She's All Grown Up Now - An Everybody Wants Some!! Fic

I Keep Falling

"Oh---Hi." 

It was Finn. My brother's best friend since childhood. He was standing in a pair of light blue jeans, and a white button up shirt with navy blue feathers on it, and a pair of navy blue converse. 

"Hey Hallie!"

"---What are you doing here, Finn?" 

"I saw your brother at the baseball house, and he mentioned that you were moved in and I figured I would come and say hi. What are you up to?" 

"Oh! Yeah, I was just on my way over to the dance and theater building. Figured I'd take a tour and figure the whole place out."

"Well, how about I give you a ride? You can come meet the rest of the team afterwards?"

"The ride sounds good, thanks. I think I have plans with my roommate after though."

"Okay! Well, let's go then!" I nodded and followed him out the door. I quickly locked up the room and jogged down the stairs to Finn's car. He opened the door for me and then headed over to his side of the car. He slid in and then we headed out to the other side of campus. 

It was quiet for a while, and the awkwardness could have been cut with a knife. It's not that I didn't want to talk to him, in fact it was the opposite. I just didn't want to seem like I was too eager, like I was still the little girl who he used to steal dolls from and pick her up and swing her around until she couldn't stand up. Finally, he broke the silence.

Thank god. 

"So, how've you been?" He asked. 

"Pretty good. I mean, I'm all moved in, and I'm excited for classes, so--." I trailed off, not knowing what else to say. 

"That's good. I heard you're minoring in sports analytics? Thinking about analyzing the baseball team?" He laughed as we took a turn down another road. 

"I actually already did. That's how I got my last scholarship. I analyzed the team's hitters versus the other top four in the nation and watched tape to figure out who was hitting, what they did different, etc." 

"Really? That sounds like a lot of work for one scholarship." 

"It covered over half of my tuition, I'm not paying anything for school." Finn braked hard as I said that, eyes wide. My head jerked forward and slammed back against the seat, causing my vision to blur for a few seconds before clearing up. 

"JESUS FINN!" I yelled, rubbing the back of my head. "God, I think you gave me whiplash!" I groaned and turned my head side to side, making sure nothing was hurting too badly or that I couldn't move anything. As far as I could tell, I wasn't injured, but if it still hurt in a couple days I would probably have to go to the doctor. 

"Sorry, sorry!! I just--wow. I'm really proud of you. You've really worked your ass off, even though you have all this natural ability, you still push yourself, and I'm just-- really proud of you." I thought my face was going to explode from all the blood suddenly rushing to it. 

"Thanks. I mean, I'm really proud of you too. You guys are so amazing on the field." He smiled and nodded as he kept driving, and eventually we pulled up to a brick building that must have been at least three stories high. I gasped and opened the car door as fast as I could, and I took off running towards the entrance. 

"Jesus! Hal! Wait up!" Finn ran to catch up with me, meanwhile I was bouncing with excitement as I threw open the door. 

"Girl, you gotta calm down! You'll be here for four years, don't get burnt out too quick." He said, pulling lightly on my ponytail. I scoffed, amused, and pushed his hand away from me. I smiled at him and then ran into the building. I could hear him sigh and start to chase after me. I laughed as I started to run faster away from him. I slid as I rounded a corner and then threw myself through the first door I saw. I could hear Finn coming around the corner and threw a hand over my mouth to muffle the little bits of laughter slipping out. 

Just as I thought it would be safe to come out, Finn barreled through the door and threw me over his shoulder. 

"AAAH!! No! Put me down!" I laughed as I pounded on his back. 

"No way little sis. I think you can just hang out up there for awhile." He laughed, shaking me, making me squeal and throw my arms around his stomach. 

"Well, this is familiar, huh?" He said, finally setting me down on a bench outside one of the ballet rooms. 

"Yeah. Well, I mean, I guess we should get going. You guys have a meeting or something tonight right?"

"Yeah. The first introductions and whatever. We're probably going out after, so I don't know when I'll see you." 

"I mean, you're welcome at the dorm whenever, and I'm sure I'll be around to visit with Glen and you. Maybe I'll make some friends on the team. Who knows?" He nodded and we headed out to his car. He drove me back to my dorm, and he walked me up the stairs. 

"Alright kiddo. See you around." I hugged him as we parted ways. I unlocked the door and set my bag down between my bed and it. I went to sit down on my bed, until I heard the phone beep. A red light was flashing, indicating that I had a voicemail. I pressed the button to listen to it. 

"Hello Ms. McReynolds. This is Mrs. Barnes, I had the privilege of reviewing your analysis of our school's baseball team for your scholarship. I was so impressed that I sent it to several coaches on our campus. One of them would like to meet with you tonight. You'll be needed at the first house on 15th Street. and Avenue H at six o'clock tonight. Thank you so much! It'll be a pleasure seeing what you do with the rest of your time here." I deleted the voicemail and quickly wrote down the address. 

Well, I guess that puts a damper on tonight's plans. I looked at the clock and realized I only had about an hour before I needed to be there, so I took out my ponytail, brushed my hair, and then put it back up. I sat on my bed for about twenty minutes before I headed out, and made my way to the address that I had been given. 

After about twenty five minutes, I made it to the house, and an older gentleman, the coach I presumed, was just pulling up. 

"You must be Ms. McReynolds. It's a pleasure to meet you. Come in and meet the team." He opened the door for me and I followed him in. 

I kept my head low as we walked in, trying to avoid eye contact. 

"Everyone, meet our newest statistical analyst, Hallie McReynolds! She'll be at all of our games, have access to our tapes, and will need your statistics from each game. She'll be helping us improve our odds  of winning against the other nationally ranked teams we'll be playing."

I looked up, brushed my hair out of my eyes, and waved. 

I froze as I recognized some faces in the crowd.