Madeline's POV- May 2017

I glanced at my roommate, Melanie as I reached for my phone on the nightstand. She had just watched me pack up all my clothes up, with a pout on her face (the entire time).

"Stop packing up!"

I smiled as I looked at the text that said,

To which I replied,

"You do realize we have to be out by Wednesday, right?" I questioned

Our lease ended May 31st. This house held a lot of memories, it was the only house I had lived in here in Gainesville, Florida. It's crazy to think we had called this house our home away from home for the past four years.

"I'm in denial!"

"I can't help you pack Tuesday night. Regardless of what the outcome is tonight, I'm leaving on Monday" I replied.

There was a knock on the door making us look away from each other. Jonathan, my other roommate (and Mel's boyfriend) walked into the room.

"Maddy, are you done emptying out your dresser?"

I nodded.

"Alright, I'll call Manny"

Manuel was our other roommate. The house had two bedrooms, I shared one with Mel and Jon shared the other room with Manny.

"Thank you" I called out as he left the room.

"What time are you heading out?"

"Three, the game starts at five" I answered as I closed up my suitcase.

"It's crazy that we won't be coming back in August"

"It's slowly hitting" I admitted.

Our Undergrad careers had ended and we'd all be starting Grad School this Fall. We had graduated in late April. Since our lease wasn't over until the end of the month, my roommates decided to hang back for a bit. I was going to stay regardless because although the school year was over, Softball season was not. We'd all be going our separate ways in a couple of days. Manny would be starting Med School in Vanderbilt, Jon would be starting his Masters program in Engineer at UC Santa Cruz, Mel would be starting her Veterinarian program at UC Davis, and I would be starting my Masters program in Nursing at the University of Toronto.

"We've been here for five years"

Manny majored in Human Biology, Mel in Neuroscience, Jon in BioMedical Engineering, and I had majored in both Nursing and Public Health. I was on the school's Softball team, so when I found out I had to take a fifth year, I made a decision. I would redshirt my fourth year in order to be eligible to play my fifth and final year. I still practiced with the team, I just didn't play or travel with them. This allowed for the teams third catcher (who was a Freshman at the time) to slowly get game time. I had a whole extra year to figure out what I was going to do after I graduated. It was honestly a blessing in disguise. To many taking a fifth year was embarrassing, but I didn't mind. At the end of this school year I would be graduating Magna cum laude honors for maintaining a 3.95 overall GPA.

"It seems like yesterday we were moving into our college dorm"

Mel had been my roommate since my Freshmen year.

"Who knew I would be meeting a best friend" I stated.

She frowned a bit.

"You're going to make me cry"

We both turned towards the door as Jon and Manny walked in.

"Mel, when are you planning on emptying out your dresser?"

Jon chuckled as she pouted.

"It has to get done babe, don't leave everything to do until last minute"

Manny snorted.

"You know very well Mel is going to be crying Tuesday night because she didn't pack on time"

Mel just shrugged because she knew it was true.

"I work well under pressure"

She glared at Manny who laughed.

"You do not, you panic...every single time"

That was very true.

"Just remember Maddy won't be here to help you pack, and neither will I"

Manny was driving to Nashville (his hometown) on Tuesday morning. Mel and Jon were going to be the last to leave Wednesday afternoon.

"Jon will help me"

Jon shook his head.

"Jon is driving, so he has to get sleep"

He looked at me.

"Oh by the way, your mom is in the living room"

I picked my phone and Poppy up before making my way out of the room. My phone chimed as I got a text. There was a text from my childhood best friend, Alexandria.

Alex Matthews,

I replied,

Alexandria and I met on the first day of Pre-K when our teacher assigned our seats. We sat next to each other because of our last names, hers being Matthews and mines being Martinez. I was born in California but from ages two to nine I was raised in Scottsdale, Arizona. From Pre-K until third grade, Alex and I had the same teacher who either sat us next to each other or with one or two classmates between us. My parents finalized their divorce and my mom got full custody of me. Shortly after my ninth birthday, mom packed up our stuff and we moved to California without dad. I spent the school year with my mom, and summers with my dad. Major holidays were switched up meaning if I spent Christmas with one parent one year I would spend it with the other the following year. Both of them remarried, and had a family of their own as well. I had four younger half siblings.

"Hi mom" I greeted.

She smiled at me as I set my phone on the kitchen counter.

"Give me a hug"

I stepped forward and accepted the hug. Even Poppy greeted mom, he nudged her chin as he purred.

"You are so big now"

Poppy purred even louder as she took him from me just as my phone started ringing.

"I have a feeling I know who's calling you"

"I'll be outside" I told her as I looked down at the phone.

I smiled when I saw it was a FaceTime call. I decided to answer the call, but with Audio only.

"Hello" I greeted as I closed the front door.

"You outsmarted me"

I laughed because said person had been trying to get me to agree on a FaceTime call.

"Sorry about that" I replied.

"My High School educated brain was outsmarted by your College Graduate brain"

I smiled

"Did you just get up?" I wondered.

His voice sounded a bit raspy.

"No, I got up about 15 minutes ago"

It was 2PM here, so it was 11AM in California.

"You've been up for a while now though"

I have"

"What have you been up to?"

"Packing" I replied.

"How's that going?"

"I'm technically done, I just need to load the car" I answered.

The front door swung open and I stepped aside. Manny and Jon slowly placed the dressed in the back of Manny's truck.

"Hey Maddy"

"Yeah?" I called out.

"Your mom is taking the Mac and Cheese out of the oven. See you at the game!"

I smiled and waved as they got into the truck.

"What time do you have to head out?"

"I'm heading out at three" I stated.

"I should probably get out of your way then"

"I have time" I told him.

I made my way back inside.

"Do you always have Mac and Cheese as a Pregame snack?"

"Usually" I replied.

"Good to know"

"Do you have any pregame snacks?" I wondered.

"I either eat salted caramel ice-cream before or after games"

"That's a nice treat" I said as I made my way back inside.

Poppy was now in the living room, and the minute he saw me he meowed. He did not like the fact that I had put away most of his toys.

"Here you go honey"

"Thanks mom" I said as she placed the plate of Mac and Cheese on the counter.

"Your mom is there"

"Yeah, she's here for tonight's game" I informed him.

"It must be nice to have her there"

"Yeah, this could potentially be my last game of my collegiate career" I stated.

"Weren't you named to Team USA though?"

I smiled as I reached for a fork.

"I see someone is stalking me" I teased.

"It's not stalking, it's heavy research"

I laughed.

"I'm actually turning down the offer" I confessed.

"I sense you thought this through already"

"I did" I replied.

I had thought this through real well. My decision was made before I even learned that Softball would be returning as an olympic sport. It sucked, but it was what it was.

"If you had known before though, would you have had applied to Grad School?"

"I still would have applied, the Olympic games are three years away. It sucks they even took Softball out to begin with. I might have had the chance last year, but there's no point in living on what ifs" I told him.

"That's true"

"It sucks though, but it is what it is" I stated.

He hummed.

"Are you eating?" I asked.

"Yeah, scrambled eggs and toast"

"Not out of the pan, right?" I wondered.

He chuckled.

"My mom would have my head if I did that"

Glad to know he was a well mannered young man.

"Are you eating?"

"I'm about to" I replied.

Just as I was picking up a forkful someone started knocking on the door incredibly hard.

"MADDY!"

I sighed as I stood up. Who was at the door, my te

"OH MADELINE!"

"Talk later?" I suggested.

"Yeah, I'll call you"

I smiled.

"Bye Cody" I said.

"Bye Maddy"

As weird as it was going to sound, I genuinely enjoyed talking on the phone with him. It had become a tradition for Cody and I to talk on the phone at least once a day.

A/N: Let me know what you guys th