The tour of the whole campus lasted for an hour. Honestly, it wasn't that exciting. Zeke and his parents were the only ones interested, while me and Noah just kept dragging our feet. At least we weren't as bad as the twins, who claimed to need to use the restroom and never came back. As my legs felt heavy from walking around the huge campus, I had an urge to just sit at the next stop.
"Okay, that's pretty much it." The coach stopped and faced Zeke. "If you want a more thorough tour, just let me know and I can contact someone in the main office."
Zeke gave a nod. "Thank you, sir. I'll let you know." He looked at his parents. "Did you guys want to go?"
Mr. Atkins lips twitched at the not so subtle hint Zeke just gave. Apparently he didn't want us around anymore. Mr. Atkins looked at the coach. "Next on the schedule was Zeke's practice with the team. Is that like a tryout with the team? Can me and the family watch from the stands? Or is it considered a private practice?"
The coach smiled warmly. "Oh, it's no problem. You and the family are more than welcome to sit and watch." He glanced at us. "I'm sure the boys can learn from it, maybe get inspired. Maybe even feel the need to encourage Zeke to come here." He laughed.
"That's great, thank you." Mrs. Atkins smiled, ignoring Zeke's subtle hints. "Will it start right away, or will we have some time to go by the college store? I wanted to look at some souvenirs."
The coach checked his watch. "It won't start for another hour, but I'll have to go and meet with my coaching staff beforehand. I should also take Zeke back to the dorms so he can get changed and grab his gear."
"Don't let us hold you here then." Mr. Atkins said. "We can find the store on our own. And we'll have to meet up with our other boys. No doubt they're lost." Yea, intentionally lost.
"Well, I didn't get the chance to show you the way to the stadium." The coach was uncertain.
"We know how to get there." Noah spoke up. "That's what we were doing with Nick and Shawn. They showed us the field and let us play around a little bit." He noticed the coach's frown. "Don't worry, we didn't go on the field or anything. Shawn just showed off his talent in handstands versus the twins. We also played with the reaction ball Jake has."
I quickly pulled the ball out of my pocket to prove Noah was telling the truth.
The coach gave a light smile. "Yes, yes. Shawn does have a wonderful talent in handstands right?" We nodded. "He'll be tomorrow's starter on the mound so I'm glad he didn't do anything too crazy. That boy has a tendency to run wild." He looked over at Zeke. "I'll take you back to the dorms, Zeke. We can also talk a little more on what you can expect out of the program."
"Thanks for showing us around!" Mr. Atkins waved them off.
"It's my pleasure. Don't hesitate to call me with any questions that you might come up with." He turn and left with Zeke, who could only shoot us a look before disappearing in the crowd.
"He obviously doesn't want us here." Noah commented. He grinned with an evil glint in his eye. "Maybe he's afraid he won't perform well in the practice?"
"Could it be because of his bruise?" I realized. "Do you think it might still hurt?"
"No need to worry." Mrs. Atkins spoke up. "Zeke assured us that he was feeling completely fine and he would sit if anything starts to hurt. He probably just doesn't want us watching because you boys will get jealous and want to join."
Noah looked skeptical. "Yea right, Mom. More like he doesn't want you two getting so attached to the idea of shipping him off to college."
"A mother can dream." She said, whimsically, as she looked around the beautiful campus. "It's such a good university. It would have everything he'll ever need. A good baseball program. Excellent courses to study. And most importantly, it's not too far from home. We can watch every home game, and he could come back in his spare time."
"Early signs of empty nest syndrome." Noah told me. I looked at him, confused on what that meant. "She's already getting depressed about Zeke's leaving." He looked up at his dad. "Are you going to be sad too? You know, you have other sons to take care of."
Mr. Atkins laughed and patted Noah's head. "It's nothing to be sad about. It's something to be proud of. A baby boy that we've raised into a young man is preparing to leave home for the first time. We just worry about his happiness and future. Just like we do for all you boys." He looked at his wife lovingly. "It's just a little hard since Zeke is our first. But, everything will work out in the end."
Mrs. Atkins smiled at her husband. "I'm just not ready yet."
"Ughhh." Noah broke up the moment. "He still has a few months left. You guys don't even know if he would choose this school. Maybe he'll be a first round draft pick. Or maybe he'll want to do a year of community college to focus more on training. Or maybe he'll just hit the road and start at some random minor league team in the middle of nowhere."
"Right." Mr. Atkins agreed, mostly to placate Noah. He pulled out his phone. "We should probably get moving. I'll text the twins and see if they want us to meet them at the bookstore or at the field."
Mrs. Atkins nodded, wiping the corners of her eyes even though I didn't see any tears. "Yep, I'm getting ahead of myself. We have Zeke for the rest of his senior year, plus summer vacation." She waved at me and Noah, gesturing for us to follow her. "Come on. Let's go check the school store. Maybe we can find some souvenirs to take home. Plus we can grab some snacks to take to the field as we watch Zeke's practice. It'll be a few more hours until dinner."
We moved through the crowd with a purpose. Mr. Atkins has reached the twins over the phone and they said they would meet us at the field. Then we reached the school's bookstore that not only had books, obviously, but it had school supplies, food, electronics, little trinkets with Stanford University written everywhere, and so on. It reminded me of a real store with all of its options.
Mrs. Atkins browsed around, grabbing a few things here and there. Noah and I followed diligently even through the clothing section. It was there that something caught Noah's eye.
He pulled out a cardinal red shirt, with white wording on it. 'Stanford University Baseball.' He held it up in front of his mom. "Pleaseeee?" He noticed her hesitation at the price tag. "Just think of this as advertising to Zeke. If you buy one for me and Jake, we'll wear it, forcing him to see it, think about it, and maybe it'll remind him of his visit and how great the school is."
She started to cave. "Well, I guess we can splurge on this. Should we get one for all of you?" She started to brighten up the more she thought about it. "This could be really good motivation for the five of you. Wouldn't it be just great if all five of you went here for college together?!" She didn't wait for a reply. She just started pulling out the appropriate sizes for all of us, making me smile that she included me.
"It's not very realistic though." Noah mumbled for only me to hear.
I glanced at him, knowing what he was thinking. "Because Zeke will go pro?"
Noah nodded. "If he doesn't go immediately. I can't see him sitting back a whole four years unless something like a serious injury happens."
I couldn't see Zeke waiting either. I didn't know him super well, but I knew his love for baseball.
"Besides," Noah added. "I want to go pro right after high school."
