After some cajoling from Noah, I didn't feel so guilty anymore. Like he told me, it's not like we're lying...Marie was pretty mean at first.
We sat at the table and waited for everyone else to gather. At the sound of the doorbell, Kyle jumped and made a beeline for the front door.
The rest of us got up and moved to the foyer to see, Zeke included.
Kyle opened the door to reveal two familiar faces and two new faces. Kaylee and Marie both stood in front of their parent, who they resembled.
"Hey. Hi. Um.." Kyle stuttered. "Uh, come on in please."
"Hello, welcome to our home." Mrs. Atkins stepped up to help Kyle out. "I'm Mary, this is my husband Wayne." She patted Kyle on the shoulder. "This is Kyle."
"Yes, hi, I'm Kyle." Kyle nodded.
I cringed to myself. So awkward.
Marie was the first to walk with her family following her in.
"I'm Diana." Marie's mom gave a friendly smile, holding out her hand to Mrs. Atkins. They shook hands. "This is my husband, Greg."
Greg stepped forward to shake Mr. and Mrs. Atkins hands. "Hello. How do you do?"
"Good. Very good." Mr. Atkins smiled. "Hope the house was easy to find?"
Diana laughed. "Oh yes, hard to miss such a pretty house. When Marie told us it was pink, I was quite surprised." She looked at the four of us in the background. "These must be your other boys."
I flinched.
Mrs. Atkins nodded. "Yes, this is Zeke, our oldest."
"Heard a lot about you around town." Greg smiled.
"Thank you, sir." Zeke reached out to shake both their hands. "Marie is talked about a lot too, I'm sure. Undefeated and a captain as a junior."
Marie blushed, while her parents looked proud.
"This is obviously Kyle's twin, Dave. Also a junior." Marie hurried up the introductions. "Then Noah and Jake are freshmen."
"Oh, are you two twins too?" Diana asked, looking at the two of us.
I flinched. "Um, no." I whispered.
"Something like that!" Noah raised his voice over mine to drown it out. He threw his arms around my shoulders. "Can't you see the resemblance?"
Greg and Diana exchanged a look, but didn't argue with him. I clearly didn't have the Atkins genes: tall, blonde, bright smiles.
Mrs. Atkins ignored the whole exchange like it didn't matter either way. "Let's head to the dining room. I've already had the boys set the table." She led the way.
I hurried after her to escape the weird looks Marie's parents were giving us. Noah followed behind at a more leisurely pace with the others.
The dining room had been rearranged to accommodate the guests. Zeke moved out all his college advertisements, and Mr. Atkins used a folding table to make more space. The twins found four extra chairs. I sat down at my seat, next to the head of the table where Mr. Atkins would sit. Then Noah beside me, Kaylee next to him, Dave, Zeke. Mrs. Atkins sat at the other end with Kyle, Marie, Diana, and Greg right across from me.
The conversation turned to food as Mrs. Atkins revealed what she had cooked. There was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, cooked carrots, corn, and Salisbury steaks. We all took turns filling up our plates before us.
As soon as Noah and I were done stacking the food, we had started eating immediately.
"You all don't say grace before you eat?" Greg asked, stopping us midchew.
Mr. Atkins answered. "No, only my wife goes to church." He gave a kind smile. "Would you like some time for yourselves?"
Greg turned to his wife. Diana looked disappointed, but didn't say anything. "Oh no, we're fine." Greg told Mr. Atkins. "When in Rome, right?"
Mr. Atkins kept the smile on, but I saw a noticeable twitch at the corner of his eye. I peeked at Noah, yet he had already continued eating. If he wasn't bothered, then it should be okay to start eating again.
"I heard you pitched a good game today, Kyle." Greg said as the table ate. "Six out of the seven innings?"
"Yes, sir." Kyle nodded, not touching his food. "I was on a limited pitch count so I didn't get to finish out the game."
"Too bad. It's a shame that coaches are putting all these limits on you young men. It'll only hold you back in the future." Greg said.
Mrs. Atkins spoke up politely. "With all due respect Greg, I like how the coach at Watsonville High sets limits. It prevents injuries and forces my sons to make every pitch count."
Kyle let out an awkward laugh while giving his mom the side eye. "Oh, it's fine. I just do what I'm told."
Greg frowned and was about to speak up, but Mr. Atkins intervened by asking him about his work. As they talked about one another's careers, the whole table seemed to break out in small conversations. Right beside me I could hear Noah and Kaylee talking about classes starting up again on Monday and how midterms went.
Kyle and Marie also had a smaller conversation with her mother next to her. It sounded like she was quizzing Kyle on his grades and what classes he took, plus what colleges he wanted to look at.
"That's a little far off for me right now." Kyle said shyly, turning pink in the face.
"Far off? Why, it's just around the corner!" Diana told him. "Marie has already narrowed down her offers and plans to commit to a college before the start of her senior year."
"Well Zeke hasn't picked one yet either so I've got time." Kyle replied.
"You haven't picked a college yet?" Diana looked across the table at Zeke.
Zeke looked up from his plate of food. "Not yet."
"But applications were due back at the beginning of February." She looked stunned. Her words gathered the attention of the table.
"I have applied for quite a few schools." Zeke told her plainly. "I've received acceptances. I just haven't picked one yet. Some colleges have also contacted me saying I'd be allowed special admission thanks to baseball. Plus, I might not even go."
"Just a possibility!" Kyle jumped in to explain. "Zeke has visited quite a few big schools that want him to play baseball so he has a tough decision to make. We even went to Stanford as a family to check it out."
Diana relaxed a little at that. "Oh? How was it? Did you like going there yourself? I keep telling Marie, she should go there. Not too close to home, but not too far. Such good academics."
She prattled on about the school and everyone resumed eating. I halfheartedly listened as I ate, not giving any particular group more attention than the other. Even Noah and Kaylee's conversation about the Oakland A's didn't appeal to me.
"You're letting your son enter the draft?" I heard Greg ask in a low tone to Mr. Atkins.
"He's 18. He can decide for himself." Mr. Atkins said normally like there was no reason to be ashamed. Such a contrast to the man that's making Zeke visit these colleges in the first place. Maybe he didn't like the tone Diana used when talking to Zeke about his future. It's not like it's her business anyways.
I kept my head low, like I was only focused on eating. I didn't feel comfortable with Marie's parents right from the start, and now it just felt unbearably awkward. I just didn't know how bad it would get.