A.N: Hey! Sorry for the long wait. Stupid finals get in the way of everything! I am completely floored by the response to this story! And you five that reviewed are beyond amazing! And everyone else that followed and favorited is super awesome too! Well anyways I hope you like this chapter!

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of these cool characters, they all belong to L.J. and Julie.

Chapter 3

I was completely shocked. He actually wanted ME, boring 18 year old, to play with the best male league in the world? And I felt like even if I said yes to this amazing opportunity, I would be out of place on the court and would most likely be crushed by the other team. Damon still waiting for my answer saw the shock and worry in my brown doe eyes and quickly tried to reassure me when he said, "Don't worry I will be setting most of the time, so you should be alright when you are hitting, and don't you dare try to tell me that you aren't good enough to play with my team."

I took a deep breath and tried to rationalize with myself, and finally came to the conclusion that this could actually be a good thing for my volleyball career. "Alright, I will do it," I sighed out. The smile on his face was overwhelming and very contagious because soon enough I could feel a smile tugging on my lips.

"This is going to be awesome!" he exclaimed with a boisterous and triumphant laugh afterwards. He started to ramble on about how much fun it will be and how excited he is for me to meet all of the guys on his team. Zoning out a little, I wondered whether or not I should tell John what I was doing tonight. I figured it would best probably tell him in hopes he won't be as mad when I show up late, and take my chances on whether or not he will show up to watch the game. All of the sudden I was forced out of my thoughts when I heard a snapping noise right in front of my face. "Hello? Anyone in there, Little Miss Dreamland?" he asked jokingly.

"What? Ya, did you say something?" I asked.

"Ya I was just talking about how hemochromatosis was actually started by the Black Plague and what your thoughts on this were. No you silly girl. I was just asking you if you ate more today for breakfast, so we don't have another fainting incident like we did yesterday."

"Oh right," I responded lamely, "I had an excellent breakfast today don't worry about me."

We were just pulling into the parking lot and I was gathering all of my things and got out of the car and was about to go to the trunk to grab my gym bag but was surprised to see that Damon had already grabbed it and was heading into the building.

Practice was pretty normal, in most intensive purposes of the word. Damon pushed me a little harder today than he did yesterday after I assured him that I was perfectly fine and wanted to be pushed so I could become stronger and more prepared for tonight's game. We did my normal warm ups, then we ran four miles around the track on the second floor of the gym, next we worked on my serves, and we finally rallied for a while. Some people might think that rallying would be a fun and simple exercise with their coaches, but trust me, Damon took it to a whole new level; putting the volleyball in the most awkward places and making me dive all around the floor to save the plays.

As I was drinking the rest of my water bottle after practice, Damon came up and stole it out of my hands. "Hey! I was drinking that!" I complained.

"Too bad! It's mine now," he joked, sticking his tongue out at me.

"Such a child," I chided. I started to walk away out to the parking lot, but he grabbed my wrist. I flinched because it had become my natural reaction with all of the things John has done, and became completely frozen. Then Damon dropped my hand and came around to the front of me with concern and question filling his eyes.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked quietly. I nodded my head hastily. Then he hesitated for a second and continued with what he was originally going to ask me, "Do you want me to drive you tonight? Since you have never been to the court we are playing at."

"Ya sure that's fine," I responded swiftly.

"Okay I will see you at 5:30 then Elena. And hey," he said looking directly into my eyes, "If you ever need me for anything, no matter when or what it is, you can tell me and call me. I want you to trust me, Elena," he said with full sincerity.

"Ya of course, Damon," I said quickly and I broke his intense gaze and hurried out of the massive gym.

On the way home I kept replaying what he had told me in the lobby. I surely hoped he did not figure out what was happening with John. I didn't need any more pity from people than I already had. People just saw me as poor Elena who lost her parents and aunt so young; I didn't need any extra sympathy.

I finally made it home, if that's even what it's called anymore, and saw that Isobel was the only one there. Well at least she's a little better than John is. I walked into the kitchen and saw that she was in the family room watching a new stupid reality show. "Hello, Isobel," I greeted as politely as possible.

"Oh great, the trash is back. What do you want now?" she demanded roughly, "and hurry it up. Can't you see I'm watching TV?"

"I just came to let you know that I have an extra game tonight at Splash Zone courts, so I will be home later than usual," I responded quickly.

She was quiet for a second the drawled, "Well maybe we will just have to come and watch this game of yours."

"Oh ya okay that's fine," I responded tightly.

Well shit.

I hope you all enjoyed it! Please follow/favorite and review! You guys rock!

-Dakota