While we were waiting for Cody to come out, I posted a picture on Instagram of us from breakfast. 

aubreymendes posted a photo

Liked by elizabethmendes, codybellinger, and 12,056 others
@aubreymendes  breakfast was good but seeing him was better  
                                       tagged: @codybellinger

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@ashlibellinger  you're too cute 

@colebellinger   thought that was me for a quick sec 

@codybellinger  nah, breakfast was better :) 

@jessicaadams  come back already! i miss you :(

@aubreymendes  all you girlie @ashlibellinger

@bellifan  melyssa got some competition

@tringsby  is it hot in here or is it just you?

@codybellingerfan  melyssa isn't gonna like this 

The likes and comments were rolling in quick. 

I put my phone in my purse and waited for Cody to come out. We were all waiting on the warning track next to the tunnel. Ashli was talking to her parents so I talked to Cole a little bit until Cody came out. 

"How're the minors treating you?" 

"It's pretty good right now. I'm hoping I get called up to the majors soon so I can go up against Cody."

I laughed. "I'd pay good money to see that."

"How's college treating you?"

"It was tough but I graduated early so I could come here, so I have that going."

"Oh, congrats! So you really busted your ass to get here, huh?"

"Yeah, it's been a busy four years. But I'm here now, so that's all that matters." 

"We'll make sure to make it the best trip ever. Congrats, again."

"Thanks, Cole."

I always thought of Cole as the little brother I never had. 

Cody eventually came out of the clubhouse. His hair was wet and he was changed into Nike shorts with a black shirt, and Nike slides. He had a towel slung onto his shoulder. He wiped some of the water dripping down his forehead with the towel.

I gave him a hug. "You did great tonight, Belli."

"Thanks. I'm glad you got to see my famous Bellibomb."

Melyssa walked in front of me to get to Cody. Cody wrapped his arm around her and they both kissed. 

"We going soon or what?" Melyssa looked up and asked Cody. 

"Um, I think I'm gonna hang around and introduce Aubrey to some players." 

"Ugh, fine. I'm leaving then."

"Oh, okay." Melyssa walked away. 

"Well, that was awkward," I said, breaking the silence. 

Jennifer and Clay told Cody how good he was tonight and how proud they were of him. They both hugged Cody and left. Ashli and Cole left and went to grab dinner. It was just me and Cody. 

"I want you to meet some of my teammates. Let me check if the clubhouse is decent. I'll be right back."

"Okay, I'll be here." 

He went back into the clubhouse and I waited out on the field until he came back. I cleaned my glasses and put them back on.

"Aub! Come on in!" I heard from the clubhouse. 

I walked through the tunnel and into the clubhouse. It was bigger than I thought. There were only a couple of players left but they were getting ready to leave. I smiled at them as I was walking past them. Cody walked me over to his locker. It was messy but it was Cody's way of 'organizing'. He put his towel on a hook in his locker.

"I want to introduce you to Corey, Matt, and I guess whoever else is here." 

We walked around trying to find Corey. We found him on the couch in front of the TV. Corey was on his phone, scrolling through Instagram.

"Sup, Seags," Cody said, walking into Corey's field of view. 

Corey looked up from his phone and gave Cody a fist bump. 

"Oh, hey. What's up, Belli?" 

"I want to introduce you to someone. Um, Corey, this is Aubrey. Aubrey, this is Corey. This dude helped me through my rookie year. I owe him like a million dinners."

Corey stood up and I shook his hand. We both laughed. 

"It's nice to meet you," I told Corey.

"Yeah, me too. Cody's told me all about you. You're childhood best friends, right?" 

"Yeah. He was a crazy one back then. Still doesn't know how to parallel park," I looked over at Cody, who laughed lightly.

"Do you know where Matt is?" Cody asked Corey. 

"Uh, I think he's in the other room," Corey pointed behind him. 

"Okay, thanks. See you later, bro"

"It was nice meeting you!" I said, walking away from Corey, who chuckled as I said that. 

Corey gave Cody a head nod. We walked away to find Matt. Cody doesn't know this but before he became my favorite baseball player, Matt was my favorite. I mean, Matt is still my favorite, but Cody takes the win by a little bit now.  

We walked to the room where Corey pointed to. Matt was in the break room, munching on some MET-Rx Cookie Bites. He was on his phone when we interrupted him. 

"Hey, Matt." 

"Sup, Belli. What's up?" Matt put his phone down.

"I want to introduce you to someone. Um, this is Aubrey. She's my childhood best friend."

"Oh, damn. That's so cool. Hey, what's up, I'm Matt Kemp," he turned to me and extended his hand forward. 

"Like I don't know who you are? You were like my favorite player growing up," I said, shaking his hand. 

"Even cooler. I can see why she's your best friend. Soon, she's gonna become mine," Matt told Cody. 

We all laughed. It felt surreal standing in front of Matt Kemp. 

"Aye, I got to go, but hopefully we see each other around," Matt told me. 

"Yeah, of course. Nice to meet you."

Matt Kemp left the break room and went out into the locker room of the clubhouse. I could hear him grabbing his stuff. We both heard the door open and close.

"You have some cool teammates," I told Cody. 

"I do, don't I? So, shall we get going?"

"Yeah. I'm ready whenever you are."

"Okay, let me just grab my stuff." 

I stood by the exit, waiting for Cody to gather his stuff. He put his uniform back onto his chair and hung his jacket up. He stuffed the clothes he didn't wear and his headphones into his backpack. When he started walking towards me, I opened the door for both of us. 

Instead of walking through the door first, Cody held the door and let me walk through first. I thanked him and we walked back to his car. 

"What do you think Melyssa is gonna think when she gets wind that you're driving me home?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, when I met her today, she wasn't really the most welcoming." 

Cody opened the back car door and put his backpack on the back seat. I opened the passenger door and got in. Cody closed the back door and opened the driver side door and got in. 

Cody continued the conversation we had outside the car. He started the car and he started driving. There was traffic but it was light.

"I'm sorry. Melyssa gets like that when she's mad. Especially when we fight or argue." 

"Is she mad because of what happened this morning?"

"Oh, you heard that?"

"Not a lot, but it sounded like it was getting heated. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"Nah, it's fine. But, yeah, we kinda argued this morning."

"You and Melyssa will find your way around the situation. I know you will. You're too nice to be mad at people for too long." 

"Thanks. I appreciate that." He smiled at me. I returned the smile. 

On the drive home, I scrolled through Instagram and Twitter. It wasn't too interesting so I turned my phone off. A few seconds later, Cody's phone chimed, indicating he had a notification. He asked me to check it. 

"You sure? I don't want to invade your privacy." 

"Aub, we've been friends since second grade. I think you checking my phone will be fine."

"Alright alright."

I took his phone out of the cup holder and looked at the notification. 

"Melyssa called you three times and it looks like she sent you a text." 

"What'd she say?"

"'You coming home yet or are you still with that annoying girl?" A pause. "Oh. I'm assuming I'm the annoying girl," my mood changed quickly. 

There was a pause. I think Cody was shocked, as well as I.

"I'm so sorry about her. I don't know what her problem is. I'll deal with her later." 

There was a long moment of silence before I spoke. 

"Cody, are you genuinely happy being with her?"

Cody thought about it before he spoke. "I mean we argue from time to time, but it's nothing I can't handle. 

"Cody, I want you to be happy. If you're not happy with her, then I think it's best to let her go." 

"I don't know, Aub. I mean we've been together 7 months and those were a good 7 months." 

"As long as you're happy, then I'm happy." 

I was still surprised at the text Melyssa sent. I didn't expect her to say what she said only after meeting her for a couple hours.

The rest of the drive home was pretty silent. It was too awkward to talk about anything. Instead of sitting there in silence, I decided to follow Matt and Corey on Instagram. I soon got a follow back from them. 

When he dropped me off at home, I propped my purse strap onto my shoulder and got out. I walked over to the driver side.

"I'll see you later?" I asked Cody. 

"Yeah." 

I was about to walk away until Cody stopped me.

"Hey!" I turned around. 

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what Melyssa said."

I walked back to the driver window. 

"Look, Cody, you didn't send the text so it's not your fault. You don't have to apologize. I gotta go." 

I walked away and turned around to wave bye to Cody. He drove away to park in the garage of his house. 

I unlocked my door and walked in. My parents weren't home so I went to the kitchen to make an early dinner since it was around 6. I decided to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, toasted slightly. I poured some iced tea into a glass and took it with me to my room. 

I set the plate and glass down on my desk and ate it while I took the clothes out of my suitcase so I can hang it in my closet. 

I stopped eating when I heard my phone ringing. It was Ashli.