After denying Mitchell the chance to catch for the twins tomorrow, he contacted his dad to arrange a pick up. We gave him some water to hydrate and hung out a little longer until his dad showed up in the driveway. We waved and watched him go.
"You know..." Dave looked at Noah, a little suspicious. "If we don't play with Mitch tomorrow, he won't be able to catch for us again for another week and a half?"
Noah shrugged. "So? You're here most of August." He nonchalantly headed for the stairs. "I've got to go change into my softball shirt. Jake, come on."
I obediently followed.
"Hold it." Dave's demand made me stop. Noah too. "Shouldn't you be explaining this pool party to me? I just passed out on pitching to a great workout partner."
Noah shrugged. "Alisha invited the team for a pool party on Friday. Zeke still has to focus on his online class so I thought it would be nice of us to get out of the house. Julian and Andy might go too."
"Oh, okay..." Dave nodded.
"Wait! Not okay." Kyle said, frowning. "Doesn't that mean Kaylee and KJ would go?"
"Yea, of course." Noah nodded. "It'd be weird if Alisha was the only girl."
Kyle shook his head. "Kaylee might be mad at me because of the thing with Marie. You should just have Dave take you guys."
"I'm not going." I spoke up. The twins were surprised. "I have a doctor appointment in Santa Cruz. Dad is going to take me. We won't be home for lunch."
"Just come to the pool with us." Noah told Kyle. "I promise Kaylee won't be mean to you. I can't believe you're so scared of her."
I looked at Noah. This liar. Kaylee is very scary. And...he may have promised that Kaylee won't be mean, but he's omitting the fact that Marie will be invited too. He's playing with fire.
Kyle hesitated. "Well, maybe then."
Noah motioned for me to follow him. We jogged up the stairs and went to the safety of our room. Noah started to change shirts and I did the same.
"Kyle is going to be so mad at you tomorrow." I mumbled, tugging the bright blue shirt over my head.
"Or he'll be excited to reconnect. You never know." Noah grinned. "Kyle seems to be in a better place, mentally. Maybe he'll want to start dating Marie again after seeing her."
"Or she and Kaylee gang up on him and kill him." I shivered. "I can't believe you said Kaylee wasn't mean."
"I didn't say that." Noah chuckled. "I said I can't believe he's scared of her. Especially when the one he should be scared of is Marie. And I'll talk to her tonight about being nice to Kyle. It'll work out."
"If you think so..."
We finished getting ready and met up with Zeke downstairs. He was already dressed and typing away on his phone.
"Who are you texting?" Noah tried to peek.
"No one you would know." Zeke finished typing and put his phone away. "Grab some water bottles for tonight and meet us in the car." He nodded at me. "Let's go."
Noah split away to go grab some bottles from the kitchen while we headed for the car. We put the baseball bags in the trunk, but right before getting in the car, Zeke held me back.
"W-What is it?" I asked, kind of nervous.
Zeke gave a small smile. "Nothing to be worry about. I just wanted to know more about your thoughts on the Stanford camp at the end of July."
"What about it?" I asked, confused.
"You're uncomfortable in strange places and I know you're only going to this camp for Noah's sake. If you don't want to go, you don't have to." He told me. "I'm working with Coach Leroy on signing you two up so I want to know if you're sure. Do you want to go?"
I shrugged. "I'll go. It's not really a 'want' though. But, I feel safe knowing that I'll room with Noah. And you'll be there."
Zeke looked me in the eyes. "Do you like playing baseball?"
I froze.
"I've got the water!" Noah came jogging out towards us.
"Let me know." Zeke said before getting into the driver's seat.
Noah reached the car and put his bag and the water in the trunk. "Hey, what were you guys talking about?"
"Stanford camp. If I'll be okay." I told him half of it.
Noah nodded, understanding. "It'll be fun! I promise. We'll get a taste of what it'll be like to be in college." He got in the front seat.
I climbed into the back.
Noah held a one-sided conversation until our first stop, at Alisha's. Then the conversation shifted about plans for tomorrow, with Alisha telling him that her parents promised to order pizza for lunch. Kaylee and KJ were picked up along the way, with the pool party being at the forefront of the conversation. Noah explained to Kaylee that she couldn't be mean to Kyle and she snorted in reply. Eventually agreeing after Noah explained Kyle's hesitation in joining them tomorrow.
At the field, Noah invited Andy and Julian to tomorrow's party.
Andy looked back to Julian.
Julian looked apologetic. "I have to make a trip to Fresno State to meet up with my new coach."
Noah looked at Andy. "And you're going with him? Or just staying at home? Don't your parents work?"
Andy shrugged. "I'll just go with him. Small road trip."
"Just hang out with us!" Noah told him, excited. "Jake has stuff to do too. We're both being ditched by our brothers! Two peas in a pod."
I tried not to laugh. "You invited the twins..." Not just invited, but practically forcing them to go.
Noah waved his hand. "They'll be busy. Or at least, Kyle will be." He looked at Andy. "Come on, the more the merrier."
Andy glanced at Julian.
Julian smiled warmly. "Go. Have fun. Being stuck in the car for a few hours or hanging out at the pool. You shouldn't even hesitate on what to pick."
"Yea! And we're ordering pizza for lunch!" Alisha added.
Julian turned to Zeke. "I'll drop Andy off at your house before I go in the morning? Then either pick him up from your house or Alisha's?"
"Yea." Zeke nodded.
Plans were made and the game was about to begin. It was another older team so it was a fun filled night. We switched up the positions and even Mr. Miller got to pitch a few innings. Andy really wanted to try it out but Mr. Miller didn't give him the chance. He was too busy having fun throwing up high lob balls to the other team, giving them a chance to hit.
After the game, Zeke drove the girls to their homes and then took us home. On the table for dinner, instead of a home cooked meal, it was full of Chinese takeout. Apparently the twins used up all of Mom's pasta, and that's what she had planned to cook for dinner. It worked out though. I've never tried Chinese food so it was a new experience.
