The Hitting Zone

Noah looked like he didn't register what I said until we almost reached our locker. "I can't believe it. Another year has flown by just like that." He cracked his knuckles almost like he was nervous. "What do we get her this year? Has she said anything about a party? I don't think she has. She would have definitely started passing out invitations again if she was. But it's weird she hasn't said anything."

Noah was like this all morning, even moaning that without Kaylee in our first class, we would have to wait until break to ask around. I pointed out that he could just text her, but he didn't like the idea.

At our nutrition break, we had fifteen minutes to get a snack from our lockers and then look for Alisha. We found her among friends, snacking on a bag on pretzels.

"Hey, Alisha." Noah approached. He nodded at the other girls in greeting, but immediately got to the point. "What are you doing for your birthday this year? No party?"

Alisha was surprised and her friends started whispering to one another. "Well I didn't want to throw a party this year with Kaylee being hurt. But she's looking better so maybe when she's ready, I'm thinking of doing a send off party for her. It'll probably be less people since some go on vacation, but." She stopped and shrugged.

"Sure. You can count us in, of course." Noah gestured to himself and then me. He put his hands in his pockets. "But if you're not doing a party next Saturday, what are you doing? Like…just hanging with your parents?"

"We were planning on taking her to a dinner and a movie." One of the girls spoke up. "Do you want to take her instead?"

Alisha's face started to turn red.

Noah didn't seem to notice or mind. He just continued with his idea. "That's cool, but hey, if Zeke's team wins this weekend and moves on, his school should host the Super Regionals. Do you want to come? It's just a weekend of baseball, but I'm sure we can do sightseeing too."

Alisha looked conflicted. "I don't know."

"We can invite Kaylee too if you don't want to be the only girl." Noah offered.

"I'll talk with Kaylee first." Alisha said slowly. "If their team doesn't make it, what do you plan to do instead?"

Noah shrugged. "Guess I can go to the movies with you and everyone."

Alisha smiled. "Okay. I'll let you know next week when we know if they're moving on or not."

Noah smirked. "They're moving on. Zeke's in good condition." He spent the rest of the break telling her about Zeke coming to the rescue to help with our small prank on the twins.

We found out later on that the twins didn't care about being late to school at all. They each drove their 'new' car to school and waved their keys around freely as they strolled in late for class. Garret found us at lunch to give us the play by play.

Noah rolled his eyes. "Tell me they at least got slapped with detention."

Garret grinned. "Just an hour worth for each. They said they're planning to send you guys a text after school so you would be force to wait too."

Noah looked disgusted.

I thought about it. "But since you told us…can't we just send a text to our parents so someone can pick us up afterwards?"

Noah's expression improved. "Yea. I'll text Gramps. He's home all day."

"Why not just ask me for a ride home?" Garret asked, stealing a chip from my bag. I handed the bag over so he could help himself. He happily took it and started eating more.

Noah looked suspicious. "Why are you offering us a ride home? Is this a trap? Did the twins put you up to it?"

Garret laughed. "Damn, you're paranoid."

"We did just cause the twins to get detention." I pointed out.

"True." Garret nodded. "But I'm not warning you to play some elaborate trap. Instead, I wanted to offer you a ride home so we could play at the park."

"Play?" Noah asked.

"Okay, so not really play." Garret said. He looked at me directly. "I want to face you, Jake. One more time before the draft. I know you guys have that tryout this weekend so this would be one of my last chances."

"Okay." I shrugged.

"Can't you act a little scared when you're up against me?" Garret knocked me on the head.

I held my head. "It's not like it's going to cost me anything if I strike out or do poorly. It's just us."

"No stakes, no worries." Noah said. "If you really want to scare Jake, you should invite some of the guys to come watch. Heck, even strangers. That'll put him on edge."

I kicked Noah's shin under the table.

"Ow." He exaggerated. "See?"

Garret laughed. "Nah. I won't do that. This is just for self-satisfaction. Mitchell will meet us there to catch. Two v one. He wants to strike you out just as badly."

My lips twitched. "He isn't a pitcher."

"He's part of the battery though."

"Am I just a spectator in all of this?" Noah asked. "Just a spare tire?"

"You don't have to come." Garret shrugged.

"No way you're leaving me at home. How lame." Noah said. "How about I be your warmup? Face me first. Then you can face Jake."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan." He got up. "I need to go get my own food from the caf. You kids meet me at my car after the last bell; it's in the first row." He left with a wave.

"You really not scared?" Noah asked.

I shook my head. I've faced Garret a few times now. "If he beats me, that's a good sign for him."

"You're not going to go easy on him, are you?" Noah frowned.

I laughed. "No way. He would never go easy on me."

Noah relaxed his shoulders. "Good."

We finished lunch before the bell and headed for our lockers. We had cooking with Alisha and our missing member, Kaylee. At first I was a little worried about he absence again, but Alisha was already telling us that she was fine and could have gone to school today, but wanted to focus on rehab instead.

"Her arm must be looking good then." Noah nodded with approval.

"Feeling better already." Alisha said. "I honestly think it might be a little psychological. Like she had a better, well-known surgeon go in and now she's already feeling upbeat."

"It probably is psychological." Noah agreed. "But there's nothing wrong with that. It's kind of like a pep talk. The surgeon is good so it helps even more. She'll be doing physical therapy in no time."

"As soon as that arm is good to go, we're having a pool party." She declared. "I'll invite her team and friends. It's going to be big."

"You like parties so much, I don't get why you passed on your own birthday." Noah shook his head. "Had me worried about you."

"I have all summer." Alisha smiled.