I Must Be Dreaming

All eyes were on Rowan watching, waiting to see what she would do. She wasn't paying attention to them. She was focused on the man who had thrown the ball and was just as focused on her. There were only two people who had a clue as to why the quarterback and the reporter were having a stare down. Well, it wasn't really a stared down, it was more of affirmation of their deal.

Eventually, Dallas nudged her to move on because he didn't like all of the unwanted attention. Rowan broke her stare down with Andrew only to roll her eyes at him, then she locked eyes with Andrew once again and raised the pig skin up behind her head, elbow at a right angle. That was when things got intense. Not that Rowan cared about what people thought about her if she fucked this up. So she continue on with her throwing motion, releasing the ball right after it passed her ear, and it left her finger tips with a prefect spiral.

The ball sailed through the air in an arch toward Andrew, who reacted to catch it right before it hit him in the chest. He looked at her with a stunned expression. Rowan only smirked and shrugged her shoulders at him in response, as if to say that the ball was in his court now.

******

Andrew was frozen in place as he watched the mystery girl walk away. He was surprised she had actually shown up, but he was glad to see her again and was looking forward her post game interview. He wanted to impress her. But most importantly he wanted know her name! He also hoped that she would give him the chance to get to know her better and that she would want to get to know him better. Maybe become friends or maybe become more...

He groaned in frustration, he shouldn't be thinking about her right now! He had a game to get ready for! He needed to focus on his reps and his game. Wiping the sweat off his face, he rejoined the team for some more passing drills. Hoping that a few good passes would help get her off his mind. His state of mind didn't go unnoticed by some of those he was closest to, especially Wide Receivers, Griff Whalen and Chris Owusu.

"Do you know who she is, Griff?" Chris inquired as the man in question gave the starting quarterback a knowing look, but was then called to run a route before he could answer. After catching the ball like an old pro, Griff returned to stand next to Chris,

"Yeah, I do. I watched her run into him. Literally."

Chris gave a little chuckle and then with a disbelieving look he asked,

"You're serious?"

Griff nodded, "Oh yeah, it was priceless. She didn't even recognize him. He asked her to breakfast after that."

"Owusu! You're go!" Coach Hamilton called out for Short Out route passes. Chris laughed at Griff and jogged off to run his drills. As Chris approached Andrew and Coach Hamilton, he noticed Andrew looking over his shoulder at the girl again. He had never seen him act like that about a girl; even he had to admit she was pretty attractive. He could tell she had the right attitude to be with Andrew, she hadn't flipped out when she realized who he was and she hadn’t bothered him with any of those annoying questions. He just hoped Andrew wouldn't push her away.

"New girlfriend?" Chris, jokingly, asked Andrew, who had yet to turn back to warm ups. At that statement, Andrew whipped his head back around to him, flush faced from being caught.

"No... I don't even know her name." Andrew sighed, picking up a football to get ready for the drill. Chris nodded, stretching out his arms,

"Yeah, Griff caught me up on that. She ran into you! That is the best!"

Andrew couldn't help but blush even more. He gripped the football even tighter, so tight his fingers turned white from the strain.

"Griff also told me her name. He said he had a class with her freshman year." Chris continued, knowing that this would get Andrew fired up.

"Owusu quit yapping, Luck focus!" Coach Shaw ordered from the sidelines. Andrew glared at Chris, who smiled as he lined up to run his drill.

With a quick burst of speed, Chris dashed for 5 yards and then cut 90 degrees to his right. As he cut, Andrew launched the ball. It sailed through the air in a professionally tight spiral and landed in Chris's awaiting hands. After making the catch Chris tossed the ball to one of the managers and pranced over to Andrew.

"I was just kidding man. Griff didn't say anything like that." Andrew groaned and gave his friend a shove,

"You suck, man. Now I have to wait over two hours to find out her name."

The only thing the other man could do was laugh and continue to run their warm up drills.

******

While Rowan and Dallas were watching warm ups, they decided to look up some The Key of Awesome videos on YouTube. Currently, they were being fascinated by 'Lady GaGa vs. Lord GaGa.' That was when Dallas got an amazing idea,

"We should dress up as Lady and Lord GaGa for Halloween!" Rowan nodded, eagerly agreeing to that prospective,

"Definitely! That would be freaking amazing!" Then her phone began buzzing, looking down she saw that it was Mr. Harmon then sliding the lock button to answer, "Hello, Mr. Harmon, how can I help you?"

"Rowan, last minute change of plans... We don't need you to give a post game interviews. There's going to be a post game press conference instead." Her professor informed her, she almost let out a disappointed sigh when she heard this. She had really wanted to do the interviews.

"I understand, sir..." She managed to get out as her throat was swelling up from the shock of being pulled. What happened to the thick skin she had built up? It crumbled away because she hated rejection, especially after finally being given the chance to do what she wanted.

"Actually, we've got something better planned for you both. I am still doing some final research and I will present it to you on Monday." Mr. Harmon informed her. Rowan swore she heard some sort of music in the back ground, but chose not to comment on it.

"What would you like us to do instead?" She inquired, twirling an annoying lock of hair that kept flying in her face around her finger. Looking around she noted that the stadium was beginning to fill up, then up at the clock 45 minutes until game time. The boys would be going back to their locker room soon.

"I'd like for you to write an article about the game for the The Stanford Daily. I know Journalism isn't your major but it would help me out a lot if you did." Rowan's professor informed her,

"Have it uploaded on the website as soon as you. Enjoy the game. Goodbye."

"Yes, sir, I will. Have a nice afternoon." She replied back and hung up her iPhone. Dallas who had been trying not to listen in on the conversation then asked,

"What did Mr. Harmon want?"

Rowan took a deep breath and bared a rather watery smile, "He wanted to inform us that their was going to be a post game press conference."

Dallas frowned at this but he knew getting angry about it wouldn't help anything, "What about the post game interviews?"

"He just wants us to write a game report for The Daily." Rowan explained, barely able to hold her composure. She hadn't realized until now how bad she wanted Andrew to know her name...

"You were going to tell Andrew your name after the game, weren't you?" Dallas didn't really ask because he could tell that she had really only looked forward to the interview so that she could talk to him.

"How do you always see right through me?" She asked back, feeling tears begin to prick at the corners of her eyes as she watched the team walk back to their locker room so that the San Jose State players and coaches were the only ones on the field. No, she was not going to cry in public! She refused to look like a baby.

"Cause I've known you long enough to know what you're thinking about by your posture. When you think of Andrew you look like your head is in the clouds." Dallas pointed out to her,

"Don't worry, Ro. I wrote your name and number on a piece of paper that I gave to one of the freshman to give to Luck. So you could still get your interview with him." He added with wink. He hoped that Rowan wouldn't push Andrew away like she had done to him when they were freshman. He could tell that Andrew had the right head on his shoulders to deal with Rowan's quirky ways.

In three seconds, Rowan went from sad to pissed, "Really, Dallas, really? Are you serious?" She placed her hands on her hips attempting to look intimidating, but her tiny frame just made it a difficult to achieve. She then walked a few paces away until she turned to him,

"You know what? Never mind, what's done is done. Let's go sit in the student section instead." With that they ran to go sit in the 'Red Zone.'

*******
In Stanford Cardinals Locker Room.

After Coach Shaw review the Game plan for the last time before the game, redshirt freshman quarterback Brett Nottingham walked over to Andrew holding a small folded piece of paper that some man on the side lines had given to him to give to Andrew.

"Hey, Andrew?" Brett asked, shyly unsure of what to do.

Andrew, who had been talking with Coby Fleener, Michael Thomas, Griff, and Chris about the game, turned around when his name was mentioned. He smiled when he saw his 'back-up' behind him,

"Brett, what's up?" Brett only shoved the paper into Andrew's hands. When Andrew gave him a questioning look him but Brett just shrugged and walked off. So carefully, Andrew unfolded the paper and read it.

'Hey Andrew, I'm sorry but I won't be doing the post game interview anymore. It was changed to a press conference. -Rowan Kowalski. 332-567-8874.'

A smile spread across his face from ear to ear. Granted he was disappointed that he wasn't going to get to do the interview with…Rowan after the game, but he had her name and number now.

"It's from her, isn't it?" Chris asked, peering over Andrew's shoulder, "Hallelujah, she has a name and a cell phone!"

Everyone then gathered around to hear to find out the mystery girl's identity.

"Rowan, her name is Rowan!" Andrew smiled and put his helmet on. He suddenly felt more focused, like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Now, he was ready to play ball!

*******

Ok, so somehow Rowan ended up with her face getting smeared with red paint after Dallas and her walked into the 'Red Zone.' Which was totally fine with her, she had been wanting to get painted for a long time. It was quite comical, so Rowan took a picture to upload to her blog and to Facebook.

The game was getting close to starting because the marching band was getting closer. Soon they were walking out of the tunnel. They would play the national anthem before the guys would run out of the tunnel to start the game.

The national anthem was interesting... Well, yeah, more like completely different! Rowan had never heard it played like that before. It was off and she was sure that they meant for it to be. O well, it is the Stanford band and they are pretty odd. She made a face at Dallas who had begun filming. After the band was done with the anthem, they went over to the tunnel. There was cheering on that side of the field when some of the fans caught sight of some of their favorite players. Three Red flags ran out before the players.

Andrew and two other team representatives walked out for the coin toss, which they lost. Looks like they are going to start out on defense.

Let the games begin!

Cardinal special teams took the field around Kicker, Jordan Williamson, who's foot sent the ball sailing deep into Spartan territory. The ball was returned to the SJSU 22 and the defense took the field.Rowan and the rest of the student body cheered as the 'D' made big plays forcing the Spartans to punt. High-fives, fist bumps, and cheers echoed from around her. The student section began jumping up and down and shouting,

"Ooooooooo!!!!" Trying to mess up the Spartan punter. Terrell caught the kick at the Stanford 47. Rowan shuddered, knowing that Andrew would be coming out. She was excited to she what he could do in person, YouTube videos were not enough. Yeah, she had gone all stalker over the last couple nights. So what?

On the first down, they ran the ball only gaining four yards, but they were now in Spartan territory. The next play, Andrew threw to go to guy, Chris Owusu, and they picked up the first down. Rowan and Dallas decided to rip off Purdue's first down chant because they thought it was fitting,

"1,2,3,4! First down, BITCHES!!" Making the hand motions to go along with it. The marching band also started up. They rushed two downs in a row and picked up another first down!

"1,2,3,4! First down, BITCHES!!" A few other students joined in this time.

That was pretty much how the rest of Stanford's possession went except for when Andrew there two incomplete passes on a goal line stand forcing them to take a Field Goal. Points were points and Stanford was on the board. The Spartans offense made smarter decisions this time out. Actually making it out of their territory before turning the ball over.

When Stanford came out for their second possession, Rowan could tell that they were determined to score. 9 plays and 100 yards later, Andrew kept the ball for the TD!

"Get Lucky!"

Many fellow students started shouting as the horn sounded for the Touchdown (the extra point was good). The Spartans had little time before the first quarter ended, Their Running Back ended up fumbling the ball and it was recovered by Gardner at the Spartan 13.

The second quarter began with a bang when Andrew fired a laser to Ertz for a 41 yard TD!! This got the entire student section up on their feet cheering wildly. It was so loud around her that Rowan thought she was going to go deaf. They grew even louder as SJSU attempted to score again but were denied again by the Cardinal D. Then the SJSU D held the boys to a Field Goal on their next possession.

The Spartans next drive was their best yet, but were forced to kick a Field Goal. How ever, their kicker missed the uprights. Rowan wondered if the Student section had messed them up. Stanford was forced to punt on their next possession. The D recovered the ball after a SJSU fumble and put the cardinal offense in prefect position to score, which they did.

"Wow, this is sad." Rowan commented to Dallas after the Extra Point was declared good.

"Yeah, but what do you expect when they play a team that is barely a Division 1 school? The last time they were eligible for a bowl game was in 2006."

Dallas agreed/ informed her, still filming the game. He was a man of TOTAL DEDICATION when it came to his "job." He loved filming stuff. Of course, he also studied his subject very well before hand.

Spartans finally lit their lamp with a field goal, but that would be the only points they were allowed for the entire game. Those would also be the last points scored in then first half. At Half TimeRowan decided to get something to eat,

"Do you want anything?" Dallas nodded and they slipped out of their row to go grab a slice of pizza from on the concession stands. They both hurried because they wanted to see what the marching band had come up with for their Half Time show. It turned out that their half time show was just as confusing as their national anthem but was hilarious. It reminded Rowan more of a play or skit than anything else.

The second half mostly revolved around Stanford scoring 30 more points and they looked good with the exception for a few minor errors. Like a few incomplete passes by Andrew and a couple dropped balls by one of the Linebackers. Which Rowan was sure they were going to tease him about in the locker room.

The Final Score was 57-3 when the buzzer sounded. Cheers all around the stadium erupted. The football team had just taken it's first major step in achieving their goals! Andrew present the game winning ball to Coach Shaw for his first win as Stanford's Head Coach. It was really touching that they would think to do something like that for him. Eventually, students, fans, and parents began to take their celebrating elsewhere and so did Rowan and Dallas. They went to go meet up with Quinn in the Lantana/ Castaño Hall Commons, where they would begin to write the game report.

"So how was the game?" Quinn asked when Rowan and Dallas arrived in the Commons. Dallas took a seat next to Quinn and Rowan flopped, lazily onto the couch across from them.

"It was a blow out." Rowan shrugged as she looked over her game notes trying to figure out a good title for her article. "Which was to be expected..."

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun in the "Red Zone." Ro and I got them to shout the Purdue First Down chant." Dallas added in.

Quinn could only shake her head at them. She wished that she could've got but she had to work at the radio station she was interning at in San Francisco.

"What do you think of 'Stanford Wins, First Steps Toward Their Goals?'" Rowan inquired when she had finally come up with something. Dallas scrunched his nose and shook his head,

"It's too long." Rowan glared at him from behind her notepad and then went back to the drawing board. As she did this she received a text, looking down it was a number she didn't recognize. So she opened it up,

'Hey, this is Andrew.'

Rowan felt her face flush, slightly but texted back, 'Andrew who? I happen to know a lot of Andrews.'

'I happened to just win a game.' Andrew teased back.

'Ladd? How's Winnipeg? I didn't know the season had started yet!” Rowan pulled out a random Sports figure whose first name was Andrew.

'Who???' Andrew responded back. Rowan laughed at this and texted back,

'Oh, so you're not THAT Andrew. What's your last name?'

'Luck.'

'Andrew Luck... Hmm, I don't think I have ever heard of you. No wait, you play football for Stanford, right?' She joked. Not 3 seconds later did her phone begin to ring the chorus of 'Tonight, Tonight' by Hot Chelle Rae.

"Hello?" She answered, sweetly causing Quinn's brow to furrow in confusion and Dallas to struggle to suppress a small smirk.

"Rowan, your name is Rowan, right?" Andrew Luck's voice asked on the other end. The way he said her name caused her to sigh with a smile. She didn’t know why but he liked the way he said her name.

"Yes, that is what I have been called for most of my life. What's up?"

"Not much… Just got done with the press conference and thought I'd call you." Andrew informed her, his voice had a nonchalant tone to it.

Rowan blushed even more at the thought that he had been thinking about her and began twirling her hair around her fingers, "Oh, really? And why were you thinking about lil ole me?"

"I was wondering if we could hang out tomorrow since I don't really have anything going on." He informed her. Rowan almost squealed right then and there, but contained herself. She didn’t want to seem too excited about hanging out with him.

"Sounds like a plan." She smiled, winking at Dallas.

"Great, so uh...Where do you live so that I can come pick you up?" He asked, shyly.

"I live in Lantana Hall. Meet me outside the Commons at 11:30?" She asked.

"Sure, so I will see you at 11:30 am or pm?" He joked.

"AM, definitely, I don't think I would stay up until 11:30 to hang out with someone." Rowan admitted.

"Yeah, I don't think I would either." Andrew laughed at her and then she heard him talking to some of his teammates.

"Yeah... Hey, can I let you go? I have a Game Report that is due in an hour and I don't wanna keep you from celebrating with your friends?" She asked, remembering her article and how she needed to send that in as quickly as possible so that it would make the school’s paper on time.

"Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." She agreed and then hung up, smiling stupidly.

"What was that about, Ro?" Quinn inquired her as soon as the conversation was over.

"Yeah! What was that about, Ro?" Dallas echoed with a smirk teasing his lips.

Rowan waded up a piece of paper and threw at Dallas' face. "I have plans for tomorrow." Then began writing her article with a pleased smile on her mouth.