With so many strangers on the field, Coach didn’t stick around. He just reminded us that we still have practice tomorrow then left with the other coaches. Only Mr. Miller hung around, trying to herd everyone off his precious field so he could put some work in.
Noah and I packed up and caught up to the limping Dave just as he reached our parents and Grampa.
Dave gave Grampa a sad face. “Look. You’re a lucky charm. Every time you come to watch Kyle pitch, he does so well. I pitch, you don’t come, and I get hurt.”
“David.” Mom said sternly.
Grampa rubbed his chin. “No, Mary, he’s got a point. I’ve seen a lot of good games so far this year.” He reached out to pat Dave on the shoulder. “Next game you pitch, I’ll be there. Home or away. Rain or shine. I can’t carry the blame of you getting hurt all the time. Your grandmother would be angry at me.”
Noah laughed and looked to Dave. “What will be your excuse if he is there and you mess up?”
“Then obviously my little bro didn’t have my back.” Dave pulled Noah into a headlock and started to mess around.
Dad pulled the two a part. “Absolutely no messing around when one of you is hurt. Do you want to sit on the bench even longer, Dave?”
Dave sighed and let go of Noah. “You’re right, you’re right.” He looked down at his ankle. “It’s not as swollen but still feeling zaps. Definitely will be in the dugout on Saturday again.”
“After Saturday, we have some non-league games.” Noah pulled out his phone. “Chances are, Coach won’t let you pitch in those. Or if he does, they won’t be full games. Just an inning or two to see how you feel.” His eyes widened and he looked up from his phone. “Guess who are next league game is after all that?”
Dave leaned over to take a look. “Golden West?! Fuck yea! Sweet revenge is on its way!”
“Language, David.” Mom said in a warning tone again.
Kyle came over with Marie and Kaylee. “Coach is not just going to let you pick who you pitch against and when.” He looked to Mom. “Can Marie and her sister come over for dinner?”
“We were thinking of eating out and letting you pick?” Dad raised an eyebrow. “Will their parents mind?”
“They’re working.” Marie spoke up.
Kyle shrugged. “I don’t mind just getting tacos. Cheap and easy.”
My stomach growled and I was the first to nod in agreement. Tacos were faster than steak.
“Okay, you take Dave and the girls.” Dad instructed. “Noah and Jake can ride with us.”
We split into two groups and took two cars. I sent out the obligatory texts to Jeremy and Zeke. I went 4-4, Noah went 2-3, and Kyle did really well on the mound. Noah’s text was more detailed talking about his stolen bases, my home run, and Kyle’s strikeouts. Not the ones he earned on the mound, but the three he had at the plate. I grinned.
We met up at the taco place and got lucky to find a table big enough for our group. Chips and salsa were brought, a drink order was placed and we got situated. After drinks, we put in our orders for the tacos we wanted and the conversation had settled on Noah ratting Kyle out.
“I got texts from Zeke and even Jeremy!” Kyle complained. “Pitchers don’t have to hit in the majors. There’s a DH!”
“Your girlfriend hits better than you.” Dave pointed out. “And she’s the best pitcher in her league.”
“She’s an overall great player.” Kyle corrected. “She can play anywhere. I’m a pitcher only. No hitting, no fielding.”
.comno/vel//bi/n[./]net’
“Clearly.” Noah snorted.
Kaylee and I laughed.
“You’re going to miss me when I’m gone next year!” Kyle pointed at Noah.
Noah shrugged. “That’s next year’s problem.”
“I’ll miss having you guys and Garret.” I spoke up.
Dave threw his arm around my shoulders. “You’re my favorite brother. Follow me to Vanderbilt.” He shook me from side to side, bumping me into Noah.
“Jake is too advanced for college.” Kyle shook his head. “He should go in the first round like Zeke.”
“Jake will have plenty of time to decide.” Mom said for me. “But like with all of you, he’ll do the mandatory visits.” She looked to Noah. “You too. No matter what you decide, I want to see some fallback options. You heard what Ryan told Kyle, it’s good to be committed to a college for negotiations too.”
“I’ll have something picked out before senior year.” Noah said. He looked to Kaylee. “You looking at any colleges yet? Maybe follow Marie to UCLA?”
Kaylee’s face twitched with a small sneer before becoming neutral. “No, but if I was to be looking, I would like something on the other coast.”
Marie frowned.
“Vanderbilt has a good softball program too.” Dave missed these minuscule facial expressions as he ate the chips. “It’s not all the way on the east coast, but c’mon. It’s Nashville. It’s surrounded by a lot of fun things. We’re actually going to visit next weekend.”
“I’ll put it on a list to look at.” Kaylee answered casually. She looked to me. “If you’re going to Nashville next weekend, you won’t be here for the A’s home opener. Does Jeremy know?”
I nodded. “Yea. We’ve talked about it. Things are tough with everyone in season, but we try to make things work.” I grinned. “Zeke is playing at Arizona State this weekend and Jeremy is actually able to go since he’s still in Arizona until Monday. It’s cool that he doesn’t mind including my brothers as his brothers now.”
“That is cool of him to care more about you than himself.” Kaylee glanced at Marie for a millisecond. “Relationships are about give and take.”
I nodded in agreement, trying to see if Noah was picking up on the weirdness between the sisters. The food came just at that moment, shifting the conversation to how good the food was.
After dinner, Kyle took the girls home while the rest of us squeezed into Dad’s car. Grampa sat up front with him. Mom and Dave in the middle. Noah and I in the very back. Just as I was thinking how to talk to Noah about Kaylee, Dave turned to look back at us.
“Is something going on with Kaylee?”
I nodded while Noah looked surprised.
“I thought so too.” I pursed my lips. “She’s usually team Marie on everything. But she sounded…weird. Like she was upset.”
Noah was shocked. “You think so? I thought Kaylee sounded normal.” He rubbed his chin. “I guess it was weird that she didn’t want to play with Marie. We can just ask when school starts on Monday if we don’t see her anymore this weekend.”
“It’d be hard to follow Marie to a top school like UCLA.” Dave pointed out. “But I don’t know. She sounded like she didn’t entertain the thought. I know she has it rough with her weirdo parents, but” He shrugged. “There was just a vibe that was off.”
“Why don’t you guys ask Kyle?” Mom suggested. “His girlfriend should know more.”
“Mommm.” Dave and Noah groaned.
“Kyle is biased.” Dave rolled his eyes. “If something is wrong, he would take Marie’s side. Plus, what if she doesn’t even tell him. He’s going to think we’re starting drama.”
“Kyle has rose-colored glasses on when it comes to Marie. She can do no wrong.” Noah added. “I’ll just ask Kaylee in person. It’s better than sneaking around.”
“Let’s invite her to the cages tomorrow?” I thought about it. Tomorrow was a Friday. Cages are casual and Kyle and Marie wouldn’t hover over us.
“Yea, sounds good.”
“Let’s invite Alisha too. After practice?” Noah worked on the plan.
Kaylee might be more willing to open up with our small friend group. What we didn’t expect, was the news she was about to break when we played games Friday afternoon at the arcade.
“You’re moving?” Alisha was the most shocked.
“To follow Marie to college?” Noah deadpanned. “That’s dumb. She might as well have stayed local.”
Kaylee gave a machine a small kick. “Yea. It is dumb. It’s insane how dumb it is. They want to change jobs and move down south just to be able to watch more of her college games. They’re already looking for the ‘right’ church to go to before they house hunt.”
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ “That sounds like a nice thing to do…for Marie.” I shrugged, unsure of what to say.
“Nice?” Kaylee sneered and rolled her eyes. “It’s called favoritism, Jake. They wouldn’t do the same thing for me.”
“What does Marie have to say about this?” Noah’s eyes narrowed.
“All she can talk about is how I can go to a better high school with a better softball team.” Kaylee shook her head. “She just doesn’t get it. My friends are here. My team is here. We’re on pace to win league here.” She twisted her lips with an evil looking smirk. “A big part of me wants to see Kyle sink in the draft and go to college. Go to Vandy. Then I want to see what she would do? Follow her boyfriend after we all move down south? Ha. What a joke.”
Noah reached out to hold her shoulder. “Nah. That’s too easy. She can just transfer schools. Let him go pro and wish him a long journey of being on the road.”
Kaylee cracked up laughing. “I want him in the minors for years. Over four years so she would have to travel with him.”
Alisha looked as unsure as I felt. “Okay, enough about her. But what about you? Does this mean you’re leaving this summer?”
“Depends on the house hunting.” Kaylee shrugged. “We could be moving right after Marie’s graduation. No later than the start of august.”
“So Marie and Kyle won’t spend the summer together?” I asked.
“If Kyle gets drafted early June, he leaves soon after graduation too.” Noah pointed out.
Oh. I looked to Kaylee. “I’m sorry.”
“Yea. Me too.” She sighed.
