The Hitting Zone

The next day, I felt a little uncomfortable when it came time to go to school. It wasn't so much the school aspect, but seeing my team. It wasn't the biggest breakdown I've had...but it's the first of the year. With new teammates. I guess I was just embarrassed mostly.

Mr. Miller didn't say anything about me being gone yesterday. The first thing he said was, "You ready for Saturday?"

I nodded.

"Tough first game." He said, driving Noah and me up to the school's main building. "We're going to need you in your best mental state."

"I'm okay now." I spoke up.

Mr. Miller nodded. "Happy to hear it."

"Zeke came down from school and took him to the cages." Noah ratted me out. "I'd feel better too if I could skip school and play around."

"How is he doing? College giving him a hard time yet?"

"No way!" Noah scoffed.

"He's adjusting." I repeated what Zeke had told me yesterday.

Noah turned back to look at me.

I shrugged. "That's what he said."

"College baseball isn't as straightforward as going into the minors." Mr. Miller told us. "If you go pro, then baseball is everything. You only have to focus on getting stronger, better, and staying healthy. In college, you have school worries on top. Because if you do bad in class, you don't get to play. Plus, he's a freshman. I'm sure the traveling is still new to him. A nice little warmup before he becomes a professional traveler."

We talked a little more about Zeke before splitting from Mr. Miller. Just inside the school, I gestured to the front office. "I'm going to stop by and say 'hi' to Dr. Moore."

"Didn't you already see him yesterday?" Noah asked, but still followed along.

"Yea, but I just need to show that I'm okay today too." I maneuvered around the students and staff already filling the office. I peeked in Dr. Moore's office and saw him at his desk, doing work on his laptop. I gave the door a tap.

Dr. Moore looked up. "Jake. Noah. Good morning."

"Morning!" Noah waved.

I lifted a hand too. "I'm good."

Dr. Moore nodded. "I see it. Keep it up. If you need anything, you know where to find me."

We exchanged a few more words, then it was time to go to our lockers. We still had to swap books and dump off some stuff. Near our lockers were a couple guys. Two in particular stood out. Logan and Dalton.

I slowed up.

Noah didn't hesitate to throw his arm around my shoulders and started to guide me. "Don't panic. Logan talked to me after practice. He just wants to apologize."

I whispered back. "I'm not panicking. I'm embarrassed. Why didn't you just tell him 'it's fine' and leave it. I don't want an apology. I rather pretend it didn't happen."

"Man up." Noah nodded at the pair as we got closer. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Logan looked at me directly. "Hey. I just want to say sorry about..." he paused. "You know, for the game on Tuesday. I didn't mean to sound pushy."

"It's okay. You didn't know." I focused on my locker, trying to avoid this conversation.

"I want to say sorry to you too, Noah."

I paused and looked at Noah. Noah also looked frozen.

"Same here." Dalton added. He looked nervous, holding the straps of his backpack. "Sorry. For last year."

Nothing was said for a long minute.

Noah closed his locker and started to laugh. "Alright, no need. The past is the past." He waved his hand like he was trying to wave away smoke in his face.

"Really, man." Logan said. "We get it now. We understand that giving you the cold shoulder wasn't cool. When I moved up to JV midseason last year, I could feel it from some of the guys. We're different. We can reach the next level while some of them..." He shrugged. "Some of them probably won't be able to make varsity ever."

Dalton nodded sheepishly. "I've gotten some grief for jumping from the freshmen team to the varsity team. Even though I'm not a starter and they know that..."

I looked to Noah, totally unsure of what to do or say.

The school bell saved the day.

Noah reached out to put a hand on the both of them. "Really, guys. It's okay. We're long past that. I have only one concern and that's beating University Prep on Saturday."

I finished with my locker, closing it.

"Was that really such a tough loss for you guys last year?" Logan asked. "Jake is no joke at the plate."

"Jake was still new to the team last year." Noah quickly brushed off. "Zeke was hurt. Kyle had already pitched. Dave was ejected from the previous game. It was a series of unfortunate events. This weekend will be different. I know it."

We split from them after a quick 'goodbye' and 'see you laters'.

I glanced at Noah as we walked to our class. "You're really forgiving them?"

Noah shrugged. "Yea, why not?" We reached our classroom. He opened the door and we both went in. "It's not like it's going to cost me anything. And holding a grudge is pointless. We're teammates now. And probably will be next year and maybe the year after that."

"Oh." I was impressed how Noah could just brush it off like that. I didn't know what it was like to have friends and then to have them abandon you, but it couldn't be a good feeling.

"Don't get me wrong." Noah sat in his seat and I sat in mine. "We can be chill, but we won't really be true friends again."

"Ohh." That made sense.

"They put me on the spot like that, but it's not like I can say 'no, I don't forgive you'. That would make things awkward." Noah talked about it some more. "Plus, it's not like they're the real instigators. More like those on standby. They waited to see how things played out. Now that we're on the same team, it's only proper that we bury the hatchet."

Kaylee showed up and sat in her seat nearby. "Hey, guys, what's up?" She looked at me. "Feeling better?"

I nodded.

"Kaylee is more of a friend than those guys." Noah pointed at her. I nodded again.

"More of a friend than who?" She asked, curious.

"Just some of the guys from last year." Noah shrugged. "Logan and Dalton came by this morning to apologize about last year."

"Oh yea?" She sneered. "Hope you didn't forgive them. Give those idiots an inch and they'll take a mile."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Of course I forgave them. I no longer give a shit. The past is the past." He repeated the same phrase from just a moment ago. I might have believed him the first time he said it, but now I was a little skeptical. It kind of sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"What are you going to do if they try to bully Jake like they did you?" She asked.

"First off, I wasn't bullied." Noah corrected. "It'd be more appropriate to say I was shunned. Or ignored."

"Synonyms of being bullied." She smirked.

"Second off," Noah continued, ignoring her. "Jake is my bottom line. They do anything or say anything, I have no problem setting them straight. Worse case, it gets to Coach. And Coach will always back Jake."

I smiled as the two went back and forth, going through fake scenarios. I didn't think Logan or Dalton were real bullies. Like Noah said, they were more like spectators.

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