The Hitting Zone
chapter-689

Dinner felt like a party after hearing the progress of my adoption. With eating cookies beforehand, it felt like everyone was on a sugar high. Dave kept trying to challenge me while Noah kept calling me 'Jake Atkins'. Dad and Zeke talked about his classes and when Zeke announced that he passed his summer classes, it caused even more excitement. Zeke was moving up already before he even really started his freshman year. Mom started to cry every now and then, but would stop when Noah pointed it out.

With such a rambunctious atmosphere, it didn't feel like Kyle was missing. None of us brought him up until Dad and Mom started to gather their keys and wallets.

"You're going now?" Noah asked, glancing at the messy table. Dinner was done, but no one had made a move to do the dishes yet.

Mom nodded with a smile. "Yep. Traffic on a Friday night will be tough. Your dad will need a carpool partner on the way there. Are you boys going to stay up until we get back?"

"Yea, probably." Dave answered. "We don't have to wake up early tomorrow. Zeke made the game for after lunch so why not?"

"Good. So you'll have no problem doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen." She smiled and waved before exiting the house. Dad followed her out, closing the door behind them.

"1, 2, 3, not it!" Dave hollered.

"Not it!" Noah echoed.

"Not...it...?" I copied Noah.

Noah grinned as he looked at Zeke. "Guess you're doing dishes."

Zeke shrugged. "Fine. Then you guys have to unload the car and get started on our laundry."

"I lied! We'll do the dishes." Noah jumped up and started to clear the empty dishes. "Jake, come on. Grab what you can."

Confused, I grabbed my empty plate and followed him to the sink. "Didn't we just get out of doing the dishes..? Why are we doing them now..?"

Noah rolled his eyes. "Dishes are easier than laundry. Trust me. Laundry sounds easy because you just have to start it, but think about how many people live in this house."

"Seven." I told him.

"Five of which have just returned from camps. There'll be so many loads of laundry...it won't ever end. Plus, you know the twins will just add their clothes to the pile so might as well pick the job that will end the fastest."

I shrugged.

Noah opened the dishwasher and cheered. "It's empty! We made the right decision." He laughed and started to load the dishwasher with the rinsed off dishes. I went back to the table and started to grab more plates and dishes, taking them to the sink.

Zeke and Dave disappeared, presumably going to unload the car.

With the two of us working on the dishes, we were almost done in no time. As we were finishing up, Dave stepped in. "Hey Jake, where do you want all these bats? Zeke said to take them to your room, but like...where should I put them?"

"Lean them against the desk for now." Noah instructed. "We were going to ask Dad if he could build or buy a cubbie to store the bats more easily."

I nodded.

"Alright." He left.

After we finished cleaning the kitchen and loading up the dishwasher, Noah and I both went upstairs. Our room was just as we left it besides the baseball bags on the floor and the bats leaning against the desk. Noah hung our bags up on hooks on the wall then turned to look at the bats. "Guess we should wait until Dad comes home."

"I'm going to start cleaning them." I went to a drawer and pulled out the rubbing alcohol and cloth that I had been using for my bats. "Also, going to check them for dents or anything."

"Oh, okay." Noah hopped up on his bed and pulled out his phone. "Let me know if you need help."

"No thanks." I told him. I prefer looking the bats over myself. Just to be sure. Not that Noah wouldn't do a good job, but he isn't the one using the bats so he won't be as detailed as myself.

"Clothes are all in the laundry room." Dave came in our room to drop off our two, now empty, bags. He looked at the bats. "Zeke said you got these from Mr. Johnson?"

"They belonged to pros." Noah smirked. "Mr. Johnson called them trash so we won't get in trouble or anything."

"That's smart of him." Dave nodded. "Well, I'm going to watch some tv downstairs, if you guys want to come. Probably just chill and casually check on the laundry until Kyle comes home."

"I'm going to clean the bats." I glanced at him as I started to rub down the first bat. "I'll come down when I'm done."

"I'll keep him company." Noah said.

Dave left us on our own.

I steadily worked on cleaning the bats and making sure none of them were on the verge of breaking. Each bat was similar with minimal differences. Bats that the pros used. I was slightly distracted and didn't notice what Noah was doing until he cleared his throat. I looked up at him. "What?"

He had a small frown on his face as he glanced at his phone. "Do you think...it would be weird if I invited Alisha to tomorrow's game?"

"Why would you invite her?" I asked, confused. "Does she want to play with us?"

"No, she just wants to hang out." He sighed. "We used to be friends and now everything I do or say feels weird. I don't want her to think I'm leading her on, nor do I want to lose her as a friend."

I squinted at him. "So you're asking me...?"

He shrugged, helpless. "Who else am I supposed to ask? Dave would just make fun of me. Who knows if Zeke would give me a clear answer?" He sighed again. "I wish she just kept it to herself."

"Don't invite her to the game." I suggested.

"Why not? Wouldn't that be mean?" He asked.

I shrugged. "You said you don't want it to be weird, right? Well, it'd be weird if she was the only spectator."

"True. True." He mumbled. "Maybe we should hangout like normal on Sunday. Either at the arcade or the mall or the movies. Ugh...what sound least like a date?"

"The arcade isn't used for dates, is it?" I asked.

"Anything and everything can be a date." He frowned and thought about it some more.

I went back to working on my bats.

"Oh!" Noah exclaimed. I glanced at him and saw he was looking at his phone. "She suggested we come over on Sunday for a small get together. Bathing suits optional. The twins and Zeke can come too. She's going to invite Kaylee and Marie. Maybe a few others that live close by."

"Andy and Julian?" I asked. We all played on the same softball team after all.

"Yea, I'll suggest them to her too." He started to text her back.

After I finished with the bats, I stood up and told Noah I was going downstairs to wait with Dave. He came along, bringing his phone with him. We went downstairs to the living room and found Dave with Zeke, talking about some baseball highlights that was playing on the tv. We found some seats and relaxed until Kyle came home with Mom and Dad.