After the session, Mr. Atkins drove us home, where the other boys were already waiting. We quickly changed into our uniforms and headed for the door.
"Wait a minute!" Mrs. Atkins came from downstairs as well, holding some clothing. She started to take a piece out of the pile and handed them out. I held a heavy sweatshirt in my arms. "It's supposed to be colder in the mountains tonight. I know you all are wearing long sleeves underneath the jerseys but it won't hurt to have something extra just in case." She looked at the twins. "Especially you two. Garret has the start tonight so it's best if you keep warm in the bullpen."
"Thanks Mom." The twins chimed in unison, putting the sweatshirts in their respective bags.
Zeke did the same after nodding in agreement.
Noah started to put the sweater on right away. "It gets cold on the bus too. Thanks Mom."
I mimicked Noah's actions and put it on.
"Does it really?" She looked concerned. "Should I get some scarves and gloves too?"
"Nah." Dave told her. "Noah's just a baby."
"It's because he doesn't have enough body fat to keep him warm." Kyle laughed, patting Noah's head. "Little kids will always get cold easily."
Noah brushed his hand off his head. "Mommm." He complained.
"Okay, that's enough." Mr. Atkins walked in. He pointed at his watch. "If you boys don't get going, we'll have to drive you ourselves. You know your coach likes you all traveling as a team."
"Let's go." Zeke hitched his bag higher on his shoulder and headed out the front door. The twins followed right behind him.
I started to follow Noah out, but stopped for a second. I turned back to their parents. "Thanks." Then I rushed to catch up with the others.
Today's game would be at Quincy High School, up in the mountains again. Like before, we would be traveling with the JV and Freshmen teams instead of the Varsity girls softball team.
We arrived at the school, parked, grabbed our bags and made our way to the bus. Mr. Atkins was saying that we were running late and I guess it was true since we were the last ones to board the bus from the three teams.
No one on our team said anything besides the normal greetings, but I could see the glares coming from the back of the bus. I put my head down and sat on one of the empty benches with Noah on the window side.
Noah tugged on his hood as the bus started to move. "I'm going to take a nap. Your therapy sessions are mentally tiring. Plus, it's a two hour drive. Are you going to be okay with that?"
I nodded and put my own hood on. "Yea, I'll sleep too."
But I didn't, because I couldn't. Noah was able to lean against the window and fall asleep in minutes while my eyes could only close. Just because I felt better, didn't mean I was better. Being surrounded by strangers and even familiar faces didn't make it any easier.
Most of the guys on the bus had the same idea I guess, since the bus became quiet even though there were 60+ boys on it. The ride to the mountains took an hour and a half before we reached the school. It was beautifully hidden with the forest surrounding the whole area. Everyone started to wake up and make a move to get off the bus.
"That was a good nap." Noah yawned as we stood up. Our team was the first to get off, but we were the two slowest. "I think after getting such a good rest, I'll be able to do well this game."
A loud snort came a few rows back. "I doubt it. Looking at your stats, it's a wonder why you're even on varsity at all."
I was caught by surprise by the snide remark as we both turned to see where it came from.
The boy was as tall as Noah, but seemed to have more muscle. He also wasn't done. "Oh, wait. It's because you're an Atkins. Surprise, surprise." He scoffed.
On instinct, I looked around, keeping my head on a swivel, trying to find one of his brothers or a coach to put an end to this.
"Leave him alone, Austin." Another boy near him said. "If Noah really cared about the team and its performance, he would already see that he's dragging them down."
I tugged on Noah's sleeve, anxious to get off the bus already.
Noah's eyes narrowed at the pair. "Thanks for your concern, but I don't need it nearly as much as your team. Didn't you guys just lose to the OLU freshmen team? It's crazy how you can be concerned about me on a winning team while your own team is losing."
Austin took a step forward, pushing some of the other boys out of the way. "What was that?! At least I'm not some pretender, riding on my brothers coattails." He smirked, glancing my way. "Your new handicapped brother bats better than you."
Noah jumped at him, charging through the boys who were trying to get off the bus. I was shocked and slightly confused. Am I the handicapped brother? Luckily the other boys in between reacted quicker than I, and started to hold Noah back. Another group of them had to do the same for the Austin guy, since it seemed he was ready to fight back.
"What the hell are you boys thinking?" A booming voice hollered from behind me, making me jump. I almost gave myself whiplash, turning my head so fast to see who it was.
A big, burly man with a frizzy beard down to his chest, stood at the entrance of the bus. He was glaring at the back of the bus, where Noah and Austin had to be held back by two separate groups. "In case you haven't realized, we have games to play and to win." His eyes scanned across everyone who was left. "Get off. Now."
All the boys obeyed. They immediately cooled down and got off the bus in a single line. I stayed still until Noah reached back to where he left me, then I followed him off. We grabbed our bags from the compartment underneath the bus, but Noah kept glancing back, sending glares to the two that had tried to pick a fight.
It wasnt until we got to the varsity field, that Noah finally relaxed. He sighed and looked at me. "Sorry about that Jake. Don't mind those guys. They're jerks."
I blinked. "I didn't mind them. It's not like they really know me." And…I was kind of happy that he had called me Noah's brother. "Who cares about being handicapped? That could mean a variety of things."
Noah looked relieved to see that I wasn't angry, upset, or anything. "Okay, good. That's the way to be." He led the way to the clubhouse and we walked in.
"Where have you two been?" Dave asked instantly. "The whole team has been waiting on you guys."
Sure enough, all our teammates were seated around but already had their cleats and hats on, looking ready to go.
"Just some trouble getting off the bus." Noah brushed him off and found us two seats so we could also get ready.
Coach gave us a look before focusing on his paper. "Listen up. Now that everyone is here, I'll announce the lineup."
