Chapter 1

Diana has a bad day...

'Knock knock knock'

"Diana?"

Rays of sun shown through the window above Diana's bed, filling her eyes with unpleasant light as her eyes fluttered open. Sounds of bird's morning chirping filled her ears until another sound came from her bedroom door.

'Knock knock'

"Diana are you still asleep?"

The door opened slowly and Hannah hesitantly poked her head in. Diana turned over and sat up rubbing her eyes before realizing that it was indeed a little too bright in her room. What day was it? It wasn't the weekend already. What time was it?

"Diana? You're going to be late for your morning class!" Hannah said, hurriedly.

She glanced at the clock beside her bed on the small table, her eyes widened in shock. Dread came over Diana as she tried and failed to untangle herself from the blankets she'd been sleeping under just minutes earlier. She rolled a little too far and ended up on the floor in a heap. Hannah watched from the doorway, horrified, as she had never seen such an undignified display from the heiress. Diana was finally able to pull the blankets off of her and stand up straight.

"Ahem." Diana cleared her throat and ran her fingers through her wild hair, trying to calm herself and save what little dignity she had left in front of her friend and roommate. "Hannah, thank you for waking me. If you would kindly step out, I need to get ready."

Hannah nodded and backed out slowly, closing the door as she went. The click of the door rung out in the silent room. Diana turned quickly to her bedside table and noticed that she had forgotten to set an alarm on her clock, which never happens. She also had an alarm set on her phone for such an occasion as this, but her phone was not on the table. Where did she leave her phone?

"No time for this. I can't be late." She mumbled to her self as she quickly walked to her closet.

She got ready in record time and grabbed her bag by her door. She switched out yesterday's books with books she would be needing today, that's when she found her phone in the pocket. The battery was dead.

"Of course it is." She whispered and sighed before she threw her charging cord into her bag.

Hannah and Barbara where in the kitchen drinking tea and eating breakfast when Diana walked quickly past the table towards the door, grabbing an apple on her way out.

"Goodbye, girls." She said, waving without looking back.

"Have a good day Diana!" Barbara and Hannah shouted at the same time before the door slammed.

The two girls look at each other with worried expressions. They have been worried about Diana as of late because of the heavy workload that was being thrust upon her. They had barely seen their roommate in the past couple weeks due to her either being in class or at the library until late at night. With finals coming up and research papers being due, Diana hasn't been sleeping enough or eating enough, at least that's what they suspected. It was catching up to her but she would always brush it off when Hannah or Barbara would confront her about it. The girls knew she was stubborn and nothing would deter her from her studies. All they can do is support her and help out however they can.

It's a short drive to campus thankfully, and parking was not an issue this early in the morning. So Diana made it to her class with a few minutes to spare. Now that she could sit and relax for the first time since waking up, she noticed just how tired she was. And hungry. She didn't realize until now that she had skipped dinner last night, again. This semester has been the hardest on her since beginning classes at Luna Nova University. Being the prodigy that she was, and living up to the reputation of her family name, was exhausting. And she was more than ready for the summer break that was coming up. But for now, she would suck it up and get through this class.

On the very edge of campus was the sport complex. Various buildings and fields spanning a few blocks were home to the prestigious sports teams and clubs of Luna Nova. The university had a proud and storied reputation for having some of the best student athletes in Europe and many league championships in various sports to prove it. One of the most prestigious clubs in recent history has been the women's field hockey team. After landing three highly recruited athletes, it was no surprise that the Europe Collegiate League Championship was easily won. The team would now move on to playing matches against the best teams in the world in a summer tournament. This was why, on this cold and windy morning, Luna Nova's women's hockey team was running sprints on the green field on the edge of campus before their classes later that day.

"Akko, I think that's enough running!" Amanda was breathing heavily with her hands behind her head. "You're going to kill us!"

Akko stopped halfway through her next sprint and looked at Amanda curiously, and then looked around the field. There were bodies of her teammates laying on the ground, and many others bending over trying to force air into their lungs. Akko was easily the most physically fit on the team, and sometimes she forgets that not everyone has as much energy to burn as she does. It can get a little out of hand at times as she is the team captain, and is in charge of their workouts outside of official practice sessions.

"Oh, hehe." Akko rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Sorry. Let's circle up and do our stretches, and then we can head out."

Instead of 'circling up', the girls just fell to the ground where they were, groaning and mumbling curses under their breath.

"Or...I guess that works." Akko said hesitantly.

After leading the team through stretches, all the girls went their separate ways, except for Amanda and Jasminka, who gathered their things and joined Akko by the bleachers where she was putting on her jacket.

"Oh captain, my captain. Went a little overboard this morning, ya think?" Amanda said annoyed.

"Yeah, that was not fun at all." Jasminka stated with a frown, pulling out a bag of potato chips from her backpack.

"I'm sorry you guys." Akko looks at her feet guiltily. "I'm just so pumped for worlds coming up! I want everyone to be in the best shape possible!" She pumps her fist into the air.

"Yeah well, maybe you should spend more time on your studies than trying to kill us all with sprints. If you don't pass, you won't be playing in worlds this summer." Amanda says as she starts to walk off the field.

"Ugh, don't remind me" Akko grumbles as she follows the other two. "But first...food. I'm hungry. Let's hit up the cafeteria?" She asks pleadingly.

"I'm down" Amanda nods.

"I'm always up for food" Jasminka smiles wide.

The cafeteria is in the middle of campus. It's a large building with a variety of little shops all around with many tables and booths in the middle. The roof was made of glass to let as much natural light in as possible, but with morning being overcast and gloomy, the cafeteria was only dimly lit. This early in the morning, only the coffee shop and other shops serving breakfast are open.

Amanda and Jasminka got in line at their favorite shop that sold little breakfast sandwiches, and Akko stood in the longest line, which was at the coffee shop. She only had to look at the menu on the wall briefly to figure out what she wanted. She had been here enough times that she had most of the menu memorized anyway. They sold the best pastries she had ever tasted. And the coffee wasn't bad either.

Looking away from the menu, her eyes landed on the person in front of her. The first thing that captured her attention was her hair. It was long and styled perfectly, but the color, blond with tea green highlights. It was so unique, so beautiful. Akko had to use all of her will power to not reach out and feel this stranger's hair. It was probably so soft. She shook her head and leaned to the side to see how many people were still in line, only three more. Bouncing on her heels, Akko's eyes landed on the woman in front of her again. Now noticing the clothes she was wearing, beneath that beautiful hair was an expensive looking brown leather jacket. On her feet were expensive looking brown leather knee high boots, covering the bottom half of very nice blue jeans. Very tight fitting blue jeans. This woman had very nice legs and…

'Oh my god! Stop staring!' Akko internally yelled at herself as her eyes shot up to look at the ceiling.

"Akko! How's my favorite customer?"

The voice made Akko jump slightly as her attention snapped down to the man at the counter.

"Hey Aaron! I'm doing well." She said with a wide smile.

"Good good. The usual, eh?" He said with a smirk.

"Of course. The usual."

Aaron turned around to prepare Akko's coffee as she turned to walk to the register. She stopped when she saw the woman who was in front of her still standing there rummaging through her bag mumbling something incomprehensible under her breath. After a few seconds she stopped and sighed heavily.

"Excuse me," she said to get Aaron's attention. He walked back over to the register. "I seem to have left my wallet at home. I sincerely apologize, I can't pay for this." She pushes her coffee and bagel back toward the other side of the counter.

Aaron raises his brow at her and nods. Diana's face is flushed with embarrassment. 'Could this day get any worse?!' She thinks to herself. She turns to leave.

"I can pay for it."

Diana stops in her tracks. She slowly turns around and for the first time she notices the girl who obviously saw the whole exchange. An Asian girl, slightly shorter than herself, brown flowing hair, half put up in a ponytail. She was wearing a plain white tank top with a red and white sports jacket over top with the letters LN just under the left shoulder. But most noticeable were her very very short red athletic shorts with the letters LN with two hockey sticks crossing behind them. And her legs….

"Umm..." Akko shuffles awkwardly when the woman doesn't respond. 'Is she...staring at my legs?!'

Diana is suddenly pulled back to reality. She was caught staring. Of course she was. Embarrassment seems to be the theme today. She feels a blush creeping up her neck when she looks at the brown haired girl smiling at her with a raised eyebrow. Her beautiful crimson eyes left her speechless for a moment.

"Add it to my my bill Aaron." Akko says, not wanting to hold the line up anymore.

"I couldn't possibly ask you to..." Diana starts to say, waving her arms in front of her.

"Too late." Akko says happily as she shoves Diana's coffee and bagel into her hands.

After receiving her change and picking up her coffee and pastry, Akko smiles at Diana and starts to walk away.

"Wait!" Diana almost shouts. She reaches out but realizes she doesn't have a free hand.

Akko freezes mid step. She turns around to look at the woman. Her bright blue eyes were wide and her lips were slightly parted, like she wasn't sure what to say next. Then suddenly her posture was ridged and her expression was neutral. Akko was surprised at how fast it happened. But no traces of the flustered woman were there anymore.

"I appreciate your generosity. I've had a rough morning. I intend to repay you miss..." Diana gestures to Akko.

"Oh, Kagari. Atsuko Kagari. You can just call me Akko." She says smiling proudly.

"Pleasure to meet you. I intend to repay you, Miss Kagari..."

"Just Akko, please." Akko cuts her off. "And you are?"

Diana hesitates. She hates introducing herself to others. She liked being praised and admired at first, but it got old very quickly. Her reputation and family name drew people to her for all the wrong reasons. Mostly to take advantage of her. But she is not dumb, nor a fool. She can very easily sort out people's intentions with her. This is why she has so few who she can call true friends.

"Diana Cavendish."

"Well Diana, don't worry about paying me back. Glad I could help. See you around?" Akko asks expectantly.

"Yes, of course." Diana nods stoically.

Akko smiles warmly at her as she turns around and walks away. Diana is frozen there watching her as she weaves through the tables in the middle of the room. Those shorts…they should be illegal. She watches until she sits down at a table with five other girls. That's when she notices a certain fiery red haired girl smirking at her from said table. An unpleasantly familiar face. The Amanda O'Neil.

"Damn it. No no no." She groans as she immediately turns and walks out of the doors to the parking lot as quickly as possible.

She eats her bagel and throws the wrapper away before her black BMW comes into view. She opens the door, quickly gets in and closes the door before slowly letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. After placing her coffee in the drink holder, she leans her head against the steering wheel and closes her eyes. What a mess today is. Breathing deeply, she tries to calm herself. But all she could seem to think about was mesmerizing crimson eyes. And that bright smile. And those legs.

"Noooooo. Stop it! Stop it stop it!" She chastised herself while straightening up and covering her face with her hands. "I don't have time for this nonsense."

Thinking for a moment, she decided she needed a distraction before her next class. And by distraction, she means going to the library and studying. Throwing herself at her school work had always been the answer to her problems. It was a little too effective at times, considering her lack of a social life. But at the moment, it didn't matter. School was her main priority. She wouldn't let a cute girl with beautiful eyes and an amazing smile get in her way. No matter how great her legs look in those shorts. Now her mind was just playing games with her. With a determined nod, she stepped back out of her car and started walking to the library, which was only a few minutes away.

"So, Akko, what's going on with you and Cavendish?" Amanda smirks at Akko after she sits down at the table with her coffee and pastry. She waves at her friends, Lotte and Sucy, who joined them for breakfast, before replying.

"Eh? You know her?" Akko raises her eyebrows at the red haired girl.

"Akko, you don't know who Diana Cavendish is?" Lotte asks, surprised.

"She's kind of a big deal, you know." Sucy says in her usual uninterested tone.

"Don't you read the school newsletters?" Asked Jasminka before taking a bite of her food.

"Oh come on guuuys..." Akko whines. "You know I don't have time for that. What's so special about her then?" She folds her arms and pushes her bottom lip out in a pout. "Besides being super hot." She thought that last part was just in her head.

Shocked looks are what welcomed her when she looked up. Even Sucy who normally looked like she couldn't care less about anything widened her one visible eye ever so slightly. Lotte held her hands to her chest and smiled. Jasminka was frozen in awe, mid bite. Constanze, the resident engineer of the group, raised one eyebrow. Even Amanda, the usually loud and teasing girl, was frozen in shock. At least only for a moment.

"Heh...heh. Did I say that out loud?" Akko says sheepishly, a blush now almost matching the color of her eyes.

"Ahahahaha….damn Akko" Amanda says, almost falling out of her chair. "I never would've guessed."

"Yeah Akko, I didn't know you swung that way." Sucy says with an evil grin.

"Swung….wha...n-no...I-I.." Akko was unable to complete a full sentence. She waved her hands in front of her, trying desperately to defuse the situation. But the only effect it had was more laughter from her friends.

"It's okay to like girls, Akko." Lotte says with a reassuring smile.

"T-that's not...um...I-I...d-don't..." Akko sighs and finally just shrugged her shoulders. "Well shit."

Another round of laughter ensues, while Lotte softly pats Akko on the back.

'I thought you were dating Andrew?' Constanze held up her notebook for her to read.

"ANDREW?!" Akko shouts. The whole cafeteria went silent, looking her way. "Ahem. Andrew?" She whispers. "Andrew is just a good friend. Definitely not dating."

"Does he know that?" Sucy says snickering.

"Of course he knows that! Ugh." Akko throws her hands up in frustration.

"Okay, okay. So you're not dating Hanbridge." Amanda leans in close. "But Diana Cavendish? You sure do shoot for the stars don't ya? Ahaha!" She laughs out loud again, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Look, first of all, I'm not shooting for anything. I helped her out, and I'm probably never going to see her again. Second of all, I can appreciate good looks when I see them. Stop being weird about it." Akko stands and gathers her wrapper and empty cup. "And thirdly, I have class. Peace out." She walks away quickly, hearing laughter once again behind her. "I swear, that's not how I pictured coming out to my friends. I guess it could have been worse." She mumbles as she puts her things in the trash and heads out the door.

Walking into her class ten minutes early, she found Andrew sitting in his usual chair and she dropped down heavily in the chair next to him with a dramatic sigh.

"Good morning, Miss Kagari." He said with a smirk.

"Not today Andrew." She said as she put her forehead on the table in front of her.

Andrew chuckled. He always enjoyed the antics of this girl. It was a pleasant distraction from the monotony of his schedule.

"Andrew, who is Diana Cavendish?" She asked, not looking up.

This simple question surprised Andrew. His childhood acquaintance had made quite a name for herself, he was always surprised when anyone didn't know of her. Especially here at Luna Nova.

"Why do you ask?"

When he didn't receive an answer, he looked over and noticed the blush creeping up her neck, assuming her covered face was the same color, he decided to answer.

"Well what would you like to know?" He waited a moment before continuing. "Most would call her a genius. A prodigy. She was the youngest ever to be accepted into Luna Nova University at the age of 16. And the youngest to be accepted into Luna Nova's graduate program just this past year, at the age of 18. Well, to be more specific, Luna Nova's School of Medicine. She is the heiress to all six of the Cavendish hospitals throughout Europe. Anything else you would like to know?"

When Andrew was left with silence again, he looked over at his friend. Akko was looking at him now with wide eyes and mouth open. Andrew chuckled again as he turned toward the front of the room where their professor was gathering his papers, ready to start the class.

"Is she single?" Akko whispered.

Andrew jerked his head to the side, eyebrows raised almost high enough to touch his hairline. He was expecting a joking expression but he found no humor on her face. A smile crept into his features.

"I have no doubt."

Akko smiled excitedly at him and prepared her notebook before the class started.

The rest of the day was free of embarrassing incidents for Diana. She finished her classes, finished one of her research papers in the library, and decided to give her self the night off. She parked her BMW in the parking garage of her apartment building and rode the elevator up to the top floor where the more luxurious apartments were. Being a Cavendish had it's perks, one of those being that money was never an issue. And her roommates family's were both wealthy as well, coming from noble lineage. So they could afford the most expensive apartment close to campus. Although Diana never tried to flaunt her wealth, a girl had needs and old habits die hard.

She walked into her apartment and was greeted by Hannah and Barbara at the kitchen table huddled in front of a laptop.

"Diana!" Hannah says, surprised.

"We weren't expecting you to be home for dinner!" Barbara says, excitedly. "We were going to order in tonight and watch some movies. Would you like to join us?"

Diana thought about it for a moment. This could be a nice distraction from the day she has had. She did tell herself she was going to give herself a break after all.

"Yes. That sounds fun, ladies." She says with a small smile.

The two girls in front of her looked stunned, eyes wide and mouths agape.

"Really?" Hannah asks breathlessly.

"I have decided to take your advice to heart. If today has been any indication, I am in need of a break from my studies. I think a night in with my closest friends is just what I need." It pains Diana to admit something like that. "I'm going to put my things away and change. Do let me know when dinner arrives, will you?" She walks past the table and into the hallway.

"Sure thing, Diana!" Barbara yells behind her.

As she opens her bedroom door she hears two distinctive squeals of joy behind her. Her lips curl into a small genuine smile. Those girls could be a little much sometimes, but she didn't know what she would do without their antics. They were truly like sisters that she never had. A constant in her chaotic life. She dropped her bag by her door and walked into her closet to pick out some more comfortable clothes for the long night ahead.

After changing and pulling up her hair with a hair tie, she noticed something on her desk along with the books she took out of her bag that morning. Her wallet was sitting there in plain sight. With a sigh, she sat down on the chair in front of her desk and stared at the offending object. Crimson eyes flashed into her thoughts. Those beautiful, kind crimson eyes. And red shorts. Hockey sticks. She suddenly had an idea and turned to her laptop. After switching it on and waiting for it to load, she searched the university's website. More specifically, the official page for Luna Nova's women's hockey team. And there she was on the home page, the captain of the most recent league champions. In the picture, she is running toward the camera, arms out to her side with a hockey stick held in her right hand. She looked like she had just scored a goal, the smile on her face shone brighter than the sun. Diana smiled at the display of celebration in the photo and bit her bottom lip. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees when she clicked on the roster.

"Atsuko Kagari. Captain." She whispered as she clicked on her picture.

Diana was impressed at her biography. So many accomplishments before coming to Luna Nova. She must have been as dedicated to the sport as Diana was to her studies. She didn't know enough about the sport to be interested in all the stats, but she was definitely interested in the photos. Her uniforms suited her in the best way. The tight tank tops and the short skirts showed off her amazing physique. Toned, but feminine. Anyone could tell that she took good care of her body. She was….so cute. 'Cute?! What is happening to me?! Am I really attracted to this girl?' Soon she lost herself staring at those eyes. And she didn't even hear two girls walking into her room and stopping behind her.

"Uh, Diana? Why are you looking at pictures of Atsuko Kagari?" Hannah said in a suspicious tone.

Diana jumped so high, her chair nearly fell backward onto the floor. She stood up and turned around to face the girls while blocking the computer from their view. She wasn't accomplishing much since they had already seen what she was looking at.

"Hmm?" Was all she could get out of her mouth at the moment. She was standing very awkwardly, not knowing what to do with her hands.

"Who's Atsuko Kagari?" Barbara looks at the both of them, confused.

"She's that brat I keep telling you about. The one from my musical theory class." Hannah says, looking disgusted.

"Oh, right. The one who's always falling asleep." Barbara nods as she pushes Diana to the side to get a better look at the photos.

"Girls….I w-was simply..." Diana starts.

"I just don't know what Andrew sees in a girl like that!" Hannah makes a gesture toward the computer.

"Andrew?" Diana asks, eyes narrowed. "Andrew Hanbridge?"

"Yes, unfortunately." Hannah sighs.

"A-are they dating...or..?" Diana trails off.

Barbara notices the disappointment and hesitation in Diana's voice and turns to look at her with her eyebrows raised. Diana glances at her nervously and then back to Hannah. Luckily Hannah is oblivious and continues her explanation.

"I don't know for sure, but it is quite obvious that he likes her. Anyone can see it. She's always giggling and what I can only assume is flirting with him. When she isn't asleep of course." Hannah rolls her eyes and crosses her arms before letting out a long sigh. "He smiles at her like I've never seen him smile before."

"I...see." Diana says curtly.

"So you don't know for sure..." Barbara says turning to her friend. Hannah just shakes her head. "Well, she is cute, I must admit." She winks discretely at Diana.

Diana's breath hitches and her eyes grow wide for a split second. She knows.

"What?! Barbara!" Hannah says, horrified.

"Oh come on Hannah, you have to admit that she's cute." Barbara states as she grabs Hannah by the wrist to lead her out of the room.

"W-well...I mean...she's okay...I guess.." Hannah stutters as she's being dragged.

"Dinner is here by the way." Barbara yells to Diana as they leave the room.

Diana is frozen in place. 'What in the hell just happened?' is all she can think. Barbara saw right through her. She had never told anyone about her sexual orientation. She'd never had the need to because she had never felt like this before. She'd never been affected by someone enough to research them online before either. She picked up a pillow and screamed into it. She was frustrated with this whole day and she couldn't wait for it to be over. After throwing her pillow back onto her bed, she took a few deep breaths before reluctantly walking out her door to join her friends for dinner.