Dinner was filled with good food and the twins talking nonstop about pitching. They would get the chance to compare stats and see who can throw faster while aiming for specific spots. Safe to say that they couldn't wait until tomorrow.
"What about your date with Marie?" Noah asked Kyle between bites.
"We won't play it ALL day." Kyle brushed him off. "Just in the morning. Then maybe we'll do lunch and movies at the mall." He thought for a minute. "Or we can just invite her over?"
"I don't think her parents would like her being in a house full of boys without supervision." Mr. Atkins frowned.
"Kaylee would come too." Kyle quickly defended. "She's her little sister, a freshman like the boys. They get along too." He looked to Noah and me. "You guys would be okay if she came over right?"
"Sure." I said, keeping it simple.
Noah didn't. "I'm happy with it. The question is, would Marie be happy with you? Can inviting her over to look at the new equipment really be considered as a date?"
"She's a pitcher too." Kyle was still on the defensive.
"No girls at the house while we're away." Mrs. Atkins declared.
"But mom-"
"Nope." She cut him off. "You boys already broke curfew in order to go out and see this girl so I can't imagine what other rules you would break while I'm away. If she still wants to come over when we're home, she's more than welcomed to."
"Mommm, that's embarrassing."
"How so? Were you thinking about doing something you aren't supposed?"
"Of course not!" He sighed and shook his head. "Fine. I'll call her later to rearrange plans." He started poking his food on the plate with his fork.
The dinner conversation drifted away from Kyle's potential girlfriend, to what kind of movies we would like to watch in the living room.
"It should be 'Field of Dreams'!" Dave said.
"'Rookie of the Year' is funnier." Noah countered. "Or 'Little Big League'!"
"But they're kid movies." Kyle sighed.
"About baseball though." Noah smiled brightly, before turning to me. "What about you Jake? What's your favorite?"
I tilted my head to look at him beside me. "I've never seen any of those." Or even heard about them for that matter.
A silence shrouded the room, making it feel dim. Mr. and Mrs. Atkins shared a look between them, and the twins looked at me with pity. Noah frowned and patted my arm as if to comfort me.
I don't know why they had to feel depressed on my behalf. It's just movies. There are worst things in life than not seeing a movie that others have seen. I wasn't bugged by it. It's not like I frequently watched movies anyway. It's just fiction.
"We can do a sports movie marathon." Zeke was the only one around the table that seemed unaffected by the atmosphere. "It's not like the game is tomorrow morning. We can spend tonight and tomorrow showing Jake our favorite sports movies."
"What are you going to pick?" Noah asked, agreeing with the idea.
"'For the Love of the Game'." Zeke looked me in the eye. "It's an oldie, but always relevant."
"I'm picking 'Moneyball'!" Dave bounced in his seat. "Jake, that's based off a true story! On our very own Oakland A's!"
"Good choices!" Noah nodded. "I'll go with 'Angels in the Outfield'."
"What happened to 'Rookie of the Year'?" Kyle asked.
"I think Jake would relate more with 'Angels in the Outfield'." Noah stated, firm in his decision. He looked at me with a small smile. "The main character was in foster care too. He likes the Anaheim Angels even though they're the worst team in baseball. I don't want to spoil it for you but it's pretty good for a kids movie. We watched it a lot growing up."
I nodded. I was okay with whatever. But after a look around the table, not everyone was on the same page. The twins and their parents all had dissatisfaction written on their faces.
"Let's do Moneyball first." Dave said, glancing at his parents. "It's newer and more relevant. Plus it's about the A's!"
"Yea, let's do that tonight and the others later." Kyle agreed.
"Who put you two in charge?" Noah made a face at the twins before looking at his parents. "So? Shouldn't we let Jake decide?"
Am I supposed to pick his movie? I can't really grasp these weird social interactions where something I can't clearly see is happening before me.
Mrs. Atkins made eye contact with her husband, and then he took over. "I think Dave's suggestion sounds best. 'Moneyball' is about your favorite team…wouldn't it be nice to introduce Jake to some background on the A's before we start going to games?"
"We can watch it tomorrow though."
"The same goes for 'Angels in the Outfield'." Mr. Atkins told Noah. "Since it's family movie night, let's watch something that will please everyone."
Noah frowned, but didn't continue to push for his movie suggestion. The table resumed its somewhat peaceful atmosphere as finished dinner and cleaned up.
Afterwards, while Noah and I went to our room to collect pillows and blankets to bring to the living room, he let me know that he figured something out.
"I think we're onto something." Noah said in a low tone. "It was just a shot in the dark when I suggested 'Angels in the Outfield'. I didn't think it would get such a strong reaction out of them."
"Why would it?" I asked. "What made you suggest it?"
Noah shrugged. "The fact that the kid was in foster care. Really. That's it. That's the only similarity you would have with the movie. I think. I don't know. We'll have to watch it tomorrow to gather more clues."
"But you've already seen it? Shouldn't you already have a clue?"
Noah scoffed. "It's an old movie that I used to watch a lot as a kid. It had baseball in it. It's not like I'm a movie buff that remembers all the details. Particularly details that could be relevant to why everyone is acting a bit strange."
"Oh." I thought for a second. "Zeke looked pretty normal. At least, he looked like his normal self."
"But my mom said he's fine with whatever they needed to speak to the twins about?"
I nodded. "So he should know."
Noah sighed. "He would be too tough to crack. We better stick with the twins. And the weaker of the two: Kyle. His mind is split between pitching and Marie. It'll be easy to get him to slip up."
I nodded again, trusting Noah on his assessment of his brothers.
"Boys! You coming down or what?!" Mr. Atkins hollered from downstairs.
"Coming!" Noah yelled back. He picked up his pillow and blanket and started to move it downstairs. I did the same and followed in his footsteps.
Downstairs, they had moved the living room couch back to make room for us boys on the floor. Zeke and the twins already had their heads on their pillows, looking up at the TV. Noah places his down next to Kyle's, and I placed mine next to his, staying on the edge.
Mrs. Atkins came in with bowls of popcorn and started to distribute them as Mr. Atkins pushes play.
