The Hitting Zone

Dave spent most of math trying to get something out of me. But I really didn't know, so all I could do was shake my head. In my next class with Noah, I told him how Kyle didn't come to school today and how Dave was already on edge for his birthday.

Noah grinned. "Dave's on edge?" He laughed. "It's going to be a tough weekend on him."

"Are we going to do something this weekend?" I asked.

"To him? Nah. We've got to wait for his actual birthday." Noah told me. "It's not special if you just do it any day. I really wonder what Zeke has come up with."

"Should we come up with something by ourselves?"

"We could." He thought about it. "It'd be wrong to make Zeke do all the work. What should we do..?" Noah spent most of the class brainstorming, not paying attention at all.

After school ended, Noah had a giant evil grin on his face. He thought of something. He refused to say since we were heading to the car to go home, and didn't want to accidentally give it away if Dave snuck up on us.

Zeke was already waiting in the car as we got in the back with our backpacks.

"Zeke, can we go to the mall tonight?" Noah asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Why do you need to go to the mall?" Dave asked from behind us, crawling out of the very back row, scaring the crap out of us.

I put my hand to my chest, feeling like my heart might break out of my chest.

"God! What is wrong with you!?" Noah smacked him as Dave climbed his way to the front passenger seat.

Dave laughed. "I caught you red handed. You think you can go to the mall without me? I'll be sticking to you guys like glue all weekend."

"I wasn't going to the mall because of you." Noah rolled his eyes.

"Really? Then why do you need to go to the mall? You almost never go there. You spend your days watching baseball, thinking about baseball, and playing baseball at the cages." Dave squinted at him. "And it just so happens that you want to go to the mall right before my birthday? Ha. I'm not dumb."

I laughed a little, finding Dave funny with his accusations.

"You!" He pointed right at me. "Don't think you're off the hook. Let me remind you, that you can expect the same treatment on your birthday."

"We have another reason to go to the mall, okay?" Noah said.

"Oh yea? What for?" Dave asked, smirking.

Noah pursed his lips, probably thinking of a lie.

It was at this time that I remembered Alisha's request. She wanted a birthday gift. I pulled up my bag and opened it, looking for the invitation. Then I passed it to Dave. "We were invited to Alisha's birthday party. We have to get a gift."

Dave blinked in surprise. After all, we didn't mention the party before so he can't possibly know that we were invited a few days ago. "Who's Alisha?"

"A girl from our class that's also helping with our softball team." Noah answered. He smiled and gave me a wink while Dave was focused on the invitation. "She definitely deserves a gift for helping us out."

"Hmm." Dave looked it over. "The party isn't until after school ends. You can get a gift next week weekend."

Helpless, I kept quiet.

"Next weekend we have to prepare for softball." Zeke spoke up for the first time. "Now...can you buckle up so I can drive us home? I don't want to spend my Friday evening in the school parking lot listening to your paranoia."

Dave twisted around, facing forward. He buckled up and so did we. With everyone settled, Zeke started the car and we headed home.

Dave tossed my invitation back. "I still don't trust you guys. I'll be coming to the mall too."

"You're free to do so." Noah told him. "We should just make a night out of it and go to the movies. Do you think Kyle will be in a better mood?"

Dave looked out the window. "Probably. He got to miss school, didn't he?"

"Isn't that a bad thing?" I asked. "Your parents only let me skip school on really bad days..." Heck, they made me go back to school after a court session.

The car got quiet.

"We'll find out soon enough." Zeke pulled into the driveway and parked the car.

We all got out and walked into the house, unsure of what to expect. So far, there was no sight of Kyle downstairs. Not in the kitchen, living room, or the backyard.

"Mom?" Noah went to the office and knocked at the door.

Mrs. Atkins came out and saw the four of us just standing around. "What are you boys looking so solemn for..?"

"Where's Kyle?" Dave asked.

"Oh. He and your dad went on a camping trip." She headed for the kitchen. "I prepared some cookies for an afternoon snack. Do any of you have homework to do this weekend?"

Noah followed her obediently. "Just some small projects due later in the week. I'll do it tomorrow."

"Wait! Camping?" Dave realized. "For how long? Why?"

Mrs. Atkins met us in the dining room, placing the cookies down. "For the weekend." She gave a sad smile. "Your dad thought it would be a good idea to give him some one-on-one attention. They'll be back in time for dinner on Sunday." She looked at Zeke. "With your dad gone, I'll be working a lot this weekend to cover both of our open houses so I'll need you to watch over Noah and Jake when I'm not around."

Zeke nodded. "Alright."

"Are you busy tonight, Mom?" Noah asked, already on cookie number two.

She nodded, fixing up her hair. "I have to work on some proposals, so I thought we could order pizza for dinner?"

"We want to go to the mall instead." Noah was the only one speaking. Zeke didn't see the need to speak up and Dave looked lost in his thoughts. "Can we?"

"As long as you all go together." She looked around. "What are you planning to do there?"

"Alisha is throwing a party so we need to get her a gift." Noah explained, not mentioning that it was a cover story. "But since you're busy, we could stay there for dinner too. Maybe a movie?"

Her lips thinned. "Alright. It'll be good to get you all out of the house. Maybe I'll get a majority of my work done while the house is empty. How much do you think you need for a gift?"

Noah blinked. Blinked again. He turned to me. "What do you think..?"

I was just as clueless as him. "I don't know. I've never given a gift before."

"Oh gosh." Mrs. Atkins sighed. She looked at Zeke. "I'll transfer money to your card. Dinner and movie. Enough for these two to get the girl a gift. Do you think you can help them?"

Zeke started to nod, but Dave broke out in laughs. "Zeke? Help them? He's never bought a girl a gift before. It's like the blind leading the blind."

"Not like you're any better." Noah mumbled.

Mrs. Atkins sighed. "Just don't pick anything inappropriate. A gift card as a last resort."