The atmosphere on the campus was almost the same as the first day of school: filled with excitement, nerves and sadness. The only difference was that the air hanging around student's heads was filled with goodbyes and tears. Spring break was a week longer then winter break, and it seemed to have a negative effect on some friendships and relationships.

More specifically, Alex. The forward was seated on the edge of her bed, her eyes narrowed at the magenta suitcase in front of her. Her cheeks were tinted with pink and her eyes were glazed with a layer of water. Hope kept glancing occasional glances at her best friend, but chose not to ask what was wrong. She already knew.

Hope knew how hard it was to say a goodbye without forgiveness. That's how she felt for the first week after they had returned after Winter Break, not having forgiven her mother for the argument they had had. Her heart had felt like a sack of coal, hard and grey and hurt. That was how Alex felt now, Hope knew.

A gust of wind blew in through the partially opened window and relieved of the moment's silence, Hope made her way over to it and shut it with a soft bang. Alex blew out an audible sigh that Hope rolled her eyes at, turning around and staring at the younger girl.

"Alex," she stated, crossing her arms at the girl. The forward's green eyes flickered up to Hope's blue ones before returning her gaze to the suitcase.

"Alex," Hope repeated herself. "You need to talk to her."

Alex stood up, shaking her head viciously. "No, no, no Hope, I can't. I- I just ca- can't..."

"Alex, you know you're going to regret it for the next three weeks. I know you're going to regret it for the next three weeks. Hon, you deserve to relax. You deserve a break from soccer, school and feeling bad about Kelley." Hope paused. "Go talk to her."

-

Alex paced outside Allie and Kelley's room, her heart beating faster than the thrill of winning the College Cup. Her palms were soaked and she pressed them into her sides, feeling the liquid imprint a hand onto her skinny jeans. Do it Alex, you have to.

She knocked on the door twice, stepping back and running a hand through her ponytail to straighten it out.

The door swung open to reveal Kelley herself, whose eyes widened when she took in the sight of her ex standing in front of her dorm.

"Uhm... hi?" Kelley asked, awkwardness evident in her voice. Her freckles were standing out against her blushed pink skin, the embarrassment of not talking to Alex after two months finally catching up to her.

"Hey..." Alex trailed off, biting her lip before speaking slightly more urgently. "Kell, I wanted to let you know that I'm okay with you dat- dating Allie. Even though I miss you and love you, I respect and maybe even agree that you love her more... And I just wanted you to know that. And I wanted to know if maybe... we could be friends?" she rambled.

Kelley's mouth opened but no sound came out except an, "Okay."

-

The darkly lit apartment only made Tobin and Christen's packing date more romantic. The forward had lit a candle that was now seated on the dining room table for safety matters. Christen's maroon suitcase was sprawled out on the floor, textbooks and tee shirts scattered around it. Tobin was mid-folding a Nike shirt when her girlfriend came back from the bathroom, her hair pulled into a tight ponytail and now wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt, her so called "travel clothes". The couple was staying in New York an extra week to spend time together, but they had to be off campus by 6:00 p.m that day. Tobin had booked five nights at a fancy hotel in the city, exactly what they needed. The mid's stuff was already packed and waiting in the foyer to be lugged off campus.

Christen approached Tobin, a toothy smile splitting her face in half. "Babe," she started, "can we take a break? It's only..." she glanced at the clock. "10:36. We still have about seven hours to finish packing, grab lunch and dinner and check into the hotel..."

"Of course!" Tobin grinned back, standing up from the carpet after tossing the shirt messily into her luggage.

The two girls sat on the couch, where Opal had been the other night, watching Friends. The younger girl clicked on the TV and smiled at the cooking show airing loudly. Only five minutes in, two boys had been kicked off for badly done Ratatouille, and Christen was smiling. She sat up, giving Tobin a long look before rolling onto her lap and kissing her softly.

Tobin, confused, jerked upright a little, but returned the kiss. Christen moved in again, wrapping her arms gently around her girlfriend's back and squeezing her closer. "I love you," she whispered, biting Tobin's lip who whimpered out of excitement. She kissed Christen, pressing harder and her eyes opening when the girl's tongue slid inside her mouth.

The sight in front of her almost made her cry with joy. Christen's every breath hit her upper lip as they made out. She was so close that she could count every freckle on her girlfriend's nose, however faint they were...

The door burst open, but the couple didn't hear, to deep in love and the TV blocking out all other noise. Opal's eyes widened and she held back a soft chuckle at the sight before her.

Tobin spotted her first and winked, and the Asian laugh loudly. This got Christen's attention too, who spun off Tobin and glared at both of them.

"Uh..." she stuttered, blinking at her roommate.

Through her laughter, Opal spluttered, "Chris, it's cool. Besides, you guys are cute together. I'm going to miss y'all."

-

"Lex, what are we doing right now," Hope said as her best friend knocked twice on the apartment of Brian Hollins. After Alex had returned to her dorm, she had told Hope that she really wanted to see this project that the man had been constructing for a few months. She hadn't been very descriptive and adding the fact that the goalkeeper was barely listening to what she was saying, Hope barely had any clue why they were visiting them.

Now, the door swung open and Brian smiled widely at the duo, opening it to let them in. "Hi guys!" he greeted, walking over to his mini-fridge and opening it. "Hope, I didn't know you were coming! Do you want something to drink? I have-" he paused as he stuck his head inside the fridge. Alex laughed a little as he hit his head on the roof of the fridge and Hope hit her.

"I have some cranberry juice, but that's it, sorry. Carli already packed the rest of the stuff for our trip," he apologized, his grin widening. Alex's smile faded, but she quickly recovered, glancing at Hope and then back at Brian.

The young man looked Hope's face and said, "Alex, do you want to see that project I told you about?"

The forward's smile returned turning to Hope. "Wanna come?"

Hope shook her head. "No thanks. I'll just wait here."

Alex looked at her sympathetically before turning and following Brian into his bedroom.

Hope was all alone now, the only noise except for her breath was the rattling heater. She took a look around the apartment and sighed. Usually freshmen were stuck in dorms, but since Brian had been a transfer that year, he was placed in a (very nice) open apartment. It was at least three times the size of her dorm and three times nicer, just like everything else he owned. Hope couldn't help but wonder if that was why Carli was dating him.

Speaking of the midfielder, footsteps sounded behind Hope and she turned, jumping at the sight of her nicely dressed teammate. The Jersey girl wore a pretty floral dress with her hair pulled into a high, slightly messed up ponytail. She obviously was wearing very little makeup, and Hope thought she looked beautiful.

"Hey!" Carli smiled, approaching Hope with a soft smile. "What are you doing here?"

"A little creepy to see me standing in your boyfriend's kitchen?" Hope responded, a laugh hiding in her tone.

Carli chuckled. "A little, yeah."

"Heh, to be honest, I don't really know what I'm doing here either. Alex wanted to see some project."

Carli nodded, looking away awkwardly before clasping her tan hands together and grinning. "I was about to go finish packing my bag... for the trip!" she gestured to the open bedroom door, where some luggage was hiding.

"Yes, of course... the trip. A week, huh," Hope bit her lip.

"It's actually all three... weeks..." Carli corrected her, her voice cracking as she looked away.

The goalkeeper raised her eyebrows. "Wow. Three weeks... that's- that's lengthy. That's a real amount of time... to spend with someone that you love," her voice became quieter and forced, her eyes filling. Carli couldn't look at her. "And... you do."

The brunette cleared her throat before continuing. "Well, Car, I- I hope you have a good trip fill-filled with lots of happiness. Take lots of pictures! Not of things, unless you're the type of person to take blurry pictures of Starbucks cups, I wouldn't know. Take pictures of moments and store them here..." Hope placed her hand on her heart. "Because that's what really matters, right? That's what you'll want to rememb-"

She shut up as Carli took a step closer. The midfielder's mouth parted open slightly as if she was about to say something, but no sound came out. Her tongue slid over cracked lips, finally looking Hope in the eyes.

And like they had been waiting forever for this moment, their lips were locked together in a hungry yet gentle kiss. Hope pressed back, biting Carli's lip and they were rocking, lost in a world of love and soul, like nothing else in the universe mattered.

And then it was over, just as fast as it had started, in perfect timing as Alex and Brian walked back into the room, completely oblivious of anything. They were making casual conversation, Brian approaching Carli and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, giving her a kiss on the cheek. The midfielder didn't break eye contact with Hope, who shook her head before looking at Alex. The forward gave her a confused glance, aware that something had happened, what it was, she did not know.

Alex thanked Brian quickly, hugging Carli and wishing them both a good trip, nudging her friend to do the same. Hope did, but with no emotion, lost in a different reality.

The forward guided Hope out the door, who gave Carli a long, promising stare before shutting the door with a soft click on her happy ending.

-

a/n: here it is guys, the final chapter of the first installment of the All Stars trilogy. this is pretty cliche, but i couldn't of done it without your guys' support. your comments made me laugh and snort and cry, and i really appreciate the response i've gotten from this book and you guys.

that being put out there, there is a book 2 in the works, Legacy, which will be published January 1st to kick off 2017!! i hope you will read and enjoy that as much as you have with All Stars.

with that said, i need a little help. Legacy will take place in the girls' senior year of college, but i have some questions.

1.) I'm going to introduce some other team members such as Lindsey Horan, Kristie Mewis, Steph McCaffery and Mal Pugh. Is there any particular person that you would like to have a relationship with any of them? (right now, the only definite ship is McMewis.)

2.) What was your favorite relationship portrayed in this story? (not your favorite ship, but if you liked the slow-dragging Harli, the immediate Krashlyn or the conflicts between O'Long and Kellex and Tallie, or others.)

3.) In Legacy, would you like for there to be a few chapters about Christen and Opal (both of whom will play for the Western New York Flash) as they have already graduated NYU?

4.) What was your favorite part of this book?

5.) If I killed off a character in the next book, would y'all be so devastated that you would stay in bed forever and hate me? I'm highly considering it but...

That's it! I may or may not write an epilogue (i have a 15 hour car ride over Christmas break), but it mainly depends on reader interest.

i'll release the cover of Legacy on my twitter sometime soon (link in bio) so be sure to check me out there.

thanks again for all the love and support, all your comments and votes and reads. this book has truly been a journey to remember. i love you all endlessly, happy december! ♡ ❄

anna