The Hitting Zone

We left that night, but Alisha stayed over, willing to sleep on the couch near Kaylee as she slept in the armchair. It didn't even occur to me that she was using it as a bed until they said something.

"What's up with you?" Noah asked me as we stood outside, waiting for Grampa to show up.

I shrugged. "Just feeling sorry for Kaylee."

Noah shook his head, looking exasperated. "How many times do I have to tell you that she'll be fine? Kaylee is tough. She's not the kind to mope around and feel sorry for herself. And she definitely wouldn't want other people to feel sorry for her."

"It's called empathy." I told Noah, frowning. "Put yourself in her shoes. Wouldn't you be upset? She just had surgery a few days ago and her parents left her alone like that?" I shook my head. "She also has to move. I feel like a lot of things are going wrong in her life right now."

Noah chuckled lightly. I shot him a glare. He stopped laughing, but was still smiling. "Jake, I'm amazed by you time and time again. I would be the type to say that it's not so bad. It's not the end of the world even if it feels like it. I just think there is no situation that I can't turn around. You take a much more realistic approach."

"I think because I saw Dr. Moore when I first got here." I said. "I used to be a lot more negative."

"You still are when it comes to baserunning." Noah pointed out.

I shoved him away. "I'm not as bad as I used to be." I got quiet. "I just think Kaylee has it rough and I don't want her to be sad or angry or upset." I pursed my lips. "I don't want her to feel all the negative emotions that I felt when I was at my lowest point."

"Then we do what we did with you." Noah said simply. I looked at him and he continued. "We be her friends. Maybe refer her to Dr. Moore. Tell her sister that she better be nice to her or else."

I grinned. Yea. Those were the steps that Noah took with me. Becoming my first and best friend. My Dr. Moore visits. He even threatened Jeremy. I guess it all would work.

"You know, I'm glad you're not afraid right now. Like your normal timid self I mean." Noah said.

Grampa pulled up and parked to let us in.

"I am afraid." I said honestly. "I'm afraid that Kaylee won't be the same anymore."

Noah laughed and we got in. "I think I get why you're so afraid. You're relating to her a little too much. Don't worry, she isn't you. Kaylee has a backbone."

"Is your friend doing okay?" Grampa asked as he started to drive us home.

"She's definitely in the dumps, but nothing she can't handle." Noah declared. "We'll probably see her tomorrow or something. Maybe another movie night since she doesn't move her arm very well yet. She doesn't have a hard cast yet. I really don't know how she can sleep upright like that." Noah talked Grampa's ear off about Kaylee and her arm the whole way home.

He was wrong about seeing Kaylee on Saturday though. We woke up and did a workout with the twins, mostly listening to Kyle complain how the softball team lost and hoping that Marie didn't feel bad. Noah rolled his eyes a lot and I resisted the urge to join him. During lunch, Noah and I got a text in the group chat from Kaylee saying she wasn't going to have us over this weekend because Marie and their parents would be around.

Noah glanced at Kyle. "You're not going to console your girlfriend about the big loss yesterday? You're just going to hang out here?"

Kyle shrugged. "I invited Marie out tonight, but she said she wanted to stay home this weekend. It's fine. We need to prep for our game on Monday. Hey, you want to catch for me in the backyard?"

Noah gave him a look of disgust. "Heck no."

"I'll give you guys a ride to the cages later?" Kyle offered.

Noah turned to Grampa. "Grampa, can you take Jake and I to the cages?"

"Sure." Grampa easily agreed. "Maybe I'll stick around and see you boys practice."

"Yea!" Noah nodded. "Then you can really see Jake in action. It's nothing like you see in games. He's like a robot in there."

Kyle turned to Dave. "Want to invite Mitchell over?"

Dave nodded. "Yea, I'll send him a text."

The plans for our two groups transpired well. Grampa took us to the bowling afterwards and we sent an invite for the twins to join us. They did…while arguing about their pitching velocity and who had a better showing today. Can't do anything about those two when it came to pitching.

Sunday was more relaxed as we watched a bunch of baseball after lunch, trying to get in the mood for finals tomorrow. Noah still went on another run like he couldn't sit still. I sat that one out, focusing on finishing my Spanish homework before dinner.

"Is it weird that Jeremy's going to miss the game tomorrow?" Dave asked me. We were the only two left in the living room, letting the A's game play in the background as we did some homework.

I shrugged. "No? He doesn't come to a lot of games." I tapped my pen on my book. "Actually, he did come a lot in the beginning. When he wasn't in season."

"I think he should do what he did last year and skip his game to watch ours." Dave said, bringing up the first time I really saw Jeremy in a positive light. "Like what if your bat breaks again? It was cool that he was there to rescue you and therefore rescue us."

I frowned at the thought. "I'll bring extra bats." Three, maybe four. One for each at bat in case I have really bad luck.

Dave laughed. "Don't start stressing. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm not scared." I pouted. "I was just thinking I should bring a bat for every potential plate appearance. Four should be good. I don't think I'm unlucky enough to break four bats."

"Dude…you'll be lucky to just have a proper at bat." Dave laughed. "This is the team that walked you, remember. In a do or die game too. I really don't think they'll face you head on."

"Right." I slumped against the couch, feeling a little dispirited. "I guess I should send Jeremy a text to make sure he doesn't skip his game. He got in trouble last time." I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text.

"Is it just you two?" Mom stopped in the entryway of the living room. She raised an eyebrow. "Is it just my imagination or does it feel a little gloomy in here?"

Dave put his hands behind his head. "Jake's sad at the thought of not actually batting tomorrow. He's also sending Jeremy a reminder to not skip his game and get in trouble again. Hey Mom, you think Zeke would ever skip a game?"

"I would normally say no." Mom said. "But I also didn't think he would be the type to skip classes." She pointed at Dave. "Don't let me catch you skipping a class or I'll fly across the country to keep a close eye on you."

Dave laughed. "Mom, I'll be 18 next month. You can't control me even if I was skipping all my classes."

"Don't make me call your coaches right now, young man." Mom started to lecture him on the importance of keeping good habits.

For some reason it cheered me up, seeing Dave's look of regret. He chose the wrong time to test Mom on her leniency when it came to schooling.

"Mom." Dave raised his hands in defense to get her to pause. "Please. You're making me think I should go pro like Kyle."

That made her stop. She looked to me and asked about anymore updates on Kaylee. I could only shrug and say that she said she wouldn't go to school tomorrow again. And clearly not our game.