Sorry its been a while guys. I've been having conflicting feelings with Rucas vs. Lucaya. I don't know about you guys but watching Season 1, it was Rucas all the way. But now season 2 has happened and I'm all sorts of confused. Haha. But I'm going to stick with Rucas for this story. For now. I think. Haha. I honestly don't know, I write what I'm feeling in the moment I'm writing so it kinda just depends. We'll see!

Riley was fairly certain that she was dreaming. That was only explanation. She had fallen asleep in math and was now dreaming. There was no way this was actually happening to her. Any second now, someone was going to pinch her or ring a bell and she would wake up.

Riley had experienced first hand that some things were too good to be true, so even though she was on cloud nine, she still couldn't help but wonder when the other shoe was going to drop.

"Can I ask you something?" Lucas cut into her thoughts.

"Anything."

"What's with the clothes? Don't get me wrong, you always look great, but it seems like it's completely different every day."

Riley chuckled. "Yeah, I know. It kind of started when Maya and I were 14. I had a harajuku phase."

Riley could see the confusion on Lucas' face. "It's a Japanese fashion trend. Anyway, I took it a little bit far with that one, but I did like the way I felt like I could express something different every day with the way I dressed. But honestly, what I'm wearing today is probably the closest thing to me."

"I like it. But then, you could probably pull off a burlap sack."

"Actually I did try that out once for Halloween..." Riley joked.

They heard the bell ring from the main building.

"Do you have practice today? I'm still working on the article for the newspaper."

"Yep, 3:00."

GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW

Riley made her way back over to the baseball field. It seemed like she had spent more time on a diamond in the last week than she had in her whole life. She immediately spotted Lucas but she was actually trying to put in some work this time. Her article was due in a few days and she really wanted it to be good. So after clearing it with the coach, she took a few players off to the side to ask them about the team. She asked how the season had gone so far, what they wanted to accomplish, and their favorite memories of baseball. A lot of them were similar, they had won all their games so far, but they all wanted to make it to the state championship. Their memories varied from little league to moments in practice, even recent moments in high school.

Lucas came over as she was finishing with Billy. There was a strange look in his eyes as he watched Billy walk away. It was similar to the way he acted when he saw them talking earlier.

"So, was he trying to hit on you again?"

"Nope. Unless by hitting on me you mean he told me about the first time he hit an over the fence home run in little league."

"Well he was obviously trying to impress you." Lucas winked at her.

"So, Mr. Friar. How has your season gone so far?"

"It's gone well. It's gotten better recently."

How was Riley supposed to concentrate when he was looking at her that way?

"What would you like to accomplish from this point on?"

"Well I'd like to continue to improve and I'd love for a scout to see me. I'm probably going to rely pretty heavily on scholarships if I have a shot at college."

"Do you want to play professionally?"

"I mean, that's probably every kid's dream. I've played since I was 7. It would be the shot of a lifetime. But, if that doesn't work out, I want to be a veterinarian. I used to help birth horses back in Texas."

"Wow. I don't even know if I want to go to college and you've already picked your career. That's actually really inspiring."

"Anything else you'd like to know?"

"Everything. Uh.. *cough* I mean, yes. What is your all time favorite baseball memory?"

"Well. I kinda have a lot of them."

"If you could narrow it down?"

Lucas thought about it for a while. There were so many to choose from. He had been on an accelerated team for 4 years and they had won several tournaments. He remembered his first home run, his first double play, his first triple play that he had been part of. He remembered the other day at practice when this girl had come seemingly out of nowhere. But he think he knew which memory stood out most.

"My family was really supportive of basebally growing up. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, everyone. In the middle of my fall season when I was 12, I sorta had this thing that my family liked to call 'baseball temper.' If something went wrong during the game I had a hard time letting it go. It would nag at me and frustrate me. After losing a game, I had thrown my bat and my batting helmet and I wouldn't talk to anyone. All I could think about was that my whole family was there to watch me and I couldn't even win for them. My uncle came up to me with a little piece of notebook paper. I could tell it was pretty old because the paper was kind of yellow. He handed it to me and said, this is your homework.

"I opened the paper and it was a list in my grandpa's handwriting. It said: Don't run away from challenges, run over them. Don't sit out for fear of striking out. You either win or you learn. As long as you try your best, we're proud.

"My uncle explained to me that my grandpa had written him that note when he was young. He had kept it in his baseball bag the rest of the time he played baseball and that now it was my turn to hold onto it. He said that I couldn't let one game stick with me. I had to remember that there was nothing I could do about the past but learn from it."

"Wow, Lucas. That is pretty cool. So wait, I have to ask. Do you still have the note?"

Lucas reached into the front pocket of his baseball bag and pulled out the old piece of paper. He had since had it laminated for fear that it would get ripped.

"My grandpa passed away a couple years ago. But I know he's still with me."