Chapter 172: An Invitation (1)

After Tuesday's game, the parents let Kyle pick dinner and we celebrated another good outing by him. Dave sulked, Noah protested that his two hits counted for something, and Zeke ignored it all.

Oddly, Zeke's attention was mostly on his phone, which was a rare sight. It didn't take long for the family to notice and started to comment.

Kyle started with, "What's more important than celebrating me?"

"Kyle." Mr. Atkins warned. He looked at Zeke. "Son? You know we don't like to see phones at the dinner table."

"I'm sure it's for a good reason." Mrs. Atkins replied in Zeke's defense.

Dave was the one to take action. Mostly because he was sitting beside Zeke, he was able to peek over to see what was on his phone.

Zeke was quick to pull his phone away. But Noah was on the other side and was able to get a good view of the screen.

"He's looking at the rankings." Noah stated. Then paused. His eyes widen and his voice became a pitch higher. "He's looking at the rankings! ESPN 100 must have updated the list!" Noah snatched the phone from Zeke's grasp and started to scroll.

Zeke attempted to grab his phone back, but Dave held him back. "You knew we would be asking why you were on your phone! That must mean you want to show off!"

Zeke grunted and tried to get Dave off of him.

"Please settle down." Mr. Atkins pleaded. "We're in public. Come on now."

Dave loosened up and Zeke stopped struggling.

"Well??" Kyle asked from across the table, focused on Noah's actions.

Noah looked up from the screen, excited. "Number 25!"

"In the nation?!" Kyle's jaw dropped.

Noah nodded and passed the phone my way. I looked and saw Zeke's stoic face next to the number 25, along with a mini biography. It also explained the reason he jumped up 23 places, remarking on his perfect performance so far. I passed the phone along to Mr. Atkins, and he and his wife huddled over it to read.

"Congrats big brother!" Dave tried pulling Zeke in some more, yet Zeke was able to push him off. "Wow, stardom has turned you heartless. Not even accepting your little brothers congratulations??"

Zeke rolled his eyes. "I wasn't just looking at myself, ya know. If you scroll down, you can find a surprise at 356."

I turned to Noah. "I thought it was a top 100 list?"

Noah nodded. "Yep. But that's just where the main focus is. But they'll sometimes release the top 500 so you know what players are moving up and becoming newsworthy."

"Oh my goodness." Mrs. Atkins exclaimed as she held the phone. She beamed at Kyle and thrusted the phone his way. Mr. Atkins also looked excited.

Kyle accepted the phone and his jaw dropped. "Me? I'm at 356?!" He held the phone gingerly as if it would take away his ranking. "Does this mean I moved up in state and county rankings? I'll actually be on a list?"

Zeke shrugged. "I'm not completely sure. But if the nation took note of your perfect game, then maybe."

The family continued the celebration, with Mr. and Mrs. Atkins just showering praises over Zeke and Kyle. Dave went back to sulking, but would flash the occasional smile and laugh when his parents looked his way.

I felt an uncomfortable tug at my heart. Later on that night, after getting home, showering and doing homework, I asked Noah about it.

"I felt sad when looking at Dave at dinner." I told him as we laid in our separate beds in the dark. "He looked upset about the rankings."

Noah sighed. "Yea. I would be too. Identical twins in almost every way but one is having more success in pitching. The world isn't always fair. You probably just felt empathetic. I know I did."

"You felt sad?"

"I felt motivated. Two of my brothers are listed in the nations top prospects list. But also a feeling of urgency. I have to make that list too. If I don't, then that'll mean that I'm inferior to them. I'll never be as good. That's probably what Dave was feeling. A sense of urgency. If he doesn't catch up, he'll be left behind."

My heart started to pound. I didn't want to be left behind either. However, I don't know if I could ever get to the same level as someone like Zeke. Even if I was given a few years.

It took time for me to shutdown my wild thoughts and to go to sleep. The next day was still a school day, Wednesday.

We followed the same morning routine and went to the same classes. The team still took over the benches near Noah and I during the lunch period. Of course, the talk of the day was Zeke moving up the rankings and Kyle showing up. Garret showed the same bitterness as Dave, but he still congratulated Kyle on a job well done.

Pitching must be a really competitive position. I wouldn't be able to handle the physical or mental pressure that they put on themselves. And the idea of going a few games without even playing is a depressing thought.

We finished up lunch and the rest of our classes, then headed down to the field for practice. We changed to practice clothes and set our bags in the dugout, and started to tie our cleats. We took our gloves to the field and waited for Zeke to start the warmups.

Noah looked around, eyebrows pulled together. "That's weird. I thought Zeke would have beat us all out here like he normally does."

I nodded.

Noah grinned. "Do you think this means that he'll have to run laps himself?"

I shook my head. I couldn't even imagine it.

"Gather round boys." Coach's familiar booming voice grabbed our attention, not even giving me a chance to imagine anything. Next to Coach was the other assistant coaches, Zeke, Drew, and an older man I've never seen before. "Get close and take a knee. A.D. Barber has something to say."

As the team moved in and got down on one knee, I whispered to Noah. "A.D. Barber? Who's that?"

Noah held back a chuckle. "A.D. isn't his name. It stands for athletic director. He's basically the coaches boss. He oversees all sports." His face became solemn. "I wonder what made him leave his office and come down here...?"