I do recall saying that I was going to ALONG with this story so if I don't update frequently on this story even though I have ideas of the ending and where it is all going then DON'T BE SURPRISED IF I DON'T UPDATE IN TWO WEEKS.

That will be all.

Kind of just a short filler.

Chapter Twenty Four: "Day By Day."

"SOMEONE HAD A FUN night." Anmol said, one earphone in her ear as we entered the change room.

Even after the shower after practice, I was more tired because of the morning practice before my class started. "I fell asleep at 3AM. Waking up was anything but fun especially with Caleb and Peter."

The second Peter and Caleb woke up it was like a toddlers on a tantrum because they couldn't stop complaining. Even when you made the slightest movement, they would complain about how loud your footsteps were.

Then there was Sam, who was calmer. He woke up and the first thing he said was, "Hangovers are the reasons why I don't miss drinking."

Shaking my head from the memory of this morning, I zipped my sweater over my shirt. "Peter was throwing up in a boot he was holding all night and Caleb was so cranky and throwing up in the toilet. I've never been so annoyed in my life, I have never been so happy to leave that place."

"It was that bad?"

"It was so bad that I couldn't even stay there for five more seconds, Sam took me back to my dorm room so I could take a shower there without hearing the constant yelling."

"Damn."

I rubbed my eyes as we made our way our way out of the indoor field, quickly putting my jacket over my sweater. "How's Derek?"

Anmol smiled at the sound of his name. "He's good. A team has been watching him for a while and he thinks he might get a chance to be on it."

"Really?" It was always uncertain when a scout would pick a new recruit for their team from any part of the world. I knew Sam's time might come soon.

"Yeah." Anmol nodded. "He's been waiting for this for a really long time. Don't you have class in like five minutes?"

I quickly took my phone out, glancing at the time. "Oh fudge."

"Fudge?" Anmol asked, confused on why I used that word as if I just swore.

"Don't ask," I told her, already running. "I'll see you later."

By the time, the class had already started I sighed knowing we weren't in the lab today. I entered the room, looking at my usual seat that was already taken. I heard someone whisper my name and I looked over at Matteo who was moving his bag from the chair next to him.

I smiled, putting my jacket behind the chair and taking out my laptop. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." He said with a crooked smile, his pen captured between his teeth as he listened to whatever the professor was saying. "Did you have football practice?" Matteo asked me, putting his textbook in his bag as we walked out of the building an hour later.

"Yeah," I pushed my hair out of my face, putting my jacket on and the hood of my sweater over my head. "Can I ask a question?"

"Sure." He said as we turned a corner and I put my hood up, feeling the cold wind hit me in the face. That brief snowfall was gone and all the snow that had been on the ground was gone, not like there a lot anyway. I knew back at home, the snow would be piling up and I could already imagine my dad complaining about shoveling the driveway.

"It's just your name. Matteo. I'm just assuming that-"

"I'm Italian." He confirmed for me.

"Thought so."

"Yeah, what about you?" He stopped in front of a coffee kiosk, where I was certain the guy standing behind the counter was freezing due to the sweater he only had on.

"I'm half." I answered.

"Really?" He asked after ordering a coffee.

"Yeah, my mom's side," I told him.

"You speak it?"

"A little bit. I used to a lot when I was younger but I forgot a lot of it."

He said a couple of words in Italian himself and I took a moment to realize what he said, starting to laugh. "Did you just call me an apple?"

"I was hoping you would figure out what I said." He laughed along with me as we walked inside. "Any plans for the weekend?"

"Um, I'm probably going to be finishing more assignments and that essay. Plus I have a game tonight and on Sunday at the indoor stadium. One's an exhibition."

"Same." Matteo blew out a breath, the white air exhaling from his mouth. "The transition to uni was more stressful that I imagined."

I could relate on so many levels. In high school all I did was soccer and stayed up to date on my classes. It seemed stressful at the time but now that I thought about it, those problems weren't anything compared to what I felt coming here.

High school was like a playground compared to University.

"The first week I got here I was freaking out." I told him. It was so weird being away from home, not waking up to pushing Justin out of the bathroom in the morning and Andrew picking me up right at my front door with Jasmine already in the passenger seat.

"I know how you feel," He said, taking his coffee. "Did you want anything?" I shook my head and we continued walking. "My dad's a chemistry teacher right? So first couple of days I'm sitting at my desk hopefully trying understand what the hell is in my textbook and I end up calling him every single night because I had no idea how to cope with Chemistry itself and basketball. It's so tough."

"It was the same thing with soccer for me. And I thought I would have time to do assignments or look over my notes during that first month into school and I realize that-"

"Not even 24 hours in a day is enough to cope with everything." Matteo ended off my sentence exactly the way I wanted it to end.

I nodded. "Tell me about it. With training and indoor and outdoor soccer seasons and early and late classes it's..."

"Intense."

I nodded, shoving my hands into my pockets from the cold weather. I couldn't help but take out my camera, capturing a picture of a frost covered tree before turning back to him. "And it's still stressful even when we think everything is calm and we're used to it."

"Nice camera." He said, looking down at it.

I twisted in my hands carefully. "Thanks."

"It's just day by day stress for everyone here, isn't it?"

"Pretty much." I let out a breathy laugh, watching the white fog expel from my mouth.

Matteo pushed his hair back, taking the band from his wrist and tying his shoulder length dark straight brown hair into a ponytail. The gesture reminded me of Sam when his hair was longer and I used to tie it up into a curly mess of a man bun every time I was bored. "Welcome to real life."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hurry up." I ordered Sam, pulling him by the hand down the stairs towards the indoor track where we were supposed to meet Maddy ten minutes ago but he kept looking down at his phone.

"Hazel, give me one second." He mumbled, fingers tapping on the screen frantically. Ever since Caleb left yesterday night, he's been on that phone of his talking to different people.

"You've said that like five times," I whined, actually wanting to get some exercise in me. I had a game tomorrow and even though I got play time yesterday I got an assist but didn't score. "I want to work on cardio and I heard that a special track star was coming to campus today."

Sam glanced up at me when we made it to the floor platform. "He's coming next week baby, not this week."

My jaw dropped. "Are you serious? Maddy got me so excited for no reason."

Sam put a hand on the bottom of my back, looking back down at the screen. "At least that took your mind off exams for a couple of minutes."

I groaned out loud, slumping against him as we walked through the doors to the track. "Why did you remind me? The emperi-"

Sam used the hand that was on my back to reach around my body to cover my mouth. "No more chemistry talk. You can study after we work out, okay?"

"Okay." I groaned, leaning against his shoulder when I looked over at a group of people by the mats. Some of the girls in the group's eyes trailed over to Sam and I looked at him, noticing his eyes were still down on that phone.

"You're still talking to that designer?" I questioned when he put the hand that had been over my mouth on my shoulder.

Sam nodded. "For some reason he's very chatty through text message even though mum said that he just wanted to call me."

"Isn't he in Paris preparing for that fashion thing during Christmas time?" Sam nodded and suddenly his lips parted in surprise. He stopped walking and stared down at the screen. "What?"

"He wants me to be in his January show. He's collaborating with Versace."

I gave him a smile. "That's great, Sam. Go."

Sam turned his phone off, obviously not answering the text message. By the way he rubbed the back of his neck and the awkward look on his face I knew there was something else. I crossed my arms, handling a grip on my water bottle. "What is it?"

"You remember when we went back for Ivan and Natasha's wedding?" I nodded, gesturing for him to continue. "And remember when Lexi and I were talking and she mentioned how she got that offer to travel around the world and be a part of 24 models to be in these shows?"

Getting a tiny bit irritated not just by the nickname by the way I knew this was going, I nodded. "What about it?"

"This is one of the shows and she's going to be there. Now I know that Alexis and you-"

"Sam. It's fi-don't worry about it. This is good for you. Great publicity so even though you think that I'm going to be a little mad that Alexis is there, it's okay. She's your friend."

"You really don't mind?" Sam asked me.

I shook my head. "I don't. Please accept the offer. Now." I took his phone out of his pocket, opening it up with my fingerprint and handing it back to him so he could say yes.

"You sure?" He asked again, his fingers hovering over the screen very hesitantly.

I grabbed him by the forearms, jerking him closer to me. "I'm sure. Now call and tell him you're going to accept. I'll find Maddy." I kissed him on the cheek quickly, walking over to where I could see my friend on one end of the track.

I looked around. "Not that many people here tonight."

"Everyone's studying." Maddy answered. She looked agitated and when she fixed her ponytail, it looked like she fixed it with more anger than one would usually use.

"What's wrong?"

She nodded her head over to the side where there was a window that mirrored the indoor gym. I could spot George leaning against it, lifting weights. He talking to that girl, Olivia very closely, that boyish charm he had was clearly working since her hand was on his chest and she threw her head back in laughter.

"Oh." I couldn't help but let out as Maddy and I watched the scene.

"Trust me when I say I'm saying more than just oh in my head right now."

"But didn't you break things off with him?" I asked her, putting my sweater to the side on top of her phone.

"I did. I just didn't think he would be with another girl that quick."

"Neither did I." I mumbled, watching Olivia and George walk away, her tugging him out of the gym, hand in hand.

"Victoria." A person said behind me. I turned around slowly, my eyes narrowing at Matteo who since yesterday had thought he had the permission to call me by my middle name instead of my actual name.

"Stop calling me that."

"It suits you. You look more like a Victoria than a Macy."

"Then why wasn't I named Victoria?" I questioned, exaggerating a gesture with my hands.

"That clearly isn't a question for me." He laughed.

I looked down at Maddy then at Matteo. "Matteo this is my roommate Maddy. Maddy this is Matteo, he's in a couple of my classes."

"I've seen you before. You play basketball right?"

Matteo nodded and I noticed the sheen of sweat on his skin. "Maddy...volleyball right?"

She nodded just when Sam joined us, unzipping his own sweater to show his Nike shirt. "Hey Mads." He said, looking down at our friend but when he noticed Matteo, he tensed a little.

Matteo put a hand out. "Matteo."

Sam looked down at Matteo's out stretched hand and I could tell he was contemplating whether or not to shake it or not but eventually he did. "Sam."

"I heard. Nice meeting you."

Sam nodded, his eyes not even looking at Matteo. Instead his eyes wandered around the room, not holding Matteo in any importance. This. This Sam was being a jerk.

I didn't even get the chance to bother him about it when he looked at me. "I'm going to start. Want to come?"

I opened my mouth to speak but Maddy let out an exasperated breath making it seem like she was tired even though I already knew she didn't do much. "I'm going to get some water. Mace, come with me."

She dragged me away from the odd tension to the side where the water fountain was. She pushed the button and only took a sip of the water before looking behind me. "So Matteo."

"What about him?" I asked, confused.

"He's cute. Very tall too."

"I didn't notice." It's not like I would've pointed it out. Yes, Matteo was attractive with his thick head of dark brown hair and Italian features but it didn't affect me the same way it would affect Maddy.

"Really?"

"Really."

"I don't think he likes Matteo."

"I noticed." I mumbled, turning around to watch what Maddy was talking about. I spotted Sam at the end of the 100m mark of the track and I knew he had just sprinted down there. Matteo was a little bit ahead of him.

Maddy and I watched Matteo and Sam sprint a little more after that and I got the idea that due to Sam's natural need to win, he was thinking about beating Matteo even though they were just working on running.

"Is he kidding me?" I muttered.

"I think he's jealous of Matteo." Maddy whispered, leaning against the edge of the fountain.

I let out a long breath and Maddy and I walked over to the start just as the boys came back over to us. Sam took a deep breath and walk over to me. "You ready?"

I opened my mouth to answer him but he swooped in like a fricking hawk, pressing an intoxicating kiss against my mouth. Before I even had the chance to recover, he pulled away leaving me lightheaded as he sprinted down the track chuckling.

I glared at his back, knowing he only did that for one reason. Matteo didn't seem fazed by it. He even said, "Interesting guy" before running ahead.

About an hour and a half later, Matteo bided us goodbye, walking out of the gym we had retreated to moments before. Maddy soon followed, telling me she'll meet me at the dorm.

It wasn't that late at night but there were only one or two other people at this gym and I sat in front of Sam who was now shirtless and using the rowing machine. I watched him pull at the handle, his body moving back and forth due to the stretch and retraction of his arms.

I wasn't the only one watching. Some girls outside were glancing through the window frequently from the track from time to time.

When he slowed down and stopped, I tossed him his water bottle as we both sat there, me looking up at him and waiting for him to speak. He pulled the drink away from his mouth before making eye contact with me. "I don't like him."

Already knowing who he was talking about, I sighed, leaning back on my hands. "Why?"

"I have to have a reason?" He asked, getting up and sitting in front of me, his knees up and almost touching his broad chest.

I shot him a look. "Makes sense for you to have a reason if you dislike someone you literally just met. And they did nothing to you."

"It's just his vibe." Sam mumbled, reaching over to grab my hand.

He traced my palm with his index finger and while that tickled and I knew he was trying to distract me, I pulled it away. "His vibe?"

"Yeah. You know those people I'm talking about. That you automatically don't like because they just have that type of presence?"

"Seriously? We're going with that reason as to why you don't like him?" I got up and Sam followed suit, a look of boredom crossed his face from the topic.

"It's not like I said you couldn't be friends with him. Can we just drop it? Forget I even said anything." He brushed me off, grabbing his sweater to head to the man locker room.

I grabbed him before he could open the door, cupping the side of his face with my hand. "I don't know what you're thinking about him or if this is some type of jealously or-"

Sam chuckled, glancing down at the ground. "Is it that obvious?" It was but clearly I didn't understand why.

"You have nothing to worry about," I assured him. "Even though you acted like a jerk towards him-"

"That's your name for me. Don't wear it out."

I pretended he didn't even speak. "And you kissed me as if to prove something even though you didn't have to I can look past it. It's me and you."

A slow smile appeared on his lips and he nodded. "Me and you Hazel."

I gave him a brief kiss and he smiled into it. "That sure warded off all of the girls by the window." He mumbled against my lips.

I glanced at the window where some of the girls on the other side had been watching Sam and noticed how some of them went back to what they had been doing, some with irritation clear on their faces. "Sure did."

Sam's expression showed amusement as I patted his cheek with the hand on his face. "I'll see you in five minutes."

I turned around to head to the women's locker room and felt a hand swiftly hit my butt. I twisted myself to face Sam as he looked around the room with an innocent look on his face. "What?"

He widened his green eyes, making me think that he probably got away with so many things as a kid because he could pull off that innocent look even though he was far from it.

"You're not slick Jerk." I told as that smirk over took his face.

"I was never meant to be Hazel." He winked before pushing through to the locker room.