Tryouts had gone bye far to quickly for Lucas' tastes, but if he made the team he would be playing much more baseball in the near future. When he had snatched his gym bag from the boys locker room, he wandered over to the art room doors, limping slightly from an old knee injury that always lingered during football and baseball season. He was supposed to meet Maya so that he could take her down to Topanga's and they could wait for their acceptance or rejection phone calls together. After waiting for a few minutes, the former Texan sank slowly to the floor to sit against the wall, wincing slightly from muscle aches.

Man, I'm out of shape he thought as he stretched out his calf muscles. As catcher, he had to crouch for extended periods of time, and he certainly hadn't been quite prepared for it. Overall, tryouts had gone pretty well. As it turned out, the senior who had started for the varsity team the previous year who Lucas had been worried about had decided to put his efforts into tennis and hadn't even tried out for the baseball team that year. The juniors he was competing against were all good, but with his strength, Lucas was a far better batter than they were. He felt confident that he would receive a spot on one of the two teams.

As he rested his head back on the wall, the tall boy wondered how his short blonde friend had done. As far as he could remember, she had never really been involved in sports. She had only tried out for cheerleading for countless years because of Riley but he did remember that when she had been in his PE class she had done well in the baseball unit. She was probably trying out for pitcher because she had a good arm (that and the blonde's catching skills weren't very good, probably because she had the cutest tiny hands he had ever seen but he would never tell her that because those little fists had a lot of power).

The sound of light footsteps prompted him to open his eyes. He wasn't quite sure what it was about seeing Maya, her wavy hair tied up in a ponytail, her too-big JQAHS t shirt covered in the red dirt from the softball fields, and streaks of dirt running across her cheeks and covering her knees, but something fluttered in his stomach. She slung her drawstring bag over her shoulder just as she reached him and smirked down at the boy on the floor in front of her.

"What happened to you, Sundance, y'all get stampeded by the cattle?" He smiled up at her.

"Nice to see you too, Maya." Bracing himself on the wall, he slowly rose to his feet. She snickered at him when he looked at her again questioningly.

"Seriously, you're moving slower that Pappy Joe and he's seventy-four." Lucas shrugged, the action reminding him of the tightness in his shoulders. He rolled his shoulders and neck again a few times as they walked towards the student parking lot before responding.

"Well, I haven't played in a while. My muscles aren't used to it I guess. Its a good kind of pain though. It means baseball is back." He sent a blindingly excited smile in her direction and she gave a snort of a laugh.

"You're such a nerdy little Huckleberry, you know that?" She climbed into the passenger seat of the faded, blue pick up truck.

"Well, you've seen my comic book collection, right?" he said as he turned the key in the ignition. His calm smile began fading as she merely blinked at him.

"What? I haven't showed you that?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I've only been to your house once, Ranger Rick."

"Huh. Well then I guess you haven't seen my Captain America collection either." At that, the blonde let out a full out laugh which the taller boy couldn't help but join in on.

"What's so funny about that?" he asked, but she couldn't respond immediately for her laughter.

"Okay, I knew you were a nerd, but a Captain America collection? Come on, its like you're trying to make it easier for me to make fun of you!" Lucas chuckled as he parked the car next to the curb in front of Topanga's.

"Maybe I am," he said, shooting her a look as he hopped out of the truck. Maya rolled her eyes before following his lead (she repeated the action moments later when he held the door open for her, which she actually thought was sweet but she would never tell him that). The blonde immediately dropped down into one of the orange chairs in the middle of the cafe, her bag lowering slowly to the ground next to her as it slipped off of her shoulder. He tossed his bag into the seat next to her.

"I'm gonna get something to drink, you want anything?"

"I dunno, just get me whatever you're getting," she said, not opening her eyes and instead opting to rest her head on the back of the chair. He nodded and walked over to the counter, where to Lucas' surprise, Katy Hart already had two smoothies waiting for him. The woman smiled at him as she wiped down the counter.

"Those are on the house, hon." He thanked her before picking them up, noting that she had gotten their two favorite flavors: strawberry banana for Maya and raspberry for himself. He set the light pink smoothie on the table in front of the seemingly unconscious blonde.

"One strawberry banana smoothie for one Maya Penelope Hart." She groaned and leaned forward to pick up the glass.

"Ugh, softball hurts. My shoulder is killing me," she said, moving her head from side to side to stretch the muscles that connected her shoulder and neck. Lucas copied the motion and growled as well.

"Yeah, mine too. I haven't thrown anything in a while. Hurts right in the joint, right?" The blonde shook her head.

"No, its more like above it? I think? I'm not entirely sure how to describe it…" Lucas' eyebrows furrowed and he reached over, pressing two fingers into the muscle on her shoulder.

"You mean this muscle?" In response, Maya let out a painful sounding growl.

"Yep, definitely that one," she said, her voice tightening.

"Sorry if I hurt you," he said, pulling his hand away, but she quickly grabbed it back.

"Noooooo, its a good kind of pain. Keep doing that." She turned her back to him fully and sipped her smoothie. Rolling his eyes, Lucas put down his own drink and rubbed the muscles on the small girl's shoulders. She let out a contented hum as his fingers found sore shoulders.

Suddenly, a phone buzzed and they paused and stared at each other. Quickly, they started fumbling around in their bags for their devices, hoping it would be a call from one of the coaches. Maya found her phone first, but the screen was blank so she looked over at him expectantly as he finally found his own cell and clicked the green button before holding it to his ear.

"Hello?" A look at the blonde girl showed him that his response had been just as uncertain as he though it had been. He mentally cursed himself.

"Hey Lucas, this is Coach Gomez! Do you have a minute?" The boy in question shot a wide grin at his friend who shot him an equally excited smile and a double thumbs up, being surprisingly supportive.

"Of course, sir."

"Great! Son, you really hit it out of the park in tryouts these last couple'a days in case you weren't aware. We'd really be happy to have you on the Junior Varsity team as our starting catcher!" Maya had leaned in closer to the phone so that she could hear what the coach said as well and she squealed silently in her seat while Lucas' smile split his face in half.

"I'd love to, sir! Wow, thank you so much!"

"No, Friar, thank you. And between you and me, with your skills I wouldn't be surprised if you get moved up to Varsity during playoffs for experience." The former Texan's face was radiant with the bright smile that kept expanding across his face.

"Thank you, sir!" He looked at Maya who was sporting a similar look and something inside him melted.

"Alright, I won't keep you any longer. See you at practice next week, Friar!" And with that the man hung up and the minute he did, Lucas threw a fist in the air and gave a loud exclamation of his excitement, not caring if he drew the attention of the rest of the cafe's customers.

"You made it as a starting catcher!"

"I know!" In a swift movement, he leaned forward and pulled her to him in a bone crushing hug which she returned with the same enthusiasm. After a few moments, he realized he had held on too long and released her, coughing awkwardly. She laughed at him lightly, a slight blush dusting her cheeks which she tried to disguise by drinking her smoothie. He picked up his own almost forgotten raspberry drink and took a sip, though the smile was still plastered to his face. He couldn't wait to tell his mama (he didn't tell Maya this).

When he looked over at the small girl next to him, she had taken her phone back out of her bag and placed it on the table in front of her, staring at the device intently. He noticed the hairline crack across the bottom that he remembered she had blamed on him somehow even though he hadn't even been there when it happened. He tried to catch her eyes but she was focused on the phone, absentmindedly sipping her smoothie. He wondered if she was just uneasy about winning the bet or if she actually cared to make the team.

"You don't have to get rid of all my old nicknames if you lose the bet." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment before her gaze flicked back to the phone.

"Its in the contract, I have to."

"But I think I'll miss Huckleberry and Ranger Rick if you ditch them," he said, flashing a crooked grin at her. She snorted a laugh in response.

"Thanks, Huckleberry."

"Don't thank me yet, I'll still be calling you Shortstack for a month." She laughed again.

They didn't talk for a while, just finished off their smoothies until there was nothing left in the glasses and they both looked at the phone expectantly. Maya began nodding off, her chin dropping to her chest every few seconds before her head shot up and she blinked rapidly.

When her phone went off they both visibly jumped and the short blonde stared wide eyed at Lucas as he gave her an encouraging smile. But she still stared at her phone as the song that was her ringtone played.

I've been waiting for a day like this to come

She felt her heart beating rapidly and she wondered when this had become so important to her.

Struck like lightning, my heart's beating like a drum

"Go on, answer it." She looked at the green eyed boy grinning at her supportively. Oh yeah, it was important because it's what was important to him. She reached tentatively for the device.

On the edge of something wonderful, face to face with—

"H-hello?" She winced at how her voice had come out as a stutter.

"Hi, this is Coach Lisa. Is this Maya Hart?" She blinked at Lucas who nodded at her, a faint grin on his lips.

"Yes, this is her." At this point Katy had come over and leaned on the back of her daughter's chair, drying her hands with a dish towel.

"Good! I was just calling to talk to you about softball tryouts" Maya nodded nervously, knowing full well that the coach couldn't see her. She swallowed and kept her eyes locked on Lucas'.

"You have a heck of an arm, you know that? I'm sorry it took us so long to call you, but we've been having a bit of trouble deciding. See, we think you're definitely good enough that you could be the star pitcher of the JV team, but if you're willing, we would like to put you on Varsity." The blonde felt her breath hitch in her chest and Lucas' eyes widened when he faintly heard the statement. The girls on the JQAHS softball team were good. It was a huge accomplishment to have beat out most of them and be good enough for Varsity, especially when Maya hadn't played as a freshman.

"You might not be a starter right away, but I think that if you really put the work in, you could be our starting pitcher by the end of the year. Meg has done great for the past three years, but since she's a senior this year we're going to have to find someone to fill her shoes, you know what I mean?" Maya led out an awkward laugh in response.

"Yeah, I think I do."

"So what do you say, would you like to play JV or Varsity?" This was a huge decision. Maya Hart was never one to be good at anything other than her art. If she chose JV, the bet would be a piece of cake. But she realized that she had a chance to be really good if she chose Varsity. She looked up when Lucas waved his hand to get her attention. He mouthed the word varsity at her animatedly and gave her an emphatic double thumbs up. Suddenly, her smile grew wide.

"Wow, I don't really know what to say! I'd love to play Varsity if you'll have me," she said, biting her lip as she was prone to do when she was excited.

"'Course we'll have you, welcome to the John Quincy Adams High lady eagles!"

"Thank you so much!

"Not a problem, see you at practice!" A click was heard as Coach Lisa hung up, but Maya kept the phone held up to her ear, in shock.

"Oh, Baby Girl, I'm so proud of you!" Her mom exclaimed, reaching over the chair to hug her daughter tightly. A smile progressively grew across the girl's face.

"Lucas?" The boy smiled widely.

"Yeah?"

"I made the Varsity softball team."

"Yeah." She squealed with delight and pulled him in for a hug much like he had when he had received his call. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her frame. She pulled away and immediately snatched up her phone again.

"Oh my gosh, I have to tell Riley right now!" She hit speed dial number one and was answered almost immediately.

"Pumpkin, I made the team!" Lucas was taken aback by the loud and seemingly incoherent response the girl got, but Maya didn't even move the phone's loud speaker from her ear.

"I know! But thats not even all! I made Varsity, Riley! VARSITY!" A loud 'Yay' was heard through the speaker and Maya's response matched it's excitement. He heard a loud 'I'm so proud of you, Peaches!' from where he sat and he couldn't help the contented smile that settled on his face. He was proud too.

He was so proud that he didn't even notice the knowing look that appeared on Katy's face as she looked between the former Texan and her daughter. She knew exactly what the look on his face entailed and she knew exactly where he was looking. She gave Maya one last hug before going back behind the counter.

This was going to be one heck of a baseball season.

So a few things to note:

1. I don't know why I made Lucas catcher, but I'm just going to stick with it because I feel like it'd be weird if they were both pitchers

2. I assumed that those are the flavors of the smoothies that they had in their first date based on the color, but I don't know anything for sure

3. Maya's sore muscle is called the trapezius I believe, in case you care

4. I promise I didn't plan for the ringtone to match up so well with what was happening, I just thought it would be funny if Take on the World was Maya's and Riley's ringtones and the beginning lyrics just so happened to fit

5. Meg is a senior girl on the Varsity softball team who has been starting pitcher for all four years of HS. She does not exist in the GMW universe as far as I am aware, I just made her up