"James, James!"

James looked up from his i-Phone. He had been posting a new Instagram picture with a selfie he'd taken just a moment before. With a bit of filtering the light and adding some effects, he was done.

It was Dandy, standing by the window and looking thrilled, and he was waving his shoes around in the air.

Dandy had his own room (what a shocker!) across from James's. He was supposed to stay there.

The operative word being 'supposed'.

He literally only slept there. The rest of the time, he was in and out, playing loud music from his phone and singing along.

Horribly off-tune, of course.

He was always hanging out in James's room, though, always chilling and singing. Like, couldn't he do that in his own room?

However, James didn't care. Much. If only Dandy would keep to his own business and stop bothering him.

Which didn't happen much.

"What is it?" James asked, annoyed.

"Dude. There's an ice cream truck outside!"

James raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Yep. You know how rarely we get ice cream trucks in NYC? And they're so much better than those lame candies at the apartment lobby."

James snorted. "Point taken. Those things suck."

"I swear, they take plastic and put them in plastic wrappers," Dandy said. "You think they actually do that?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised," replied James. "They're horrible."

Dandy smirked. "Anyway, I'm going. To the ice cream truck. Are you coming with me?"

"Um, heck yeah. Let me just get my shoes on."

James quickly posted his new post and waited for it to upload. He'd already gotten around fifty likes. What? How did people do that?! His fans were the best, seriously. He thanked them so much, yet he never felt like it was enough.

He stuffed his phone into his back pocket. Then he yanked on his brand new white shoes (he'd gotten them for his selection tournament) and turned to Dandy. "Ready now?"

"Uh-huh. Onto the ice cream! I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"

"Nobody's screaming, you idiot," muttered James as they got into the elevator and went down. The ice cream truck wasn't in the apartment complex, it was parked on the road outside the apartment complex. In between a bunch of other neighborhoods and complexes. The walk wasn't that long, so they managed to get there quickly.

"Oh my… So many people are here!" enthused Dandy.

"I can tell." James looked up at all the flavors on the side of the truck. "Ugh, I have no clue what flavor I want."

Dandy marched forward. "I want pineapple lime!" he exclaimed, pointing at the picture of the pineapple lime ice cream. He was handed one and walked away, licking it.

"And you?" the man asked James.

"Uh, I'll take… black raspberry with chocolate chunks," James said, choosing it. It looked good enough. Once he got it, he went to follow Dandy. He was sitting on a bench on the side of the road, sighing in content.

"This is awesome," he moaned.

"Obviously. It's ice cream," replied James.

"Mm."

"How long has it been since you had ice cream?" James asked him, sinking down on the bench.

He frowned, like it was a crazy question. "Uh… Like, two days. You?"

"Four months."

"What?!"

"Selections, Dandy," James explained as though it were obvious. "I had to keep my figure intact. You realize this isn't some minor world tour. This is FIFA. FIFA World Cup! It's like, the biggest soccer tournament in history! If I want to make the USA team, I have to do everything possible." He raised an eyebrow at Dandy. "Which means no ice cream."

"That sucks. You see, ladies and gentleman, James Potter just explained why I'm not a soccer player."

James snorted. "It's fun, though. You get to hold up your country and stuff. And you're a good role model on people."

"No. If I don't get to eat ice cream... nuh-uh. I'm not doing that job."

"You should be a food tester," James suggested, grinning as he took another bite off his cone. "You get to taste food."

"Good idea, but nah. I like working with you."

James grinned. "I am touched."

"Anyway, what flavor did you choose?" Dandy wondered.

James held out his cone of black raspberry.

"Ooh, yum. Can I have some?"

James stared at him incredulously. "Are you not satisfied with Pineapple Lime?"

"Yes, but I want some of yours."

"Only if I get some of yours."

"Fine, fine." Dandy broke out a chunk of his and handed it to James, and then he broke off his own little piece from James's and started feasting on it.

They both ate away at their ice creams in silence, when a woman asked, "Can I sit here?"

James looked up, his eyes widening when he realized who it was. It was that woman from the mall, the one who'd argued with the cashier to lower the price.

Her eyes narrowed, though. "Oh. It's you." Positive murder was flaming in her eyes. Any normal person would've screamed and ran away, or at least apologized in order of being murdered by the woman.

But James was no 'normal person'.

"Oh, hi, it's you!" he cried, scooting over. "Sure, you can sit."

"No. No thank you. I'll-"

"Sit," he repeated, smiling as he patted the bench next to him. She didn't, so he rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm, pulling her down against the bench. If she'd looked murderous before, she'd probably murdered by now. "So… Judging by your tone, you really don't like me, huh."

She rolled her eyes, licking away on her vanilla ice cream. "What an observation," she said dryly, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Well, you judged right."

"What have I done?" asked James in disbelief. Well, he knew what he had done, but… Well…

Oh come on.

Not his fault.

She glared at him. "You know exactly what you did." Her stare was so intense that James's eyes wandered to her clothes instead to escape the burning glare he was receiving. Heh. Heh heh.

She was wearing a one shoulder pale pink top. One shoulder was completely sleeved, and the other one wasn't. She had on light blue jeans, and there was a brown satchel swung around her left arm (the covered one). Her red hair was tied back in a ponytail again, except it was looser and strands of hair were falling out of it and into her face.

He found it amusing that she didn't know who he was, that she was showing attitude to him, that she was straight-up telling a professional soccer player that she didn't like him.

"Is it about the mall?" James asked. "Oh, come on. I was just… like, you can't change a fixed price. It's a mall, not a market."

"That doesn't mean they can scam us," she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. "You, and all those other people back there are just falling into their trap."

"Am I now?" mused James. "I seem to be living a happy enough life."

Dandy sniggered, and then covered his mouth. James shot him a warning look.

"I don't really care," sighed the woman. Just then, James realized he didn't know her name.

"Hey," he started, "what's your name?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"What's your name?"

"Evans," she replied shortly, shaking her messy ponytail back and staring forward. "Lily Evans."

James stifled a laugh.

"What?" she snapped, turning to him. Her eyes were flashing dangerously. "Something funny about my name?"

"No, it's just… it's, well, you just did such a James Bond entry."

Lily squinted at him. "Huh?"

"You know, like you said it in that cool, serious way. And... oh, come on. 'Evans. Lily Evans'," he repeated, laughing.

Lily stared at him like he'd just announced that he was an alien.

"It would've been cooler if you said it in a much deeper voice and all that, though," Dandy said, licking his ice cream. "Like, all cool and swift. You know? That's how he does it."

She glared at him. "I wasn't aiming to be your Agent Double-o-seven. I was stating my name-"

Dandy's eyes widened. "Woah... Wait. Have you watched James Bond before?

She rolled her eyes. "Why, am I not allowed to?"

"No, you just… don't seem like the type."

Lily didn't say anything.

"So, you watched it, huh?" James asked, trying to start some kind of conversation. "What do you think about Daniel Craig? Personally, I thought he wasn't as smooth as like, Brosnan, but like... What about you?"

She gave him an incredulous look and didn't respond.

Dandy smirked. "This girl has quite a temper."

"This girl has ears, you know," snapped Lily.

Dandy and James burst out into laughter.

"I have a question," started Lily.

"And I have an answer," James finished. "Well, I don't know. If it's about conserving plastic and saving the Earth, well… can't help you, sistah."

Dandy sniggered and gave James a high five.

"On that note… are you a VSCO girl?" James wondered.

Lily glared at him. "As for my question, are you always this insufferable, or am I some special occasion?"

"You're not special," James told her, trying extremely hard not to laugh. She was the first person to have ever called him insufferable since, like, his school days. Now he was a famous soccer player.

People had to be insane to call him 'insufferable'.

"So, Lily, do you watch soccer?" he asked her.

"What?" she asked. "Why do-"

"Hi, Lily!" exclaimed another woman, walking up to the three of them. "Ooh, ice cre…" She stopped dead at seeing James. "Oh. My. Gosh."

"Do you have a problem, Marissa?" asked Lily wearily. "Why are you here? And why are you staring at…"

"It's James," James put in helpfully, shooting Marissa a look like, You'd better not ruin it, lady.

The new woman, Marissa, stared at James, understanding filling her expression. Lily didn't know who he was.

"Yeah, whatever. Why are you staring at James?" Then she raised an eyebrow, turning to James. "I'm guessing your last name isn't Bond…"

James and Dandy both burst out into laughter. Again.

"It's actually Potter."

"Whatever. Marissa, why were you staring at Potter? Do you know him from before?"

"I… um… no," Marissa said quickly, staring at James. "He's just so, um… good-looking, you see. Very nice. Hot. Um, awesome."

"You realize you just told a random stranger that he's hot," pointed out Lily, a strand of her ponytail falling into her face. "You don't by chance feel… I dunno, ashamed?"

"It's no problem," James jumped in. "I hear that one all the time."

"I'm sure you do," Lily told him sarcastically. "Marissa, why are you here? Where's Jake?"

"Jake?" asked James.

Lily shot him a look. "Not everything concerns you, you know."

"Oh, don't mind her," Marissa interrupted. "Jake's my fiancé."

"And yet you still go commenting on other people's appearances," muttered Lily, rolling her eyes.

James stretched. "Hey, people like me. It's not their fault. They just can't help it."

Marissa was staring, her mouth wide open. Lily rolled her eyes again as she smacked Marissa on the arm.

"Marissa," she whispered. "You're being an idiot."

"She's not," said James kindly. "She just likes me."

"Uh… A random stranger on the street! And she's engaged, for god's sake. And you told me not to tell anyone about the marriage that hasn't happened yet, and you tell this random dude!" cried Lily, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Well, I'm no random dude. Just because you're so anti-social doesn't mean Marissa is."

"Ergh!" Lily stood up, ice cream long finished. "I'm going home. Marissa, are you coming?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to James."

"Fine. You do that. I need to go take Buddy for a walk, anyway."

James decided it was better not to ask who Buddy was. He got up. "Actually, Marissa, we're probably going off too. It was a pleasure meeting you."

Marissa looked from Lily to James, and then she asked, "Can I have a selfie?"

James looked at her amusedly. "Yeah, sure," he replied, smiling at her camera. "Good?"

"Yep!" She beamed. "I was going to a park, anyway, and then I saw Lily here, then I saw you, and I was just like…"

"Yes, yes, we get it," snapped Lily impatiently. "I'm going. Bye." She rolled her eyes and marched off.

"What the heck was that?" squealed Marissa. "Are you… pranking her?"

James let out a laugh. "I wouldn't think of it that way. I'm just not telling her."

"You're keeping her in the dark! She doesn't know you're like, the coolest celebrity to walk this planet!"

"Does she not follow soccer?" Dandy asked.

"Nope. She's not big on sports. Oh, wait, she does follow baseball a bit. She supports the Yankees."

James grinned. "Naturally. Well, don't tell her just yet…"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't tell a soul for you! This is awesome!"

He laughed. "Well, I really had better get off to my place."

"Okay. See you!"

James smiled and nodded. "Come on, Dandy," he grumbled, turning around. The two of them started walking home. "Race you?"

"Ew, no. I can't run."

"Well, you'd better learn." James took off across the street.

"Sportsmen," grumbled Dandy, running after him. "Wait up!"

James cackled and kept on running, entering the lobby. Dandy came after him minutes later, panting like mad.

"I hate you! Why did we have to run? Can't we walk? Like normal people?"

James raised an eyebrow. "If I was normal, I wouldn't have become a soccer player, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Dandy marched forward and into the elevator that was closing. "Wait! Open up!"

The elevator doors zoomed back open and James shook his head, following him in. He pulled out his phone and started texting one of his friends from the soccer team. He stuck in his airpods and started playing some 5SOS when he heard it.

"No. Flipping. Way."

James took out his airpods and looked up. It was…

Lily Evans.

"Woah!" he cried, grinning. "You live in this apartment?"

"You live in this apartment?" she groaned, turning around and banging her head against the wall. "Why does this happen to me?"

James chortled as he pulled her away from the wall. "No need to get all angry," he said. "We won't run into each other much."

"Uh, are you kidding? I've met you three times now."

James slowly grinned. "You have a point. And I only moved in a few days ago."

She frowned. "Wait…" Then her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh. That was you! The music dude!"

"Huh?"

"The music! Oh my… you're like a walking-talking nuisance. You were programmed to annoy me and to ruin my life!"

"The mus… oh! The music!" James burst out into laughter. "You're the one who yelled at me for playing music!"

"You call that stuff music? I was trying to concentrate on my work, and you idiots… ugh. I hate my life. I hate you."

James snorted. "'Trying to concentrate'? Did we get you fired? Did we make you lose a contract, a deal?"

"It's none of your business," she muttered, turning around and facing the elevator walls again.

Just then, James realized that he'd been a little insensitive. Maybe she was going through a difficult time at work. Maybe she had been fired. Maybe she had lost a contract. Or a deal.

Oops.

"Hey," he started gently. "I didn't-"

The elevator came to a thud and the doors slid open. Lily sighed and stormed off, completely ignoring what James was about to say.

"Holy… She has a temper," Dandy emphasized. "I mean… a temper. You should steer clear of her, James."

"Oh yeah?" James asked, amused. "Why, will she grow fangs and bite me?"

"You never know," said Dandy in a theatrical voice. "New York girls are dangerous, James."

"I'm sure."

"Oh c'mon. I'm serious!"

"No, you're Dandy. Come on. You're going to your own room this time. Stop coming to mine."

He scowled. "Why, you don't like me anymore?"

"Not working. Stop invading my space and go hang out in your own room. Go listen to Harry Styles or something."

"Harry Styles!" he cried. "Yes, yes! Did you see the news article about him yesterday? Apparently he's datin-"

"I don't care about Harry's love life. It's his personal business, and the media doesn't need to be nosing around through his stuff," James told him, pushing him out of the elevator and walking out himself. "You go enjoy yourself in your room. I need privacy."

"Why? What are you going to do?"

James rolled his eyes and pushed Dandy into his room, shutting the door and going into his own room. He pulled out his phone and found Lily Evans on Instagram.

"Fashion designer… 24 years old… has the cutest dog in the world… save the Earth." James snorted. "Of course." He almost tapped the 'Follow' button, just to annoy the heck out of her, but quickly pulled his hand back.

He was a celebrity. A soccer player. The media was following his every single move, every post, every comment. If he was following a small-time fashion designer… well, the media would cook up some terrible story.

He didn't want to drag the poor woman into all of that.

He sighed, tossing his phone away and flopping against the covers. It was still the afternoon, but he was in the mood for a nice long nap.

He snuggled into his covers, his eyes closing. He fell asleep thinking of the FIFA World Cup, Lily Evans, and his life as a soccer player.

His life was really weird.

A/N: Ahh, the tea has started!

Thank you to all of my amazing reviewers, favorites, follows, and readers! You guys are truly amazing.