643 V2 ch115 (1/2)

Mom and Dad took us out for dinner that night, going to one of Noah's favorite restaurants to keep on celebrating his birthday. There, they gave him a birthday card with a check.

Noah's jaw dropped. ”No way.”

”It's not just spending money.” Mom instructed. ”Half of it is going to your savings account.”

”But Mom-”

”No buts.” She waved him off. ”You know we don't usually like giving you kids just cash for your birthdays, but you're getting old enough to make your own gift choices. That doesn't mean you can just be irresponsible and spend it all on video games. I want half to go to your savings for future big purchases you might want to make.”

Noah thought about it for a second and gave a small nod. ”Okay...that makes sense. I promise to put half into savings.”

Dad smiled, proud. ”Good boy. I'm sure it'll come in handy down the road.”

Dinner went well, and without the twins, there were no arguments or bickering. That was nice, but I'm sure Noah would have been happier to have them around. When we got home and prepared for bed, Noah mentioned that they had called him before the party to wish him a happy birthday.

”I'm going to make sure they buy us a round at the cages and the arcade when they get back.” Noah yawned as he crawled into bed.

I was already under my covers, holding my cellphone. I didn't have many apps or people to contact, so Noah could tell immediately what I was thinking about.

”Jeremy still being weird?” He asked.

I shrugged, putting the phone down. ”A little. He still texts me back, but we haven't talked over the phone in awhile. He hasn't said anything was wrong, but I think...” I trailed off.

”You think it has something to do with his family?” Noah continued for me.

I nodded. ”That...or maybe even Rose?” At least I knew it wasn't me. I'm fine.

”We could try calling Rose tomorrow. I still have her phone number.” Noah offered.

I shook my head. ”That's too intrusive. I'm going to give it some more time. If he's still being a little...weird...then we can ask her about it.”

”You're right. It'd be a little weird just to call her up and ask her about her life.” Noah agreed. ”Maybe the next time we're able to go to one of his games, we can ask her in-person.”

We settled on that before going to sleep. The next morning, Zeke was back at it, waking us up at the crack of dawn. You couldn't even see the sun yet. Noah was right, he was very vengeful. The run became longer and faster. Back at the house, the lifting reps were doubled, yet Noah didn't quit. Seeing him going, I couldn't give up either. I just did my pushups much slower.

”This was too unfair.” Noah complained during a water break. ”Whoever has Jake on their team just gets to win. It's not even a competition.” He looked at Zeke. ”Can't you try throwing some breaking balls at him?”

Zeke's lips twitched. ”No. That's not fair. Plus, I don't want to injure him before tomorrow.”

”Maybe next time, invite Garret to pitch?” Julian suggested.

Zeke nodded. ”Sure. If there's a next time.”

”Can we play just one more time when the twins get back?” Andy asked, almost sounding like he was pleading.

Noah nodded. ”We should! And Mitchell can come catch! It'll be like a mini game.”

Julian grinned. ”It can be you three versus me and Zeke.”

”We can invite Mahki too to make it three versus three.” Zeke corrected.

Noah threw an arm around my shoulders. ”Bring it on. With Jake on our team, I'd say the odds are in our favor.”