Chapter 56 Acceptance
-Drew-
Opening day has been a great game by all accounts.
I’ve been able to get on base with each at-bat during the game.
I’ve even been able to steal a base, showing off my speed on the bags.
I’ve been working so hard all off-season to be able to show what I can do on the field.
In the top of the seventh, I help secure the win by relaying a ball from our outfielder to the catcher, achieving the last out of the game.
After celebrating with the team, I get my sideline interview from the hottest girl at the game.
It takes everything in me to not kiss her right there on the field in front of all the coaches, fans, and my teammates, but I stay focused on giving her the clip she needs.
I meet quickly with Coach and he says to keep up this effort, and the scouts would start calling.
I leave his office and exit the ballpark into the parking lot.
I have the hottest girl waiting for me with open arms, wearing my number.
***
Annie has been checking her online portals at each of the schools she’s applied to.
She’s already gotten the “Congratulations, you’ve been accepted” message from three schools.
Norman is the holdout; every time she checks it, the status still says pending.
I applied to the same schools without telling her.
I’ve only been accepted at one of the three she has so far.
College is my backup, but if the draft fails, I am going to be heavily influenced by her college destinations on where I should be, too.
Today during practice, Coach asks me for a minute.
I join him in his office to learn that he’d heard from the head coach at Norman.
I’m getting an offer to play for their program—it should be updated in the portal any day.
Now, I’m sitting with Annie in her kitchen, doing homework.
I want to tell her my news, but I also don’t want her to panic that she still hasn’t heard anything.
She wants into Norman so bad, I don’t want her to stress even further about it with my news.
So, I figure that until she’s heard from them, I’ll keep my news to myself.
***
Five days later, I’m lying in her bed, playing on my phone, and she’s at her desk looking at her computer.
She screams! I sit up with a flash. “Are you ok?” She doesn’t even respond to me at first. Then: “I GOT IN, I GOT IN,” she chants, spinning herself around in the chair to face me.
She is up from the chair and in my lap in one jump move.
“Drew, I got into Norman, I did it!” The expression on her face is total awe.
Her dad bangs into the room. “What’s wrong?
” He looks at us, then turns towards the hallway as he says, “Annie, can you please remove yourself from Drew’s lap? Please let me know everything is ok.”
Annie smiles at me before jumping up, going to her dad and tapping him on the shoulder, “I got in, Dad. I did it, Norman here I come.” He scoops her up and spins her around.
“Congratulations, Annie, I’m so proud of you.
” He yells down the hall to get Mrs. Campbell's attention. When she arrives, Annie relays the same message, and her mom starts to cry. Annie and her dad pull her into their celebratory hug. For a moment, I feel a little weird just sitting and watching this family moment. If they weren’t blocking the only door to the room, I’d try to leave to give them this moment.
Instead, I look on at them all celebrating before I hear Mrs. Campbell say, “Drew, get yourself over here,” and I join in on their celebration.
***
Annie’s parents decide that we need celebratory pizza, so they go back downstairs to order the pizza, leaving us alone in Annie’s room again.
I lay back down on her bed like I’d been before her scream, but Annie doesn’t take up the same spot on the chair.
She follows me and lies down on her side, wrapping her arm around my waist and sliding her leg between mine.
“Congratulations, Annie,” I say because yes, I’d said it in front of her parents, but I want to say it now when it is just us.
“Thank you. Now we have to see if you get in too, like as a backup option.” She fumbles over her words.
I get why; it’s been weird trying to balance wanting to be drafted to wanting to stay near her for me, too.
I know she’ll support me if I get drafted—she’s given me so much support already.
She’s always checking in with my stats and tracking them against the targets Coach has given me to strive for this season.
The idea of going to the same place and not being separated sounds like a great plan to me, too.
I get why she wants me to go with her to Norman.
“I got into Norman too,” I tell her. She sits up, asking, “When?” I stay lying down before answering, “You can’t get mad, Annie.
I was thinking about it and waiting to hear if you got in.
” “Drew, I’m not going to be mad, just tell me,” is her reply, but she is already getting that little line in her forehead that only appears when she’s about to get angry.
“Fine, last week, I got accepted and got the offer from the baseball coach, happy?” I am prepared for an annoyed or angry Annie, but what I get is covered with Annie’s body as she positions herself on top of me.
Her lips are on mine in a kiss that I return quickly.
When she pulls back, she looks dazed from the kiss, and she says, “Get drafted, but if you don’t, let’s go to college together, deal?
” “It’s a deal, Angel. Where you go, I’ll follow.
” She’s becoming the center of my whole world.
Then we proceed to make out until her dad calls up that the pizza is here.