Noah didn't sleep well that night. And thanks to him, neither did I. He fidgeted back and forth, occasionally mumbling something about the A's. The both of us woke up Thursday morning with dark circles under our eyes and moved sluggishly.
"Did you boys stay up all night?" Mom asked at the breakfast table.
I shook my head, but stopped because it made me dizzy.
Noah spoke up. "Not intentionally. Just restless knowing that the A's won the series." He grinned and pointed at the A's shirt he was wearing. "I bet everyone is wearing A's gear today."
"Or costumes because it's Halloween." Kyle pointed out.
"Lame." Dave chimed. "Costumes are for kids."
"So you're not dressing up for tonight's party?" Mom asked him.
"I'll put on a baseball hat and pretend to be a player." Dave shrugged.
Noah laughed. "Yea...pretend. I guess even you don't think you're a baseball player."
"Noah." Dad sighed.
"I'm kidding!" Noah said defensively. He let out a big yawn. "I don't think we have to dress up either. I'm not. By the time we finish practice and shower, I'll be lucky not to fall asleep."
I nodded in agreement.
Throughout the school day, I was sluggish. Thankfully most of my teachers didn't want to have midterms on Halloween and it was all spread out. I probably would have made some dumb mistakes. Like I did in practice. If we were scrimmaging, my team would probably want to bench me. I had missed a few grounders and when doing a batting drill, I didn't have the normal focus I usually had.
Back home, I volunteered to shower first so I could take a short nap as the others got ready. Noah woke me up when they were all ready to go.
Dave laughed at me as soon as I came downstairs. "I think you could use a baseball hat too."
I patted my hair down, realizing it must have dried funny from laying down with wet hair.
"I'll go get you a hat." Noah told me, running back up the stairs.
I looked around and noticed Kyle was missing. "Are we still waiting on Kyle?"
Dave grinned. "He said Marie is going to pick him up." He lowered his voice. "I saw his text from her. She's bringing him a costume to wear tonight. A couples costume. I'm hoping it's something mad embarrassing."
My lips twitched. I'll be wishing Kyle all the best.
Noah came back and the three of us left together.
Just outside Alisha's, cars were parked along the street. A clear sign that we were late. Alisha's friends must have started to come over right after she got home from practice.
Dave glanced down at us. "Remember not to drink any alcohol. I know Alisha's parents are here, but that won't stop kids from sneaking some alcohol. I don't need to tell you how much trouble we would get in if either of you make a mistake."
"We should be saying that to you." Noah snorted.
Dave grinned. "As long as we're all on the same page."
We walked up the pathway and on the front door was a friendly note to 'come on in'.
Noah opened the door and walk through first. Something big and red dropped on him, landing on his head. I let out a small yelp and reached for Dave.
Noah laughed and picked up the prop. "Don't worry, Jake. It's just a spider." He shook it in front of me so I could see that it was just Halloween decor.
Dave pried my fingers off of him and threw his arm around my shoulders instead. "Don't worry, we'll let Noah go through first."
Go through..? I took a closer look at the entryway and saw that the whole first floor had black dr.a.p.es from ceiling to floor, forcing us to go only one way.
Noah closed the door behind us and raised the spider back into position. "This is a pretty cool idea. I didn't expect Alisha and her family to be so into Halloween. C'mon! Let's go see what else they set up!"
I gulp, moving a little closer into Dave's side, making him laugh. He didn't say anything to make me feel bad though. He just guided me through the makeshift maze throughout the first floor. We watched Noah take on all the scaries, people and props. Dave laughed at almost everything that attacked Noah, but I didn't really loosen up until we made it to the backyard.
I was practically sweating and gasping for air.
"I don't think haunted houses are your thing, kid." Dave patted my head as I controlled my breathing.
"Hey! You're here!" Alisha's shout made me flinch.
I was still running high on anxiety. Dave was right. This isn't my holiday at all.
Alisha was apologetic. "Sorry, Jake...I probably should have warned you. I wasn't thinking."
I swallowed a small lump in my throat and nodded at her.
"I think Jake needs a minute to calm down." Noah said. He looked around. "Are there any open tables we can sit at?"
Alisha looked too. "Not really...there's some in the a.d.u.l.t section if you don't mind?"
I didn't mind.
Alisha took us to where her parents and their friends were, finding us a couple of seats at the end of a table. Dave made sure we were settled before going off to find his own friends. Alisha's mom came over to check on us too, then told us she would bring us burgers as soon as fresh ones came off the grill.
"Awesome! Thanks!" Noah told her before facing me. "See? Not so bad. Honestly, you would think-" He stopped abruptly.
"Think what?" Alisha asked, confused.
I looked at him too, not sure what he was going to say.
Noah waved his mind. "Never mind. What I was going to say wasn't going to make sense. Anyways." He looked to Alisha. "I'm surprised you didn't dress for Halloween considering that you're throwing a Halloween party."
Alisha laughed and stood up. "Look." She unzipped her jacket and revealed a cheerleader outfit underneath. "It's too cold though." She complained. "Bring back summer." She zipped her jacket back up and sat back down.
"Noo. No summer. Spring is good." Noah argued. "I don't want to skip over baseball season."
The two had a conversation as I calmed down. Alisha's mom brought over the burgers and some mini-sized candy to eat. Afterwards, Alisha took us around to look at the decorations and mingle with some friends, classmates, and teammates. Thankfully she didn't bring up the scare I had coming through the maze.
Kyle and Marie showed up, dressed like Bonnie & Clyde, with squirt guns in hand. Kaylee immediately ditched them to join us. She was dressed in all red, wearing a devil horn headband.
"Very fitting." Noah nodded.
She rolled her eyes. "At least I did something." She looked between me and Noah. "You two put in no effort."
"Too tired." Noah shrugged.
Hanging out at Alisha's felt different than hanging out at school. For starters, we didn't see Alisha and Kaylee during lunch. Just in class. So there was a limit to how much we could talk. Here, we caught up on the drama, talked about the A's winning, and our upcoming roster selections.
Near the end of the night, Alisha handed me a cupcake with a candle in it and started to sing 'happy birthday'. Almost the whole backyard was singing, making the blood rush to my face. I didn't hesitate to blow out the candle to get the attention off of me.
"Not done yet!" Alisha's dad came over, using both hands to carry a giant bucket. He placed it in front of me. "Son, I think you're time at the batting cages is going to be paid for for the next couple of years." He chuckled.
My jaw dropped at the sight of all the coins. Almost five gallons worth. That's insane. Everyone must have brought a couple dollars worth of coins. My eyes stung as I looked around. I cleared my voice. "Thanks. Thank you. Everyone. I appreciate it." I didn't know what else to say. I've never gotten such a big gift from classmates before.
"Bring back another championship title!" Someone hollered.
A lot of people laughed and chimed in similar comments.
Noah slapped me on the back. "Happy birthday, Jake."
"Happy birthday!"
"Happy birthday!"
I clenched a fist. Now...I really feel like I belong. Not just within a team. But in a friend group. In school. I no longer stuck out as the abused kid. Or the kid that's in foster care. I'm Jake Atkins. A teen that's good in baseball. That belongs to a baseball family. That's good at math. Maybe a little quiet and awkward, but isn't everyone on some level?