9 Innings of Love: A Savannah Banana's and Party Animals Love Story

Chapter 10

Tanner's POV:

I woke up to the sound of Dalton's alarm. I rolled over in my bed to check the time. It was 6:30 in the morning. Today was Thursday, and we had a game at noon today. I'm not a morning person at all, so being up this early wasn't fun. Dalton had decided to get ready first, and was already in the bathroom. I wasn't complaining though since I could get a couple extra minutes of sleep. I ended up completely falling back asleep, and was woken by Dalton shaking me and saying my name. "Okay Dalt I'm up." I rolled back over onto my side. "Dude you have to get out of bed, the buses are leaving in 20 minutes. We have a 30 minute bus ride to the stadium, so you can fall back asleep for a little." I groaned and got out of bed so I could get ready. Dalton and I made it to the bus with five minutes to spare. We put our things underneath, and got on the bus. Mostly everyone was asleep as Dalton and I made our way to the back of the bus since that's where the empty seats were. As soon as I sat down, I put in my air pods and fell back asleep. Dalton woke me up again when we arrived at the stadium. The rest of the day until game time went extremely fast.

Olivia's POV:

Everyone arrived at the field and we all went our separate ways. This was the first game we were going to play this season that started at noon. We all had a lot to do before we opened the gates at 11. I was so tired, and hated being up this early. There was coffee at the stadium for us, but I didn't drink it. I usually don't drink energy drinks either, but I was so exhausted I asked Dalton if he had an extra Celsius. He said he didn't, but told me to text Tanner and ask him if he did. I was desperate for something to give me a pick me up, so I pulled out my phone.

From Olivia: Do you have an extra Celsius by chance? I know I tell you guys all the time to not drink them, but I need something to survive today.

I got back to work, and my phone went off about 10 minutes later.

From Tanner: Yeah I have an extra since Baber gave me one today when I got on the bus. Meet me outside of the locker rooms in 5 minutes so I can give it to you.

I set a timer on my watch for 5 minutes since I knew I would lose track of time. My watch went off and I made my way down to the locker room. I waited outside for Tanner because I never went in the locker rooms unless I knew they were empty. He came out of the door, holding the Celsius. "Good Morning Liv, here you go. Don't get addicted to them like me and Dalt though." I grabbed the can and started to laugh. "Yeah, that probably won't happen. Thanks Tanner, I really hope this helps or else I'll be a zombie all day." "Well, at least we have a two hour bus ride after the plaza party today. I'm definitely going to be sleeping during the drive. By the way, I heard Collin talking about a date he has with Savanah on Saturday. Are they going on a double date with you and Kevin?" I opened the can and took a sip before answering his question. "No, it's their second date. Collin has something planned, but hasn't told Savanah yet. Sav did tell him though the name of the fancy restaurant Kevin and I are going to, so he knows not to take her there. The first date they had went really well, so hopefully the second one is even better." Tanner went to respond, but my phone rang, so I paused before he told me to answer it. "Hey Sav, what? Yeah they should be there. No, not that one the other grey one. Okay, calm down. I'll be right there." I hung up and turned to Tanner. "Sorry, I really have to go. Sav is freaking out because she can't find the props we need for the game. I'll see you later Tanner, thanks again for the Celsius." I turned around and started walking away. I knew I had to find Sav and help her find the props before she lost her mind.

We eventually found the props in a bin they weren't supposed to be in. It was 10:45, 15 minutes before the gates would be open to the fans. Savanah and I quickly changed into our uniforms and got ourselves put together. We finished and made it out to the gates just in time to welcome the fans. Noon had quickly come, and we were on the field ready to start the clock. I was going to be at the Party Animals dugout again today, but I had to make sure I ran over to see Dalton before the game officially started. I spotted him in the dug out as I was running over. "Dalton! We didn't do our handshake!" He looked up to see it was me, and came running out of the dug out. "Okay Liv, let's do it really quick." We did our handshake which ended in us giving each other a hug. "Good luck today, Love ya." "Thanks Liv, I love you too." I ran back over to the Party Animals dug out. When I got back over, I noticed Bloomer was giving me a look. "What's with the face?" He walked over towards me. "Fraternizing with the enemy I see Liv?" I shook my head. "What are you talking about Bloom? You know Dalton and I have a special handshake we do before every game. It's a tradition we started last season." Bloomer chuckled to himself. "Yes, I know about your tradition or whatever, but tonight you're a Party Animal. You can't go and be all buddy buddy with a Banana, regardless if they're family or not." I rolled my eyes. "Oh yes Bloom, how could I forget? It won't happen again trust me." I knew he was messing with me. He must've been bored before the game started. He started laughing, and walked over to give me a hug. "It's so easy to mess with you Liv. You know that right?" I started laughing too. "Yes Bloom, I know you just love to mess with me." Jesse had started to give his little speech before asking the fans to yell "start the clock". After he told them what to say and they did, it was game time.