As Zeke was held up by Coach, we left him behind and boarded the bus. We weren't the first on, nor were we the last. About half the seats were taken. Dave and Kyle slid into a seat together somewhere in the middle of the bus. As we started to take the seat behind them, a high pitch voiced denied us.
"Nope. Can't sit there." A girl as tall as the twins squeezed through and flopped down on what could have been our seat.
Noah frowned. "Rude. We were here first."
She looked Noah up and down. "An Atkins brother? Another one? Does your parents only know how to procreate?"
Uh. What.
"Chill, Bailey." Dave turned around, putting his knees on the seat. "No need to be so bitchy. You'll never find a boyfriend that way."
Kyle took a similar pose, knees on the seat to turn and face us. "Yea, Bailey, do you take pleasure in bullying little freshmen?"
Bailey crossed her arms over her chest and harrumphed. "You guys should have educated them about bus etiquette. Seniors get first choice. Freshmen and sophomores go to the back. Three to a seat for them. Then it goes by how many years you've been on varsity. A two year varsity junior like me would even have seniority over a first year varsity senior from your team."
"Yo, you seem to care a little too much." Dave smirked. "Do you really want to sit behind us that bad?"
Bailey turned red in the face, either from anger or embarrassment. Too soon to tell.
I poked Noah and whispered in a low voice. "I'm okay to sit in the back. It's not a big deal."
Bailey overheard me and grinned at me, giving me the shivers. "Glad the freshmen knows better than you idiots."
Kyle frowned. "Who are you calling an idiot? If Noah and Jake want to sit behind us, they can. Special rights of freshmen that make varsity."
"Don't be making up new rules." A heavy karate chop landed on top of Kyle's head. Kyle turned to glare at the new girl, who had joined our group. My claustrophobia started to kick in being surrounded my so many people. The girl was definitely a senior, and could definitely be called a woman. She was just as tall as Bailey and wore her long dark hair in a high ponytail. She had sharp facial features like a pointed chin and high cheekbones. She could definitely be a model.
Dave took one look at the woman, then quickly sat right, facing forward. I've never seen him quit an argument so quick.
Kyle, on the other hand, had the opposite reaction. Instead of sitting his knees on the seat, he jumped up and stood tall so him and the new girl were eye to eye. "Last I checked, you're not the captain of the baseball team, Marie. You're not a coach or teacher either. So scram. Govern your own team."
Marie stared Kyle down. "The rules were already agreed upon. It's been like this for years." Her eyes drifted down to look at me and Noah for just a second. "Your brother and his friend is no exception."
I flinched, tugging on Noah's sleeve again.
Kyle caught saw me react, then glared at the girl. "And that's where you're wrong. Jake is an exception. Back off already. Jake and Noah were here before Bailey."
Marie looked to Bailey who already made herself comfortable. Then she pushed passed us and sat down next to Bailey. "Seniority rules." She glanced at Noah and me. "Get to the back. Find a third person to share with."
"This is oppression." Noah frowned at her.
"That's life." She replied, nonchalant. She looked up to Kyle. "Maybe your words will matter to someone else. But until you get on my level, then who cares what you say or think." She flipped her ponytail back, giving off a superiority vibe.
Kyle glared down at her. "What do you mean your level? We're both on varsity as juniors. Are you saying that you're better just because you made varsity as a freshman? Let me ask you, what's the point of being a queen of trash? If there's no competition, of course you'll be on varsity so soon."
She glared at him, and the rest of the students on the bus started to quiet down. She stood back up, looking ready to take him on. "That's funny coming from a guy on a team with two starting freshmen. What does that say about your team? That they're non recyclable trash?"
Kyle didn't back down. "Our freshmen are outstanding, playing on the same level as Zeke. Can you say the same?"
Marie scoffed. "You always bring up Zeke to save your argument. Too bad he can't boost your individual stats. What did you do last year again? Oh that's right, an ERA of 4.24 and a WHIP of 1.8. The only reason you had as many wins as you did is because of your older brother's batting."
Kyle clenched his fists. "Oh yea? I bet my team could do better than yours even without Zeke?"
She gave a look of doubt. "There's no way your coach would let you guys play without your star."
"We just won't count his stats." Kyle declared. "His hits, RBIs, and runs won't count."
"Pitching stats?"
"We don't know who's starting just yet." Kyle frowned.
"If it's you or Dave, then we'll also compare your stats to mine. If not, we'll leave it alone. Wouldn't want to embarrass you all too much." She shot a look around to the baseball players on the bus, yet no one said anything.
Noah, who had been standing in front of me like a guard, finally spoke up. "It's on. We'll take the challenge. No matter who is the pitcher. We'll do full stats across the board except for Zeke's." Marie raised an eyebrow at Noah, looking down at him with contempt. "But since we'll be a player short, I say we get to count someone else's numbers as double."
"Greedy little brat, aren't you? Every Atkins is a schemer." What did that mean?
Noah feigned a look of innocence. "Just trying to keep it fair. But since you're so worried, we'll only double what Jake does." He jerked a thumb at me. "Jake's a freshman like me."
She let out a laugh. "You really want to go with the squirt?"
Kyle caught on to Noah's hustle, and nodded in agreement. "We'll double Jake's numbers."
"Fine." She accepted. Then she calmly sat back down. She sent us a glance. "You still have to sit in the back. Three to a seat." She repeated.
Noah opened his mouth, probably to object, but he didn't get the chance.
"What's going on here? It's almost time to go." Zeke arrived. He stood behind us, his head nearing the roof of the bus. "Why aren't you guys in your seats yet?" He frowned, looking between Kyle and Marie. "Why are you two so close together? Didn't we agree that you guys should stay a few rows away from one another?"
"We sat down first." Kyle huffed, plopping down in his seat, next to the oddly silent Dave.
"Bailey chose this seat, and she's my seat mate." Marie wasn't intimidated by Zeke. "This is where we'll sit. If they have a problem with it, they can move." Her eyes drifted to Noah. "As for your youngest brother, he apparently doesn't know the rules. Underclassmen and newbies get last choice and back of the bus. Three to a seat."
Zeke looked to us two. I still stood slightly behind Noah, trying to make my presence as small as possible. Noah stood as tall as he could, but couldn't compare to his brother. He looked defiant. "We won't share with a third."
