"What do you have for me today Jerry?" I ask, setting down his second cup of hot tea on the coffee bar.

I lean over the counter so I can get a better look at the crossword puzzle he is working on. He has been bringing in the weekly newspaper the last month and I have grown quite fond of his excitement he gets when solving these puzzles with me. Old man Jerry looks up from his newspaper to look at me with a smirk, and then looks back to the paper.

"Funny you ask, because there is a perfect one just for you, young lady." He says, setting down the paper.

He grabs two sugar packets and points at the question before ripping open the sugar and dumping it in his tea. I reach out for the paper, rotating it to get a better look.

"The number of players on the softball field?" I read the question out loud and smiled. "Easy." I grab my pen from my apron and fill in the blank squares for the answer.

I rotate the paper back around so that Jerry can examine my answer. Setting his cup of tea down, he lets out a small chuckle. "Nine eh? See, I knew that would be a good one for you. I sure did not know that one." I laugh with him and then step away to check on my other customers.

Once all my tables were clear, I went in the back to grab the bucket of hot water and a rag to wipe down the tables when my phone vibrated in my back pocket. I use the back of my hand to wipe across my damp forehead before reaching for my phone.

Hey girl! We still on for tonight? -Nina

Absolutely! I will drive over once I am done closing up the diner!

Okay see you soon! Don't let pretty boy make you stay longer. It is girl's night. Muahaha. -Nina

I laugh at the last bit of Nina's text before putting my phone back so I can hurry up and finishing closing.

"Welp, we all are done. What do you say, want me to make us some milkshakes and we go hang out for a bit?" Dean asks, putting away the cleaning supplies.

"Sorry, I can't. I promised Nina I would be hanging out with her tonight. And besides, I fell asleep at your house last week on a school night. My brother was not too happy about that one." I giggle.

Dean puts his arms in the air as if to surrender. "I swear that was an accident. You just looked so damn comfy that night that it made me sleep and well, you know the rest. But, I did get you to school on time." He points out.

I shake my head and laugh. I grab my stuff and get ready to exit when I hear Dean dramatically exhale. I turn around and see that he has his back against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest, and his bottom lip folded outwards. He is pouting.

"P-p-pleeeasseeee don't do this to me." He says in a cute childish voice, mimicking the boy's quote from the movie Big Daddy.

I can't help but laugh and bring my head back, gliding my palms over my face. "Do not pout. It isn't cute." I lie.

He pouts more, with a little bit of his side smile etching at the corner of his mouth. He knows what he is doing. "You like it, don't lie."

Before I give in, I walk away towards the exit laughing and yelling out goodnight.

"Hey you girls want pizza....oh god. It freaking stinks in here." Jake says, as he swings open the door to Nina's room, pinching his nose to stop himself from inhaling the strong odor of nail polish and remover.

Nina smirks as she sits cross legged on the bed, finishing up her toes, and leans across to her nightstand, flipping on the fan a little higher. Come to think of it, I am starting to get a headache from the smell.

"Scarlett, do you want pizza?" Nina looks to me.

"No, I am good thanks. I was munching at work so I am not all that hungry."

Nina nods and then looks back to Jake who is standing by the door, keeping his hand on the knob waiting for an answer so that he may leave. "We are good. Thanks, Jakey." Nina and I giggle when he shakes his head in annoyance at his nickname and closes the door before he leaves.

"So, are you ready for the first game next week?" Nina asks me as she walks over to her closet and begins to rummage through her hangers. "I mean is it weird that we will be going against your old school?"

I close the lid of the white nail polish that I used for my toes, making sure to not move too much so I don't smudge the paint. I am notorious for it though, so it doesn't surprise me that I already managed to smudge the polish on my small toes.

"Umm. Well a little bit. More like nostalgia." I mutter.

This catches Nina's attention as she pulls out a dress from the closet and turns to me, her brows furrowed. "Nostalgia? Why is that?"

I bring my legs up to my chest and wrap my arms around them, leaning my back on her head board. Exhaling, I say, "Last time I was in an actual game was when we versed Douglas. That was also the day my life changed completely." I rest my chin on my knees, looking down and focusing on her yellow comforter. "My parents," I choke, "died that day."

Nina brings her hand over her mouth with a gasp. She then sets the dress down on her desk chair and comes to sit on the bed, her hand resting on mine. The touch of her friendship bringing me little comfort. "I never ask you about it because I know that it is a touchy subject, as it should be. But, if you are ready to talk about it a little more..."

"No. Well, I mean, yes I am getting to a point where I think I can talk about it, but I still don't know that much myself."

Nina cocks her head to the side, confused. I exhale again. "See, the thing is, when it happened I blamed myself because I wanted them both to be at my game so badly because some recruiters were going to be there. I even begged my dad to take off work. I was selfish. They were on the way to watch my game, to watch me pitch since all I did was beg and beg. It...it was a drunk driver that was in a truck. That is all that I know. I don't know the name, if it was a guy or girl, how old they were, if they had a family of their own, or anything. I told Seth I didn't want to know. I never went to the court hearings, not one. I just couldn't do it, I was a coward."

"Hey, stop that right now. That doesn't make you a coward Scarlett. You were hurt and angry at the world. Of course you were, I mean you had your parents taken away from you. But that doesn't make it your fault that this person decided to drink and drive. That doesn't make you a bad person for wanting your parents at your game when potential college scouts were looking at you playing. You wanted to share that with them and that is understandable. They wouldn't have been on the way if they didn't believe in you."

"I know. They were my biggest supporters, next to Seth. They were at all of my games. My dad practiced with me every day, no matter how tired he was from work. After that day, I felt guilty even holding a ball again. But, once I met Dean, he really pushed me to play again, you know? I was reminded of my love for the game, and thanks to him and you of course, I am slowly starting to become happy again. I can breathe again." I admit.

Nina bats her eyelashes and brings her hand to her chest, "Who me?" She jokes, making us both laugh. "I am just glad to hear it is starting to get easier for you. That makes you strong going through what you have and to be where you are now. So....I take it you are pretty happy with Mr. Connors then huh?" She smirks, waiting for my reply.

No need to wait for long as I nod my head immediately, answering her question. "Very. I...I think, I mean I know, that I am falling in love with him. I mean that is what this has to be. I have never felt this way for someone ever, not once in my life."

"Felt in what way?"

"Like, how my heart skips a beat every time I see him or that sexy side smile he does. How every time he kisses me, I don't want him to stop because my heart races, bruising my rib cage. He pushes me to play and he got me back on that field. I can't control how the butterflies in my stomach go absolutely berserk when he is close to me. I get this tingling feeling that shoots straight up my spine when he touches me. I just...." I shrug my shoulders, stopping myself so that I can catch my breath.

I look back to Nina and her eyes look like they are about to pop out of their sockets. A few tears fall from her big brown eyes as she covers her mouth with both hands, in a prayer like motion.

"Wow," she speaks softly. "You really do love him. Like, really love him." Nina sniffles, wiping away her tears.

"Why are you crying?" I stammer.

"B...because," she chortles as she continues, "You went through hell with what happened, and it is just like in what you thought was the last inning for you, when you lost your parents. But now, it is like it is a brand new inning you're playing in now where you remember your old love but also gain a love you never knew you needed." She inhales and exhales, letting her brown eyes zero in on my hazel ones. "Inning of love. That's the inning you are in now. I am a hopeless romantic, what can I say?" She shrugs, with a huge grin growing on her face.

We are both silent for a moment, taking in her cheesy words, until we both burst out into laughter. Even though we are laughing so much that our belly's ache right now, those words still mean more to me than she knows. This is my inning, my inning of love. Just hope that there isn't another curve coming like it did in the last one.

"So what is with the dress?" I almost forgot to ask her.

"Oh that!" Nina exclaims, hopping off of the bed and rushes in excitement to pick up the dress. She undress down to her bra and panties, quickly putting the dress on to show me. "Well, what do you think? It is my prom dress?" She says, putting her arms out and spins around.

It is a black and white strapless dress that stops just below her knees. It has a small white bow in the front that hangs over where her belly button would be and the black part of the dress is the bottom which has some ruffles making it puff out.

"Prom, already? Isn't that like two months away?"

Nina clears her throat. "Yes and that isn't enough time! You need to start getting your stuff now before all the good stuff is gone. But that isn't the point right now, what do you think of the dress? I have a black choker that I am putting on to go with it."

"I think it looks absolutely amazing Nina. You look like a fairy princess." It does compliment her cream skin color and she has the perfect legs for this type of dress.

Prom. I haven't even thought about that, maybe because Dean hasn't asked me. Is he going to ask me? Or does he even want to go? Wow, prom. Another thing my parents won't get to witness me do. My mother would have been pulling out all the stops, especially if I had a date. She always said she wished I would find someone to love as much as I love softball...another thing that she isn't witnessing, is that I have found that someone.