172 An Invitation 1 (1/2)

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.