Bella followed Alice into yet another store of the mall. She'd really tried to steer clear of the building altogether, but Alice was having none of it. "So, La-La?" Alice asked with a laugh and Bella rolled her eyes at the vampire.

"Everyone on the team has a nickname. JP's actual name is Jacqueline," Bella said in example, "They decided they couldn't call me BS and so La-La was born," She said with a shrug, "To be honest, it really grew on me," She breathed out a laugh.

"And I look like…. CK?" She asked after a moment of trying to remember which two letters Bella's roommate had said earlier, "That another one of the girls?"

"The coach," Bella answered with a pretty convincing nonchalant shrug, "I think it's the face shape," She added on so that Alice wouldn't have reason to assume anything. She looked up to see Alice shooting her a look as she held out a pair of high waisted jean shorts and a crop top, "Oh, come on," Bella whined, just as she always had when she went shopping with Alice. She didn't even really mind it anymore (at least now that Alice seemed to understand her style a little better), but it was tradition after all.

"Quit whining, you're going to look great in these! Ever since you started running, those legs are absolutely to die for!" Bella blushed in response to the compliment but took the clothes from Alice and stepped into the dressing room anyway.

0~0~0

Bella and Alice re-entered her dorm that evening and Bella stopped and looked at her roommate curiously. JP was pulling her shin guards on and was dressed for practice, "Where are you going?" She asked in confusion.

JP looked up and laughed, "You really should check your email, dummy. CK's holding an optional practice just for drills and kicks," She said, "I figured I'd studied enough and the practice wouldn't hurt. Should I tell her you have a guest?"

"No!" Bella said too quickly and then coughed some to cover it up, "Umm, no, umm," Bella fumbled for her words and JP laughed.

"Been drinking?" She asked and Bella laughed at her. The one time she'd let JP get her drunk, she hadn't been able to form sentences for the rest of the night. Now, any time she struggled to speak properly, that was JP's go to joke.

"Funny," Bella deadpanned.

"I'd love to meet your team and coach," Alice piped up and Bella bit her lip before shrugging. Why not?

"I'll change real quick," She said and got a nod from both parties. She made her way into her room and closed the door behind her before grabbing a tank top to put on over her sports bra and a pair of running shorts to replace her jeans. She put her shin guards on, pulled on a pair of socks to cover them, and slid her feet into her cleats, before grabbing her bag and opening the door. She looked to Alice in confusion when she saw JP was no longer there.

"She ran down to meet… Minnie?" She asked and Bella nodded, that made sense, "She's cute, Bells," Alice said with a raised eyebrow. Bella rolled her eyes in response, "She showed me a picture of the team," Alice continued and Bella looked up at her sharply, "CK, huh?"

"Yep," Bella said with a shrug and opened the door to usher herself and Alice into the hall so she could relock it.

"You didn't think to tell me your soccer coach was Kate Denali?" Alice asked in amusement. At least she wasn't angry with Bella.

"I just haven't gotten around to it and I didn't know how to bring it up," Bella said in explanation.

"I guess you're off the hook this time," Alice said teasingly and linked her arms with Bella as they left the building and made their way across campus to the soccer field. "So, Bella, is she going to mind me joining your practice?"

"No idea," Bella said honestly. She was kind of nervous. Kate's mate instincts were pretty killer.

"Maybe I'll dip and explore campus and come back when you're finished then," Alice said.

"No, Al, you don't have to do that," Bella said as she shook her head.

"No, it's okay. I want to see your school and, no offense, but soccer is boring. I'll just come back and we can do something after?" She said and Bella laughed at the insult sandwiched in there and just nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Bella relented and watched the pixie sized vampire saunter off into campus before shaking her head with a fond smile on her face and heading the rest of the way to the fields. As she approached, she saw three of her teammates; JP, Minnie, and Lil' K were all there to take their coach up on her extra offered practice. Bella looked up and met a bright smile being thrown her way by her favorite person and flashed one of her own before joining the stretches that the girls were doing.

"She didn't join you?" JP asked as they moved into their next stretch. Bella could see Kate setting up cones out of the corner of her eye and knew that the moment she answered this question, she would have her attention.

"Umm, no, she's giving herself a tour of campus," She was right, Kate glanced in their direction. None of the other girls would have noticed, but Bella did.

"Oooh, who is it?" Minnie asked with raised eyebrows and Bella just knew that she was about to say something teasing, "Old girlfriend? New prospect?" She asked and waggled her eyebrows for dramatic effect.

"Haha, so funny," Bella dead-panned, "She's just an old friend. Super old," Bella said the joke though she knew no one else would get it.

"She cute?" Lil' K asked as she joined in on the teasing and Bella nudged her just enough so that she would fall out of her stretch, "Hey!" Bella just laughed and waved to her as she smirked down at the younger blonde.

"Alright, girls, are we going to stand around all day or are we going to play?"


Happy New Year? I've been going through some things as well as teaching during this pandemic but I finally got some more written. To the few who just don't understand where this story is going and why it isn't moving faster, I'm sorry. It's a fluff-fest and it's therapeutic to write at times so it's slow but I like it so I'm going to keep writing it as long as it makes at least me happy.