The Hitting Zone

At the end of class though, they made sure I knew that they were counting on Zeke giving them a ride home. They couldn't waste time after school. It was strange for them to be so adamant about it, but maybe they thought Zeke would continue pranking them. I just nodded. We usually arrived at the car at the same time, so I couldn't imagine Zeke leaving all of us.

I went to my last class of the day, rejoining Noah. I told him about the way the twins scared me. I didn't dare mention that they wanted me to prank him next month on his birthday.

After school, I thought we would have to convince Zeke to wait for the twins. In a surprising twist...we should have convinced him to wait for us.

Noah looked just as distressed as me as we stared at his empty parking spot. "He left without us??"

I looked around, watching students heading to their own cars.

"Hey...where's Zeke?" Dave asked, showing up with Kyle. They both looked a little funny in their small clothes and pink hair hiding under hats.

To avoid laughing at them, I had to turn away and not look.

"This is where we parked in the morning." Noah gestured at the empty spot. Then sighed. "Guess we'll have to call Mom."

Honk, honk!

Two very loud honks grabbed our attention and we spotted a familiar car. Mr. Atkins car to be exact. We maneuvered through the parking lot as a group and loaded up in his car. Dave took the front passenger seat while Noah squeezed between me and Kyle in the middle row.

"What are you doing here, Dad?" Noah asked.

"Was Zeke trying to pull another prank?" Kyle didn't wait for an answer. "I bet he just love making us looked like idiots today."

Mr. Atkins smiled. "No. As far as I know, that's all he had planned."

"Then where did he go..?" Dave asked.

Mr. Atkins drove, getting in the line of cars trying to leave the school parking lot. "We had some surprising guests today at the house. We called the school to let Zeke come home early."

"What!"

"Who could it be?"

"Was the school even okay with that?"

All the boys asked at once.

Mr. Atkins tapped the steering wheel as we sat in traffic. "Should I tell you boys..? It's not like you guys not to know what's going on today?"

Noah nudged me and gave me a look. I think he wanted me to say something.

Oh. I cleared my throat. "I don't know either..."

Mr. Atkins glanced back at me, using the rear view mirror. "Whoops. Sorry, Jake. Let me give you guys a hint: something to do with baseball."

"So vague." Dave muttered.

"Dad, that hint wasn't helpful at all." Kyle retorted.

Noah thought for a second before leaning forward, sticking his head between his dad and Dave. "Baseball and Zeke? Real baseball?? MLB kind of baseball???"

Mr. Atkins laughed. "Yes. See, boys? Noah got it."

"What is it?"

"Spit it out already."

"It's the draft! Today is draft day!" Noah exclaimed, sitting back, proud of himself for figuring it out first.

"Wait. Does that mean Zeke is at home, preparing for the draft?" Dave asked, jaw dropped. "What about Stanford?"

"It doesn't hurt to watch." Kyle pointed out. "Just because he gets drafted doesn't mean he has to go. This is going to be so cool." He whipped out his phone. "I wonder what time it starts."

"7pm eastern time, so 4pm here." Mr. Atkins answered before Kyle could look it up. "Zeke had a few personal calls and house visits so we thought it would be best to call him home early. This is his future and he needs to be the one to make the decisions."

"Do you think he would bail on Stanford at the last minute..?" Dave asked. "Even though Rhys was going to go? And it would be such an amazing team too with the returning players like Bradley Thompson."

"No way Zeke would bail." Noah proclaim. "He's not the type to do so." He said so confidently. They may all be brothers, but the twins didn't look up to Zeke like Noah does. I don't know if it's because of the different age gaps, but Noah had always set Zeke as his role model.

"Alright, calm down." Mr. Atkins told us as he drove through the school traffic. "We're all in the same car; no need to yell. You guys will find out soon enough when we get home."

"I just think, if he gets picked in the first round, it'll be too hard to pass up on that." Kyle said.

"He was always a potential top pick." Dave pointed out. "And he still chose to commit to Stanford. I think I'll stand with Noah on this one. He'll stay. Especially after convincing Rhys to go."

"Such a waste." Kyle muttered.

"Zeke isn't the type to waste time either." Noah stuck his tongue out.

"Wow." Dave exclaimed, staring out the window. The whole street was full of parked cars. "Are they all here for Zeke?"

Mr. Atkins nodded. "Some are from the teams. Some are scouts. Some are from the media."

"The media?" Noah asked.

"Just local stuff." Mr. Atkins dismissed. "Mr. Cameron is here too, working on the story. So try to be nice to one another today."

"It's too late for that!" Kyle sighed, depressed. "Do you see what I'm wearing?? I have to walk in the house like this with a bunch of relative baseball people around?"

"And we have pink hair!" Dave added, slumping in his seat, no longer excited. "I don't want to go home, Dad."

Mr. Atkins laughed. "Don't worry. All the attention will be on Zeke. You'll just be background characters today."

"Hey!" Both of them yelled simultaneously, offended.

Mr. Atkins parked in the driveway and turned off the car. "No one will notice, I promise. Your hats do a good job covering up. Just keep them on and let Zeke be the center of attention." He got out of the car first.

I followed his lead. Noah was right behind me. The twins were last going up the walkway. Mr. Atkins opened the door to reveal a full house. It would honestly look like a party if it wasn't so quiet. A few of them glanced our way after we walked in.

I could hear murmurs from around.

"...Brothers..."

"...Twins will be seniors next year..."

"...Jake..."

I tensed up at the sound of my name and started to look around to see which one was talking about me. But there was no clear way to tell in such a crowded house.

"...pink hair..."

Kyle rested his hand on Noah's shoulder and leaned over. "You'll pay for this, you jerk."

Noah grinned without a care. "Sure, sure. I'm going to go look for Zeke. C'mon, Jake." He grabbed my backpack strap and started to drag me away from the twins.

"Best behavior, Noah." Mr. Atkins warned. Yet he still waved us towards the dining room. "He's over here." He led the way, walking into the dining room first, then Noah, then me.

I gulped.