The Hitting Zone

Noah wasn't satisfied with her response. He shook me a bit. "Jake? Jake, I'm sorry okay? We don't have to play baseball. We can play mini golf tomorrow instead!"

I grabbed a napkin and dabbed the tears from the corner of my eyes so they wouldn't fall. I looked at Mary and nodded my thanks.

Her gentle smile never wavered. "It's okay to get sad Jake. No matter what you're sad about, we'll face it together. If you're not ready to play baseball so soon, that's okay as well. It'll be waiting for you and not going anywhere. Wayne and I raise the boys to follow their dreams and to do what they like for hobbies. We don't force them one way or the other."

Just...just nothing like my mom.

"Jake?" Noah still worried.

I gave him a thumbs up and a weak smile to signify that I'm fine.

He sighed. "You had me scared for a second. I thought I broke you or something."

"Oh?" Mary chuckled. "Who knew you could play big brother so well, Noah? It's a nice change for you."

Noah rolled his eyes at her. "I'm not playing. I am his big brother. I checked his birthday, I've got three months on him." He grinned at me. "If you have any problems, just come to me. I'll solve them all like a real big brother. Unlike mine, who bully the young and don't know how to treat others with respect."

"Oh really?" Mary smirked. "How do you plan on helping him with his math homework if he's ahead of you?"

Noah's jaw dropped. "He's not in geometry with me? I thought you would place him in all of my classes so I can watch out for him?"

"Nope." Her smirk was more pronounced. "Jake is actually very bright when it comes to math. He'll be taking pre-calculus with the twins."

"You would put him with those troublemakers?" Noah looked at me with pity. "It's gong to be hard on you, Jakey. This is what you get for being so smart."

Mary rolled her eyes like Noah usually does. "Don't be so dramatic. Dave and Kyle are well-behaved in class." I noted how she had to add 'in class' at the end. Even she couldn't admit that they weren't as much trouble as Noah made them out to be.

"What about the five Saturday detentions they had to attend for being a disturbance in class just last semester alone?" Noah refuted.

Mary looked at me, embarrassed. "They aren't that bad. Just rowdy teenage boys."

I shrugged to show that it didn't matter to me. As long as they didn't want to beat me up then I don't care.

We spent the rest of the day doing what Mary had planned out. I got a few sets of school clothes, some workout clothes, and my own set of school supplies. Afterwards, she took us to see an action film I've never heard of, but Noah claimed it was a remake of a classic and it'd be great. Then we ate dinner at a taco place on the way home.

Today was the first day in quite a long time, that I spent with a friend and I almost forgot how it felt before. Noah felt trustworthy and his outgoing personality made it easy on me.

"Tomorrow morning, Mom has her open house. Want to go to the arcade?" Noah asked as we finished putting away my new clothes. "It has mini-golf, arcade games, and the batting cages. It's only two miles by bike."

I scrunched up my face at the thought of riding a bike.

Noah noticed. "What? You think that's too far or something?"

I shook my head and cleared my throat. "Can't." I coughed up the one word and quickly looked away.

"Ohhhh. You can't ride? That's okay. We'll just have mom drop us off. No worries." He patted my shoulder and smiled. "I'll teach you when we get back in the evening." He got into his bed. "Go on up. It's time to sleep."

I nodded, and scurried up onto the top bunk. It didn't take long to hear Noah snoring, yet I couldn't fall asleep the same way. Today was a whirlwind and I was still catching up, mentally.