The Hitting Zone

"I have some ideas for schools we should do official visits to." Noah told me later on as we sat on the couch in the living room.

I glanced at him, showing I was curious.

"Stanford is an easy pick." Noah said. "We know the area and the field. Zeke and Rhys would still be there and can be the players we get paired with."

I nodded, liking the sound of that.

"Then Vanderbilt." Noah could see me lift an eyebrow. "Same concept. We know the area at least a little bit and Dave's there. It's further away though, so it'll be difficult to plan out. Probably won't go during the season so won't get to see them in action. But do we really care about that?"

"You like watching baseball more than me." I shrugged.

"Yea, but I'm not planning to stick around there for reals." Noah laughed. "Hey, maybe we can get Dave to take us to another hockey game when we go. We can treat this visit as a vacation just to see him in college."

"Would Mom and Dad go with us?" I asked. "What about Grampa?"

Noah gave me a look of disgust. "Do you really want them to follow us around? It'd be more fun without them. Come on, we're going to be 16 soon. It's time to show some independence." He paused. "I'll be there anyways. You won't be alone."

I nodded slowly. "Okay. What else?"

"Like what other schools?"

I nodded.

Noah shrugged casually. "I don't know. I just picked the first two that made sense." He glanced at me. "Do you want to go down to SoCal? Maybe see any old acquaintances? We were talking about visiting Kaylee after she moves. Maybe pick her sister's college to visit? UCLA." He sat up straighter. "Heck, if we do. We should try to plan it when Jeremy goes down to play the Angels or the Dodgers." He pulled out his phone. "I'm going to look it up."

"I don't think Mom will let us skip too much school." I pointed out.

The house wasn't as crowded as Garret's yesterday, but there was still more than usual. A lot of the guys from the team had Kyle and Garret surrounded, talking about their future in the minors. Jeremy was also there talking about his experience and some of the difficulties he ran into in his early days.

"Yea, yea. I know. I'm looking at weekends. Or maybe something close. There's Labor Day. We get that off." Noah was in full research mode.

I didn't disturb him. It's rare for him to take an interest in colleges. Mom would be happy and probably give a lot of leeway for us to visit these schools. I got up and stretched before starting to walk around.

The house wasn't as crowded as Garret's yesterday, but there was still more than usual. A lot of the guys from the team had Kyle and Garret surrounded, talking about their future in the minors. Jeremy was also there talking about his experience and some of the difficulties he ran into in his early days.

"One minute, you have everything being done for you like your daily necessities are already at home. You can tell your parents you need more deodorant and they'll get it on the next shopping trip." He was telling them. "Then you find yourself in a new state in a town no one has ever heard of. When I ran out of shampoo and toothpaste, I totally forgot that I was on my own. I had to make time to do my own shopping and then you've got to really pay attention to price differences in the store. What you can live with. What you can live without."

"What about your signing bonus?" Matt asked. "Shouldn't that have covered it?"

Jeremy froze for a second. It wasn't too noticeable, but I could see his smile become a little forced. "I didn't actually have access to a whole lot. After paying my…agent…then I put a lot into investing and stuff. I wasn't financially smart right after high school." He looked to Kyle and Garret specifically. "Really guys, take a small online course this summer about what to do with big lump sums that come your way. Don't make stupid decisions like me and make sure to spread out your money."

"Yea, but it still worked out for you." Kyle told him.

"I'm the exception. Not the rule." Jeremy grinned freely. "Not everyone can have the same meteorite rise like myself."

"It's that overconfidence and arrogant attitude that put you into tough spots." Rose reminded him, coming into the space.

Jeremy shrugged sheepishly. "Hey, I'm learning, aren't I?" He looked around at the guys. "Seriously though. Be frugal. Make smart investments. Don't give all your money to one man or group." He paused. "Even your parents."

A lot of eyes shifted as everyone seemed to share a knowing look. Jeremy's family drama had hit headlines last year and although he survived, there were plenty of stories of professionals who lost all their money.

Rose took Jeremy away to go talk with Mom in the kitchen. His exit made it easier for the graduating seniors to talk about him and the amount of money that he's missing. I cringed and shied away from their conversation, knowing that Jeremy would probably feel embarrassed.

I moved on and found Dad in the office, on the phone, FaceTiming Zeke. Dad noticed me right away and waved me in. "Here's Jake. He can take you out to the others so you can be there when Kyle gets the call." Dad passed the phone off to me. "I've got to find your mother and make sure she's not getting caught up in trying to make some more snacks for everyone."

"She's with Jeremy and Rose." I told him. "I'm the kitchen, talking about their wedding."

Dad nodded and left me with Zeke on the phone.

I looked at Zeke, who was looking at me. "Do you want to see Kyle?"

Zeke lifted a corner of his mouth into a half-smile. "Trying to pass me off already?"

I gave a small shrug. "It's Kyle's big day. I just feel like he would be happy to know you're here, participating."

"He probably doesn't care one way or the other. His mind is on one thing right now." Zeke said.

I grinned. "Getting drafted."

Zeke nodded with a smile. "Yea. His long-awaited moment is here. He will hit the road once he has his assignment. I was trying to talk Dad into doing a roadtrip with him to send him off. Even if it coincides with the trip to Omaha."

I felt my grin grow. "You sound really confident that you're going to make it there."

"We've just got to play normally." Zeke turned serious. "We hit like we should and our pitchers keep their cool on the mound, and by next week, we'll be in Omaha, Nebraska." I listened to him talk about his team a while longer until I heard a phone ring.

Only one person had his ringer on. Kyle. I hurried out of the office just in time to see Kyle take a deep breath before answering the phone.

"Hello."

I turned Zeke around so he could see what was going on. Kyle stood in the foyer area, just feet away from everyone else. It was crowded as everyone poked out of the dining room and living room, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening.

"Yes, I'm Kyle Atkins." Kyle nodded, holding his phone tightly to his ear. "Okay, great. I would really that, thank you. Yes. Yes. Okay. I will. Thanks again. I'm looking forward to joining the system." He pulled his phone away from his ear and hung up.

Kyle looked up at everyone as they started to inch closer, with eager eyes. "It's official. The Brewers are drafting me!"

"YES, MAN!" Dave was the first to pounce, throwing his arm around his twin's neck and started to swing him around. "That's what I'm talking about! Congrats!"

All the guys joined in and became a human pile bouncing up and down with Kyle. Noah may give Kyle a hard time, but he was right in the thick of it, celebrating him being drafted. Mom started to take pictures with her phone, raising it high so everyone could be in the shot. I tried to get closer, showing off Zeke on the phone, making sure it was photographed that he was there too.

"Zeke!" Kyle had noticed, breaking away from some of the guys. He snatched the phone out of my hands and grinned at Zeke. "Zeke! I did it! I'm a top 100 pick! I'm going to the Brewers!"