The Hitting Zone
chapter-511

After lunch was math. Dave returned my homework just in time to turn it in.

As I sat between the twins, I could feel some tension between the two. It became even more noticeable when Kyle spoke up.

"I'll be going home with Marie after school, so you guys don't wait up."

Dave frowned. "Text Zeke yourself."

"Fine." He said stiffly. He pulled out his phone and sent the text.

I shifted, feeling uncomfortable.

The pair that normally spent the class time bickering, joking, or just chatting had turned completely silent. It was extremely awkward sitting between them; almost worse than all the attention we got during the day.

In my next class, I told Noah about it, but he had no answers either. He just shrugged. "Maybe Kyle just wants to spend some more time with his girlfriend now that we aren't in season and the softball team isn't in season. The twins fight all the time, I wouldn't worry too much."

Zeke had the same attitude towards Kyle. He didn't say much when the four of us got in the car. He just drove us home quietly. It was a strange feeling being back at the house in the early afternoon. It was like something was missing. Duh. The practices.

I finished my homework within the first hour of being home. Looking at the clock, it was still a couple more hours until dinner. I sighed and went to look for Noah. I found him in the kitchen, sneaking cookies out of the pantry.

"Noah."

He jumped, hiding the cookie bag behind his back instinctively. "What! Oh. It's you, Jake." He pulled the bag out from behind. "Want one?"

I gladly took two.

"Did you already finish your math homework?" He asked.

I nodded. "Everything is done. What do we do now?"

Noah laughed. "Are you at a lost now that we don't have anymore practices?"

I nodded. We've never had so much free time after school before.

Noah laughed. "Come." He gestured, holding the bag of cookies the whole time. He walked to the living room with me following behind. He plopped down on the couch, turning the tv on with the remote. "If we can't play, we might as well watch."

He switched through the channels. And paused at the game between the Oakland A's and the Tampa Bay Rays. He peeked at me. "Will you be okay to watch? Even though Jeremy is playing? We can boo him if you want."

I chuckled. "I'm okay. It's your favorite team still."

Noah relaxed and put down the remote. He was obviously happy that he could watch this game. I felt a little bad that he had to be so considerate of me all the time.

It was a night game in Tampa, but you couldn't tell since they played in an indoor stadium. They had just started and were only in the second inning, with Oakland winning 2-0. That made Noah even happier as he munched on a cookie.

We watched as the A's closed out another scoreless inning and came out to bat in the top of the third. Coincidentally, Jeremy was batting second this inning, the camera panning to him in the on deck circle, taking practice swings.

"Some interesting drama has followed Patterson with his move to the AL West." One of the broadcasters started to talk about the awkward postgame interview, where he was asked about his mom and brother. "Now, I don't know how much of that is true, but it was reported that Patterson took the weekend off for personal reasons. He was due to be here in Tampa last night, but only showed up early this morning."

"Yea, Chad, it was a strange...occurrence." The other broadcaster joined in. "He did get approval from the club to skip another game, but there have been reports about where he was last night. Instead of playing here in Tampa, he went to a high school state championship game at Stanford."

"Just goes to show how much Oakland wants to keep him next year when he becomes a free agent. Not many teams are willing to let their players skip so many games without a good reason. He definitely has the support of his club."

I looked at Noah. "He didn't get in trouble?"

Noah shook his head. "Not at all. I don't know how he has such a good relationship with the team when he's still so new. Maybe they really do want to keep him for next season." He thought for a bit. "That would be better for you, if you want to see him in the future."

"What do you mean?"

Noah shrugged, helpless. "Well, when he's a free agent, he'll probably be scouted out by the top paying teams." He gestured to the tv. "He could decide to go to Tampa, New York, St. Louis, Boston, pretty much anywhere in the country. The season starts late March and can run all the way into October. You wouldn't be able to see him much if he leaves."

"Oh." I nodded slowly, watching the tv. An A's player struck out, bringing Jeremy up to bat. "It's not too big of a deal."

Noah took his eyes off the tv. "But...I thought you were going to try and have a relationship with him?"

I shrugged. "Didn't he say he was going to make it up to me? I don't really know what his plan is so it's better to be content with what I have. And you guys are the best. I don't need him."

"Aww!" Noah tackled me and started to squish me. "I've never had such a cute little brother before!"

"Get off!" I laughed.

"What the heck is wrong with you two?"

We both tilted our head up and saw Dave, standing at the entrance of the living room. He was smiling, almost laughing to himself.

"Just watching the game." Noah got off me, trying to sneakily hide the bag of cookies.

"I saw that!" Dave rushed his little brother, snatching away the bag. He took three and plopped down on the couch with us. "What game? Oh? The A's?" He looked at me. "Looks like we'll make a fan out of you soon!"

I laughed, watching the two of them fight for the cookies.

"Oh, Patterson is up to bat? Are we booing him?" Dave said almost the same thing as Noah, making me laugh some more.

"We're still in neutral territory." Noah answered.

Jeremy got a hit and we three watched in silence.

"He's sooo good." Dave sighed. "I really hope he can take the A's to the playoffs this year. It'll be even better if Maberry comes back sooner than later."

"Still have to wait for the all-star break." Noah said.

We spent the next couple of hours watching the game, with commentary every now and then, plus a fight for the cookie bag almost every commercial. The A's won 7-3.

Just as Noah switched it to another game, we heard the front door open and close. In less than a minute, Kyle came walking in. Dave started to glare.

Noah nodded to him. "Hey Kyle, the A's just won."

"Great." He nodded. Then kept nodding. Almost looking like a chicken pecking food. "I just broke up with Marie."

"What." Noah sat up.

I tilted my head, not sure what I just heard.

Even Dave lost his glare, blinking at his twin like he couldn't recognize him.