Out Of My League

Based off Ally Carter's young adult books, the Gallagher Girls series.

I'm never having kids.

Today was a Saturday and there were no classes scheduled today, except that Mr. Solomon called all of us Seniors into class to tell us something.

"Ladies and Zach, there is a special assignment for every single one of you. When I tell you to, you will open up the envelopes that are there in front of you." Liz raised her hand. "No Ms. Sutton you cannot trade your assignment for someone else's." Liz put her hand down. "What you get is yours and it is your duty to accomplish it. Good luck and you may now open your packages."

Everyone started opening their envelopes and stood staring at them. Cammie sat staring at her package for a minute or two before picking it up and opening it. I reached down and looked at what was inside my package. It was a riddle. From the corner of my eye I saw Cammie get up from her desk and walk out of the room. I looked down at my riddle again to see what it said.

A place you go for quiet and rest. Not more than five others know exactly where it is. You can be free and feel like you can fly. I'm way up in the sky.

My eyebrows furrowed as I read it again and I immediately thought of the pigeons. I was the second one out of the room as I made my way to the pigeon tower. I was somewhat surprised when I saw Cammie sitting on the wall reading a note. She looked up when I walked in but soon looked away and went back to reading.

"You're with me," was all she said.

I nodded and went to sit next to her on the wall. I picked up her riddle and read it.

Where the wind blows and birds crow. Where riddles lie and people go.

I smiled at the thought of Cammie figuring out the riddle so soon. We were in the pigeon room, a place known for its blowing wind. It was where Mr. Solomon's whiteboard was and where I asked Cammie to run away with me.

"So what's our assignment?" I asked after a couple moments of silence. She looked up at me.

"I'll be in my room getting ready. It'll make more sense if you read it. It's hard to explain. We'll be going into town though, so it's normal clothing." She smiled at me before hopping off the wall and walking out of the pigeon room.

I opened the letter up and began to read.

Cammie and Zach,

I have chosen this mission for the two of you because you are the only couple at the Gallagher Academy and Ms. Morgan and I think this would be good for the two of you. What is expected of you is not to know everything, but to learn from it and maybe even use it later on in life. The two of you will be going to Roseville's daycare center and helping out there for the day. You start at three o'clock and will end at seven o'clock. The center is at 550 Dunn Circle. You can use one of the Gallagher Academy cars, so there is no reason to commandeer one. You will wear normal clothing and two cell phones, as well as a set of car keys, will be given to you in case you need anything. Good luck and have fun.

~Solomon.

It was about one thirty right now, so I had a little bit of time to get ready. I picked up all of the notes that were there and walked down to my room. It took me less than fifteen minutes to shower and change into normal clothes. When I was done I grabbed the phone and the keys that were sitting next to them and walked to Cammie's room. I knocked twice and a few seconds later she opened the door wearing plain skinny jeans and a form fitting blouse. Her hair was brushed out and hung loose across her shoulders. She smiled at me when she saw me.

"Hey," she said opening the door wider for me to come in.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" I asked once I got inside.

"Yeah almost, let me just grab my phone and then we can go." She walked over to her bed and grabbed her purse before walking back over to me. "Ready."

She walked out the door with me following her. I could tell that there was something on her mind that she wasn't telling me, but I decided to let it go for now. With the keys in hand we made our way out to the garage and I unlocked the doors of a Ford Avalon that was painted a dark blue. Cammie got into the passenger seat without a word. I pulled out of the school gates as she turned on the radio, turning the volume up to twenty-two. It took us about twenty minutes to get there and find a parking spot. I was extremely nervous because I had never been around little kids before and I didn't know what to do. I was trying to hide my nervousness by acting indifferent.

When I turned off the car Cammie went to open her door, but I stopped her by placing my hand on her arm.

"Hey, wait a second I want to talk to you."

"What about?" she asked turning to look at me. I paused for a second to figure out what it was I wanted to say.

"You're acting weird today. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Zach. Can we just go inside already?"

"No, I know something's bothering you and I want to know why. I'm not leaving this car until I know what's wrong." She let out a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair, something I've done at least a million times.

"It's just, I don't know, I'm just nervous," she explained while biting her lower lip.

"I'm nervous too," I admitted as I look at her.

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean we're going to be around kids, babies even, and I...you don't want children," she said quietly not looking at me. A sense of realization hit me.

"You're nervous because I don't want children?" I asked confused.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I'm only eighteen and I don't want kids now, but a part of me has always wanted some. You said you were never having kids and I just don't want to fall in love with little kids because I know that you don't want any and I only see my life with you." I was taken aback by what she said as she finally looked over at me.

"You only see your life with me?" That was the only thing I could say at the moment. She sighed again, nodding while turning back to looking out the window. I reached over and wound my fingers in hers. She still didn't look at me.

"Cammie, look at me," I said quietly. After a minute or two of silence and her still not looking at me I squeezed her hand slightly and hooked my finger under her chin to make her look at me. "That's good because I only see my life with you too. Now for the whole having kids issue, I don't know. What I said about never having kids I meant that, but I was also shocked and confused about actually finding out who my actual biological father is, so it could have been the moment. I just don't know, okay? What I do know though is that I love you and I would do anything for you. So, kids aren't an absolute no, they're just, they're just foreign. I don't know anything about them and what to do with them. That's why I'm nervous." I don't know what made me spill everything, but I'm glad I did because I do love her and I want her to know everything. She deserves it after everything she's been through.

"I love you too," was the first thing she said to me after my long rant.

I couldn't help the small smile that formed on my lips after seeing the sweet smile that had formed on her lips. She leaned over the console and kissed me sweetly on the lips, yet with passion behind it. She pulled back and rested her forehead against mine and it took me a moment to realize she had whispered something.

"I'm sorry," she whispered against my skin.

"For what?"

"I don't know. For acting weird I guess, and for not telling you sooner." She pulled away and sat back down in her seat.

"Well you shouldn't feel sorry for that because you did tell me, and it doesn't matter if you act weird as long as you tell me what's going on. I want to be able to help you and I wouldn't be able to do that if you don't tell me, okay?" She nodded.

"Okay."

"Good, now can we go inside so we can get this over with? I just know I'm going to embarrass myself." I opened my door as I heard Cammie's laugh from inside the car. A minute later Cammie stepped out of the car and I closed the door for her. She intertwined her fingers in mine as we made our way inside the building.

Once we were in the building you could hear the laughs and shrieks of little kids. We made our way to the counter to sign in.

"Hello, may I help you?" the woman behind the desk asked when she saw us.

"We're here to volunteer," Cammie told her politely.

"Okay, may I get your names, please?"

"Cammie Morgan and Zach Goode."

"Ah yes, just give me one second to get your information packet and have you sign it."

A minute later she came back with two clipboards and papers on each clipboard.

"Just read through these papers and sign where it says to. It shouldn't take that long and then you can get started."

We thanked her and went to sit down and get started. It was silent between the two of us as we read the papers and signed where it said to. The only noise was the noise coming from the little kids in the other room who were playing. After a few minutes I felt a tug on my leg. I looked down and saw a little boy about two or three standing there looking up at me with big brown eyes. He had a small toddler smile on his face, and his little hands gripped onto my jeans. I looked over to Cammie unsure of what to do, but she was still filling the paperwork out. I bit my lip nervously.

"Cammie," I said quietly. "Cammie."

"Yeah?" she asked looking over to me. That's when she saw the little boy who was clutching onto me. A small smile formed on her lips as she leaned over. "Hi," she said to him and his eyes lit up.

He teetered over to her and fell into her lap. She laughed and helped him right himself again. His green shirt had started to rise up, showing a Huggie's diaper under his little jeans. He was closer to two than three.

"What's your name?" Cammie asked him.

"Conner, what yours?" he asked curiously. Of course his grammar wasn't the best; I was just surprised at how good it actually was.

"I'm Cammie, and this is Zach," she said pointing over to where I was sitting looking at them.

Before anything else could happen, a lady wearing plain jeans and a colorful t-shirt came into the front room.

"Oh Conner there you are. We were looking all over for you." Then she turned to us. "I'm so sorry for the trouble."

"Oh it was no trouble at all." Cammie smiled reassuringly at the woman. Then she turned her attention back on the little boy clutching onto her pant leg. "I'll see you in there, okay Conner?"

The two year old nodded and was led back inside, but not without looking back at us and waving. Cammie turned to me and raised her eyebrows.

"What?" I asked after a moment.

"Nothing, it's just funny seeing you like this."

"No it's not," I said frowning and fake pouting. She just laughed and placed her hand over mine.

Once all the paperwork was signed we were led into the play room and shown around. Then the woman left and we were on our own to figure out what to do and where to go.

"You'll be fine," Cammie reassured me when she saw me swallow hard. She kissed my cheek before heading off to the far corner of the room where Conner was playing with three other kids.

I just stood there taking in the room, not knowing what to do exactly. I felt like a giant in a room of little fairies and totally out of place. A little boy came up to me and smiled.

"I'm Jonathon; do you want to play with me?" I looked over at Cammie and she nodded her head slightly, so I turned back to the four-year-old in front of me and smiled.

He was building a Lego castle by the looks of it, so I sat down next to him with my legs crisscrossed. I remembered one of Madame Dabney's important rules about being with children:

Never look bigger than they are. Get down to their height when speaking or playing with them.

"Can you build a bridge for me?" he asked shyly.

"I could try, but I might need some help from you too." Jonathon nodded enthusiastically.

When we were almost finished he reached over to grab a Lego piece and accidentally bumped into the bridge. His eyes went wide and his lip began to quiver.

"I sorry, I didn't mean to ruin it. I so sorry." He was just about in tears over the matter.

"Hey that's okay we can just re-build it again. It won't be that hard because we've already done it once, we can do it again, okay?" He sniffled and nodded his little head. That was another rule:

Use a calm gentle voice when speaking to them. Don't raise your voice and stay calm.

It took us approximately five minutes to re-build the bridge and make the moat that went around the castle. It looked really cool and Jonathon wasn't that hard to talk to. When I looked over I saw Cammie playing with a little girl who was wearing a ballet tutu and had a huge smile on her face. Connor had fallen asleep on her lap and she had her arm around him protectively.

Jonathon wanted to go draw, so he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the little crafts table. Time escaped me and before I knew it Cammie had come up next to me and sat down with a little baby cradled in her arms.

"It looks like you're having fun," she said when she saw what we were doing.

"Yeah I actually am. Who's that?"

"Christian. His name's Christian. Do you want to hold him?"

"Um…I don't know." I was nervous about holding a baby because I have no clue what to do.

"He's not going to hurt you," she said repositioning him. I glared at her. "Oh come on Zach, you'll be fine." She held the baby out for me to take and once I was holding it I didn't know what to do next.

"Zach, stop looking like a deer in the headlights."

"Well sorry, but I'm not as good with kids as you are," I said through my teeth as to not wake the baby.

"You're doing fine." She gently pushed the baby into my arms and scooted her chair closer to mine. "See just like that. Support the head and gently rock the baby." That's another rule:

Always support a baby's head and don't let it fall.

When I looked down at the baby again I felt my body relax. It was a cute little thing and it fit in my arms. The little onesie he was wearing had dinosaurs on it and he was warm. A small smile appeared on my face as he opened his brown eyes and looked at me. Cammie lightly touched my arm and smiled at me.

"See you are good with kids." Then the baby started to cry. I went from being calm and smiling to panicked and nervous.

"I didn't do anything," was the first thing that came out of my mouth. Cammie just laughed. "Do not laugh at me Cameron Ann Morgan. I don't know what to do." I sounded completely panicked at this point.

"Okay, okay I'll help you," she said taking the baby back and gently rocking it while whispering to it. Within minutes the baby was quiet again and sucking on its thumb. She handed it back to me. "I always knew you needed me," she said smugly. "But you really shouldn't be so needy. It can be a turn-off for some girls." I glared at the smirk on her face. My smirk.

"Shut up," I mumbled while looking back at the baby that was staring at me with his thumb still in his mouth.

"Now, now, Zach, don't get your pants in a wad just because I'm better than you." I stuck my tongue out at her playfully, and from the corner of my eye I saw Conner stick his tongue out. I couldn't help but laugh.

"You're a bad influence," Cammie said laughing too.

"I am not. Kids love me." I gave her my signature grin and she just shook her head smiling.

"Come on we should be going soon." I looked down at the baby in my arms and suddenly I didn't want to go. I guess she sensed my hesitation. "Don't worry, if you really want to we can come back every weekend if it's okay with my mom. Most of the kids here are regulars." I smiled and stood up.

When I handed Christian back over to the worker he started crying and it almost broke my heart. We walked out of the building as the sun was just starting to set. I went to open Cammie's door for her, but before I did I turned her around and kissed her. I rested my forehead against hers as I pulled away.

"Thank you," I said to her, moving a piece of hair from her face.

"You're welcome," she said kindly before kissing me on the cheek and stepping into the car.

As I walked around to the other side of the car I realized why Mr. Solomon had chosen this mission for us. I'd have to remember to thank him when we got back. With that I smiled and drove us home with my hand intertwined in Cammie's.

The End.

Author's Note: I thought of this one-shot in my Child Development class I'm taking this year in high school. When I thought of writing it I didn't even think I was going to write the first part. I didn't know I was going to mention the whole I'm never having kids issue, yet it was the first sentence in the story. Anyways, I hope you liked it.

Fun Fact About Me: I know little text talk because I never use it. When I text I spell everything out with capitols, punctuation, correct grammar, all that.

-GymGirl904.