The Hitting Zone

Saturday morning, I woke up to the twins fighting in the hallway. I rubbed my eyes and saw them slowly going down the stairs with a giant box between them. They were yelling at one another to carry their half of the box.

"Did they wake you?" Dad said from behind me. I turned to see him standing there, smiling, holiding two suitcases.

I shrugged. "It's not too early." I glanced at the suitcases. "Do you need help?"

He shook his head. "No, no, leave it to me and the twins. They volunteered to help pack the car so they should stick with it." He then added. "Zeke and Noah went out for a run and should be back soon for a late breakfast of sorts."

"Oh. Okay. I'll get dressed." I closed the door and went to find some clothes.

When I went through my shirts, the Stanford Baseball shirt that Mom bought us during Zeke's visit stood out. It seemed like the perfect day to wear it in support of Zeke so I put it on and headed to the kitchen.

"Bet you five bucks that Noah will want to match him." Dave gestured to me, speaking to Kyle.

Kyle noticed my shirt and laughed. "Nah, I'm not taking a losing bet."

They went upstairs together, probably to grab more of Zeke's stuff to take it to the car.

I made it to the kitchen just as Mom set a platter of pancakes down in the middle of the table. She smiled at me. "Good morning. Help yourself!"

I nodded, sat down at my normal seat and started to fill up a plate. I loved it when Mom did big breakfasts like this, including eggs, hash browns, and bacon. Definitely gives the feel of a breakfast buffet.

"You're already dressed and eating?!" Noah made his entrance and crashed into his seat beside me. He noticed my shirt. "Oh! Nice! I'll wear mine too."

I glanced back. "Zeke isn't with you?"

"He went straight upstairs to shower." Noah used the collar of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face. "I would too but I'm starving."

The kitchen got busier as everyone came in one at a time, filling up the table and working on making the food disappear. Zeke came down in his Stanford Baseball shirt, sparking some excitement from Noah and heckling from the twins.

"I can't believe you're joining them in wearing matching shirts." Dave laughed at Zeke after Noah had ran upstairs to shower and change. "So embarrassing."

"I think it's a cute idea." Mom said, happy.

"Exactly." Dave pointed at her with his fork. "If you think it's cute, then that guarantees it. Who goes off to college in matching shirts with their family?"

"Me." Zeke said plainly. "You have a problem with that?"

Dave was thrown off by Zeke's attitude. "No. I just can't believe that this is something you would willingly do."

"I told Rhys to wear his too." Zeke said with a hint of a smile. "We're representing a future championship team."

I was also surprised by Zeke's attitude. Not that I thought he would mind, but I didn't expect him to match us too. Let alone, get Rhys in on it.

Noah came down dressed in his matching shirt and smiled with pride. If I didn't know him well, I would have thought that he wanted to go to Stanford too. But Noah is set on entering the big leagues after graduation.

Zeke, Noah, and I, all squeezed into the middle row of the family car thanks to Zeke's stuff taking up all the space in the backseat and trunk. Dad drove and Mom was in charge of navigation. Zeke had to take over once we got on campus though. He directed them to his dorm building, which was more on the outer edge of the main campus.

"It's actually not busy..?" Mom questioned, looking around at the full lot. "I can't believe we actually got a parking spot. I heard horror stories of having to park miles away."

Zeke chuckled. "It's only move-in day for athletes. Normal students can't move in until Tuesday. Then classes start Thursday." He got out and stretched out his legs, moving his body after a long cramped ride.

We got out as well and gathered by the trunk.

"Is Rhys already here? If you know your dorm building, do you know what room you're in?" Mom started to bombard Zeke with questions. "How do you get your key to the room?"

"Mom, relax." Zeke tried to calm her down. "Coach has everything settled. If we walk into the building, someone should be in the commons area, passing out the keys and checking in the athletes." He checked his phone. "Rhys and his mom should be here soon."

"Why don't you take your mother to get checked in and I'll wait here with the younger two?" Dad offered. "We'll keep an eye out for Rhys."

Zeke nodded and headed for the building with Mom right beside him. I could tell she was talking the whole way just by the way she moved her head around, looking in the direction of other people that were around.

"Your mom might be crying the whole way home." Dad sighed.

Noah laughed. "Yea? What's new?"

Dad shot him a look. "You be on your best behavior. This is Zeke's big day. I don't want you to upset your mother."

"I know, I know." Noah said unhurriedly. He looked around, taking in the sight of people unloading their cars and moving into the dorms. "It's weird to see a bunch of teens just moving into one big building. It's like a long sleep-away camp."

Dad laughed. "Yea, sort of. Especially for athletes. Coaches do their best to have players room up together because they should be on similar schedules."

"Zeke got to pick Rhys so that's pretty cool." Noah commented. "If I went to college, I would also want to pair up with a teammate."

Dad and I shared looks of surprise.

"I would be your roommate." I told Noah. We already have experience sharing a room together.

Noah laughed. "I couldn't imagine you going to college. You're already a guaranteed first-round pick. Probably the first pick!"

Oh.

"Hey, don't say that." Dad advised. "Zeke was a first-round pick too."

Noah scoffed. "Yea, but he's crazy. If I'm anywhere in the first ten rounds, I'm going to be a pro." He grinned at me. "It'd be cool if we could end up in the same program in the majors and be roommates then."

I nodded.

We talked more about Noah's eagerness to be a pro until a car honked at us and stopped right behind us. Rhys and his mother waved before finding a parking spot nearby. As they joined us, Zeke came back with Mom, making our group a bit bigger.

Zeke explained to Rhys where and how to get checked in while Mom spoke to Mrs. Johnson.

It was a slow start, but after finding their room and deciding who would have what bed, desk, and dresser, it got a lot faster. Us guys did all the unloading, while the moms worked on unpacking.