491 Supervised Visi (1/2)

Mrs. Atkins has caught her husband off guard, but Noah and I kind of felt it coming. Jeremy had skipped his game to show up and say a few words to me after my practice? With Coach cutting him off, I'm sure he still had more to say.

They both went into a discussion as Noah and I snuck away. As soon as we got to our room, he turned to me. ”You didn't want to stay? And have a say in whether you see him or not?”

”I trust your mom and dad.” I replied simply. I put my backpack in the corner. ”They wouldn't do anything to hurt me. At all. So if they think I shouldn't see him, then I won't.” I smiled at him. ”You guys are more family to me than he is anyways.”

Noah smiled proudly. ”Yea, they are great, aren't they?”

We completed our routine of taking turns in the shower and getting dressed for dinner. Once everyone was gathered around the table with food on every plate, Mr. Atkins cleared his throat.

”I know you boys have a big game coming up on Monday, so I would like your input on something.” He looked at me. ”Especially you Jake. Your opinion matters the most.”

”WOW.” Kyle said obnoxiously. ”I see how it is.”

Noah rolled his eyes. ”It's obviously pertaining to his biological family.”

”Right.” Mr. Atkins nodded at Noah. ”Jeremy wants to meet with Jake. I've called Doug to get a grasp on the situation. As this is last minute, we're allowed to turn him down and make him go through the proper channels.”

”Let's do that.” Dave munched noisily on his asparagus. ”He doesn't give off a friendly vibe. I don't want Jake to get all mental before the finals.” He glanced at me. ”No offense.”

”None taken.” I shrugged, eating my mashed potatoes.

”The problem with this, is his occupation.” Mr. Atkins frowned. ”His season has just started. Doug told me that he's already taken this weekend off purposely after getting the results.”

”What does that mean exactly?” Noah asked.

”He wants to see Jake.” Kyle answered, looking at me. ”He took some days off work when he got the news. That's surprising. If he didn't care, wouldn't he keep working?”

I paused, no longer feeling the need to eat. Does he really care? I glanced at Mr. Atkins.

Mr. Atkins looked helpless. ”Who can say for sure? What I do know, is that we can either arrange a meeting this weekend, or tell him that it won't work. That's the first step.”

Slowly everyone stopped eating as well. All their eyes were on me as I thought it over in my head. ”I guess...I would like to just get it out of the way.” I sighed. ”Instead of it just hanging over me like a rain cloud.” I glanced at Zeke. ”Can we still go to the cages tomorrow though?”

Zeke cracked a smile.

Mr. Atkins nodded.

”Should we invite George too?” Mrs. Atkins asked. ”Normally, we wouldn't, but...” She glanced my way.