The Hitting Zone
chapter-1188

"Wow. This place is packed!" Noah said with eyes wide open. He took a few selfies with the stadium in the background then pulled me in too. "You two jumping in or not?"

The twins didn't hesitate, getting behind us and fitting in the shot.

Mom and Dad trailed behind us, keeping Grampa company since he moved the slowest. This was a familiar place to us after all so no one was worried about getting lost.

There were a few tents set up in the walkway, either advertising a product or selling one. I guess it didn't make a difference. Noah pulled me to every baseball related one, from new bats and gloves to other accessories that I haven't seen much of.

Kyle stopped at a booth selling little pendants on necklaces and bracelets. They had random numbers everywhere and a sign saying that they could customize. Kyle reached for his wallet.

Noah raised an eyebrow. "You're actually interested in this?"

"It'd be for Marie." Kyle pursed his lips. "But…I probably won't have the same number anymore. There's bound to be a few of them as I move up through the levels."

"You should wait until you know your number." Dave put in his two cents. "Then get her one. Then keep getting a new number every time you change teams and numbers. What an easy gift idea."

Noah picked up a silver chain with the number one on it. He handed it over to the person. "I'd like this one please."

"$25."

Noah paid with his card and the person bagged up the necklace before handing it to him.

All three of us stared at Noah, wondering what he was doing.

Noah shrugged nonchalantly. "Dave said it. Easy gift idea. That you can keep reusing too." He lifted his little gift bag. "Today is Alisha's birthday and I didn't get her anything yet. She'd be cool with it."

Dave elbowed Kyle. "You snooze, you lose. Now you can't do it because it would look like you're copying your younger brother."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Why would you get Alisha a necklace with your number on it? You're not even dating."

"I don't have to be dating her to get her something she likes." He looked to me. "Right, Jake?"

I nodded. "I think Alisha will really like it." Heck, she would like anything given to her from Noah. It didn't matter much.

Kyle groaned. He pursed his lips and went to the table, picking up his number in gold and selected a gold chain.

"Copycat." Dave faked cough.

Kyle turned to send a glare his way. After paying, he rejoined us. "We bought this at the same time. Doesn't count as copying. We just agreed that it was a good idea."

"Sure. I don't care." Noah shrugged and moved on to the next booth.

"A bunch of saps." Dave said, throwing his arm around my shoulders. "Come on, Jake. We're not like them." He dragged me ahead of even Noah, bypassing a booth that was selling aluminum bats.

I glanced back and saw Noah barely sparing it a look. What really caught his eye was a vendor selling action shots of the players from the two colleges. The four of us went over, looking for a very specific person. Zeke. Zeke hitting. Zeke running. Zeke making a diving catch.

"Sometimes he doesn't look like himself." Kyle said, looking at a photo where the whole team was celebrating in the dugout, having a good time.

"You think Zeke doesn't know how to have fun?" Dave joked.

"His happiness is never fake." I spoke up, admiring the shot. I looked back, trying to find our other half of the group. "Mom would really like these."

"I'll get her." Noah volunteered. He braved the crowd and came back with just Mom. "Dad and Grampa went to line up at the will call window to get the tickets." He explained their absence.

"Oh my." Mom said in amazement. "Look how good these are."

"Well, yea. It's done by a professional." Noah shrugged.

Dave socked him in the arm. "Are you saying Mom isn't professional?"

Noah rubbed his sore arm. "I meant a pro camera. Like one that is actually designed to take action shots. Zoom in on plays and the ball. Kind of hard to do with an iPhone."

Mom didn't care about them and started talking to the vendor about cost per photo. The guy explained it by a photo, but there was a discount if she wanted all of one player. Mom pointed out Zeke and Rhys. "Well take what's left of them. Any shot their in, add it please."

The guy got to work, selecting all the shots and really putting a dent in what would be left. When he gave Mom the final total, my heart flew to my throat and I felt like choking.

"I think…that's a little too excessive." Dave whispered. "$800 dollars…that's more than our hotel rooms tonight."

"If you see something you like, it's better to take advantage and buy it before you regret it." Mom told us. She looked at the tiny bags Kyle and Noah were holding. "Why don't you two take those back to the car? Along with the photos."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Mommm."

"You don't want to accidentally misplace it or something, right?" Mom gave him a look.

Noah and Kyle took her items and had to go back to the car. Mom stuck with me and Dave as we checked out a few more tables, grabbing a couple bags of flavored popcorn that would be allowed in the stadium.

When we all finally found each other again, Dad led the way with the tickets. Unlike before, Zeke couldn't get us the best available. It was done lottery style and he had to borrow from Rhys because there was originally only four tickets per player limit.

For some reason, I thought Rhys's dad would be with us in the stands, knowing that Rhys was the starter today. But no. It was only his mom and his aunt that I had met before.

"Oh wow! Look how you boys have grown!" Aunt Linda stood up to let us pass by to our seats. She took the opportunity to pat both me and Noah on the heads. "It's almost been a year and you two are just shooting up like weeds."

Noah grinned with pride and straightened up some more. "I'll be the tallest one in the family. Just watch."

She laughed and looked to me, glancing down at my leg. The same one she had examined last Fourth of July. "Good to see you, Jake. Rhys has told us that your leg didn't bother you all season. That's good to hear."

"Did Rhys also tell you that's he's number one in the state?" Dave pushed us along so he could talk to them. "He just shot up the list like it was nothing. Just can't be beat at the plate."

"Oh! That's exciting!" She looked to Mom. "You sure have your hands full, Mary. All boys. All baseball. All teenagers. I wish you good luck lady." She laughed.

Everyone got settled in their seats. It wasn't the best we've had here, but being front row of a section on the third base side wasn't a bad deal. At least the sun wouldn't be in our eyes as it set behind us.

I scanned the field, looking for Zeke, but his team wasn't out there. It was mostly umpires and the groundskeepers, prepping the field for game time. I looked towards the bullpen and could tell Rhys was still warming up. This game was going to be a big one for him. If he had a bad start, it would be tough on the team to recover and pull out a win. And they must win to force a game three.