"You know I'm just kidding!" Kyle patted my helmet, pushing it down to cover my eyes. "Keep rolling your eyes like that and I'll start thinking that you're Noah's twin."
I fixed my helmet so I could see again. "I'd be okay with that."
"With what? Being Noah's twin?" He made a face.
I nodded. "Noah is cool. Nice. Friendly. Good at baseball. Generous. Happy."
Kyle laughed. "Yea, but what does being his twin have to do with any of that?"
With a tilt of my head, I looked up at Kyle. "Wouldn't I be just like him then? Just like how you and Dave are alike."
Kyle just shook his head. "You don't have to be an identical twin to be like someone. They can simply just inspire you to change." A corner of his lips went up. "You're already there anyways, aren't you? You're good at hitting while he is good at fielding. You're not mean or unwelcoming. Just shy. And aren't you happy? I remember your first week with us, you wouldn't speak at all."
I turned red. I was very unsure about living with the Atkins. Their pink house wasn't exactly a good first impression.
"Jake! Let's go! Everyone has already gone to the cage!" Garret hollered for me.
I gripped my bat tighter and ran away from Kyle. Garret waited patiently until I joined him, then we jogged together to the one batting cage we had by our field. We hardly got to use it since it wasn't really a team activity and it would be unproductive to train one person in the cages at a time. It'd be better if we all went to The Arcade to use their cages.
"Way to be late." Kameron glared at me and Garret. "The coaches already decided how to score us over here. You guys will have to go last now." He turned his back on us to look at the guy who was already conducting his turn.
"Don't mind him." Garret guided me towards Tanner. "We'll just ask Tanner how we'll get scored."
Tanner overheard him and turned with a smile. "Superstar needs my help, huh?"
"Yea to do administrative work." Garret shot back with a laugh. "But for real, is it like the fall tryout? Just twenty pitches at varying speeds?"
"Nope. Coach Dan said we can pick our own speed for all twenty pitches. They'll score us on mechanics, contact, and of course you'll get extra points for how fast the pitch is. So a slight twist." Tanner explained.
Garret's lips twisted to show his displeasure. "So they're baiting us. We have to pick our own? Can you pick a speed for each pitch?"
Tanner nodded. "Yea. I'm planning to pick ten 70mph pitches, five at 80mph, and the last five to be 90mph."
Garret nodded thoughtfully. "That's probably what most will pick. You're kind of obligated to pick the 90mph even if you can't hit it."
"Why?" I blurted out, then felt a little embarrassed at my interruption. But I really want to know why you have to pick a pitch you can't hit.
"You have to show courage." Tanner told me, not bothered at all. "You don't want to look afraid of a super fastball. Otherwise, why would the coaches want you? A 90mph pitch is rare at this level, but not impossible to come across. What I plan to do is show my strength at hitting the 70's, show some good hand-eye-coordination at the 80's, then show my grit at the 90's."
"Grit?" Like dirt?
"Yea, show my determination. My unwavering spirit."
Garret laughed. "Unwavering? How about the time you screamed like a girl when a bee landed on your nose in the middle of a game? You sure showed a lot of 'spirit' then. Everyone thought you were a cheerleader." He laughed even harder at the memory.
Tanner's cheeks became a little rosy. "We were 12 okay? Bee stings still hurt back then?" He glanced down at me. "Right?"
I hesitated to reply.
Garret just laughed harder. "Even Jake, the scaredy-cat, isn't afraid of bees. Do you feel ashamed of yourself yet?"
"You must have never been stung before." Tanner said, depressed at being laughed at.
"No, I've been stung before." I corrected. I don't know how much the twins and Zeke had told Garret about my past, but Tanner probably didn't know a thing. "It's just...my mother would have me catch them in sandwich bags so I've always been close to them."
"That's....a little unusual." Tanner looked taken aback. "Why did she want you to catch bees like that? Wouldn't they die sooner or later without oxygen?"
"I don't think you should ask anymore." Garret jumped in after seeing my gloomy look. "Jake-Jake has a complicated past. You may have heard that he lives with the Atkins, right?" He stressed that last sentence, trying to get Tanner to understand a deeper meaning.
Tanner froze. "Ah. Oh. Um. Sorry for prying." He panicked. He probably got the meaning...that I'm a foster kid without parents.
Awkwardness hung between us, but I didn't know how to correct it. It didn't seem like a good idea to admit why my mother would have me do such a task. Can you tell people you hardly know, that your mom would have you catch a few bees, just so she can use their dead bodies to sting you? It's sadistic. But part of my past. I was over it, yet I know strangers wouldn't take it so well. They might even think that I'm the deranged one. Why would I gather my own tools to be tortured with? They wouldn't be able to understand that an even worse fate would await me if I didn't oblige. What's a few bee stings compared to being punched and kicked repeatedly?
"Uhhh-What do you plan on picking, Garret?" Tanner tried to shift the topic back to the tryout. "Same as me? Or harder difficulty?"
Garret sighed. "Eh, I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking five at 70mph, ten at 80mph, then the five at 90mph. But those last five...do you think extra points would be deducted for missing? Or extra given for effort?" He rested a hand on my helmet and shook my head back and forth. "Wakey, wakey. No more depressing thoughts. Isn't batting your forte? What do you think about it?"
I blinked and thought about it more clearly once the shaking start. "Wouldn't it be better if you pick what you can do? That would show confidence and knowledge of your own ability. Can't this machine adjust to speeds by 5mph? So if you're worried, pick 85mph and at the very least foul it off. I don't think coaches would want players that are willing to strike out."
"You gotta know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em." Garret nodded like he agreed, but I didn't understand. "It's a poker term, you gotta know when to stay and battle and when to quit while you're ahead."
"This isn't gambling." Tanner just shook his head at his friend.
"Isn't it though? We're taking a gamble on how we'll be scored and how we'll do when it comes to hitting the 90mph pitch. I think I'll adjust my picks to six 75mph, six at 80mph, six at 85mph, and then the last two will be 90mph just in case I get lucky." Garret planned out.
Tanner thought it over. "That's not a bad idea... I might do it like that too."
Garret wiggled his brows. "Want to go before or after me? I don't want to make you look bad when you go after and don't look as good as me."
Tanner playfully shoved him. "Jerk. You better not go before me. You should be going last. Especially when you already have a spot on varsity."
Garret laughed. "Just checking. Ah, but I won't be going last. I'll let Jake have the honors."
Tanner gave a friendly smile. "I heard he's a batting prodigy? There was an article in the paper back when the season started. He had done well in a tournament you guys won."
My face heated up as the blood rushed to my face. Pretty sure I blacked out in that last game.
Garret grinned. "You should keep up with league statistics."
Tanner shook his head. "There's no time. I have to focus on my own games, you know. Checking on varsity stats would just make me depress and jealous."
Garret laid a heavy hand on my hand. "My boy here is second in batting average. In the whole league."
Tanner's jaw dropped and his eyebrows raised.
'My boy'?? "Who's your boy?" I asked.