Hey, sorry it's been forever. But here's the next chapter. :) I have like 45 pages of things to come written so when those parts come the chapters should get out faster... hopefully. Well I hope you like it!

As heavily as the snow had come, it disappeared by morning. It was still cold but are game was rescheduled for tonight and as long as it didn't snow again, we were playing. With my newfound information from Sel I was very anxious for lunch to start. I didn't know if Nick actually liked me. And if he did, was he going to make a move on me? Is he gonna ask me out? If Nick asked me out I'd have to say no. He's cute, funny, smart, not douche-y (so far at least), and everything I want in a guy; but I can't break my rule. I took my time after Chem and lollygagged my way down to the lunchroom.

"Well someone took their sweet ass time getting down here," Nick griped when I finally showed up at the table.

I slid into the chair next to him. "I am so sorry Nicholas."

"You better be. You know how much of an asshole I look like sitting here alone?"

"A big one?" I guessed.

"That is correct." He took a bite of his apple.

The rest of much went surprisingly normal. I was so stupid to think that Nick was actually going to ask me out. He probably doesn't even like me like that. Selly was lying, she just wanted to stir things up. Nick would never like someone like me. He needs a girl that plays guitar with him or something, not some soccer player. We're strictly friends; it wouldn't be possible for us to be together, it just wouldn't be right. I spent the remainder of my afternoon psyching myself out, repeating over and over that even if I didn't have my rule we're just not compatible people, no matter how cute he is. After developing a few extra prints I left my seventh hour photography, only to find Nick waiting for me at my soccer locker.

"Miley," he called out as soon as I was in speaking distance. "What did Selena tell you yesterday?" He looked flustered, his curls all mussed up in front like he had run his hand through them. Or a girl ran her fingers through them, the girl he really likes. And he thinks I like him because of Sel.

I stopped a foot away. "Selena said a lot of things. You know her, always talking." I avoided making eye contact. He probably thinks I'm an idiot.

"Did she say anything about you and me?" he pressed.

"No," I lied, starting to spin my combination.

"Oh, okay. Nevermind." With disappointment evident in his voice and demeanor, he started to walk away.

"Wait, what did you think she said?" I asked curiously.

He came back. "Miley, I like you."

Here it goes, the whole speech about us just being great friends. I looked up at him. "I like you too Nick, we're friends," I said, trying to play it cool.

He sighed, looking down at his green converse and messing with his hands. "No Miley, I like you. Selena told me she told you."

"Oh, yeah. She did." He did like me, all that confidence bashing I did was all a waste. He actually liked me. He likes me. Shit.

"So," he continued. "Um, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out Friday night."

I bit down on my lip. He looked like a puppy when he was shy & nervous. "You mean like a date?"

He gazed at me hopefully. "If you want it to be."

My locker door finally swung open and I peered at my soccer gear inside. All the junk painfully reminded me on what I had to do next. "Nick…" I grabbed his wrist and pulled him around the corner to a more secluded spot, sinking down the wall and sitting on the floor. "I want to say yes, but I can't."

He dropped down next to me. "You can just say no Miley. It won't hurt my feelings. I was just asking."

"I don't want to though." I paused. "But I have this rule." Staring at my hands, I began picking at my nails. "I don't date during soccer season."

He twisted towards me and I felt his dark eyes piercing the side of my head. "Why?"

Sticking to my no eye contact tactic I didn't move, debating on what to tell him and settled on the truth. "Soccer is important to me, like really important. I love playing and it's my ticket into college. I've been playing forever and when I made varsity my freshmen year, I got so into it. I got second team all conference that year and even got a few calls from colleges. Sophomore year, things were a little different. I started going out with this one guy."

"Who's the guy?" Nick cut in.

"Liam, but that's not important."

"Isn't he the guy in your Chemistry class? Senior? Kinda got a big head?"

"Yes, but it's not important," I repeated. "Anyways, I thought I loved him and for the first time in my life, soccer wasn't my 24-7. I started skipping practice to hang out with him, I lost my starting position, and the college calls stopped coming. He broke up with me halfway through the season and I threw everything I had left back into soccer. I promised myself I wouldn't date during soccer season again. Boys are too much of a distraction and I need to be focused, especially now. The team is actually good this year and if I want to be recognized again I have to stay concentrated."

"Okay." He stood up, offering a hand and helping me up as well. "Do you want to pretend I never even asked you and keep being friends?"

"Is that okay?"

"Yeah. Look Milez, I understand your rule, it makes sense. But I don't want to ruin the friendship thing we had going so let's just forget about the 'me asking you out' thing."

I smiled and gave him a one armed hug. "Thanks Nick."

We began walking back to my locker when he stopped. "Wait, what about after the soccer season?"

My smile grew bigger. "We'll have to see." And by that I mean I hope to God he'll still like me then because I'll definitely say yes. As we walked, we kept at a safe distance; close enough to look like we didn't hate each other and far enough away to avoid any awkward brushing of our hands. I quickened my pace when I saw who at the lockers. "Demi, you're here!"

She gave a weak smile. "Yeah, my mom dropped me off at noon." Her voice was tired and there were dark circles under her eyes, but it's our first game and I wouldn't want to miss it either. She took a deep breath. "I'm not sure if I can actually play though."

Selena wrapped her arms around her sister. "My poor twin…"

Nick's voice came from behind me. "You guys are twins?"

We all turned to Nick, looking at him like he was a dumb ass. Selena let out a low, sarcastic chuckle. "Nick, you crack me up."

"Wait, so you are twins?" He furrowed his brow, confused.

"Yeah, they're just fraternal," I clarified.

"Oh, well that makes sense," Nick realized. "I'm gonna head out, but I'll be at the game tonight. Good luck."

"Is Joe coming?" Tay questioned quickly.

"I think so." He tossed his curls. It was something that would look cocky on most guys but so natural and adorable on him. "I'll see you later."

Selena soon followed, she had no reason to stay, it wasn't her first game. I slid next to Demi and Tay. "So, Nick asked me out."

"I knew he liked you!" Tay squealed.

"Damn," Demi gasped.

I brought my knees up to my chest. "I said no, you guys know my rule." I sighed. "I really do like him though."

"He'll wait for you," Demi yawned. "He seems like the type of guy who would."

I straightened my legs out. "Hopefully. What about you and Joe, Tay?" I changed the subject, not wanting to talk about me and Nick anymore.

"We may or may not have kissed yesterday," she informed us, trying to contain her excitement, which for Tay is quite a task.

"You kissed who now?" Scott questioned, bursting out of the training room. Scott's the athletic trainer and one of Zac's friends from high school. He's gay and always interested in out relationships. Scott always gives the best guy advice.

"You know Scotty, it's not nice to butt into other people's conversations," Tay giggled. "But its Joe Joanas," she admitted, blushing.

"I would love to hear details but I have to go around making sure we have no last minute injuries. Tay, how are the knees?"

"Still holding me up," she answered, giving a thumbs up.

"Milez, your pinkie?"

"I don't understand how my half broken pinkie is relevant to soccer. Oh, I like your boots."

He looked down at them, beaming. "Thanks, they're new. Marc Jacobs… they-." He stopped himself before he got too carried away. "Demi, Zac told me you've been feeling a bit barfy."

Demi stared up at him, her pale face and prominent under eye bags making her look demonic. "Barfy? What kind of word is that?"

Scott put his arms up defensively. "Apparently a word you don't like me using I guess."

"It is a bit of an odd word Scotty," I teased, kicking at his boots.

He moved away, protecting his precious footwear. "Whatever, but seriously Demz, they want to know if you can play or not."

"I don't know," she whined. "Just tell them I'll play if I'm not feeling barfy when the game starts."

"Alrighty." Scott clicked away to get an injury update from everyone else.

It was about a half hour bus ride to Hamilton North. It was still cold, around 40 degrees and sunny. It would be nicer if it were twenty degrees warmer. When we finally got there, JV sprinted off to their game. Clad in our team parkas, winter hats, mittens, and in Scott's case, a tye-dyed snuggie, we made our way to the bleachers. Hamilton has a ton of land. The tennis courts, football field, baseball field, track, and soccer field are all behind the school. Jeneva's basically one of the most urbanized parts of the state. We only have enough room for a practice field by our school. We have a park a few blocks away that we use for most sports. The soccer field is behind one of the middle schools and down the street from Jeneva West, our rivals and unfortunately, our field sharing buddies. After freezing our asses though sixty minutes of the JV game, Zac took us to a small open area to warm up.

We started with a few runs and dynamic stretching before partnering up to do Brazilians.

Brazilians are just a drill where you have a partner and you pas back & forth. Then you go on the move, passing back and forth. You do that, then the same thing with volleys, thigh trap to volley, chest trap to volley, & headers. I don't know why they're called Brazilians but that's what my coach calls them.

Getting into my soccer mode, I stopped joking around like I had before. Keeping my eyes on the ball, I made sure that every kick and volley went right to Tay. I saw a curly head walk into the field area and make their way up the bleachers. The ball Tay threw hit my chest and when it dropped, I volley slash rocketed it over her head.

"Nice kick Milez," Demi snorted from her sprawled position by our bags. She didn't feel good enough to play yet. "A little distracted?" she asked, following my gaze to Nick.

"Shhhh," I shushed her, putting a finger to my lips. Laughing, Demi pretended to lock her lips and throw away the key.

"Hey whore." I spun to find Tay a couple feet from me with the retrieved ball. "You care to explain why you decided to kick the ball all the way across the field?"

"I suck," I tried.

When the buzzer went off, signaling the end of the JV game, we trudged our way back to resume our warm ups on the actual field. Concentrating on soccer again, I tried working on impressing Nick instead of making myself looking like an idiot. We did keep away and did an offensive-defensive 3 vs. 2 before going into four corners. Each line at the goal post alternated in passing it to the diagonal line on top of the box so the receiver could shoot. I peeked quickly towards the side at Nick before trapping the ball that was passed to me. Once I was sure he was watching I took a rip at the ball, sending it into the upper nineties. Secretly proud of myself, I went into the next line.

With five minutes left on the clock, we made our way back to the bench for water as the captains and Kevin were beckoned to the refs. I took off the sweatshirt I still had on, the wind immediately causing goose bumps to break out on my skin. Zac had us line up on the sideline and made us sprint back and forth to get our blood moving. Kevin then brought us all into a huddle.

"Alright girls, this is it, our first game," he began. "Your captains won the coin toss so we have the wind in the first half." Tay smiled and high-fived Blake, Amanda, and Mandy, her fellow captains. She always gets super excited when she wins the coin toss. "Starters, we'll have Mandy in the goal, Blake sweeping, Maya, let's try you at stopper." Maya's eyes widened in delight, she's the only froshie on the team and now she's starting. I gave her a quick high five before Kevin continued. "Taylor M. and Alyson, I want you as the outside defenders, you can pick your sides. In the center, Tiffany, defensive mid and…" he stopped. "Demi how's the stomach?" Demi did the 'so-so' sign with her hand causing Kevin to refer back down to his clipboard. "Nicole, let's put you up at attacking mid," he decided. "Meaghan and Miley, outside mids…" Tay smacked my butt as Kevin called my name. I returned the favor when he finished up with, "And Taylor S. and Amanda, forwards."

Zac stepped in with his inspirational speech skills. "You girls have to start this game strong. You've all been working really hard & I don't want to see you get pushed around. Hamilton already got their first game in so they're back in the swing of things. Show them that this isn't last year and you guys want to win. They're only a mediocre team, Kevin and I saw their first game. They've got a few speedy girls on the outsides but their star keeper is suspended for drinking. Take advantage of that and shoot. You girls can do, you just have to get out there and show it."

Kevin finished it up. "When you're out there I want all of you putting 110% into it. The starting spots are not final. I'm still trying to figure out where to put you all and this is the place to show it. It's a non-conference game, but it still counts. Let's go."

Blake put her hand in the middle and we all copied her actions. "Raiders on three, one, two, three…"

"RAIDERS!"

All us started spilled out on our side of the field and gathered into a huddle again. Putting one foot each into the center of the circle we all put our arms around each other for support. "Let's do this, score right away, knock a bitch down, and let's win this thing!" Tay S. enthused.

Mandy began to bounce on one leg and the rest of us followed, beginning our little pre-game ritual.

We all started to yell, "AHHHHH!"

Amanda counted to three silently with her fingers. Once she hit three, we broke apart shouting, "Raiders!"

We dispersed and ran to our respective places on the field. I made my way over to the left side near the mid-line. I felt the adrenaline run through as Hamilton spilled out. The ref's starting whistle pierced the air and the game began.

Had to leave it there... I'm about to leave for camping for 4 days... Niley.. hah.. not really though. And the first game. Any soccer things you think I should add or anything, please tell me. And REVIEW! Reviews make me happy. Hmm.. 10 for the next would be fab.

xoxo

Shmadders