Sorry for the long wait! The Holidays were super busy for me!

Enjoy this chapter!I don't own any of the characters - all credit to Kiera Cass!

I looked around my bare apartment one night after practice. A plain, tan, worn, used sofa sat in the living room with my small TV sitting on a small night stand against the wall. The kitchen looked nice, dark brown wood with black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, all of which came with the apartment. My bedroom was simply a mattress thrown on the ground and a few mangled hangers in the small closet. Even though the decorations and furniture were fitting for a twenty-two year old just now on her own, the apartment itself was gorgeous. Wall length windows covered most of the walls that faced the city in the living room and similar windows with a view of the stadium, if you press your face to them and look out, were in the bedroom. The walls were all tall and the floors were a beautiful dark wood. The whole apartment was fantastic—more than I could have hoped for as my first one.

I plop myself down on my couch and turn on my TV, flipping through the channels quickly. After passing through and couple I see Maxon's face flash on the small screen and I flip the channel back until I finally find the channel he was on. They were interviewing him about the team and his prospects for the coming season. I just watch him as he easily answers the questions, the way he talks sounds nothing like you would expect from a football player. He seemed very well educated and spoken, unlike some players I've seen be interviewed who have to place "um" or "uh" between every other word and still can't form a coherent sentence.

His interview was fairly short, as they had a bunch of other teams they interviewed, but it was great. Just like the rest of the team and cheerleaders, we all have high hopes of getting to the biggest game of the year next February. The Seahawks were close last year, but still didn't quite get there—meaning there is lots of hope and determination this year. I look at the time in the corner of the screen. Its only 11am. We have the day off, which makes me happy because even though I have cheered for most of my life, I am still sore after this past week.

Before I realized that I even went to sleep on the couch, I heard a knock at the door. Who in the world would be coming to see me? I check my phone to see if anyone texted me, like Marlee, that they were coming over. Nope. I groan and get up off the sofa, stretching to wake myself up, and walk over to the door. I open it up and see Maxon standing there in casual clothes instead of his athletic team attire. It was strange to see him as more than just an athlete. He looked like a regular person you would see walking around anywhere.

"Hey…" he pauses, questioning my name. "America," I tell him. "Cool name. I was just wondering if you wanted to come up to my place with some of the other Seahawk team mates who live here too? I would have just texted you, but I didn't have your number…" He says, trailing off as though he was uncertain about something near the end.

I think about it a little. There might be alcohol involved, which I wouldn't like, but it would also be a great way to meet some people. I shrug and tell him that I will come up, I just need to change. He nods and edges his way into my apartment. I give him a questioning look and he just says "I'll wait for you." I close the door and turn around, rolling my eyes. He is such a player. As I take a few steps I hear laugh behind me while saying, "I saw that!" I feel my face turn bright red as I go into the bedroom and shut the door. What is up with him?

I pull out some dark skinny jeans and a plain dark green t-shirt and change out of my comfy shorts and old cheer shirt. I quickly apply some foundation and mascara, not wanting to look terrible when I meet people I will probably be spending a good amount of time with. I run a brush through my long hair and walk back into the living room, seeing Maxon sitting on the couch staring intently at the TV. I cough to get his attention.

"Oh, sorry. Don't you love this show? It's so great." He says, standing up. I glance at the screen and see that the new hit show "The Diaries of Gregory" on. I just nod, I haven't actually seen and episode, I've only heard about it.

I follow Maxon to the elevator and we press the button, both silent as we wait. Finally the elevator reaches my floor and we ride up to the top floor. I follow him into his apartment and look around in awe. Floor to ceiling windows are basically the walls, and everything looks so put together and fancy. I guess this is what it is like when you make millions of dollars.

After taking it all in, I realize no one else is there. I know there are more people who live in this building who are with the team, so I turn and ask Maxon where everyone is.

"Oh, I didn't tell them to come until 5 tonight." He says blankly, pouring some water into two glasses. I narrow my eyes at him. Why didn't he tell me? I don't want to be in his apartment alone with him! He is a jerk! "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?" I ask forcefully, not wanting to flat out yell. He turns around with the glasses of water in his hands and smirks at me. "I just wanted to get to know the newest member of our building," he says. I don't believe him. I roll my eyes and snatch a glass of water from his hand.

"Why are you always rolling your eyes at me?" He asks as I take a sip out of the glass. I resist the urge to roll my eyes at him again and just simply refuse to answer him. We sit there quietly for a couple of minutes, him just staring at me, and me just staring at the clock and counting the minutes until 5. I still have 2 hours to go.

After sitting in silence for a few more minutes, Maxon began to talk. "So, America, tell me about yourself." I just stare at him. What would he want to know about little me?

I run through random information in my head, denying most of it. I was just in a serious relationship—nope. He broke it off suddenly—nope. I only moved to Seattle to get away—nope. My family was very poor—nope. My oldest brother deserted my family—nope. I finally decided to simply tell him I could play the violin, though I rarely was able to practice anymore and couldn't bring it with me.

He was way more excited about that bit of information than he should have been. Before he could ask more, I shot the question back at him because I don't want him knowing everything about me—he has no reason to even want to know me. He paused for a second to think before just telling me how long he had been playing football. So boring.

Finally a few other people arrived. There were less people here than I was expecting, no more than 10-15. And they were all football players. Except me. I was the only girl at the party and it was so intensely awkward.

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~~ibelieveinprincesses