Chapter 782 - V3 ch17 (1/2)

”That was brutal.” Rhys groaned as he stretched right after getting out of the car.

”It wasn't that bad.” Dave said, watching as Rhys cracked and popped. ”Dude, are you okay? You sound like you're 80 years old already.”

Rhys gave a weak laugh. ”I'm just super sore and stiff. We started some small group workouts at school and yesterday was rough.”

Noah looked up at Zeke. ”Are you sore too?”

”No.” Zeke answered simply.

”We aren't in the same groups.” Rhys told Noah. ”I obviously have to go with the pitchers. Zeke has it easy, just chilling in the outfield. So casual.”

Zeke just shook his head and ignored him. He turned his back to us to wait for our parents.

”I bet Zeke does twice as much as you.” Noah told Rhys, nonchalant.

Rhys faked a pout. ”You're biased.”

Noah shrugged. ”Only because I know this is true. No one works harder than Zeke.” He frowned. ”I'm not even a close second.”

Rhys reached out and tipped Noah's hat up. ”Hey, keep your head up. Zeke had a three year head start on ya. I think it won't be long until you catch him.”

Noah grinned.

In front of the gates, there were long lines and big groups waiting for the stadium to open. We waited too. We waited for Rose to show up and take us through a different passage. It was like a shortcut to save us the hassle of waiting outside the stadium and it allowed us to start eating early.

This time when the stadium filled up, there was plenty of Yankees fans. In fact, too many.

”Almost feels like an away game.” Kyle said.

Dave sneered. ”Hopefully the A's end it here. I'd love to see the Yankees fans cry.”

The game had a rough start though. The starting pitcher gave up a three run homer and to make it worse, he got hurt. If that wasn't bad enough, the new pitcher gave up two more runs. That seemed to be the theme of the night: things continuously getting worse. Maberry and Jeremy were both held down at the plate, not getting any hits. The rest of the A's team wasn't much better. It was a long, tortuous, nine innings. The A's lost 0-7 and it was the Yankee fans that got to celebrate.

Noah cursed under his breath so his mom couldn't hear. But once we were back in the car with the guys, he let it all out. No one stopped him. None of us were happy about the result. Even Zeke had a frown the whole drive home.

I knew our feelings couldn't compare to Jeremy's. I sent him a message of condolence. I didn't have many losses I could compare it to, but one stuck out. The 0-10 loss to University Prep in the Foothill Classic. I also didn't pay well in that game, not getting a single hit.

The next morning I had a missed message from Jeremy.

Jeremy: Game six. We'll do it. I'll contact Wayne to see if you guys can come again. Probably won't be the same seats, but I can figure something out.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and reread his message. ”Noah?”

”Yea?” Noah had just finished getting dressed and was tying his shoes so he could go down for breakfast.

I shoved my phone in front of his face, making him freeze. He snatched my phone from me and took off running. I followed after him.

”Dad! Dad!? Daddddd!” Noah hollered as he ran down the stairs.

”What's wrong??” Dad met us at the bottom of the stairs, looking us up and down like he expected us to have a missing limb.

”Is this true?! Can we go??!” Noah held my phone out to Dad.

Dad took the phone and looked at the text. His lips twitched. ”This is what you were screaming for?”