After Friday's practice, besides showering and eating dinner, Mrs. Atkins assigned us chores.
"On a Friday night??" Dave groaned.
"I should be going on a date...not cleaning." Kyle moped.
"Can you even go on a date? Aren't Marie's parents still mad?" Noah pointed out.
"That's not the point." Kyle huffed. "I just don't want to start the weekend off by cleaning."
"I won't let my boys look like slobs." Mrs. Atkins had her hands on her hips. "If you boys want to have some fun this weekend, I'll need your help to make sure this house is presentable to all the guests for tomorrow."
"Shouldn't this be Zeke's responsibility?" Dave asked, not giving up without a fight. "It's his day."
"Are you giving your mom a hard time?" Mr. Atkins asked as he walked out of his office with Zeke right behind him. "If she's asking you to do something, you do it."
"Yes, Dad." All three boys chorused reluctantly.
"Everyone is responsible for their rooms." Mrs. Atkins started instructing us. "Make sure all dirty laundry is in baskets and clean laundry put away. Vacuum. Dust. Tomorrow morning, I shouldn't have to remind you boys to make your beds. I'll clean the kitchen and your dad will do the living and dining rooms, but one of you need to be responsible for vacuuming."
"I call vacuuming!" Dave shouted.
"No fair! That's the easiest job!" Kyle glared.
"I'm injured though. I don't want to stunt the growth of my nail." Dave flaunted his wrapped up finger.
"Dave has a point. He gets the vacuum." Mrs. Atkins said.
"Awe Mom..." Kyle groaned.
"You can do the room and I'll do the bathroom." Zeke suggested.
Kyle sighed. "Okay, fine."
With the tasks officially assigned, we spent the evening cleaning.
Saturday morning, Mr. Atkins woke us up early enough to have breakfast before sending us back up stairs to change into the planned outfits. Mrs. Atkins wanted us to wear the Stanford University Baseball shirts she had bought for all five of us. Her and Mr. Atkins coordinated as well, choosing to wear Stanford University shirts that they had ordered beforehand.
We came downstairs in our matching shirts, and found Mrs. Atkins waiting for us with a comb in hand. She lifted a bottle hairspray. "Okay, lets make you all presentable now."
"Mommm." The twins groaned.
Zeke didnt fight it. He even bent his knees so his mom could reach his head. She smiled warmly, sprayed his hair, then started to brush it down. With a few complaints, she did all their hair the same way. They had blonde, straight hair so it was just a matter of brushing the hairspray across the bed head.
She got to me. "Do you mind, Jake?"
"Hey! You didn't ask if I mind!" Kyle hollered.
"It's okay." I told her as I scooted forward a little, getting in arms distance. My hands started to shake so I grasped the end of my shirt as I leaned my head forward. It's just Mrs. Atkins. She had never hurt me before, yet my body was struggling to understand that.
Mrs. Atkins sprayed my hair with the hairspray and I flinched. She didn't say anything, and just lightly combed my hair. It was an odd feeling. I don't think anyone has ever brushed my hair. Even if I went to school with a birds nest in my hair, I wouldn't allow a teacher close enough to brush it.
"Okay. All done!" She backed up, giving me my space.
My shoulders relaxed as I stood properly.
She smiled at me, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Thanks Jake." Then she quickly turned away and went to the kitchen. "I'm going to start preparing snacks. Zeke, make sure to greet each guest properly."
She left us so suddenly that I wasn't sure what happened. Did I do something wrong? Did she not like brushing my hair? I could have done it myself.
"Wow, you made mom cry again." Dave pointed.
My eyes widened.
"Don't say it like that." Noah scolded him before turning to me. "Mom was probably just overwhelmed with happiness. You've never let her get so close and be so intimate."
Oh.
"It doesn't help that today is a very important day for Zeke." Kyle pointed out. "She's probably just a step away from balling her eyes out. I bet she bursts into tears as soon as Zeke makes the announcement on camera. It's going to be so embarrassing."
"It's just the local station right?" Dave asked. "I doubt his decision would make national news."
Noah laughed. "Zeke is currently one of the best batter's in the nation. It'll definitely get picked up by ESPN."
"Is there going to be a lot of people?" I asked, nervous of what was to come.
"Twenty to thirty." Zeke spoke up. As if he could tell that I wanted to go hide in my room, he spoke again. "They won't be coming all at once. They'll start showing up one by one so it'll be easy for you to get used to."
I forced out a tight smile. "Alright..what do we do now though?"
"It's Saturday." Noah grabbed me shirt and started to drag me. "I can find a baseball game on tv to watch. It's Zeke who has to greet the guests and make them comfortable."
We went to the living room and got set up. The twins had followed along as well since there wasn't much they could do either. Only Zeke didn't come. The doorbell had rung and the first of the guests had started to arrive.
Unsurprisingly, Mahki was the first guest to arrive. He was a senior like Zeke and they seemed to be pretty close. Garret wasn't that far behind. Then Julian. Zeke had sent the three of them all to the living room to join us. Soon, the room had started to fill up with unfamiliar faces.
Zeke started to walk the guests around and introducing all of us to one another. There was his little league coach, a different coach, our regular coach, some students I've never seen before, and then more adults that I couldn't remember. There was just too many names and faces...I don't think I remembered any of them. The more that showed up, the more I wanted to go hide.