The Hitting Zone
chapter-284

"Like what?" Noah tried to peek at his texts.

Dave clicked his phone so the screen turned black. "You'll know later."

"When?"

"I'll tell you after dinner."

"So it's happening?" Kyle smiled at his twin.

"Yep! I got the confirmation."

They continued talking in code, not letting me and Noah in on what was happening. It continued all afternoon too, putting Noah on edge. By the time Mr. Atkins was prepared to leave with his wife and oldest son, Noah was fidgeting nonstop, eager for an answer. He obviously couldn't handle suspense or surprises.

Even after the three left for the airport in the evening, the twins continued to keep their secret until we reheated our take-home meals and sat down and ate.

"We're going out tonight!" Kyle said suddenly, just as we picked up our forks to eat.

"Out?" I asked.

"To where?" Noah was more specific.

Dave smirked. "If you can guess correctly with three chances, you can come too. Otherwise, we'll just leave you here."

Noah didn't fall for that. "No way. You go anywhere without us, we'll just call Dad."

Kyle sighed. "You're no fun. Why can't you just play along and guess."

"Batting cages?" I asked, feeling a little hopeful.

The twins were taken aback by my reply, then they started to beam.

Kyle pointed happily at me. "See?! Jake knows how to play!"

Play? I thought we were supposed to just guess? But seeing their smiles made me happy too.

"Fine!" Noah sighed. "My guess will be the movies."

"Eh." Dave smiled gleefully. "You're both wrong!"

He and Kyle laughed like there was a joke, but apparently we missed it. We ate in silence as they giggled to one another like preteen girls. When they finally calmed down, Dave was the first to speak up. "It's a Saturday night. Without Zeke. Without the parents. Of course we're going to a party!"

I looked at Noah and he looked at me. If the twins were expecting us to be excited, they would have to be let down. Noah was baseball crazy. And I was just antisocial. Parties aren't something we've ever talked about or expressed an interest in.

"So we can't go to the cages..?" I asked, poking at my food with my fork.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "The Cages wouldn't even be open this late at night. Come on, parties are fun."

"Are they?" I tilted my head and asked Noah.

Noah shrugged. "I've never been to a high school party. The last party I went to was a pizza party to celebrate the end of a baseball season."

"Guys...it'll be fun. Trust us." Dave grinned. "I wish I had an older brother to take me to a party when I was a freshman. I'm letting you two live out my younger dreams!"

Uhh. "You're only two years older." Noah replied, uninterested in the party. "Besides, you do have an older brother."

"But not one that would party, let alone take us to a party." Kyle said. "Stop being so lame. You should be honored to be going to a party with us."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Sure. Okay. We'll give it a chance. Where's it gonna be? Who all is going?"

"Leslie's house."

"Who's Leslie?" Noah asked as if he was reading my thoughts.

"She's on the softball team." Kyle briefly explained. "So it'll be the girls team, some guys from the baseball team, and then other upperclassmen that know her from classes."

"Are we really allowed to go..?" I asked, worried about the consequences. The consequences of going uninvited. The consequences of provoking the girls team again. The consequences of upsetting their parents and Zeke. There was a mountain of things I was worried about.

"Of course not." Dave answered promptly. "But that's the point! It's called being a normal teenager and bending the rules."

"Does the girls team even want us there?" Noah asked. "If this girl is on the softball team, then that Marie girl will be there, right? She's not really filled with rainbows and butterflies." I nodded in agreement.

Dave whipped out his phone, clicked on it, then set it on the table for us to see. "Look who sent the invite."

From: Marie

Our jaws dropped. She had sent a simple text to him, asking if he was free. Then sent him an address with the letters 'BYOD'.

"What's BYOD?" Noah asked.

"Bring your own drink. Which translates into, we won't be providing alcohol to you. If you want some, then bring your own." Kyle told him.

"There's going to be alcohol at this party?" Noah was stunned. But so was I. Maybe not for the same reasons though. "Mom and Dad will kill us if they find out that we went somewhere that was serving minors. Freakin Zeke would make us run until we quit the team, I'm sure."

Dave shrugged, nonchalant. "They won't find out. It's just us four. We won't even stay for too long. We still have to beat Dad home."

"I don't drink." I stated firmly.

Dave gave me a look that said 'no, duh.' "Of course not. We're all athletes in season. We have to prioritize baseball first. You can go to a party and not drink. No one will force you."

I let out a breath of air.