The Hitting Zone

We finished lunch as a group of ball players. Softball and baseball had some significant differences, but at the core they were the same sport with the same goal. This made it a little bit easier for the two teams to make small talk during lunch. The twins, Marie, and Bailey even shared some classes as juniors so they could talk about homework and complain about their teachers together. That didn't mean it was a peaceful discussion though. Oh no. The twins only agreed on things half the time, so it was even more divided with the girls included.

As for the freshmen, a.k.a.: me, Noah, and Kaylee? We mostly talked about yesterday's games since she didn't share the same classes as us. We had most of the same teachers because it's a small school, but as underclassmen, our classes weren't really that hard so there wasn't much to discuss.

Lunch ended and everyone started to split up and head to their respective classes. I had already switched out my books so I was ready for math and ended up just following the twins. Between the overpacked lunch from Mrs. Atkins and all the cookies I ate, I was completely stuffed. When the three of us took our seats, I slumped a little, trying to fight off the drowsiness of eating too much.

"You're going to gain weight in no time." Kyle laughed, prodding my bloated stomach.

Dave laughed. "That's if the little sisters' cookies don't kill him first?"

"Little sister? Oh, Marie's little sister? Kaylee?" Kyle asked. "What was that about? Why couldn't I try her cookies?"

He wasn't able to eat the cookies?

Dave smirked, then look at me. "Jake, you didn't find anything wrong with the way the cookies tasted?"

I shook my head. "No. They were fine." I thought for a second then added, "They weren't as good as Mrs. Atkins."

Dave laughed. "Yea I wouldn't think so." He moved his eyebrows up and down. "Marie told me a secret about her sister."

"What?" Kyle leaned on the table to get a better look at Dave. "Did her sister poison her cookies? Did she sneak in a laxative? Will Noah and Jake be stuck on the toilet all day?"

I tensed up.

Dave laughed. "Oh no, nothing like that. She's not evil minded like Marie and Bailey. Marie just told me that her sister really can't cook so it just tastes bad."

Kyle made a face. "That's not very nice. I'm sure it wasn't bad since Jake and Noah ate it."

"Think about Kyle...Noah said the cookie was kind of crunchy. Isn't that just a bit odd?" Dave fought off a laugh. "She probably dropped some small egg shell pieces. How'd the extra protein taste, Jake?"

I shrugged, not bothered. "Fine."

Kyle unexpectedly wasn't laughing like Dave, instead he looked concerned. "That's not good though, right? Egg shells are too dangerous to eat. What if it cut up their throats? That could have been dangerous."

"They turned out fine. Not hurt at all. Right, Jake?" Dave patted my shoulder.

I gave a nod. "I'm okay." The teacher started class and I pulled out my notebook and pen to take notes. The twins, who had copied my own homework beforehand, passed our work up together before the note-taking started.

"I'm just saying, we shouldn't have risked it." Kyle whispered now that class had started. "Mom and Dad would be crazy upset. Plus, the girl could have gotten in trouble."

Dave sighed. "Fine, fine. I won't let it happen again. I just thought it was funny that they were okay with eating those cookies."

I think Kyle was worrying over nothing. Dave didn't have bad intentions. Well...I guess he did want us to eat bad-tasting cookies, which is a little mean. But I also don't think there's such a thing. All cookies are good. In fact, all food was good. I wasn't too picky after having such limited choices growing up.

The day continued, classes were finished, and we all met up for baseball practice after school. The day went by with ease. None of the coaches said anything about my black out after yesterday's game and Drew wasn't too aggressive in my endurance training. He simply said I should visit the mountains more often to get accustomed to the air pressure.

Wednesday followed the same pattern, more or less. I had another big breakfast, classes, lunch with just Noah, more classes, and practice. Throughout the day, I was constantly given snacks of fruits and nuts, and felt a little bit of an overeater. But by the time I was done with practice, I was always ready to eat again.

Thursday morning, Mr. Atkins let me know that we would see Dr. Moore following our afternoon game. I was kind of looking forward to it so I could ask questions about my thoughts and feelings. I wanted to know if there was a way I could overcome this feeling of pressure and anxiety. At least when it comes to baseball. That would help.

The game in the afternoon was a home game versus Shasta High School, a team that wasn't in our league. Noah was amped the whole day, like he couldn't wait. Unfortunately, he suffered a blow when Coach announced our lineup before warmups: he wasn't in the starting lineup.

Neither was I, for that matter, yet I didn't take it as hard as Noah. He pouted, kicked the dirt, and mumbled out a curse word. Zeke narrowed his eyes at his youngest brother, but those sharp eyes moved on to Coach when his own name had been left off the list. Kyle was the only Atkins in the game as the decided starter. There were a few looks of surprised, yet no one argued with Coach and we headed off to warmup.

Even though Zeke wasn't starting, he still led us through the warmups as serious as always. I'm sure there were questions he wanted to ask Coach. Noah too. His look of dissatisfaction lasted until game time when we had to watch our teammates take the field and leave us behind. Without delay, he and Zeke cornered Coach. I joined in, but mostly to listened since I could guess why I was benched.