay yay!" Lily squeeled and giggled like a giddy sixteen year old about to go out on her first date.

Miley couldn't help but chuckle at her best friend. Lily could always manage to make Miley happy and that was one thing Miley truly cherished about their friendship.

"Ok, I really have to get back to work because my deadline is this afternoon," Miley said, turning back to her task at hand. She moved the mouse on the mouse pad to bring her computer out of sleep mode.

"Yeah, me too. I'm writing an article on how to make your garden truly dazzle to life. I have no clue what to write. I'll see you later, though," Lily said, overly happy. She practically skipped out of the office.

A few moments later, there was another knock at the door.

"Come on in!" Miley called from her computer. She glanced up when she saw it was Justin, her boss's secretary.

There was no denying Justin was attractive. He had blonde hair that ended just above his ears and had piercing blue eyes. He was at least 6 feet, and height was something that always caught Miley's attention. However, Justin had the world's most bland personality so Miley never felt any feelings towards him.

"Hello, Ms. Stewart. Helga would like to see you in her office," Justin said extremely formally. His hands were folded across his lap and he was standing up perfectly perpendicular to the ground, something he always did.

"Thank you, Justin," Miley responded. She stood up and followed Justin down the narrow hallway toward her boss's office.

The workplace was not a happy place at all, despite the name of the magazine. The walls were painted a dull gray. On the floor was a rusty colored carpet. The carpet had many stains on it from spills and Miley guessed it was older than she was.

However, Helga's office was quite the opposite. The walls were a pale yellow and it was covered with hard wood floors that were varnished nicely. A furry, brown shag rug was present in the middle of the room under Helga's desk. Helga also had the only window in the entire office that overlooked LA. Some might argue it was one of the nicest views in the entirety of the city.

If there was anyone who's name perfectly matched their personality, it was Helga. She had long, brownish grey hair that she always wore in a tight braid down the middle of her back. She was middle aged and had more than a few extra pounds on her. Helga always dressed in browns and grays, never wearing any colors.

"Sit," Helga ordered and pointed to the chair on the opposite side of her desk.

Miley obediently sat down in the chair and folded her hands neatly in her lap. She had no idea what this was about.

"I need you to go cover the Malibu High School football game tonight. All of our sports writers are sick. The team was 0-10 last year and this year they're 6-0. Make it into an article about how determination and hard work actually pay off. About how those values are needed for anyone to live a "happy" life. I also want you to interview the coach and see what he has to say. Ask him about what values he thinks drove his team this year," Helga demanded in a tone that Miley knew better than to say no to.

"I'm on it," Miley said, trying to remain composed on the outside. On the inside, she was screaming about how unfair it was Helga was making her go report on a Friday night. She didn't dare say that aloud, though.

On the other hand, this would be a good excuse to not go boy 'shopping' tonight.

"Good. You're dismissed now. Oh, and I want the story done by Monday."

"Sure thing," Miley, replied, forcing a smile even though she was completely pissed.

Nick paced back and forth along the sidelines of the field. There was only one minute and forty-four seconds left in the game. His team was down by 14 and he sincerely doubted they would come back. His team, the Sea Lions, were playing terribly. Their opponents, the Spartans, hadn't won a game all season and yet somehow they were beating his team.

Nick was livid. His players had gone into the came cocky and now were going to lose. The minute they were back in the locker room after the game, he knew he was going to let them have it. They were very likely throwing away their chance at making the play-offs.

Nick ran his fingers through his curly hair as he tried to focus on the game. His quarterback threw the ball to his wide receiver who didn't even appear to be open and the Spartans running back intercepted it. The running back ran and was only tackled about ten yards out from the their end zone.

Nick shook his head in disgust. He couldn't believe how terrible his players were playing.

In the last minute of the game, the Warriors scored again. The final score was 7-28 and Nick was not a happy camper at all.

The final score was announced and the fans in the stands began to file out of the arena.

Out of nowhere, a petite woman walked up to Nick smiling. She had dark wavy hair that fell just below her chest.

Miley took in the sight of Nick and was immediately intimidated. He had a rather large stature. Miley guessed he was about 6'0" and had muscles that were clearly defined.

"Hi, I'm Miley Stewart, a reporter from the Happy Life Magazine. I was just wondering if you might want to answer a few question about tonight's game," she asked in a very friendly tone.

Nick glanced down at her feet.

"What the hell kind of shoes do you think you're wearing on MY field? This is a football field, not a runway!" Nick said angrily.

Miley's eyes widened at his reaction. She took a half step back.

"Sorry, I just-"

"Just what?! You think it's ok to puncture holes in the grass? Do you know how much work goes into keeping this grass in pristine condition?" Nick's face turned a dark shade of red. He was letting all of his anger at the team out on this woman but at that moment, he didn't care less.

"I really am sorry. Here, let me take them off-" Miley said, not quite sure what she had done to rub this man the wrong way. She squatted down to pull her heels off.

"Don't bother! Just leave! I don't have time for any of your stupid questions which I'm sure are exactly the same as those from every other reporter! And even if I answered them, you'd just twist my words around and make me out to be some type of asshole. I know exactly what type of people you journalists are like!" Nick practically screamed in her face. People around began to stare at the twosome.

Miley stood up straight and looked at him, a bit of fear evident in her eyes. Now, though, her eyes were mostly showing anger. How dare he insult her when all she was trying to do was ask a few questions!

"I'm really sorry to bother you," Miley said, quietly and politely. As a journalist, Miley had been trained to never yell back at an interviewee. Miley clamped her mouth shut so she didn't yell a few choice words at the coach and then turned around and walked off the field, making sure to dig her heels into the grass even more just to push his buttons.

Miley reached the fence and walked out of the stadium. Almost immediately, her phone began ringing. She looked down at the Caller ID and saw Lily's name. Miley pressed the 'answer' button.

"Hey Lils," Miley said, not as perkily as she normally would.

"Sooo.. How'd it go?"

"The coach was a total asshole!" Miley said angrily as she replayed the conversation in her head.

"What happened?" Lily asked, curiously.

Miley reached her car and unlocked the door. She sat in the driver's seat but didn't put the key in the ignition.

"Well, first, he starts going off on me for wearing heels on his football field. So, I offered to take the damn shoes off and he started screaming about how annoying journalists were!" Miley said, annoyance clear in her tone.

"You should've punched him square in the nose!"

Miley chuckled a bit at her comment. Possibly her favorite quality of Lily's was the way she could make her laugh no matter what mood she was in.

"I was actually more scared he was going to punch ME in the face at the moment! I didn't get angry until after when I realized how ridiculous the entire situation was!" Miley exclaimed and Lily giggled.

"Ok, well, you definitely need some cheering up! So, I say instead of going out to find you a guy, we have a girls' night in!"

"Sounds perfect!" Miley replied, pushing the key into the ignition. The engine roared to life. Miley was ecstatic not to have to go out and look for a boyfriend tonight. She was a firm believer that the right guy would come into her life when she was ready and that there was no point in trying to rush the process.

"Ok, I'll see you when you get back to the apartment!"

"See you soon, Lils!" Miley said and hit end on her phone before backing out of the parking spot.

Nick lay in bed later that night just staring up at the ceiling. For some reason, the face of the journalist he had screamed at earlier kept rushing back to him. All he could see was her big, green eyes filled with fear. Guilt washed over his body when he remembered it was he who caused her to be afraid.

He usually wasn't like that. Nick's parents had raised him to be much more of a gentleman. In fact, Nick's friends were always telling him he cared too much about other people.

The reporter had just approached him when he wasn't in a very good mood. What was her name? Maggie? Millie? No.. Miley.

Nick had never heard the name before.

"Miley," He tested the foreign name out in his mouth and liked the sound of it. It was pretty yet it wasn't one of those overused names either.

Guilt again rushed through his veins as he thought about how nice of a person she probably was. She had seemed so friendly and innocent and Nick had responded by screaming in her face. Nick had caused her to be afraid. Of him. And now, she would probably get in trouble with her boss too, for not getting that interview. These thoughts only made him feel worse.

He tried falling asleep, but every time he shut his eyes, Miley's image popped into his head: her wavy brown hair, her green eyes, her toothy grin, her cute, little nose.

Nick groaned in frustration knowing he wouldn't be getting to sleep anytime soon. As if to confirm his thoughts, his iPhone buzzed beside him.

"Hello?" Nick asked into the speaker.

"Hi, Nicholas," His mother's voice said into the phone. He cringed at the name 'Nicholas.' Nick always hated it when people called him by his real name.

"What's up Mom?"

"Your father and I were at the game. I can't believe you guys lost!"

"Me neither," Nick said, the anger he had felt earlier growing back.

"Well, I'm sure it'll be an eye-opener for your players. I'm sure they'll do their best next game," His mother mused.

Nick hated discussing football with his mother, the reason being she didn't understand the rules of it. He especially hated discussing it after a loss because it just reminded him about the poor playing of his players.

"I sure hope so. Practice will not be fun for them in the morning!" Nick said, seriously. Tomorrow's practice would be pure conditioning.

"Now, don't be too hard on them!"

Nick respected him mother, he really did. But she just didn't understand the concept of football. This wasn't little league baseball. It was a high school male sport and it wasn't supposed to be taken lightly. When these boys signed up for football, they knew it would not be easy work.

"I won't, Ma," Nick said with a sigh.

"Good.. So have you got plans for tomorrow night?" His mother asked curiously.

"Not yet. I'll probably hang out with the guys or something.."

"Nick, when are you gonna get a girlfriend?" His mother asked impatiently.

"Mom, I will. Just give it some time." Nick said. He was growing annoyed with his mother's constant badgering.

"When, Nicholas? All you seem to be concerned about is your football. It's like you're married to the sport. You need to get out there and find yourself a nice, young lady. Someone you can settle down and start a family with."

"I am not married to football…totally. I will find a girlfriend eventually, Mom. Now's just not a good time. I have too much going on."

Nick was being truthful. He was busy enough with his job as a physical therapist and coaching. How was he supposed to make time for a girlfriend?

"I hope so, Nick. I really do. I'm sorry if I'm getting you annoyed by continuing to ask you. I just want to see you happy. That's all I want, you know that," His mother said truthfully.

"It's ok," Nick said and he meant it. He knew his mother wanted the best for him.

"Alright, well, I'll let you go! I know you have to wake up early tomorrow for practice!"

"Yeah, goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, Nicholas."

Nick hit 'end' on his phone. He just wanted to go to bed.

However, to his dismay, the journalist was still on his mind.

"Ughhh, I'm never gonna get to sleep!" Nick said, clearly frustrated and annoyed.

Nick wasn't sure why he couldn't get the journalist off his mind but he knew he needed to do something about. He lay there for a while trying to remember what newspaper or magazine she was from. He knew it had some dumb title.

"Shining bright? No.. Good days? No.." Nick muttered to himself trying to remember where the journalist was from. All he could do was picture her bright green eyes show hurt and fear while he was yelling at her.

Nick knew what he had done was wrong and he was determined to fix it.

A/N

Hey guys, Lucy here!

I deleted my other story because it didn't seem to be going anywhere. But this story is all planned out so I WILL finish it. Promise.

The next chapter is written and will probably be out in the next week or so. Maybe sooner if I get lots of reviews!

I hope you guys like this chapter (: Please read and review!