Page 42 of Rain Delay

My sister usually kept her eyes peeled for scouts when she attended games too. She knew how bad I wanted to get selected. It’s all I ever talked about at home. I’m honestly surprised she hasn’t told me to shut up about it.

Ellie took a step back from me, hugging her arms around herself. She got a little embarrassed when my sister would call out our PDA. We weren’t huge on PDA, but I loved sneaking in a kiss here and there.

I’ve only ever thought about being with Eliana. She was my first everything. We spent a lot of time as just friends until I got the balls to ask her out and prove to my friends that I could get a girlfriend and that I wasn’t afraid of girls.

Eliana Romano was the only girl I had ever wanted. Somewhere along the way, I stopped picturing a future without her in it. She’s my person.

“Are you ready to go?” My sister asks again.

“Oh, I..” I stammer. “Yeah, let me just make sure Ellie gets a ride home.”

“I’m her ride, stupid.” She laughs, and I look at Ellie, who’s smiling big at me. “I told her mom I would bring her home after the game so she wouldn’t have to worry about driving out.”

I nodded, grabbing El’s hand as we walked to Willa’s car.

Willa was also close with Eliana. That was like the little sister she never had. She’s got two younger brothers, and having Eliana around was giving her that little sister fix that she never got growing up.

If she wasn’t hanging with me, she was hanging with Willa – Which was rare, but from time to time, I did like to share Ellie with my sister.

“Can you stay for a little bit? Then I’ll give you a ride home?” I ask El, opening up the car door for her.

“I would have to ask, but I’m sure my mom would be fine with it.” She smiles at me. “Is this just another excuse for you to drive around?”

I nodded, grinning at her. “That, and I want to hang out with you for a little. A little hug in the parking lot isn’t enough. I feel like I haven’t seen you all week.”

She sighs, sitting next to me in the back of the car. “I’ve been swamped with homework, and I had softball practice start up again. We’ve had two practices a day for the last week now.”

I wrap an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to me. “I’m sorry, babe.” I kiss her temple. “But I’m proud of you for being strong and pushing through.”

“It’s definitely been a lot,” she rests her head on my shoulder. “The coach wants me to try playing first and shortstop.”

“I heard shortstop is a great position,” I give her a smug smile. “Just saying.”

* * *

“HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT COLLEGE?” Eliana asks as we lay in my bed, staring up at the ceiling.

I look over at her, propping myself up on my elbow. “Yeah. Coastal Carolina is the only one I’ve really looked at. I know my dad mentioned to me that UCLA and U of Florida also have done some scouting reports on me.”

“Florida would be fun,” she looked over at me. “But I think Coastal will be the perfect fit for you. That’s your dream school.”

It was the only school I had my mind set on. I knew how successful their baseball program was — how they’ve built their players to be ready for professional ball by their junior year. Many players had come to the team on full-ride scholarships and they had a handful get selected in the first round.

I knew Coastal’s current roster for this year, I followed their top players on social media, and even kept track of their stats. I compared them to my own, even though mine were high school, I wanted to make sure that I would be able to keep up with the others when I went there.

I wanted that to be me. I wanted to be able to declare for the MLB Draft my junior year of college and play professional ball by the time I turned twenty-one. I wanted nothing more than to be able to say I made it. To be able to conquer all of my dreams.

We still had two more years to go, however, this was the time where we had to start thinking. Summer was going to consist of training and college tours. I told myself I would visit other schools that had invited me out to view their campus and baseball program – I just knew it was going to be a waste of time, since I already had my mind set on a school.

“Have you thought about college?” I ask Eliana, watching as she played with the string on my hoodie she was still wearing.

She glanced over at me, then looked back at the string. “Yeah, I really like Madison. I also looked at NC State so I would be close to you.”

I nodded, taking her hand in mine, brushing my fingers against hers. “Don’t pick schools just because of me, though. I want you to think about your life.”

“I do. NC State has some good communications and marketing programs,” she tells me. “I could always look at those, I just want to be close to you.”

I swallow, nodding slowly. I look at our hands, how she’s laced her fingers with mine.