A Surprise Visit

Emma Marshall
20
Takes Place in 2012

May 6, 2011- Flashback

The first day of practice had finally come and my two friends/ dorm-mates had volenteered to come to it with me. I knew that they just wanted to look for boys... I'm pretty sure that I'm the first girl in this college's history to do this... What you ask? Well, I'm a pitcher for East Carolina University. It's my sophomore year, and I got here on a baseball scholarship.

Now that I've explained everything, let's get on with it.

Heather and Nicole both sat on the bleachers, and gave me a "thumbs up" as I walked into the dugout. There were about ten boys sitting on the bench joking around, but when I stepped into the clearing, everything got silent. They all stared at me with wide eyes, and I heard comments like "who is she?" and "isn't she at the wrong field?" being whispered.

A guy stood up from the other side of the dugout, and started to walk toward me. "Why'd it get so quiet?" He said with a friendly smile. "Dude, that's a chi-" "Yeah, obviously Anthony." He cut off a boy who had ear length curly brown hair and hazel eyes, keeping his sky-blue eyes on me.

"What's your name?" He questioned, the corners of his mouth curving upward. "Emma Marshall." I answered crossing my arms. "Well, Emma, welcome to the team. I'm Mike Trout." He stated putting his hand out. "Thanks?" I answered awkwardly shaking his waiting hand.

He let go, and I stood there for a couple seconds, unsure of what to do next. "Do you wanna come sit down?" Mike asked from his spot, a smile still visible on his face. "I guess." I muttered walking over and taking the open spot on his right. I pulled out my Under Armor cleats and started to put them on my feet.

"So, where do you play Emma?" A boy who had shaggy blond hair asked. "Pitcher." I replied. "Damn. I wanna face you." He mumbled with a shocked look on his face. "I'm Jayce by the way." He grinned.

A man, who I assumed to be our coach, appeared in the clearing of the dugout. "Everybody out to the plate!" He called. We all grabbed our gloves and jogged out to where he was standing. "I'm Coach Morris. I'm glad happy to you all back, along with some new faces. We'll get started with some game situations after Mike and Chris lead stretches and warm-ups in right." He explained before we were sent off.

Practice was over pretty quickly, and by 6:30, I had my flip-flops back on, and I was standing outside the dugout. Heather and Nicole were surrounded by about seven boys, and I knew that I wasn't going to be seeing them for the rest of the night.

I set my bag down and leaned up against the dugout, watching them walk off to the parking lot. "Hey there." A voice came from behind me making me jump away from the wall and trip over my bag. Two hands grabbed onto my shoulders, and I looked up to see Mike smiling down at me. "Jeez Mike, please don't scare me like that again!" I exclaimed getting onto my feet. "Sorry Emma." He smiled as I leaned against the wall again.

"You got a ride?" He asked me picking up his bat bag. "I had a ride, but it's gone now." I replied looking out at the now almost empty parking lot. "What happened to it?" He questioned. "Seven baseball playing college boys is what happened." I replied making him chuckle. "Sorry bout that. Want me to give you a ride?" He asked. "Guess it couldn't hurt." I smiled picking up my gear bag and following him up to the parking lot.

"You could just put your stuff in the back." He stated once we got to a black Dodge pick-up. "Ok." I answered chucking my bag back before I got in on the passenger side. Mike started up the truck, and we went down the road.

"Where do you live?" He asked keeping his eyes on the road. "That's classified information Mr. Trout. If I gave it to you, I could accuse you of stalking." I smiled at him, making him roll his eyes. "Then I guess you're staying in my truck." He replied. "Oh please no, I live in the apartment complex on West Street." I laughed.

We sat silent for about 17 minutes until he pulled the truck to a stop in front of my building. "Thanks Mike." I smiled at him. "No problem." He smiled as I reached for the door handle.

"Wait Emma." He stated making me turn to face him. "What Mike?" I asked. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime... You know, with me..." He trailed off. "Sure." I smiled back at him. "That's great! Bye Emma." He smiled again. "Bye Mike." I replied getting out of the truck, getting my stuff and walking up the steps to the apartment complex.

Three Weeks Later

"Wait Em, you've got some on your face." Mike stated. "Where?" I panicked my hand starting to go up to my face. "No, I got it." He said stopping my hand with his before he pressed his lips to my nose. "Got it." He grinned.

"Michael! I could have got it myself, but thank you anyway." I exclaimed pecking his lips. "You liked my way better." He smirked. "No!" I protested. "Would you like me to do it again?" He questioned raising his eyebrows moving his ice cream toward me. "Michael please don't!" I exclaimed grabbing onto his hand, trying to make him stop. "Admit it." He said pushing the cone forward, his muscles becoming visible as I tried to hold him back with all my force. "Fine. I liked your way better." I gave in making him smile smugly.

"Maybe I'll do it more often then." He grinned. "Michael." I stated sternly. "Fine. Are you ready to go babe?" He asked, and I nodded before we both stood up and put what was left of our ice creams in the trash. Michael took my hand in his, twisting his fingers together with mine as we began to walk away from the small ice cream shop.

We walked into the community park and found an empty bend to sit on. I leaned my head on his shoulder as I watched the little kids run around the park. I closed my eyes and sighed, enjoying this peaceful moment.

"Emma, I've got something to tell you." Mike's voice brought my out of my day dream. "What is it Michael?" I asked looking at him. "I, um, I got drafted." He stuttered. "Oh my gosh Michael! That's awesome!" I exclaimed hugging onto his muscular body tightly.

"You're not mad?" He questioned me once I pulled away from him. "Why would I be mad at you?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows. "Cuz I'm gonna have to go away, and we're not gonna be on the same team, and I don't know if I'll be able to see you all the time." I cut him off with a long kiss. "Mike, I don't care about that. You're gonna play in the majors. You have a chance to be one of the best, and I can't be anything else but happy." I smiled at him.

"So what team drafted you?" I asked. "You'll see in a second." He replied confusing me. "What Mike?" I raised my eyebrows. "Close your eyes." He stated. "What are you going to do Mike?" I asked as I felt something cold go around my neck.

"Open them." I was met with his adorable smile. I felt around my neck, and then I found a charm. I looked down to see that Los Angeles Angels' "A" logo charm and a silver heart with the number 27 engraved on it. "The Angels?" I questioned making him smile and nod his head. "Oh Michael, that's great!" I exclaimed kissing his lips.

"And what's the number for?" I asked once we pulled away. "It's my number." He smiled. "You already know?" I questioned. "Yeah, I've know for a week." He replied. "Why 27? Why didn't you use 12?" I asked referring to the number he wore on his back right now.

"Well, it was the day that you and I officially started dating." He smiled. I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean? We're not "together" yet..." I answered completely confused. "Think about it." He grinned. "What's today's date?" I asked. "It's the 27th." His smile grew. "Michael." I breathed.

"Emma, will you be my girlfriend?" He asked taking my hands into his. "Of course Michael!" I exclaimed wrapping my arms around his warm body.

"I love you so much Emma." He grinned placing his lips on mine... The first kiss I shared with him as his official girlfriend.

End Flashback- June 9, 2012

A whole year has gone by so quickly, and I'm now a junior. Mike is now officially in the MLB, and is the starting left fielder for the LA Angels. He and I are still going strong... He sometimes flies in to see me in between games, and during his off-season, he flew me out to Cali... That was a fun-filled week, if you know what I mean...

Tonight my team has an extremely important game... We're in the finals for our division. Guess who might be pitching?... That's right, me... Michael also has a game today; so I doubt he'll be able to make it.

F.F

It was the bottom of the 9th, and I had been put in to close the game out. We had gotten a double play, and now the batter was down to his last two strikes. I got my sign from the catcher, and got into my set position. After I did my wind-up, I released the ball, and made the batter pop it up foul... One more strike...

Before getting onto the rubber, I fiddled with the necklace Michael had given me the night we first started dating, mumbling a couple things under my breath. I took my sign again, and changed my grip to a change up. I did my wind-up and let the ball go, successfully making the batter swing and miss... We won!!

The crowd went wild, and everybody came to the mound to dog-pile on me... Thankfully I wasn't hurt. We shook the other teams hands, and then made our way to our dugout.

My teammates stopped in their steps while I kept walking, looking back at them with a confused expression. They all had smiles on their faces.

As I approached the entrance, I noticed someone leaned up against the fence. He had on baseball pants, but his face was covered with the hood from a hoodie. There was words on the hoodie, but hey were being covered with his arms.

I furrowed my eyebrows as the person pushed himself off the wall and flipped his hood down. My eyes widened, and I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the ground. A thousand gasps were heard throughout the crowd as a huge smile spread across my face.

"Michael!" I exclaimed running towards him. I jumped into his open arms, hugging him tightly. "You're here." I whispered into his neck as I breathed in his sweet scent. "I wouldn't miss this for the world." He answered. "But you had a game." I pulled away and got onto my feet again. "I flew here, it was only in New York. Don't worry babe, we won." He grinned at me.

"I love you Michael." I stated. "I love you to Emma." He answered taking my face into his rough hands, placing his lips on mine, hooking me into a passionate kiss. The crowd busted into cheers as his lips moved against mine in perfect sync.

This moment was perfect... I knew that for sure...