Rhys wasn't lying...sadly. As we finished eating, a coach made the announcement that we would get an hour rest and then gather outside of the dorms by 2pm. Everyone sporadically left the cafeteria after eating their fill. We headed back with a few other guys and then split off to head to our own rooms.
A little while later there was a knock at our door, but before either of us could answer, Zeke walked in. Noah flopped back on his bed. "Oh, it's just you."
Zeke rolled his eyes. "Who else would it be?"
Noah shrugged and picked up his phone. "Any of the other guys at this camp. We've made a few friends."
Zeke looked to me. "Have you?"
If Landon counts, then yes...I nodded.
Zeke leaned against the doorframe. "That's good. I wanted to make sure you'll be okay with Noah not being on the same team as you."
Wait. What? I sat up straight. Zeke had my full attention. Noah too. He hopped out of bed and stood up.
"You're going to separate us?" Noah asked in disbelief.
Zeke gave a short nod.
"Why would you do that?" Noah frowned. "You know how Jake is."
How I am? I glanced at Noah.
"No offense." He quickly told me.
I looked at Zeke. "Why do we have to split up?"
Zeke stared at me for a second, then sighed. He came into the room all the way, closing the door behind him. He sat on my bed, eye level with me. "For training purposes."
I thought back to how much I sucked when I paired up with a different shortstop. "But..."
"Do you want to become a better player?" Zeke asked abruptly.
I nodded without thinking. "I do."
"You rely on Noah a lot when it comes to turning double plays." Zeke started to explain. "You're either taking too long to field the ball or late to throw it to him. It's fine for the most part, but you might eventually put him at risk for a collision."
"I'm fine!" Noah told Zeke.
"That's not the only reason." Zeke ignored him, eyes still on me. "What if there's a time that Noah misses a game? What about after high school? Noah won't always be your shortstop. It's time you try to play with others. No Noah. No me. No twins. Do you think you can do it?"
"You're just going to let Jake be on his own?" Noah frowned. He reached for his phone. "I'm going to tell dad."
Zeke spared him a glance. "He wouldn't be on his own completely." He looked back at me. "Rhys would be the assistant for your team. If that isn't enough, I can be the assistant for your team. What do you think? Do you want to try to play without Noah?"
I shook my head. "I don't want to." Noah smiled with relief while Zeke looked slightly disappointed. "But, I know I have to. I have to become a better player."
Noah looked stunned.
I looked at him. "Next year, we won't have Zeke on the team. You said it before, we have to fill that hole. I want to become a better player."
Zeke stood up and rested his hand on my shoulder. "You're improving every day." I don't think he was talking about baseball though, so I tilted my head to look up at him. "Don't worry. Rhys will be there. Noah and I won't be too far either. In the morning, you'll still be practicing and going through stations with Noah. Afternoons and evenings will be team things like games and situationals, but you'll see him at meals and back here in the room."
I nodded.
Zeke headed for the door. "I'm going to let Coach Leroy know. Be ready for your run, drink some water." He left, closing the door behind him.
"Jake, do you really want to do this?" Noah sat back down on his bed, looking grumpy. "You could have just told Zeke 'no'."
I shrugged. "I want to be a better player." I paused. "Don't you want me to become a better player too?"
"Of course!" He quickly replied. "I just thought...we would be doing this camp together."
"We are." I nodded. "We spend most of the day together. The only time I'll be gone is when we do a couple hours for team stuff. Then I'll be with Rhys." I glanced at him. "You know...if there are teams, there are games. Now that we're on different teams, we'll be playing against each other."
Noah stopped feeling down almost immediately. "Playing against you would be fun! And with full teams, it'll probably be more fair. You're great at hitting, so I think you'll be put with a team that is better at fielding." He brightened up. "That must be what they're doing to even the teams! I'm sure there'll be players who lack in certain aspects of the game and some will just be average throughout, but the best way to improve a team is having them work together."
I looked at him. I understood what he was saying, but...I'm good at hitting and Noah's good at fielding. We would have balanced each other out already. Zeke just wants me to become more independent. I see it. I want to try it. But, that doesn't mean I'm not scared or nervous about being with a group of strangers.
I picked up my water bottle and started to hydrate as Noah made guesses as to what the teams will be like and if we'll start scrimmaging tonight or tomorrow. We headed down together when it was almost time for the run.
"Pitchers and catchers, this way!" One of the coaches waved his arms. "Gather around me over here!"
"I bet they don't have to do a run." Noah mumbled.
"Of course not." Landon joined us with one of his outfielder buddies. "This is a skills camp. They get to show off their skills."
"Then why are we running?" I asked, perplexed.
"This will probably be the only long distance run." He lowered his voice. "A lot of college coaches are here to check for recruits after all. Running long distances is a good way to see if they have endurance, yes, but more importantly, if they have the mentality to keep going even when they're tired."
Noah grinned. "That's easy. We run almost every morning. As long as Zeke isn't leading us, then I could probably run for miles."
"And if I am leading you?" Zeke said from behind him, making us both jump.
Noah smiled sheepishly. "Then I will diligently follow you, step by step?" His comment sounded more like a question.
Zeke grinned, but not in a happy way. His grin made me shiver. "Good. You and Jake have experience following me, so why don't you join my group." He looked to Landon and his friend. "You two can also join."
There was no room for argument or disagreement. We were stuck with him, for better or for worse.
Zeke went around, picking out a few more players from the crowd, forming a smaller group. He wasn't the only counselor to do so. A handful of counselors started to put together smaller groups. It made sense. It's not like hundreds of us could just run together as one big group.