Stay With You (Anthony Rizzo)

65

Maliyah

I dreamed of this moment as a kid, when I would be playing for a gold medal for my country. And sure, it's not a Olympic medal but I got to start somewhere, right? And for me it starts right now.

"Are you nervous" Anthony asks as I get ready at the hotel. I liked to arrive prepared, that way if something goes wrong I can handle it and not be worried that I still have to get ready.

"Extremely" I admit as I finish braiding my hair. I barley got any sleep last night and I was trying to make it look like I didn't.

"Hey, look at me" he insists as he pulls my chin up so I had to look in his eyes. I let out a long breath through my nose as I try to release some of this stress. "You're going to be amazing. Even if you don't win tonight you'll probably win MVP and this country will be very proud of you regardless" he claims.

"I just... I don't want to let my team down" I insist.

"You won't, you can't. Look where you've led them to, for the first time in forever the US is in position to win it all and that's because of you. They follow you and you always know where to be for good things to happen. You got this" he insists.

"Thanks. I needed that" I smile.

"And I needed to see you in your cute little spandex" he claims as he playfully grabs my butt and I roll my eyes.

"And that cute moment lasted all but ten seconds" I tease.

"It's not my fault you look so hot in your uniform" he claims.

"I can't complain... I often times dream of you in your baseball pants" I admit and he gasps.

"Wow, and to think I thought that what we had was special" he jokes.

"Alright, come here you big teddy bear. Come give me some more inspiration" I say as I open my arms. He quickly picks me up and spins me around before placing me on my feet again. He places his lips on mine and suddenly I was feeling ready to compete.

I get to the gym really early to stretch out by myself. I use the stretch bands and all that other fun stuff to make sure I was loose. I get rolled out and make sure everything is set for me to be the best I can be. Eventually the other girls trinkle in and join me in my preparations. I try my best to talk to everyone, get them pumped up and make sure they feel good. I took my Captain responsibilities seriously and I wanted them to know that I wanted this just as bad as they did.

"Alright girls, this is it. People are saying that we're the best US volleyball team ever, now lets stop all the taking and show them" I shout across the room. The girls hop up from the bench as we huddle in the middle of the locker room. We put our heads together and say a quick prayer before we head out to the court.

We go through opening line up and the national anthem for us and Brazil. This team was no joke, we went undefeated in our bracket and so did they. For the first time people in the United States was playing attention to volleyball and I was hoping we could give them something to cheer about. This game was on ESPN and I was not trying to let everyone down on national television.

After all the opening ceremonies was done I call my girls together for another quick huddle. We gather around the center of the court and make our game plan.

"Alright girls, this is it. We're in the big show. No matter what happens we give it our all, leave it all out here and don't hold back. And I promise, if you give it your all your best is going to be enough" I say.

"Let's do this" Ann adds on.

We all put our hands in the middle and I smile big.

"U-S-A on three! One, two, three" I yell.

"U-S-A" they repeat. And just like that it was on.

We win the first set easily before losing the second one. The third set was hard fought and we went back and fourth on match point for a while but we won it in a amazing set up by Taylor. I was so freaking proud of how far she's come. We make it to the fourth set where we had a chance at history. Where we can win the gold if we can get these last few points in this set. This was the toughest thing I've ever had to do that wasn't beating cancer and I wanted this almost as bad.

Our coach calls a time out as Brazil comes within a point of us. We had 23 and they had 22 so we were about to approach match point territory. We all head over to the bench and wait to see what the play call is.

"Alright girls. They have the serve and I want you to get in their heads. Make it seem easy, get that point as quickly as possible and get set for the match point. Then when it comes to that, I want Collins to lead us in the Titans play" she says.

"Are you sure" I question. Now was not the time to be trying to be cute or anything. The titans play barley worked at practice let alone a gold medal match point.

"Absolutely. You guys are playing like titans out there. You can do it" she says and I nod.

Alrighty then, here we go.

We head back out to the court and get set in our positions. I stand at the outside hitter position and wait for the serve. They hit the ball over and I bump it to our right side hitter, she sets it into the air and Taylor runs up to the net. She goes up and spike the ball to the outside corner and it barley makes it in giving us our 24th point. And now the ever so important job of finishing it off was upon us and we had big plans.

Taylor headsto the backcourt to get ready to serve and I take the time to try my best to take it all in and remember what is making out to be a big moment in my life. I look up and see Anthony and my family there cheering extra loud. Anthony has RJ's little girl on his hip because those two were inseparable. I smile big as they cheer louder when I look at them. It was a nice moment but it was time for me to finish this thing.

I let out a deep breath before she sets the ball over the net. They get it going and set to spike the ball back over. Our blockers block it but their setter keeps the ball alive for another round. They hit the ball over and it goes over to Ann. She goes to set the ball to Taylor but instead she sets it backwards. As soon as the ball leaves her hand I tap it over and it falls down. They go to hit the ball but before they knew what was happening the ball hits the ground and the whistle was blown. The game has been won and it was us who had won it.

I celebrate with my team as we all start to hug each other in the middle of the court. I was hot and tired and was just happy this ended with a win. After we celebrate we do a handshake line and congratulate Brazil on being a good ass team. They get their silver medals and it was finally time for us to get out good ones. We all go up to the podium as they say our names and put the medal around our necks. I look down as the medal rested on my chest and I couldn't stop the smile from coming on. I never thought I would be here, and that's what made this so sweet.

Eventually they bring out the mvp trophy and put it up on the stand.

"That's yours" Ann insists.

"You don't know that" I claim.

"Everyone knows that" she laughs.

A second later they announce me as mvp and she gives me one of those "I told you so" looks and I just shake my head. I go over and accept the trophy from the president of volleyball and thank him for putting on such a great show.

I return to my team who congratulated me a million times even though it was literally impossible for me to do this without them.

Finally I find my family who all crowd around me like always. Never did need a crowd, my family was one on its own.

"We're so proud of you" my mom insists.

"I know momma" I smile.

"We knew you could do it" my dad insists.

"I had my doubts" Jonathan claims and I just send him a glare. He was such a moron.

"MAL" someone yells and I immediately smile. I turn around to see where Anthony was before I get lifted off the ground. I look down and see Anthony holding me and I couldn't stop the smile from growing. He pulls me into a kiss and I happily kiss his back.

"I love you so much" I whisper.

"I love you most" he replies.