The Hitting Zone

Chapter 1141  V3 ch375

Mom was exasperated when we finally got home with a handful of bags. She was honestly more mad that we didn't work on our homework right away first, especially since we don't have practices anymore.

Grampa didn't waste any time today though. Before we left, he had prep dinner and the steaks were on the grill as soon as we got home, followed by our parents. Dad immediately went outside to help while Mom got the kitchen table ready. The rest of us were banished to the room to put our new suits away and start our homework.

"We're going to look like freakin pros." Noah said, appreciating his outfit. "I didn't think I wanted a new suit until Grampa made us get one. Now I think that we're going to look so fresh."

"So dorky is more like it." Dave was the least interested out of all of us. "No way I'm wearing that tie. I'll feel like I'm choking all night. I just want to see some of the guys, eat good food, and collect my awards."

"What awards?" Noah scoffed. "I bet Garret gets King of the Hill again."

Items were sent flying his way; a half drank water from Dave and a balled up shirt from Kyle. Noah caught both of them.

"Shut up, we'll still be First Team All-League again." Dave muttered.

"There's also a scholar athlete award." Kyle added. "Heck, I wouldn't mind taking Most Improved home."

"You didn't improve more than anybody else." Dave shook his head in denial. "If anything, Jake would win Most Improved again."

I frowned. "I feel like you're mocking me."

"Noooo." Dave drawled out. "The most timid kid on the team can now hold his own and isn't afraid of his own teammates like he was at the start of the season. Your legs also don't shake as much when you take the lead off first base."

"Jerk." Noah tossed the bottle of water back at him. "You're forgetting the home runs. Jake went from consistent hitter to power hitter. He owns the sophomore record for most homers in a season." He looked at me. "That's why I think you'll win Most Improved again."

That sounded better. I smiled at Noah. "Thanks. I think you'll win the best fielder award again too." I couldn't name a better fielder than Noah. He had a lot of great plays this past season.

Noah smirked. "Another Golden Glove. Even if it is just the high school level, it's a start." He rubbed his chin. "I wonder if I'll make first team this year, or be stuck at second again."

"What I really wonder…is what the JV team will look like." Dave brought up. "The whole fight situation and the coach being fired. Is Coach Luis going to be responsible for basing awards off just the last month or so?"

"God, that would suck." Kyle cringed. "Imagine being a decent pitcher all season and then run into a bad stretch at the end. How embarrassing."

"What else can they do?" I asked. "I think Coach Luis is a fair coach."

"Yea, he'll probably look at the stats from earlier, but most of the decision might come from what he saw personally." Noah said.

Our conversation got caught short when Dad came upstairs to get us for dinner. He looked around the messy room. "I'm not seeing any books open of any kind." He said suspiciously, looking around at the four of us.

"Not going to lie, Dad." Dave stood up. "We were just chatting."

Dad didn't look too upset, but he didn't sound please. "I hope you have a good way to explain it to your mother." He looked at our suits hanging up in the open closet. "Make sure to thank your Grampa properly."

"Obviously." Noah rolled his eyes. "Even though Grampa doesn't care about formalities like that, I think he would like to go bowling on Friday so I was going to suggest it."

"Very nice." Dad approved.

"Oh yea, Dad while you're here." Noah continued. "Do you think we can go to the A's game on Sunday? Jeremy offered."

Dad raised an eyebrow. "I think we should run it by your mother first, but I don't see why not. Now let's get moving. They're waiting for us down there."

Noah took off first. "Last one has to help with dishes."

The twins immediately got a move on, pushing one another out the door.

Dad looked at me. "You won't really have to help with dishes."

I gave a small smile. "I know. Mom never makes me."

"The perks of being the baby." Dad rubbed the top of my head as we walked out together.

We headed down the hallway and stairs, bypassing pictures of the family up on the wall. I was once jealous of the picture perfect family, yet now my face was occasionally spotted here and there. With just Noah. With all the boys at last year's banquet. The day we signed my adoption papers and it became official.

"Jake, you lose. You're on dish duty." Kyle claimed when I made it to the dining room and sat down like the rest of them. Dad sat on my left like normal and Noah on my right.

"No, he isn't." Mom declared like I knew she would. She looked at me. "You just worry about getting your homework done. You kids probably have some end of the year projects coming up soon, right?"

"Nothing too hard." I assured her. "Plus, without practice, we have a lot more time."

"Yea!" Noah said with a smile. "So much time that you should let us go to the A's game on Sunday. Please? Pretty please?"

Mom exchanged a look with Dad. "We've got that open house from 10-3."

"They're trustworthy for a day game." Dad gave his seal of approval.

Mom looked to the twins.

"I'm staying home." Kyle said. "Going to hang out with Marie, maybe even go to the beach."

Noah was taken aback. As was I. "What about Kaylee?" We asked at the same time.

"That was creepy." Kyle pointed at us casually. Then shrugged. "What about her? Marie sees her everyday. She can afford to go out on a date. I told you guys, I only have a few weeks left."

"I can drive." Dave offered, trying to change the topic. I think he could tell there was some tension. "I've done it before. Hey, maybe we can even see Zeke for dinner before we come back."

"Zeke will be in Washington for the weekend series." Dad pointed out. "He probably won't be back until late Sunday night. It's best if you just drive back afterwards." He paused and looked at me. "Unless you want to stay there to have dinner with Jeremy?"

"Probably should since he's supplying the tickets." Noah said.

I also nodded. "Yea. I'll text him after dinner to make sure that's okay with him." Sometimes he would have other commitments.

"What's Zeke's schedule for next week?" Dave asked. "Maybe we can see him then? It would be great if he had a home series."

"Dude. Don't you pay attention to anything?" Noah rolled his eyes. "This weekend is the end of his regular season. Later next week they start the conference tournament. Zeke's team has the number one seed locked up."

"So we should be able to see them play?" Dave raised an eyebrow. "We just don't know if we'll see it all?"

"If he makes the semifinals, we'll go as a family." Dad took over. "The semifinals will be next Friday and then finals Saturday."

"Cool." Dave nodded. "Good for him. I have complete faith we'll see him play two games."

I nodded. "Me too."

"Same." Noah said.

"When you said 'we' did you mean all of us…" Kyle trailed off, looking at Dad.

"I'm going so you're definitely going." Grampa spoke up.

"Yes, sir." Kyle answered yet he didn't look too interested. Maybe he wanted another weekend free to date Marie.

Mom must have thought so too because she assured him that we would be home Sunday morning. That settled Kyle.

The rest of dinner was pretty calm as we all started to wind down. Afterwards, there was homework to do and showers to take. It wasn't until the end of the night when I was about to fall asleep, that I realized we didn't tell Mom and Dad about Noah being recruited by Joey to play football.

I get that Noah wasn't interested, but I still thought it was cool. Kind of like an achievement. I think Noah would excel at that just like baseball, the only difference would be his love for the sport. Though Kyle was right about it being dangerous. Mom and Dad should think so too.

I fell asleep thinking about football and ended up dreaming about it. Nothing elaborate or detailed. It didn't scare me awake either. All I had was a vague picture of a football being in the air and Noah catching it.