The Journey Begins Chapter 2

Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm back with the next chapter of this story. I would like to give a thank you to everyone who is taking the time to read this story. All of you are awesome! Special thanks to those of you who followed, favorited, and/or left a review, it means a lot. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter,

The stands roared with cheers from the multitudes of people that nearly filled the small stadium to its maximum capacity. There was no doubt that everyone in attendance was extremely anxious for the soccer game to begin already and they could barely wait any longer.

The two teams had already completed their warm-ups about ten minutes ago and were currently in their locker rooms. In the meantime, the cheerleading squad was in the center of the field doing their best to pump up the crowd even more than what they already were by performing several routines that they had practiced. Every time they would finish one of their performances, the crowd would immediately applaud them in support.

High in the stands near the very top, Autumn could be seen standing in front of her seat in an attempt to get a much clearer view of what was going on in the field. Admittedly, being surrounded by so many people made her feel highly uncomfortable as she would much rather be in her dorm right about now. Despite this, the New York native was trying her best to have a good time and enjoy this first-ever experience for her. She would constantly follow along with the crowd every time they clapped and cheered. She even participated when the audience began to do the "wave." Anyone could tell that there was a unique sense of euphoria in the atmosphere.

It wasn't long before the cheerleaders finished their final routine and immediately moved to the side of the field near the home locker room entrance. Once they had exited the field, the away team quickly entered followed by the loud "boos" that were coming from the fans. Autumn herself couldn't resist that urge as she too began to "boo." In all honesty, even through her discomfort, the New York native was having a lot of fun. The crowd was unbelievably contagious as she would always find herself swept up and doing exactly what they would do. She loved her school after all, and going along with the rest of her fellow students was the best way to support the home team.

Suddenly, there was a male voice that began to speak through the speakers welcoming everyone to the game. The fans began to cheer wildly as they were long ready for the game to get started. The cheerleaders formed two lines opposite of each other surrounding the entrance to the locker room. Although Autumn had a very good idea of what was going on, it was still a little annoying for her how difficult it was to properly see what was happening. To be honest, she would always have a hard time trying to figure out which cheerleader was her best friend since supporting her was the main reason why she was here in the first place. Before Autumn could realize it, everybody around her suddenly began to jump up and down as they continued to cheer louder than ever. It took a moment but she was finally able to see what the whole commotion was about. The players for the home team were finally beginning to come out individually as their name along with number and position were called out. The people in attendance gave a loud applause for everyone as they were coming out.

"And now…" began the speaker once again grabbing everyone's attention including Autumn's. "Playing as attacking mid and proudly wearing the number ten."

Much to Autumn's surprise, the fans began to cheer even louder as the whole stadium was filled with chants that voiced one name, "Elias!"

"Give it up for MVP candidate, ELIAS SANDOVAL!" At that moment, the fans cheered and jumped as loud as they ever had the entire night as the final player exited the locker room and ran towards the field to join the rest of his teammates.

'MVP candidate?' thought Autumn. It's no secret that her father is a huge basketball fan and if she remembers correctly, "MVP" is a major deal. It didn't take long for the game to begin after the introduction of the players. Even though she knew little to nothing about soccer, it wasn't hard to tell that the game was fairly one-sided in favor of the home team, much to the delight of the fans. Although she didn't get the more complex details, Autumn was able to quickly figure out the main concept of the game which was ultimately to get the ball inside the opponent's net. A feat that wasn't accomplished until a shot from Elias outside the box that sent the fans into another frenzy. Autumn too joined in on the celebration as the people around her often patted her on the shoulder or even hugged her in joy as the game continued. 'I guess there's no such thing as strangers here,' she thought with a smile. The game went on for quite a while until the referee eventually blew the whistle one last time signaling the end of the game. The final score being 4-0 in favor of the home team.

As the people began to leave the stadium, Autumn remained in her seat for a little while longer. She saw that all the cheerleaders had entered the locker room shortly after the soccer team did. Because of this, she decided to pull out her phone and send a quick message to Taylor. Fortunately, she almost immediately received a response from her best friend which notified her that she would be out in like ten minutes and to go ahead and wait for her outside the stadium. The brown-haired female stood up from her seat and headed for the exit.

Outside, the sidewalks were completely crowded as everyone was talking to each other before heading home. Upon seeing this, Autumn decided to send Taylor another message to let her know where exactly she was going to be waiting for her.

Twenty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Taylor. Although the area was still pretty busy, a good amount of people had already left. Admittedly, Autumn was growing highly impatient as she had long noticed that a lot of the cheerleaders had already exited the building and left. One of them being the head cheerleader whom Autumn recognized from "Tina's Smooth-N-Juice." She walked out of the building with a guy that was dark-skinned and had a very rebel feel to him which she deduced to be the boyfriend.

When it came to Taylor, she knew what kind of person she was and because of that, she wouldn't be at all surprised if her best friend had forgotten that she was outside in favor of something else… someone else in most cases. Fortunately, after a few more minutes of waiting, the freshman cheerleader finally stepped out of the building and immediately spotted her.

"Hey!" she yelled out as she ran towards her.

"A little more than ten minutes," teased the New York native playfully.

"I know," began the cheerleader with a look of guilt. "I'm really sorry for the delay but a friend twisted her ankle in the locker room and a few of us wanted to make sure she was ok before taking a shower… do you forgive me?"

Autumn gave a light giggle as she nodded, "Don't worry about it. To be honest though, I was a little worried that you had forgotten about me again."

Hearing this, the black-haired female sighed sarcastically as she couldn't help but laugh a little, "That's understandable," she admitted. "Again, I'm really sorry about being late… I know I should have texted you to let you know what was going on, but thank you so much for waiting. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had decided to leave."

"It's ok," assured Autumn with a warm smile. "What matters now is that you're here and now you can make good on your part of the deal."

Hearing this, Taylor looked at her best friend in confusion, "What deal?"

"The one where you buy me dinner."

"Oh," laughed the cheerleader. "Would you be surprised if I said that I forgot about that part?"

Autumn sarcastically rolled her eyes as she honestly wasn't surprised one bit. "Would you be if I said no?"

"Fair enough…" Taylor was silent for a moment as she turned to both directions of the sidewalk. "How about sushi?" she suggested.

Without hesitation, Autumn began walking towards the direction of the sushi restaurant followed by her best friend. "As long as your paying," she playfully responded. She heard a laughter from Taylor before feeling two arms wrapped around her.

"I love you bestie," voiced Taylor honestly as the two continued walking.

The two friends arrived at "Sushi Shore," and even though it was well over the normal busy hours, the restaurant was quite packed due to the game. As soon as they entered, they were kindly greeted by a young female hostess who led them to their table before politely asking them what they would like to drink.

"I would like an iced tea please," responded Autumn.

"And I will take a water," added Taylor. Once the hostess wrote down their drinks, she kindly took her leave allowing both females to be alone."

"So, what are you going to get?" asked Taylor as she looked at the menu.

Autumn too was looking at the menu, she wasn't too sure what she wanted exactly. "I guess I can't go wrong with the Cali roll… actually… a pork ramen bowl doesn't sound too bad right about now… yea that's what I will get. What about you?"

"Hmm," thought Taylor. "I guess I'll go for the "Makizushi." Within a few minutes, a waiter arrived to their table with drinks in hand.

"Are you ready to order?" asked the waiter once he placed the drinks down.

"Yes," responded Taylor. "I will have the makizushi rolls and she will have a pork ramen bowl." The waitress took their order and left. Taylor took a sip of her drink before turning to her best friend, "Just for the record, I said that I would pay for sushi, not ramen," she commented before giving a small laughter that was quickly followed by Autumn. "So, what did you think of my talents as a cheerleader?"

Autumn's laughter died down as she too took a sip from her drink. "Well from what I was able to see from my seat, you were pretty good… at least if you were the person I thought you were…"

"Are you serious?" asked the black-haired female. "Clearly it wasn't me since everyone knows that I…am…amazing when it comes to cheerleading… among a few other stuff."

"I have to admit though," began Autumn. "The stadium was pretty filled for a soccer game… I mean I thought only the football games attracted this many people."

"Well, unlike the football team. They know a thing or two about being the best in the district so that's probably why."

"Really?" asked Autumn slightly surprised. "I didn't know this university excelled in sports."

"Only in soccer," responded Taylor. "Plus, they have the top college player in the country. Elias Sandoval."

"Oh, that's really good. I didn't know that."

"Shocking…" commented Taylor sarcastically. "That's why you need to get out more. Being locked up in your dorm is not helping your personal life."

Hearing this caused the brown-haired female to raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you need to get out more and enjoy yourself," responded the cheerleader. "Last semester you said that you barely went out when you were in high school so you have a lot of making up to do. You're hours away from New York, nothing is stopping you from going out every night."

"I agreed to the lounge party on Monday didn't I" answered Autumn sarcastically.

"I guess that's a start… who knows, maybe you'll want to repeat the experience." At that moment, they were interrupted when the waiter returned with their food.

Autumn was immediately hit with the mouth-watering aroma that was coming from her food, but before grabbing her spoon, she first closed her eyes and said a quick prayer of gratitude.

Taylor noticed her gesture and decided to wait for her to finish before eating. Admittedly, it was a little awkward for her to sit there silently while her best friend prayed, especially when they were in public locations. Once Autumn had finished, they both finally started to eat.

"About that party…" began Autumn grabbing her best friend's attention. "I was hoping that you could maybe help me pick out something that I could wear for it… I mean it will be the first party that I'm going to that will not be exactly formal. So…" before she could say anything else, she was cut off by Taylor.

"Enough said," she responded with a smile. "I'll stop by your dorm on Monday before the party and that way we can both go together."

Autumn smiled warmly as she heard this, "Thanks, hopefully, I won't get in the way…"

"Don't worry," assured the cheerleader. "I know Monday is going to be a new experience so I will be by your side throughout the entire night. The minute you want to head out will be the minute that we head out."

"Thanks."

"I'll be sure to bring some of my makeup so I can get started on hiding that sunburn on your cheek… I wouldn't want your potential suitors to find an unnecessary defect in you," she added to which Autumn simply rolled her eyes. "It's going to be fun. I promise."

Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter. Reviews are always accepted and greatly appreciated. If there's any way that I can improve these chapters or if you have any ideas for the future of this story, please let me know. Thank you so much for giving this story a chance till next time. Take care.