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Dani~

"Please warmly welcome back to one of the newest gold medalists from Wisconsin, Daniella Campbell! Dani is currently a part of the United States Volleyball Team, a portion of Team USA. She and her team have recently made it back from the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan with their newest piece of hardware, a gold medal. Dani is an Oconomowoc native and is throwing the ceremonial first pitch! Dani will be accompanied by outfielder and World Baseball Classic champion and gold medalist, Christian Yelich!" one of the announcers says over the PA system.

I toss the ball around in my hands before Christian and I jog up the stairs. I make my way to the mound while he jogs to home plate. I wave to the stadium, taking it all in as this is one of the biggest crowds I've ever seen and been in front of.

He hits the middle of his glove, telling me he's ready. I step off the mound since I'm not overly confident in my throwing abilities. I stand in the grass and toss it to the plate. He catches the ball, bringing it over to the middle of the plate.

We meet in the middle and he signs the ball for me, "Not too bad."

I smile, "Thank you."

We walk back to the dugout to take a few pictures. He puts his arm around me and I do the same. We smile for the picture as I show my signed ball. I have a security guard waiting for me to take me to my seat, "Hey, are you going to stick around after? I heard some guys say they wanted to keep talking," Christian asks.

"Yeah, I can."

"Where are you sitting?"

"Right by the dugout, I think."

"They really want to keep talking," he tells me.

"I'll stick around. Good luck."

"Thank you."

I walk with the security guard to my seat, "Thank you."

I sit next to my older sister, Nicole, and my best friend and teammate, Mikayla. "You sport your medal around like it's an ordinary necklace," Mikayla tells me as I take it off and keep it in my lap.

"I didn't just put in that much work and effort to not show it off. You should be doing the same."

"Soooo, what was Christian like?" Nicole asks me.

"Uh, pretty standard. Nothing different about any other guy that I've met."

"Well, we were talking-"

"Don't start. Chill out. You guys blow things out of proportion all the time."

"All we're saying is that you could use a little boy toy."

"No, I am too focused on my career for a boy."

"I mean, but look at him. You're going to pass on that."

"Oh, absolutely not. He's very good-looking but he's probably sleeping with Instagram model wannabe's. I'm not that and I will never be that."

"Well, if for whatever reason something happens, you have both of our approvals."

"I'm so glad," I say sarcastically, trying to get them off of my back.

I gathered my things, put my medal around my neck, and shoved my phone in my back pocket as the game ended. A nice win to such an incredible day. 7-3 against our league rivals, the Chicago Cubs. "I'll talk to you guys later. Text me when you get home. I'm going to stick around," I tell them.

"Weren't you just saying that you would never-"

I cut Nicole off, "Some of the guys want to talk and I'm not going to say no."