The Hitting Zone

When I googled 'TP' a house, I didn't know what I was getting into. They wanted to decorate someone's house and yard with toilet paper?? I looked at Noah and Kaylee in confusion during our shared chemistry class.

"Why do we want to do this?" I whispered.

"Because it's fun." Noah told me. "It's a prank. Kind of an old school prank, but it's funny. Sucks for the people who have to clean it up. Especially if the morning dew makes it stick to everything." He and Kaylee shared a laugh.

I knitted my eyebrows together. "And you're sure we won't get in trouble for this? Kind of feels like vandalism."

"Not causing property damage." Kaylee said rather quickly. "So even if we do get caught, it's just going to be a lecture. Look, would Alisha's parents be willing to help us if it's breaking any laws?"

"Oh." That makes sense. Alisha's parents are cool, but I don't think they would drive us around to help us break any laws. She even said they thought it would be fun.

"Make sure to wear dark clothes tonight." Kaylee told the both of us. "Especially like a black hoodie so we can have the hoods up and be less recognizable."

Noah nodded. "Yea of course. Try to bring some eye black stuff and we'll put it on our faces tonight."

"Yea, will do."

The two spent most of class sharing ideas and even mapping out where to first. There were three houses on the list, all in the same neighborhood. Two of them would be intentional and one would be incidental since we're in the area. We would also look less suspicious.

It was crazy to me that Kaylee wanted to do her own house. Even crazier was that hers was one of the intentionals and not the incidental. She reasoned that since she was staying the night at Alisha's, Marie would have to clean it up on her own Saturday morning. She wanted it to be Sunday morning before church but said this works too.

After school, I followed Noah to the trainers, and ran into a few familiar faces. Guys and girls, athletes that played in the spring that we shared classes with. A few of them were surprised to see us.

"You guys are here too?"

"What's up?"

"Did Jake get hurt?"

"Hey, hey." Noah looked at the last girl who asked if I was hurt. "Why do you assume it's Jake? Why can't it be me?"

She grinned. "Who ya kidding? You would never admit an injury. I would bet my small savings that if you broke a bone, you wouldn't even ask for a bag of ice."

"Well that's where you're wrong." Noah showed his two fingers with a peace sign. "I'm hurt with blisters."

"Wow. How'd that happen?" She got closer to take a look. "Don't tell me it was that awkward bunt you did yesterday."

"Better than having them broken." Noah shrugged.

"It's a full house for a Friday, huh?" Drew joked as soon as he saw how busy his room was. "Okay, most of you know the drill. Those with official competition today goes first. Golf has priority. Then swim." Drew started to get everyone organized as he began to work.

"You should probably head down without me." Noah told me. "I don't know how long this will take."

"Okay. Should I tell Coach that you're here?" I adjusted my backpack.

"Most definitely." Noah answered. "Just in case Mom or Dad call him and rat me out. It's just a couple of blisters so I'll be fine."

I nodded. "Okay, see ya down there." I waved and left the room.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever heard him talk before." Someone said just as the door closed behind me.

My lips thinned. I'm not embarrassed by not talking. Nothing to be ashamed of. Gotta take those baby steps. I headed to the lower field with a little extra speed so I wouldn't be late.

Seeing Bryce and Brian in front of me. I cleared my throat as I approached. "Hey guys."

They both looked and then waited once they saw it was me. The three of us continued to walk.

"Hey Jake, where's Noah?" Bryce asked.

"Trainers." I answered.

"What happened?" Brian was surprised.

They both were. "Didn't he say he was fine last night?"

I nodded. "Nothing's broken. He did wake up with some blisters with fluid in them though."

"Probably something like a friction burn." Bryce proposed. "Having fluid in them sucks though."

"Yea, if he wants to play, Drew will probably drain them." Brian agreed. Then he looked over his hands. "I gotta take care of my fingers more. Blisters might be fine for field players, but it's a death sentence for a pitcher."

Bryce shoved him. "No it is not. Don't joke about that. You'll offend every pitcher who ever had Tommy John."

Brian looked remorseful. "Yea, that's true. I was just being dramatic. A blister keeps you out for a week at most. I would really die if I needed Tommy John."

"That-that still isn't the end of the world." I stuttered over my words in a hurry. "Our friend, Rhys, had Tommy John his senior year, and is already pitching for Stanford."

"He made a comeback." Bryce acknowledged.

"You're on a shorter leash after that kind of surgery." Brian shook his head. "Things aren't ever the same."

We reached the clubroom and got inside. A lot of guys did a double take, seeing me with Bryce and Brian instead of Noah. I swallowed a small lump in my throat and told them where Noah was.

"Meh." Garret shrugged. "As long as his fingers aren't broke."

A lot of the guys agreed.

I went to my usual spot and started to change. I had one more person to tell and was ready when he showed up.

Coach nodded. "Good. Glad he didn't need to be told twice. We have to take every little injury seriously right now. Do more stretches and pay attention to your warmups. If someone pulls a hamstring, I'll be livid." Coach took center stage as he spoke to everyone. "A little on yesterday's win; it was very needed and I'm happy they chose to pitch to our best player."

Some of the guys whooped and hollered. The closer ones clapped me on the back. Dave messed up my hair.

I shook my head away and put my cap on to protect me. "It was a team effort."

"It very much was." Coach agreed. "Some of you may be down on yourselves from not getting a hit, but I didn't think for one second that we would lose. Everyone was making contact."

"Except Dave." Kyle pointed out.

"I only had one chance." Dave threw a water bottle at him.

Kyle swatted it away. "Excuses."

"Bro, I have more hits than you this season."

"No, you don't. Prove it."

"Look it up yourself."

The twins started to talk back to one another.

"Seeing that you two are so energetic, I think you should hit the track for this afternoon's practice." Coach told them. They instantly zipped it. "That's better. As I was saying, I liked how everyone did yesterday. I know we all think that we have league wrapped up, but I don't want us to let up for a second. We have three league games left. Fuck around, and we might just find ourselves on the outside looking in."

"I'll pitch tomorrow!" Kyle volunteered.

"No, we're going with a fresh arm." Coach shot him down. "Joey, you're with Mitchell today. Keep it light, but not easy. Does that make sense?"

"Absolutely, Coach." Joey nodded. "I'll be focused and intentional in my preparation for tomorrow."

"Good." Coach nodded. He scanned the room and stopped to look at Marshel. "Marshel, you'll get your chance on Monday. Home game versus non league, but still essential to our success as we finish this season out." He moved on to Brian. "You get Tuesday's away game. So don't expect to bat on Monday."

Coach dealt out some pitching assignments for the next few games before letting us move to the dugout. Garret led us through the routine warmup and I was doing fine until it came time to pair up and throw the ball.

"Jake with Dalton!" Coach called out. "You two will be practicing turning double plays later in anticipation that Noah will be sitting tomorrow. It's always good to have inner infielders work together and work on their connection."

I looked to Dalton. He had picked up a baseball and came over. "Do you want to be the one to go out or stay on the line?"

"I usually stay on the line." I answered lightly.

"Okay." He simply said before jogging out.

Much smoother than I thought. I pumped myself up for doing a lot of things on my own today. Dalton and I threw the ball back as he slowly backed up, getting further and further away. It wasn't long until he got to my max distance. Noah would have known to stop but Dalton didn't.

I froze for a second, hesitating on whether to throw or if I should speak up. Either option would be embarrassing. Dalton seemed to understand the pause and jogged it in a few steps. My shoulders relaxed and I threw the ball back to him.