The Hitting Zone

Noah stayed long enough to make the video, but as soon as the twins started to look around. We made our escape, heading to class. Noah replayed the video for our classmates as soon as we took our seats in the room.

"You're crazy! I could never dye my brother's hair!"

"You should have made one purple."

"Is your mom going to be mad?"

"I can't see Zeke helping you."

At the mention of Zeke, Noah started to brag that most of these pranks were his ideas. Water balloons. Taking their clothes. Even the nail polish was his idea, but it was changed by Mrs. Atkins.

"Your own mother helped you out?!" One of the guys scoffed. "Dang! What an evil little family!"

Noah grinned and nodded. "Yep. I'm lucky that my birthday is over the summer. I'll be pranked, but at least it won't be public." He paused. "Oh, but I might actually be gone during my birthday this year...so maybe I won't be pranked at all." He grinned.

"Where are you going this summer?" Someone asked.

"Zeke invited me and Jake to participate in the Stanford camp. He and the other Stanford players and coaches will be acting as counselors so it'll be a fun experience."

"Wow."

"That's pretty cool."

"I wish I had a brother like Zeke."

Some of them glanced my way, but didn't say anything. At least, not until, this one guy asked, "Jake, did you ask your brother about autographs yet?"

Surprised, I just stared at him.

The guy made a face. "Did he really tell you no? Or do you not want to ask him?"

"He did ask him. Last night after dinner." Noah responded, defending me. He looked at me. "Do you want to tell them or should I?"

I shrugged again, not really interested in joining the group.

"Jeremy said he would work on signing some baseball cards for Jake to take to Alisha's party. We'll pass them out there." Noah explained fully.

Alisha, who had just walked in as the first bell rung, was surprised. "You're doing what at my party?"

"Passing our Jeremy's autographed cards." Noah grinned good-naturedly. "Don't worry, I'll bring you a separate gift entirely."

Alisha was really shocked now. "You will?"

Noah nodded. "Yep! Already got you something!"

Alisha glanced my way for a brief second before smiling at Noah. "Cool. Thanks."

"Should we bring gifts for you, Alisha?" A girl asked. "I thought you said not to."

"It's okay if you all don't." Alisha addressed the class. "I just want everyone to come and have a good time. Celebrate the end of our freshman year and my 15th birthday. That's all I really want." She beamed, seemingly in a great mood.

Then it clicked. In my head. She likes Noah. Likes-like Noah. The weird look that Zeke gave me at the mall. Talking about dating with Jeremy last night. I had put it together. Why she wanted a gift from Noah specifically. I was stunned, but had no one to talk to. The second bell rung and our teacher had walked in, ordering everyone to sit down.

Even after class, I couldn't talk to Noah about it. One, what if I'm wrong? I don't want to embarrass her. Two, what if I'm right? I don't want to embarrass her. I had a strong urge to go talk to Alisha about this, but that's kind of embarrassing too. Maybe I can ask Zeke for advice on what to do.

In every class, a couple of kids would approach Noah and ask him about his brothers pink hair. He told everyone he could and even explained that Kyle must have left the soap in his hair longer than Dave. With their hair being two shades of pink, everyone could now tell the difference between the twins.

At lunch, on our way to our usual table, Kaylee stopped us and handed over a small, wrapped, box. "For Kyle." She explained.

Noah looked confused. "From Marie..?"

Kaylee nodded.

"Is there a dead cockroach in here?" Noah light shook the box.

She shook her head. "It's a real gift. My sister worked on it all weekend. It's a keychain made from the cover of a baseball."

Noah looked a little sad as he put the box away in his backpack. "You know...he was gone all weekend with my dad. He's been a jerk lately so they went for some alone time. He says he didn't like it. But tell Marie...he seems almost back to normal."

Kaylee nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll pass it along." She waved and went to her friends.

We walked to our table in silence, both feeling a little bad for Marie. Dumped out of the blue, and she still made him a birthday gift.

"If Kyle doesn't get back with Marie, then he must still be a jerk." Noah mumbled. "We'll have to ask him later."

I nodded along, wondering if I should mention the Alisha thing. Then I decided not to. I'll just wait for my opportunity with Zeke.

We ate at our bench under the warm sun. Summer was here and we were finally starting to feel it.

I thought life was going smoothly for me...until I saw the twins in math. I forgot that I had to sit with them.

"Jake." Dave greeted warmly, with a gentle smile.

"Come Jake, lets have a chat!" Kyle patted my seat with the same eager smile.

My fight-or-flight response was sending me signals that it was time to run. But at the sound of the bell, all I could do was take a seat between the twins.

Kyle tapped his nails against the desk, in a slightly disturbing way. Maybe because I've never seen such long fake nails on a guy before. It could also be the creepy smile.

"Oh? I see you've noticed my nails." Kyle grinned. "Do you like them?"

I gulped. Was there a right or wrong answer? I stuck with silence.

"Very, very creative 'gifts' today, Jake." Dave said from my other side, taking off his cap and revealing his pale pink hair. "Why don't you tell us how it was done?"

I shook my head slowly.

Kyle tilted his head, resting his elbow on the table. It made his arm flex, and in a shirt that was a size too small, it made him look even more buff. "C'mon Jake. You've got to know...you were gone when we woke up after all."

"No, no, no hablo español." I stuttered. I cast my eyes down and focused on my math book.

The twins laughed together, and in a non-creepy way.

I peeked at Dave.

He grinned, patting my head. "Not bad, Jake."

"I think we'll be able to trust you to pull a prank on Noah while we're gone." Kyle stated.

I shook my head. "No way!"

Kyle rested his hand on my shoulder. "It's the rules, Jake. You think Noah is going to let you off on your birthday?"

Uhhh. "He wouldn't...would he?"

"Think it over, Jake." Dave told me. "You've got time."

"But...we'll be at the Stanford camp. I don't think I can do anything." I told them.

"Zeke will be there." Kyle pointed out. "No matter what, he'll get him somehow."

"Oh.." I hesitated. "I guess...then..."

"It's all in good fun." Dave laughed, sounding less scary.

Kyle nodded in agreement. Then he leaned forward. "But really...please tell me this isn't permanent. I don't want to go bald."

I nodded. "It's supposed to wash out." He looked relieved, but I still had to tell him. "Yours might take longer though..."

Kyle made a face, looking distressed.

"You've got three weeks before we leave on our first trip." Dave waved away his worries.

"But what about Zeke's graduation photos..?" Kyle ran a hand through his hair. "I have to dye it back if it's not blonde again by next Thursday. There's no way I want to be remembered like this when Mom makes us take a million pictures next week."

"Yea, you could do that." Dave agreed.

They spent the class talking about next week, hair dye, and whether there's a way to safely pull off Kyle's fake nails. They used their phones to look up at that last problem. I was left alone to take notes from the whiteboard since this week was mostly review for the final next week. I didn't mind. Hearing them talk like this made it really seem like Kyle was over missing the finals. He didn't hold a grudge against Dave and neither did Dave. They were back to being equals.