553 V2 ch25 (2/2)

”Night.” I mumbled, passing out in seconds.

It felt like I merely blinked before incessant knocking at the door made me opened my eyes. Light was leaking into the room, telling me that I really did sleep.

”What??” Noah groaned from his bed.

We were both sitting up now, our blurry eyes looking at Zeke, who was still knocking.

”Rise and shine.” Zeke's greeting sounded like a demand, making me shiver.

”What are you doing..?” Noah squinted at his eldest brother. It's like 7am. Is there an emergency or something?”

Zeke kept up the knocking. ”I can stand here all day. Get up, get some workout clothes on and don't forget your running shoes.”

I did what I was told, getting out of bed. I took my clothes to the bathroom to change in private. When I came back, Noah was still in bed, arguing with Zeke.

”It's the weekend!” Noah complained. ”We can start training when summer starts.”

Zeke looked down at this troublesome brother of his, stopping with the knocking. He folded his arms across his chest. ”Do you think if you keep being rebellious like this, that I would just go away? It's either my way, or the highway.”

Noah flopped over in his bed. ”I'm going back to sleep.”

”Fine. You're just proving to Mom that you won't be able to listen to me over summer break.” Zeke replied. ”She won't be able to trust you to be here with me so you'll have to go with her to the twins school stuff. Not only that, I might as well not play softball with you.”

Noah sat back up. ”What? Why are you going this far? I just want to sleep in on a Saturday.”

”It's called discipline.” Zeke shot back. ”I don't want to watch a disobedient brother all summer. If you don't want to do this, just say so. I can go somewhere else to train for the summer.”

”I'm moving! I'm moving!” Noah rolled out of bed. ”I'm having breakfast first though!” He hopped around, trying to find some clothes to wear.

I put on my running shoes in silence, kind of scared of Zeke right now. He has always been strict, but he usually didn't threaten. I glanced at him and caught him slightly smiling at the fumbling Noah.

He caught me looking and dropped the smile. ”Two bananas for first breakfast. Then we'll run. After weights, you can have a second breakfast.”

”We're not even playing baseball..?” Noah was distressed as he changed and got his running shoes on.

”Just playing baseball isn't enough.” Zeke lectured. ”You need strength, endurance, and a tough mentality. Do you want your spot stolen when the fall comes around? Do you think a softball league can really keep you in shape?”

”A little rest never hurt anyone.” Noah mumbled.

”We'll train today and tomorrow. Then next weekend. As soon as summer break starts, it'll be Monday to Friday, rest on Saturday and Sunday. There's plenty of time to rest.”

For some reason, I don't think the summer will be as fun and as easygoing as I first thought.