A S P E N ' S    P O V

"Aspen, get your ass out of the fucking bed!" My best friend, Vita, yelled at me.

"No! I'm not leaving," I yelled back, shoving her away as she tried to force me out of the comforts of my bed.

You're probably wondering what's going on right now?

No shit, sherlock.

Anyways, I was peacefully sleeping before Vita came in and woke me of my beauty sleep. She's trying to force me to come "Check out the hot guys at football practice" with her. I, on the other hand, refused to seeing as to how I was sleeping. My other best friend, Rosalynn (Rosa for short), stood by the door, watching the whole ordeal take place.

"Rosa, please get her off of me." I groaned, shoving Vita away before burying my face into my pillow.

"Aspen, I love you, but you need to come out of your room. You've been in here all day." Rosa's sweet voice spoke, as she too wanted me to halt my peaceful slumber.

"Because I was sleeping!" I answered, shoving Vita's hand away once more before she threw the blankets off of me.

"If you come with us then we can go to Cheesecake Factory on Saturday." Rosa reasoned as Vita smirked at me, knowing that was my weakness.

I eyed the both of them skeptically, watching as Rosa softly smiled at me and Vita smirked. I sighed before nodding my head. They both squealed in excitement before Vita grabbed my arm and pulled me out of bed. I sighed as I watched Rosa sit down on the edge of my bed before pulling a book out of god knows where.

Vita practically shoved me into the bathroom to take a quick shower as she picked out my outfit. After washing the sleep off, I stepped out of the bathroom in my towel to see the outfit sitting on the armchair in the corner of my room. Both of the girls had vanished, probably in the living room of our dorm, while waiting for me. I looked at the outfit and sighed before tossing it on, not wanting to go against Vita's rath.

I looked down at the outfit, rolling my eyes. Vita had picked out a white off-the-shoulder crop top with high-waisted shorts. I searched around on the floor after pulling on some socks, looking for a pair of sneakers. I groaned as the only thing I came up with was a pair of converse. I did not feel like having a foot war today, but I had no other choice as I couldn't find any more shoes.

"Aspen, hurry up!" Vita yelled from the living room (as expected).

"I'm coming!" I yelled in response.

I moved around my room, swiping my phone off of the charger. I had forgotten to put it on last night, so it had just over half the battery. I shrugged it off, grabbing my purse before starting out the room. I walked into the living room as it looked like Vita was just about to come to drag me out of my room. Rosa was sitting peacefully and innocently as she read a book on the couch, oblivious to Vita's glare directed towards me.

"Finally. Let's go before practice is over." Vita spoke, grabbing my wrist as she dragged me out of the dorm, waving a quick goodbye to Rosa.

"She's not coming?" I asked, currently in the middle of being dragged down the stairs.

"She wanted to finish her book. I also thought it would be better if we kept her innocent eyes from all the shirtless athletes." Vita explained, pushing open the doors of the dorm building as I nodded my head behind her.

♤♤♤

"He should have run around the QB instead of passing. Could've made the point much easier." I mumbled, leaning back against the bleachers as Vita just stared at me. "What?" I asked, glancing away from the current practice going on, turning to look at Vita.

"Why aren't you on the football team if you know everything they're doing wrong?" She explained, glancing between me and the sweaty athletes on the field.

"Because I watch football. Not play." I responded, grimacing as I watched a receiver get tackled.

"Might as well be the damn coach," Vita muttered, draping her legs over my lap as she gawked at the boys on the field.

A lot of people may think I and Vita have a bad friendship with the constant back and forth banter and the bipolar conversations. I just know that it works for both of us. I had met her back in freshman year when some annoying junior shut my locker and got my hair stuck in it. Vita cussed out the girl and proceeded to help me 'gently' rip my hair out of the metal compartment.

We then continued to hit it off as she helped me smooth my hair back down and look presentable once more. Now, Rosa, we had met her in sophomore year. Some jock assholes were bullying her about her book and I confronted them. I then helped to calm her down as the poor girl was still a little shaken up from the situation. Following that, I introduced her to Vita and the three of us became an unstoppable trio.

I looked down at the field as the guys were taking a short break. A few familiar faces waved my way and I playfully rolled my eyes before waving back. Vita grinned at me, patting me on the back as I just waved it off. This was nothing new to me. I was acquainted with many of the guys on the football team. Not because I was dating any of them, but because of my father. He was the coach/recruiter for the LA Chargers, which caused me to have as much knowledge as I did in football.

I didn't mind that some of them tried to make friends with me because they wanted to be drafted. I understood that it was their dream and that they would do what they felt they had to achieve it. What they didn't know was that my father's decisions weren't based on who I knew and liked and who I didn't. It was unprofessional anyways to let your daughter be the judge of who is on the team. The goal of the team is to be their best and win as much as they could and you needed the best players you could for that.

"ASPEN!" Vita screamed in my ear as I jumped and squealed a tiny bit.

"Jesus. What?" I groaned, turning away from my thoughts to face her annoyed face.

"I said, wha-" She began to speak until she stopped and widened her eyes.

Following her gaze, curious as to why she stopped speaking, I looked in front of me. I barely had time to register what the hell was going on until a fucking football connected with my face. I let out a series of unholy words as my head fell back and my hand fell to cover the spot that had been attacked. I groaned out in pain as I heard Vita begin to speak to me, sympathy lacing her words. Suddenly, the sound of bounding footsteps up the bleachers was heard.

I leaned my head forward a little to see who the owner of the footsteps was. I was met face to face with Dalton Rivers as he kneeled in front of me in his football gear, sweat running down his face. He began speaking to me at the same time as Vita which was not helping with my new forming headache.

"Can one of you speak at a time? I do not have two sets of hearing." I snapped, clenching my hand harder onto my face as I began to feel the after-effects of the football.

"Sorry. Aspen, are you okay?" Dalton asked, worry dripping from his words as he sent me a concerned look.

"Oh, of course! I want to go sing My Little Pony while dancing with unicorns and fairies." I spat out as he visibly grimaced at my words.

Ask dumbass questions you get dumbass answers.

"Shit. Sorry, me and the guys were just fucking around with the ball and accidentally aimed the ball the wrong way." Dalton explained as I just glared at him, not bothering to move my hand away from the aching spot.

"Yeah, no shit you aimed it the wrong way," I spoke, slowly tilting my head down as to not upset my head anymore. "I'm pretty sure the goal wasn't to hit me in the fucking face." I groaned, attempting to stand up. I'm so thankful I only brought my phone and purse, which remained on my shoulder.

"Be careful. I can take you to the nurse." He quickly spoke, placing his hands on my shoulders as if to steady me.

"I'm pretty sure I got hit in the face. Not my legs got cut off." I answered, shrugging his hands off as I began to start down the bleachers, throwing a quick look at Vita.

"Sorry, Pen. I just got called to my professor's office. I'll see you back at the dorm, okay?" She responded, throwing me a sympathetic look before placing her own purse over her shoulders.

"It's fine. I'll just text, Rosa." I smiled, watching as Dalton glanced between the two of us as he looked bewildered at my nice remark towards Vita.

"I can walk with you?" He rushed to say as I heard him fall in step beside me.

"Go enjoy your practice, pretty boy. And try not to hit any more girls in the face with a ball." I spoke, patting his shoulder. "I'm pretty sure that's not the way to a girl's heart." I chuckled as he let out a small laugh in return.

We made it to the bottom of the bleachers as I readjusted the strap on my shoulder. Dalton looked very hesitant to leave, wanting to make sure I was okay. I reassured him I would be fine as I pushed him back towards the field. After the coach called him over, he waved me off as he headed back onto the field.

I rolled my eyes, heading in the direction of the nurse's office on campus. I got many strange looks as I was passing by. I mean who wouldn't? I probably had a big ass bruise on my face from the ball. I just smiled as I headed across the garden, reaching the nurse's office. Time to mentally prepare myself for the nurse who over exaggerates everything and then Rosa's motherly personality worrying about me.

♤♤♤

"Aspen! Are you okay?" Rosa cried, gently touching the bruise on my nose as I grimaced in pain.

"Yes, Rosa. I just got hit in the face with a ball. Not a boulder." I answered, gently prying her hand away from my face.

"If you're sure...There should be some swelling along with a headache, but as long as you ice it and take some pain killers you should be fine." Rosa explained, placing her hand on my shoulder as I sat up on the bed.

"And this is why I'm thankful my best friend is a nursing major." I grinned, standing up from the bed as I turned to face Rosa.

"Did you want to head back to the dorm and watch a movie?" Rosa asked, grabbing my bag off the bed and placing it over her shoulder as we headed out of the room.

"Can we go grab something to eat first? I'm starving." I answered, swinging my arm over Rosa's shoulder.

"Let's go to the dining hall. You probably hadn't gotten up before Vi came to drag you out of the bed other than your morning classes." Rosa spoke, planting a chaste kiss on my temple as we walked out of the nurse building.

"Should we text Vi to meet us there?" I asked, frowning as I thought about Vi and her meeting with her professor.

"Yeah. She also texted me about watching a movie so that's why I was asking." Rosa explained, looking over at me as I nodded in response.

We walked across campus once more as the sun began to set. Rosa tried to ask me about football practice but I waved it off and asked her about her book. It was cute to see the sparkle in her eyes as she began to explain all about what she had spent her day reading. I chuckled as I looked up at the sound of chatter, noticing we had just reached the dining hall.

I pulled the door open as Rosa moved her arm off my shoulder, walking inside. We stopped as I looked around for an empty table. I rolled my eyes as I spotted the athlete table, mixed with girls and football players. I felt Rosa nudge me in the side, pointing across the room to an empty table near a window.

"You go save the table. I'll get the food." I spoke, patting her shoulder gently as she started toward the table.

"Are you sure? I can go get it." She sweetly responded, frowning as she glanced between me and the table.

"I'm fine, Ro. Hurry before someone takes it." I reassured, pushing her towards the table again as I headed in the other direction.

I began to walk towards the head of the room, going to order our food. All of a sudden, I heard someone shout my name and footsteps behind me. I turned to see Dalton walking towards me, a frown and worried look resting on his face. I groaned as I fully turned, crossing my arms over my chest as I waited for him to speak.

"Yes?" I muttered, looking behind him to see the girls at the table he was previously sitting at, glaring at me. Like the mature person I am, I stuck my tongue out at them.

"I just wanted to know if you were doing good after earlier." He said, rubbing his across the back of my neck as his eyes ran over my face.

"Well, obviously. I'm not dead, I just have a big ass bruise on my face." I responded, gesturing my hands towards my face as I noticed more people from the table looking at us. What the fuck do they want?

"You don't have to be sarcastic about everything." He frowned, rolling his eyes as he shoved his hands into the pocket of his skinny jeans.

"Oh, I'm sorry. No, I'm not okay. Can you please go cuddle with me and give me a big fat kiss?" I mocked, making fake lovey eyes at him.

"Excuse me for trying to check on you." He spat, narrowing his eyes at me as I tapped my foot impatiently.

"You're excused. Now, is that all, or do you want me to fangirl all over you as well?" I smirked, brushing my hair away from my eyes as I glared back at him.

He stared at me for a final moment before walking off without saying anything. I smiled to myself before turning and walking back to get me and Rosa's food. Thanking the lady, I walked away with the plates, making my way over to the table. I placed the plates down as I greeted Vi, noticing she had somehow arrived when I was gone.

"How was your conversation with Mr. Captain?" Vita smirked, leaning back in her chair as I sat across from her and Rosa.

"Horrible. He's so annoying." I sighed, placing a fry in my mouth as Rosa smiled innocently to herself.

"What are you so cheery about?" I grinned at her as she looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Hmm?" She responded, pausing as she held her fork up to her mouth. "Oh, nothing. Just daydreaming. Or night-dreaming." She spoke, tapping her finger against her chin.

"That's our Rosa." Vita laughed, patting Rosa's hair gently as she side hugged her.

"What about?" I asked as I sent a glare to Vita's way for stealing one of my fries.

"Uhm...Just one of my books." She answered as I decided to not press the topic anymore.

"Vi, what did your professor want?" I asked, pushing my plate in the middle of the table so we could share.

"Just something about one of our monologues and some directors coming around." She shrugged, waving it off with her hand as she brushed long back hair over her shoulder.

"Directors? When?" Rosa asked, placing her head on Vita's shoulder.

I sat back and listened as I watched both of my friends. I know everyone might think we overtalk Rosa being innocent, but she plays the look well. She has smooth sun-kissed skin and a small frame. Her hair is light brown and just falls short past her shoulders, complimenting her dark blue eyes. Even her name fit her goddess look.

Vita, on the other hand, looked the complete opposite of Rosa. She gave off that real badass vibe with her fiery personality. She had soft caramel skin with long and curly black hair, which also complimented her sparkling brown eyes. Both of them sitting next to each other just looked as if they were posing for a photoshoot.

"What are you looking at?" Vita asked, swallowing a bit of food she had just finished chewing.

"Nothing. Just zoned out." I answered, swallowing some of my mountain dew.

"Well, anyways. Back to Mr. Captain." Vita smiled, brushing her fingers through Rosas soft hair.

I sighed as I rested back in my chair. I should've known she wouldn't let this topic go to rest.

Ahhh, first chapter! How did you guys like it? I honestly didn't know how to start this first chapter. I kept getting all these ideas for future chapters. I can't wait for you guys to see how the story develops!

I feel I'm very proud of this chapter. I wouldn't say my writing is bad, but I definitely have had some practice! If you do see any mistakes though please, feel free to point them out to me.

Don't be a silent reader! I love seeing all of your comments and thoughts/opinions on certain scenes in the story!

Anyways, if you all enjoyed please make sure to comment and vote! It helps to motivate me to get out more chapters. Hopefully, I see you all in the next chapter! Have a great day/night/etc.