The Hitting Zone

We sprinted for the familiar car. I could hear the sound of the front door opening again and soon Kyle yelling, "Get back here!"

I didn't dare look back. We reached the car, got in, and Zeke started to drive, leaving Kyle behind us.

"Does he already know?" Zeke asked calmly. A stark contrast to my beating heart and ragged breath.

I shook my heart and started to calm down. "No, but he's really suspicious."

"That hair prank really upset him last year." Noah laughed. He looked at me. "How did you wake up early enough to get everything done?"

"Zeke woke me." I told him all about helping Zeke and Dad with the balloons and decorating the car.

"Man, I feel left out." Noah sighed. "I kind of want to do something else." He glanced at Zeke. "Any ideas? I want to embarrass them at school or at least out in public."

"How about at Garret's watch party?" Zeke threw out an idea.

"Oh! That'd be good." Noah rubbed his hands together. "It has to be something visible. Maybe I really should draw on his face!"

"Next week is the draft and graduation." Zeke stressed. "If you don't want Mom to kill you, you won't do something dumb like drawing a dick on his face."

"Tsk." Noah looked out the window and appeared to be thinking of some ideas.

He periodically threw some ideas out during breakfast at the diner. Zeke shot a lot of them down early if there was a chance Mom getting mad.

"Well that might just have to be a chance I'm willing to take." Noah said defiantly.

"Do you really wanted to be grounded all summer?" Zeke raised an eyebrow.

Noah shrugged. "What would grounding actually mean to me? They would still let me play baseball."

"Don't push your luck." Zeke warned. "If you do something that really upsets Mom and Dad, they would be willing to take away baseball. No camps. No cages. Probably would have to join them when they do open houses."

Noah made a face of disgust. "No way." He paused before smirking. "That would be extreme. Mom and Dad didn't even go that far with Kyle's temper tantrum last year. I like my odds."

I nodded along, slowly, thinking he had a point. It was hard to imagine that Mom and Dad could be so cruel to restrict Noah to the house all summer. Besides, they were all about getting out and experiencing life.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything drastic." Noah waved his hand carelessly. "Maybe it'll upset them, maybe it won't. Honestly Kyle will probably be the maddest no matter what."

"He shouldn't be mad today?" I said. "He got a car."

"Mom spoils them too much." Noah sighed. He glanced at Zeke. "Do you feel bad that they got a car before you?"

Zeke shook his head. "It's not really that big of a deal."

"Aren't you actively looking for one for the summer?" Noah questioned.

Zeke nodded. "Yes, but it's not emergent. I still have a few more weeks of baseball left."

"I would say you deserve the family car over Dave. He doesn't even need a car in college. Mom said it herself."

Zeke smiled softly. "Yea, but you can't give a car to one twin and not the other. Even if the circumstances are different. Besides, even though I didn't need a car in college, I think it's good for Dave to have one."

"Really? But everything was so close to his school. He could just take an Uber or carpool with friends." Noah said.

"He doesn't have a friend there yet." Zeke pointed out. "I had Rhys and Rhys had a car. It worked great for me. For Dave, he won't know anyone and will have to rely on these strangers for rides. It would put him in a tough spot. I think if I went to a college across the country, where I knew no one, I would also want the freedom that having a car brings."

I rubbed my stomach, feeling full and maybe a little queasy. "Is it hard…going somewhere you don't know anyone…?"

Zeke laughed, surprising me.

And Noah too. He looked at Zeke wide-eyed. "Did I miss the joke?"

Zeke grinned. "I found it funny that Jake sounded concerned about something he had already done."

I froze.

Noah let out a short laugh too. "Yea, I guess that's true." Noah reached out and patted me on the shoulder. "Look at you, always worried about being with strangers. You moved in over a year ago with a whole family of strangers."

"There is an adjustment period." Zeke told me with a small smile. "Just like you had to get to know us; in college, you get to know those physically closest to you first. Like guys on the team. Guys that live on the same floor as you. And then classmates. It's a lot to take in and remembering everyone's name in one go takes skill."

"I don't think I ever had an experience like that." Noah rubbed his chin. "I've known most of classmates since elementary or at least middle school. Camps don't really count because they're so brief."

Zeke shared a little more of his college experience before paying the bill and getting us back to the car.

"You staying around all day?" Noah asked him, buckling his seatbelt in the front passenger seat. "What about practice? Isn't your first game in two days?"

"I'll stop by the house one more time to see Grampa, but then head back." Zeke said. "I do have practice and even some film to review of some of the potential pitchers this weekend. I just had a little more free time with classes being done."

"Were your finals hard? Are you going to take summer classes again? Dave and Jake are going to take an online math class this summer." Noah spoke a mile a minute, trying to get all his words in before we got to school.

"Finals were more difficult than at the high school level, that's for sure. It was easier last semester when baseball wasn't going on." Zeke answered with ease. "I won't be doing summer courses, but I will do extra in the fall again." He glanced back at me. "Good for you, moving ahead."

I shrugged. "Mr. Petrus suggested it. I don't know what I'll do without math during the regular school year."

"You can probably take another online course and do it in the library." Zeke suggested. 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝑤𝘦𝑏𝓃ℴ𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝑚

I nodded immediately, liking the idea.

Zeke talked more until we reached the school. We got out with our backpacks and waved.

"We'll see you Friday night!" Noah declared. "Prepare well and kick their butts. Hit more homers this time."

Zeke drove off with a laugh.

"He's totally going to kill it this weekend." Noah stated confidently.

I nodded. "I hope so." Especially since we can only see him play Friday. But if he won this weekend and moved on, we would get to see him play more next weekend. I paused to look at Noah. "If he moves on to Super Regionals, do you think it would be local?"

"Should be." Noah shrugged. "I think there's a lot that goes in ranking but they're one of the best so if they move on, they should be hosts again. Why?"

I gave him a look. "Because next weekend is Alisha's birthday."