614 V2 ch86 Zeke talks to Jake (1/2)

We arrived back at the house in the early afternoon. The only one home was Zeke, who was working at the kitchen table with his books spread out around him. He looked up at us as we walked in. ”How'd it go?”

”Fine.” Dad told him. ”Next month we'll try the laser treatment. He said we would see some improvement right away, but for better results, Jake will have to do it multiple times.”

Zeke frowned. ”Is it painful?”

Dad shook his head. ”Not too bad. He might be sore for a day or two after, but nothing that aspirin can't solve.”

Zeke looked to me. ”Are you sure you want to do this? It shouldn't matter how you look.”

”It's about how he feels.” Dad defended me. ”Jake would feel more comfortable with the scars being less visible.”

Zeke shrugged. ”Okay.” He went back to his schoolwork.

Dad looked around. ”Still no boys?”

”Nope.” Zeke replied.

”Your mom is already at work?”

”Yep.”

Dad looked to me. ”Well, I'll go join her. Do you want to stay here with Zeke or be dropped off at Alisha's?”

”I'll stay.” I told him.

I watched Dad go to his office, grabbed some papers, then left minutes after getting home. Feeling a little lonely, I looked to Zeke.

Zeke felt me staring at him. He looked up from his work. ”What do you want to do?”

I shrugged. ”I don't know.” Most of my time was spent with Noah. He would usually decide that we should watch some baseball games and I would just follow along.

”Think about it and then let me know.” Zeke told me before looking down at his schoolwork again.

”Am I...supposed to just pick?” I asked, unsure of what he was saying.

”Yea. Just tell me what you want to do and we'll go do it.” He didn't look up.

I thought it over. I don't want to study Spanish on a Friday. I don't really want to train or throw the ball around, but- ”Can we go to the cages?”

”Is that all you want to do?”

”Yea...”

”Okay, go grab your bag.” Zeke closed his laptop and started to stack his books.

I hurried to get my bag and came downstairs to see that Zeke had set his school stuff aside and was holding his own bag. We walked outside and it occurred to me...we didn't have the car. I looked up at Zeke.

”Let's just walk.” He said, walking in the direction of the place.

I made a face, but still followed. The Arcade was only a couple miles away and took us an hour to get there. A part of me didn't feel like hitting the ball anymore after such a long walk. I drank from the water fountain for a solid two minutes before straightening up.

Zeke showed some of the coins used for the cages. ”Still want to play?”

We paused for a break after I ran out of coins, going inside for another drink from the water fountain. Zeke and I awkwardly stood around, waiting for I don't know what.

He looked down at me, expectant. ”What next?”

I shrugged. ”Whatever.”