CHAPTER 1

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome! We all know why we're here tonight and it's my absolute pleasure to stand right here on this stage to give this award to the best architect of the year. The Pritzker Architecture Prize is the most important recognition for an architect and the person I'm about to call to join me here, on stage, has done amazing things in her carreer. I'm proud to be the one that's going to give it to this great artist.

Without farther ado, I'd like to call Beca Mitchell here on stage with me".

Everyone in the room started to clap their hands and turned to look at her, she rose from her sitting position and looked down to the person on her left side, smiled at her and bent down to give her a quick peck on the lips and then started to make her way towards the stage. Once there, she hugged the host and thanked him, her surprised expression never leaving her face; Sure she got a letter a week ago from the architect association letting her know she had won but still, it was amazing to stand in front of so many great architects and most of her family to get such an important award.

"Thank you all! This is amazing, really!" she looked at the medal in her hands. "when I got the letter last week I couldn't belive it, it has always been my dream to stand here in front of all of you. I'd like to thank all the people that have worked with me throughout all this years, my family and friends that have supported me since I was a kid but most of all.. I want to thank the person that had bear with me and my craziness and never left my side even when I asked her to". She took a deep breath and looked to where she was sitting before. "Thank you to my amazing girlf..."

DRIN! DRIIIN! DRIIIN!

Her eyes snapped open, she looked around and found herself in her dorm room. She turned on her right side and absently tried to reach for her phone on the desk to turn the alarm off. Once she got a hold of it she was surprised to see the time. It wasn't her alarm.

"Chlo! Why you keep setting your alarm at this fucking early hour?! It's too early!"

"You know I like to go for a run before classes" was the answer she got from the redheaded girl on the other side of the room.

Beca got up from her bed and went to seat on her desk chair. "Yes, of course I know, that doesn't mean I want to wake up at this time, besides.. you don't even have classes on Thursday" she sighed trying to get more comfortable on the chair.

"You could alwas stay in bed and wait for your alarm, you know that right?" she said laughing at the brunette slumped on the chair. "Anyway, I want to be ready for our training session Bec. We have an important game this weekend. Don't tell me you forgot about it!" Chloe said while getting dressed for her morning workout.

Luckily for her Chloe was facing her back and missed her I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THE GAME face. "No, I didn't forget about it Chlo.. how could I?"

"Better for you" said Chloe laughing. Yep, she totally forgot about it, she thought to herslef.

She started to go on and on about how pissed their coach was the last time Beca forgot about a game but Beca's focus was now directed to her laptop screen, her last architecture class project. It was almost done but it still missed something to be perfect.

She loved basketball since she could remember but becoming an architect was her life long dream.

"Bec?" Chloe got closer to her friend and found out she was staring at the screen in front of her, so she did what she always does when it happened.. went behind her chair and wrapped her arms around the girl's neck and started to kiss her all over her face.

Beca's attention was now on the redhead, her arms moving erratically trying to stop Chloe's actions. "C'mon Chlo! Stop it! It's too early for this! It's too early for everything! How can you be so full of energy all the time? You just got up!" Beca complained but it didn't stop the girl's action untill Beca got up trying to cover her crotch.

"Awww.. little B is awake too" Chloe said mocking her. She watched Beca pacing the room muttering and started to laugh harder. They have been friends since they were kids, it wasn't an unusual situation for them. Beca got a lot better at controlling it through the years tho.

Beca stopped her motions when she heard laughs coming from the other girl, turned around with a scowl on her face but it didn't take her long to join her in her laughing fit.

"Sorry Becs, you know I can't resist."

"You're lucky you're my best friend Beale". She stopped laughing and took a deep breath. "I think I'll join you in your run today" she said walking to her closet, she put on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and her running shoes, got her phone and keys as Chloe did and followed her friend out.

They run for 30 minutes and after finishing their session Beca went back to their room to get their bags. Once she got back she found some of her team mates and friends waiting for her along with Chloe.

"Look who finally showed up!" Stacie said. She was one of the tallest girls in their team, her legs could go on for days and as a plus she was smart and gorgeous.

"Hello to you too Stace. I'm good, thank you. How are you?" she said, sarcasm in her voice.

"Oh don't be like that pint size!" Amy told her, she was from Australia, her parents moved to the States a few years ago. She was also part of the team, her best feature? She scared all their opponents thanks to her size.. let's just say that she called herself "Fat Amy" and that's saying it all.

"C'mon Amy, I got Beca frustrated enough already, if you know what I mean" Chloe said winking in their general direction.

They knew about Beca's condition, she stopped hiding it from people since her very early years in school. It wasn't easy for her, being born different always gave her problems and not jus in school.

Her parents fought a lot because of that, her mother didn't want a joke for a child so one day, when Beca was eight, she just left them without even writing a message to explain why she decided to leave, they both knew the reason but never talked about it. It was hard for them at first, her father always working and she had to be alone at home a lot. School wasn't easy either. She was bullied because of it, high school was the hardest years of all her school life but she was glad she always had someone to go to when she was sad or for anything actually. Chloe was her home for so long that she didn't want to think about how her life could have been without her.

Hey now, not my fault if.."

"We should get going girls. Coach Gail doesn't like it when we're late" Aubrey, a blonde girl and captain of their team cut her off.

"She's right guys! You know I don't like it but I have to agree with her on this" okay, she had a crush on the girl but they didn't get along really well.

They all laughed, except Aubrey of course, and started to make their way towards the gym.

Training was hard but it was normal especially since they were one day away from the game. They went to shower and met again outside the gym. Beca being the last one to join them.

"Finally Bec! You're so slow!" CR, a black girl with short pink hair said. She was also part of the team and one of their best defenders in Beca's opinion. "We're going to get something to eat, you coming?" she asked.

"No guys, I'm tired and still have to finish a project. Thank you tho". She replied yawning.

"Again Bec? Are you sure you're going home to finish the ptoject and not somewhere to have fun with a chick?" Stacie asked smirking and winking her way.

Beca looked at Stacie and sighed. Stacie was a really awesome person but she had a relly dirty mind, sex being her hobby.

"Really? Stace, you should know she gets super serious when there's a project on her mind" came Chloe's reply, sarcasm lacing her voice.

Beca rolled her eyes at them "I'm really going home to work on it, and she's right.. my mind is too focused on the project to go playing around and besides, I'm really tired" she said, yawning again.

"Okay Bec.. go home now. I'll see you later" Chloe said hugging the brunette, Beca hugged her back.

"Thanks Chlo" she whispered in the redhead's ear.

When they parted, she looked at the other girls and smiled, "Next time, okay?" she received a chourus of "YES" and after a few more moments they went to their separate ways.

When she got back to her dorm she changed into something more comfortable and went straight to her desk, turned her laptop on, got her ipod, earpods and glasses, chose a playlist and started the program. She was working on her 3D model, the only thing missing in her project and the part of it she liked to work on the most. It was a relaxing process for her, the best part being the possibility to actually see how it would look like in reality.

She heard a voice calling her name and opened her eyes.

"Hey Becs, are you okay?" Chloe asked, concern evident in her voice.

She rubbed her eyes to get rid of some of the tiredness she was still feeling, looked around herself and understood why Chloe was worried.. she fell asleep on the desk, laptop and ipod still running, keybord signs all over her face. "When did you get here? What time is it?"

Chloe looked at her frawning "It's almost 7:00pm, how long have you been sleeping there?"

"I.. I don't know, guess today's training really took a toll on me" she said scratching the back of her neck, taking off her glasses and the earpod still plugged in her ear.

"It's not the first time it happened this week, you have three more weeks to work on that project, you should take it easy and get some rest baby Bec."

"Oh no, not again.. you know I hate it when you call me that" she closed her eyes and sighed. Chloe always used that name when she was really worried. "I just fell asleep Chlo, it's nothing", she tried to smile, she knew Chloe was right, it was happening a lot lately.

"Just promise you'll get some rest before the game". She glanced at the brunette for a moment and then turned around to change into her sweats and one of Beca's old t-shirt.

She took a deep breath, got up from her chair and stopped behind Chloe hugging her, even if Beca wasn't much of a hugger she knew it was the only way she had to stop Chloe from worry too much. "I promise Chlo".