“She's coming up! Ethan! Ethan!” You shouted as you drove your friend's attention from the girl he talked to onto the baseball field.
“Up to bat!” You pointed out.
“So…” He lightly squinted. “Thirty-three, huh?” Your companion asked as he softly elbowed you.
“Mm.” You hummed as you kept your eyes on the blonde as she stepped up to the plate, bat in hand.
“Is it cause she's the MVP in most games?” Your friend questioned.
“No, you know I don't care that much for sports.”
“She's pretty, is that it? You dragged me out to a baseball game so that you can ogle a girl?”
“I mean, yeah, she's cute, but that's not all.”
“Then, uh, what is it about her?”
“I have no idea.”
“You know her name?”
“Yeah. It's Charlotte.”

You cheered; your friend and the rest of your side of the stadium followed. No one was surprised or felt they had to cheer her on. Everyone expected at this point that Charlotte would hit a home run every time she got called up to duty. "Damn." Your friend gasped. "Now I get the hype."
"Truth be told, I didn't know we had college baseball." You told him as the next batter stepped up to plate. Everyone sat back down.
"I bet she doesn't mind living in Charlotte's shadow." Your friend muttered to you.
"No one lives in Charlotte's shadow. It's just baseball."
"Watch out, man; some people make this their whole career."
"Really?"
"Do you not know about the MLB?"
"Is it related to the BLT?"

After the game, you drove back to the dorms with Ethan, talking about the experience you just had and Charlotte. "No, seriously, man, I mean, she looked like she had some nice thighs on her."
"Whatever, man." You said with a laugh as you both walked up the last few steps and headed to your separate rooms. "Damn, it's hot." You muttered to yourself as you locked the door. Moving to open the window, you saw a faint silhouette walking across the courtyard. A female figure, most likely going to the girl's dorms. Any other girl and you would've just let her pass, maybe glancing out the window every few seconds to make sure she was ok, but it was Charlotte, still carrying a bat, and still in uniform or outfit or whatever they wear for sports, you forgot. Everything in your body screamed at you to say hi, go over there and offer to walk her to her room. But on the other hand, your muscles stood still. Would she think you're a weirdo? A creep? You couldn't have that. Eventually, you decided to meet in the middle of yourself, and you opened the window and screamed, "Thirty-three! Great job today!"
She stopped for a bit to turn to look at you before giving a small, awkward wave. You mentally cursed yourself before you heard the window a floor underneath you open.

"Shut the fuck up!"

With a yawn, you open your eyes, the sun peacefully warming your room through the open curtains of your window. Your roommate was in the restroom taking a shower, so you had the opportunity to sit and do nothing. Fun. You stood up and took a look outside the window, the campus was now illuminated by the sun, and you could see the rays of light being cast through the leaves of trees on the courtyard, even from your room. It must be a California thing. You enjoyed watching the other students making their daily commute, and it was the weekend after all, so there were couples and friend groups having fun together, a few of them including a few people you could recognize, despite not having many friends.

"You know what? It's a nice day out."
"Yeah, it is." You heard your roommate Carson say as he walked out of the restroom.
"Any plans?" He asked.
"'Cause I thought about going down to the courtyard, getting some sun. Been playing too many computer games. Wanna come with?"
You nodded and told him to wait a bit as you grabbed some clothes from your dresser before walking into the bathroom yourself.
"Goddamnit, the water's cold!"

"Best idea you've had in a while." You told your roommate as you laid out a blanket. "They come and go." He said as he took some plastic bags full of assorted snacks and foods out of a backpack. "So an actual picnic basket was too girly for you, but the floral blanket is fine?"
"It's the principle of the matter."
"I don't much care for the principalities of baskets and cloth, friend."
"Shut up and get some drinks from the store."
"Ok, ok, whatever you say, your highness."
"Did you just curtsy?"

The school convenience store was only a short walk away; you could easily see it from the picnic spot your roommate had chosen. Upon entrance, you were immediately blasted by cold air, not that it was hot outside; in fact, you thought it was perfect weather and heat. "Hello!" The cashier greeted you as you gave a small wave and headed to the back of the store. You grabbed four large bottles of water; 2 for each of you should suffice, you thought as you walked to the front to get in line. Directly in front of you was a woman with blond hair and, I think you know who it was, she's kinda the focus of the story.

"Charlotte?" You asked, mostly yourself, but it seems she overheard you as she turned around and replied
"Yes?" Now you had to find out how to salvage this without looking like a stalker. Not that you would ever, you know, stalk someone. Never. I hope. "I'm just a big fan; you did great yesterday!"
"So I've been told, by you. Thank you, by the way; I thought yesterday was one of my weaker games, but you made me feel a little better about it."
"Yeah, of course! You did great! For like, the 5th time or so." Even if it was one of her 'weaker' games, you had no way of telling since you've only seen two so far, but that can be omitted from the conversation. "It was nice talking to you." She said as it came to her turn to pay for her items. Upon swiping her debit card, it declined.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
"I might have some cash hang on." She said as she started digging in her pockets and small purse. The customers behind you were getting a little frustrated, and maybe you were too, but again, not worth dwelling on.

Eventually, after she counted out some change and still came up short, you got fed up and worried because the guy behind you had some unique ideas on getting this to speed up this process. Very... Unique. You just walked up to the counter and swiped your card before she could interject. You took the bagged items on the counter and gave them to her and then threw your items on the counter. Everyone's happy, except the guy that was behind you. Still in shock, Charlotte followed you out of the store before finally asking why you would pay for her, claiming she 'had the money.'
"Wait," you thought. "This is my chance. Do I say something suave, be honest? Think (Y/N) what do I do?"
You looked at Charlotte and said, "My friend and I are having a little picnic over there; wanna join?"
You skipped a few steps, but oh well.