The Hitting Zone

I wasn't the only one that picked to go to the library after school. Kyle did too. With Marie and Kaylee. Kyle and Marie picked a small table near the back.

Kaylee came over to my table instead of staying with her sister. "Noah and Dave at the gym?"

I nodded. "Why didn't you go? It's open to all athletes."

She pointed at me. "Exactly. All athletes. I rather go during our elected slot time for softball. I bet it's packed right now. With athletes who are in season and want to approve. Or athletes who aren't in season and want to stay in shape or even just burn off steam because it's midterms week."

I shivered, even more happy that I didn't go.

Kaylee laughed. "Yea, my sentiments too. I like lifting, but I would hate to constantly have to re-rack the plates." She started to pull out a binder and a book out. "I'm going to study Spanish. Want to join?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm a year ahead. It's different."

"Right, right." She nodded. Then turned her focus on her book and notes.

I pulled out my math book. Not really to study, but to work ahead on some tougher problems. I liked being able to help the twins when they need help or just a little extra clarification. The feeling of being needed.

The two of us worked in tandem, ignoring louder whispers around us. A lot of students came to the library for tutoring or group study. Some had to work on projects while others were just waiting for their ride home.

As it approached 5pm, the librarian announced that she would be closing soon. Clean up. Log off the computers. Check out books if you needed it. Kaylee and I packed up, then started to approach our respective siblings.

"I just don't get why you would choose to commit to Vandy instead of UCLA." Marie muttered, rolling her eyes as she got her backpack on.

"I'm not actually going." Kyle defended. "It's a backup plan. Not even really a backup plan. It's more like a negotiating tool."

Kaylee looked confused as she turned to me to whisper. "Kyle is committing to a college?"

I let Marie and Kyle take the lead as we left the library together. Once they were ten feet ahead of us, I answered. "Yea. To Vanderbilt like Dave. He met with a potential advisor yesterday that suggest he have a fallback plan in case he gets hurt or if his signing bonus is low, he can threaten to go to college instead."

"Why not commit to the college his girlfriend is going to?" Kaylee rolled her eyes, looking a whole lot like her sister.

I gave a small shrug. "I don't know. It's convenient that Dave is already in contact with the pitching coach? Or he just didn't think too hard about it. After all, he's still entering the draft."

"Boys." Kaylee said with disgust and rolled her eyes again.

Poor Kyle was going to have a rough week. I could already tell. Meanwhile, Dave and Noah were working out like crazy this week. We didn't stay after school on Tuesday. Instead they did a full on bullpen session in the backyard. I hung out with Grampa, watching some baseball on TV. Kyle was hiding out in his room, either studying or begging Marie for forgiveness. Wednesday and Thursday, Dave and Noah were back at the gym, doing who knows what. I stayed in the library with Kyle, Marie, and Kaylee. The tension between the couple loosened up as the days went on. I couldn't understand the complexities of relationships very well, but with Kaylee's help I kind of understood how Kyle messed up.

Midterms throughout the week came and went. I didn't struggle at all and helped the twins with math. Even Noah came to me with a couple of questions about the formulas he had to use.

Come Friday afternoon, it was all over. We went home together, but started to break up. Kyle was going to hang out with Marie for the rest of the day while Noah caught another bullpen session for Dave.

I put my bag away and went to my bats to start cleaning them. Tomorrow the season would resume and there wouldn't be very many breaks between practices and games. Midway, a sweaty Dave came upstairs.

"Found you." He wiped the sweat off his face with corner of his sleeve. He looked around. "Can you grab a bat and come downstairs? I need someone in the batter's box."

"Okay." I got up and put the bats away. "Do I need to make contact? Or just stand there?"

"Stand there."

I grabbed a bat that I didn't plan to use for games. It was one I had tried before, but I was pretty sure it was cracked on the inside or maybe something had splintered. I didn't have the heart to throw it away so this would be a good opportunity to put it to use. I went down the stairs, trailing after Dave.

Noah was randomly doing squats even though he was wearing the bulky catcher's gear. "Took you guys long enough. I'm nearly at a hundred."

Dave shook his head. "You're going to tire yourself out before tomorrow's doubleheader? Coach won't like that."

Noah scoffed. "You think Jake and I even have a chance to play tomorrow? Highly unlikely." He thought about and shrugged. "I should have a higher chance than Jake at least."

I rolled my eyes. "That's not fair. I need game experience more than you."

"Ah, but Coach is going to want you to be healthy for Monday's game." Noah squatted into position behind the fake home plate. "He won't take a chance of you being injured against such a weak team like ACA."

"I don't think either of you should play tomorrow." Dave declared, stepping onto his fake mound. "Monday is important to me. I'm going to need the best fielder and best hitter combo to back me up."

I grinned and stepped up to the plate. "I'm okay if we both get sat. It's only fair."

"Coach better let me pinch hit at least once." Noah muttered.

We were all set. Dave started his motion and threw a fastball right down the middle. He grinned. "That's a strike against Jake. You two better not forget it."

Noah and I both rolled our eyes. We all knew I wasn't going to be allowed to really swing the bat. We'd break a window on the first pitch or something.