"Do you have a grudge against Andy?" I asked Noah later that night. After all the picture taking and farewells, we went out to dinner as a family and celebrated some more. Now we were showered and prepared for bed. I couldn't help but remember the way Noah swindled the kid into joining our workout tomorrow morning.
"Heck yea, I do." Noah told me, putting his hands on his hips, standing by his desk. "That boy cost me a bat!"
I laughed. "You can't call him boy...he's only a year younger." Noah was picking up on his Grampa's habits after half a day. "And he didn't cost you a bat...you did that on your own. I even told you I didn't want to bet with you." I tucked myself under the comforter.
Noah turned out the lights and got into his own bed. "Semantics. And just because Zeke's training is tough, doesn't mean it isn't beneficial. I'm doing this for his own good."
I snorted.
"I'm serious, Jake. I can tell that he has some skill. Maybe with Zeke's help, we can help him make varsity as a freshman too. That'll show those jerks."
Knowing that 'those jerks' were the kids in our own grade, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Noah. His friends are now enemies. He probably wants to pay them back for excluding him and me from tryouts. What better way to do that then have someone younger than them do better in tryouts.
"You might scare him away tomorrow." I warned him.
"Then he isn't as serious about baseball as we thought." Noah replied.
"Guess we'll find out tomorrow." I yawned and turned over to get more comfortable.
"Hey...Jake?" Noah spoke up just as I was about to fall asleep.
"Hmm?"
"Are you really okay with calling my parents, 'Mom' and 'Dad'?"
"Yea..." I thought about what he was asking. "I'm okay. I'm in a better place. Your mom and dad are great."
"Our mom and dad." He corrected.
I smiled in the dark. "Yea. Our mom and dad."
"I wonder where they're at in the adoption process?" He mumbled. "Not like we need a paper to say you're one of us, but Kyle's talk about your uncle has me worried."
"I'm not worried." I told him.
"Really?" He asked.
"What right does he have to take me away? He had his chance."
"Right! Right!" Noah got excited. "So true. I'd like to see him try."
Ha...I rather he didn't try.
We both fell asleep, tired from the day.
"Hey, you guys told me to be here at 6am, but you're still sleeping."
"Huh??" I heard Noah mutter.
I turned away from the noise, unwilling to leave dreamland.
"Looks like you guys forgot to mention you invited Andy and Julian over." Zeke's voice jolted me out of sleep for good.
I looked over and saw him standing with a fully dressed Andy. Julian stood behind them in the hallway, looking half asleep.
"What's happening..?" Noah mumbled. He rubbed his eyes. "What are you guys doing here so early? Didn't I say 6am..?"
"It's 6:10am." Andy got closer to Noah. "Come on, get up."
"Whattt." Noah was bewildered. He looked to Zeke. "You let us sleep in..?"
Zeke smirked. "I was going to let you all sleep in today, but I was surprised to find some familiar faces before I hit the road. So I thought I can't let you guys miss out."
I groaned. The injustice.
"We leave in ten. Get moving!" Zeke told us, leaving the room with the Wilson brothers.
Noah and I got moving, finding some workout clothes and put on our shoes. Downstairs Zeke, Julian and Andy were all waiting. So were the twins. The pair glared at us as we joined them.
Dave was the first to pull Noah in a headlock. "It's all your fault. We could have been sleeping in today!"
"How was I to know?" Noah struggled.
"Let him go." Zeke commanded.
Dave complied, dropping Noah.
Zeke looked to Julian and Andy. "We usually run for a good two miles. Don't worry about keeping up. We all go at our own pace."
"If we get to choose our own pace, doesn't that mean we can just slack off?" Andy asked.
Zeke stared him down. "If you slack off, you're only hurting yourself. You have to hold yourself accountable."
Andy straightened up. "Yes!"
"Let's go." Zeke led the way.
Once outside the house and the front door closed, we jogged together as a group. The twins stayed on either side of me, trying to keep their breath even. Zeke and Noah led the pack with Julian and Andy right behind them.
Andy made a move to go around Noah and Zeke, but he did it right before the hill so the move was useless. Zeke and Noah picked up the pace, leaving us behind. Andy was surprised, but hurried to catch up. Julian also picked up his pace, but didn't go as fast as the other three.
The twins decided to leave me behind and catch up with Julian, trying to stay with him. It didn't last long. At the top of the hill Julian left them behind. Our group was now scattered throughout the streets, and I soon lost sight of everybody.
I was the last one to arrive at the house, finding everybody spread in the driveway, doing different exercises or lifting weights.
Andy glanced at me and gave me a head nod.
I started to feel embarrassed. Andy beat me and he's younger than me.
"Pushups, sit-ups, and jump rope before you start lifting." Zeke instructed.
I moved over to Noah since he seemed to be doing the same set of exercises. He smiled at me as he finished with the jump rope. "Here. You can have it."
There was no longer any time to feel bad about my fitness compared to others when doing a workout. Zeke was always quick to point me to the next station or give me a new ab exercise, keeping my mind solely focused on surviving. When he finally called it quits, I collapsed beside Noah, exhausted.
"Are you boys done out there?" Mom came out on the front porch. "Breakfast is ready. I made enough for Julian and his brother too!"
"We'll be right in, Mom!" Noah pushed himself up, finding new energy in her words. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. "Let's go!"
The twins moved way faster, bolting for the door.
"You guys might want to hurry before the twins eat all the good stuff." Noah told Julian and Andy. They followed us, leaving Zeke alone to finish pushing everything back in the garage.
"What about Zeke?" Julian asked.
"What about him?" Noah shrugged. "It's not like anyone dares to steal his share."
Breakfast was like a buffet feast. Mom directed us to grab a plate, fill it, then eat outside since there wasn't enough seats with all the guests. Julian and Andy were polite at first, only taking one serving of eggs, bacon and a bagel. But once they saw us pile our plates and go for seconds, they soon caught on that there was enough for everyone.
"Hey, do you want to go to the park after this?" Noah asked Andy.
Andy blinked. "Can we?"
"Why not? It's not like we have school or anything. Do you need to ask your parents?"
"No. They're at work." He turned to Julian. "Can we play at the park?"
Julian smiled. "Sure. I think our baseball bags are still in the car so maybe we can play a mini-game of sorts."
"I'm in!" Noah grinned. He turned to the twins. "Want to play 'over the line' at the park?"
Dave looked at him in disbelief. "You want to exercise even more..?"
"I'm in!" Kyle said.
Dave turned to look at him. "Really?"
Kyle smirked. "You afraid?"
Dave rolled his eyes. "Not even a little bit. I'm in too."
"I call Zeke!" Kyle yelled.
"Then I get Jake!" Dave shot back.
"I call Julian!" Kyle continued.
"Well then I should get both Noah and Andy." Dave claimed.
"What?? That's not fair." Kyle argued. "Why do you get the extra player?"
"Because you picked first. Plus, are you scared that me and the kids will beat you and your college bound team?" Dave wiggled his eyebrows.
Kyle narrowed his eyes. "Fine. It's on!"
I had no clue what they were talking about, but from the look of the Wilson brothers, neither did they.