The Hitting Zone

As predicted, we didn't get home until late. That didn't stop Noah from doing the ab workout though. As soon as we got in the room, he dropped to the floor and began. Seeing him still dedicated after a game made me copy his movements.

"We have to stick with this every single day." Noah huffed between the different exercises.

I had nothing to say back to him. Part of me agreed, especially with Coach's speech still somewhat fresh in my mind. But mostly...because I was already struggling. I want to say I have some muscles, but not nearly enough. My frame was still thin, at the very least I wasn't underweight anymore.

After we took turns showering, we found the rest of the family already sitting down at the table for dinner.

"Hey! You started without us!" Noah accused. He sat down and filled his plate with a couple of pizza slices. "Rude."

"You two were taking too long." Mrs. Atkins replied. "No reason for us to eat cold takeout. It's not like I would let them eat all the food without saving you some."

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"It's not a problem. We'll be adjusting the schedule." Mr. Atkins pointed at my seat. "Go ahead and sit down. Pizza is only good when it's hot."

I sat down and pulled a pepperoni slice onto my plate.

"I like cold pizza." Dave commented, shrugging his shoulders. "No shame."

Mr. Atkins gasped. "You're not my son!"

Noah and Kyle laughed; I cracked a smile.

"Hey! Just because we don't like the same things don't make us unrelated." Dave huffed, munching on his pizza slice.

"And just because we like the same things, don't make us related." Kyle laughed.

"Idiot. We're identical twins. No matter what, we're related." Dave retorted.

"Language." Mrs. Atkins warned.

"I'm just saying, even if he dyed his hair blue, people will definitely see that we have the same facial structure." Dave concluded.

I paused. Facial structure? If I looked like that player, wouldn't someone have said something?

"There are twins who look nothing alike." Noah pointed out. "It's kind of crazy that you could have all recessive genes and not look like your family." He looked at me and smiled. "Next time anyone says that you don't look like my brother, we can tell them that you got all the recessive genes."

"Ha-ha." I forced out a weak laugh and turned my focus on my food.

So even if me and Jeremy Patterson don't look anything alike...we can still be related. For some reason, I wasn't feeling too hungry anymore.

"How'd the meeting go with Mr. Duncan?" Noah asked. It was like he was trying to kill my appetite.

"It went well." Mrs. Atkins smiled.

"Traffic was killer." Mr. Atkins said. "I let them know that I don't like making the city drive on a Friday." He looked at the boys. "What will everyone be doing tomorrow? Your mom and I have a couple of showings around the neighborhood."

"I'm going to the mall with Marie." Kyle said.

"I'm getting together with Garret and Alex at the park for some extra pitching practice. Kelvin said he might come and watch depending on how physical therapy goes." Dave said.

I looked to noah. What are we doing then if the twins are busy?

"That leaves you Zeke." Mrs. Atkins said. "Are you taking the younger two anywhere or will you three stay at home?"

"Mommm." Noah groaned. "We don't need a babysitter. We're 14."

"It's not necessarily babysitting." Mrs. Atkins argued. "It's keeping an eye on you two. Since you're the youngest."

"It's fine, Mom. They can stay home if they don't want to be watched." Zeke said, nonchalant about the matter. "I didn't really want to watch them anyways. No doubt, they'll cause trouble."

That caught Noah's attention. "Hey! We don't cause trouble!" He paused before asking, "Where are you going?"

Zeke smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"It's Mom and Dad that want to know." Noah rolled his eyes. No one said anything. Both of his parents didn't agree and just ate their pizza in silence. "Okay, fine, on the condition that you're not going somewhere boring like the library or museum, we agree to go with."

We? I looked at him. I'm not a fan of going anywhere when I don't know the destination.

Zeke gave him a sharp look.

Noah frowned. "If you're going somewhere boring, then I rather stay at home and watch baseball all day."

"Oh. So you don't want to watch a live baseball game? You rather watch one on tv." Zeke nodded to himself. "I see."

"You're going to a baseball game??" Noah leaned forward over the table. "Is it the A's? No, it can't be. They're playing on the road right now. A Giants game? Hmm."

"It's just a high school game." Zeke ended his high-hope speculations. "Golden West at Servite."

"I'll go." Noah nodded. He glanced at me. "Jake too."

I made a face. "Do I have to?" I really rather stay home.

"It's the pitching duel." Noah reminded me. "The funky Golden West guy and Servite. Servite has a good rotation. They've given up the least amount of runs. Less than us!"

Well...when he puts it that way. "What time..?"

"You can sleep in the car, you baby." Noah poked me.

I turned red, with embarrassment across my face.

Everyone else laughed.

"It's at 11am. Not too early, not too late." Zeke said. "We'll probably have to eat lunch there."

"I'll give you some money." Mrs. Atkins said. "Remind me in the morning. I'll also pack some snacks for you to bring. Just in case."

"Cookies please!" Noah begged.

Mrs. Atkins laughed. "We'll see."

After dinner, we prepared for bed. Not only did we have a game today, but it was also away so I felt drained. All the traveling, playing, and an after game workout? I filled my belly and went to sleep. It wasn't as peaceful as I thought it would be, but I was still unsettled by the look of Jeremy Patterson. The talk at dinner didn't help either. I woke up intermittently throughout the night, not getting a good night's rest.