The Hitting Zone Chapter 585 V2 ch57

Thursday morning, a knock on the bedroom door brought a sense of dread as Noah and I got up.

Surprisingly, it was Mr. Atkins. He raised an eyebrow at our half-dead expressions. "Did you boys not sleep well?"

Noah curled back under his covers. "Dad, I thought you were Zeke! How dare you trick us!"

I flopped back in bed in agreent.

Mr. Atkins laughed. "Well good morning to you too." He stood in the doorway, letting even more light in the room. "I just wanted to say that your mom and I are going to hit the road. We’ll bring Gramma and Grampa ho before lunch so try not to stuff your faces before then."

"Dad, let us go back to sleep before Zeke cos, okay?" Noah mumbled from under his covers.

"Too late." Mr. Atkins chuckled.

I took a peek and sure enough, Zeke was right behind Mr. Atkins. "Let’s kit the pavent kiddos."

Noah threw his comforter off him. "This isn’t fair."

"How so?" Zeke asked. "I’m running with you."

"I’ve lost out on three minutes of sleep." Noah groaned.

I continued to stay in bed, also unwilling to get up.

"You boys have fun, I need to hit the road." Mr. Atkins started to back out of the room. "Rember, no snacking. Shower and dress up in nice clothes. We’ll be going out for lunch. Then Zeke’s graduation. And then another nice dinner." He left.

Zeke clapped twice. "Up and at ’em. We leave in ten minutes. Eat a banana and drink so water."

"I rather sleep." Noah complained, but still got out of bed.

I sighed and started to move too. There’s no point in trying to go back to sleep. A waste of effort.

Seeing that we were moving, Zeke left us alone to get dressed.

Noah had started getting changed, but abruptly laughed, making jump. I turned to see him shirtless and looking down at his running shorts. He looked up and and grinned. "Notice anything different?"

I shrugged. "You’re starting to show so ab muscles?"

"Am I really??" He went to the mirror and started to admire his thin fra. He ran his fingers over his abdominal muscles. "They’re starting to take shape! Aweso!"

I put a hand on my stomach over my shirt. I was more firm than when I first ca to Watsonville, but I don’t have muscles like Noah.

Noah noticed that I went quiet. He faced and gave a small laugh. "Ha...that wasn’t what I was talking about, but thanks for the complint. I wanted you to look at my shorts."

I looked at it and shrugged. "What about them?"

Noah used his fingers to show the gap between his knee and the bottom of his shorts. "There’s more space! I’m really growing! Like right now! I finally feel like I’ll reach six feet like Zeke and the twins."

"Lucky you." I pouted.

Noah laughed and ca closer to smack on the back. "You’re growing too! Not as fast as , but you’re coming off a rough childhood. Give it more ti. Like by next year, you’ll see so real progress." He grabbed a pencil off the desk and went to our room door. "Co here."

I obediently went over. He pushed against the door and I stood up straight. Then he marked my height. I stepped away and watched him write my na and today’s date on the door. Then he did the sa for himself. "There! We can asure again next month before we go to the Stanford camp."

"Noah!!" A shout ca from outside our room. "Jake!! Ti to go!"

We both made a face.

"Crap!" Noah scrambled to get his shoes on.

I did the sa, beating him. I sprinted downstairs and grabbed a banana, opening and eating it in record ti.

Dave laughed. "If you were hungry, you should have hurried down to begin with. What were you guys doing up there?"

"I bet they went back to sleep." Kyle yawned from his spot at the table.

"No." Noah made it to the table and also reached for a banana. "I got taller again. Plus, I have so real ab muscles now!" He lifted his shirt. "Look! Actually visible!"

"Nice!" Dave nodded.

"Mine look better." Kyle stood up and showed off his ab muscles.

"Why bother competing when you two can’t asure up to Zeke?" Dave asked.

"You’re just jealous." Kyle told him.

"You guys ready yet?" Zeke ca in the room, making the conversation stall.

I finished my banana and threw the peel away. Noah did the sa. We both stood in front of Zeke obediently, prepared for the torture run.

Zeke nodded at us. "Alright. Let’s go. Dave, Kyle, if you two slack off, don’t cry to when you get out of shape."

All of us were ready, and followed Zeke out front. He started at a leisurely pace, but I wasn’t fooled. Him and Noah leave behind when we get to the hill around the corner. The twins, on the other hand, were talking smack about how easy the run is. I could only shake my head at their talk and focused on keeping even breaths.

Sure enough at the hill, Zeke and Noah left behind, upping their speed. Kyle and Dave stayed with , jaws dropped.

"Do they leave you behind like this every ti?" Kyle asked, breathing a little harder.

I nodded, unable to explain.

"Jerks." Dave gasped.

We powered up the hill with the occasional curses from the twins. Having them with boosted my self-confidence. Once upon a ti, they would have left in the dust. Now we’re keeping the sa pace. It’s probably a mix of getting in better shape and them getting out of shape. They haven’t run nearly the sa amount as and Noah since baseball season ended. All they did was play in the backyard with their pitching.

We reached ho last, finding the garage open. Zeke was showing Noah so new ab exercises. He saw us coming up the driveway, trying to catch our breath. He frowned. "Did you guys run with Jake the whole way?"

Dave nodded, unashad. "Have to. Keep. An eye. On him." He put his hands on top of his head.

Zeke stood up. "It’s very important for pitchers to have great endurance. Do you guys want to pitch the whole seven innings or not? Do you really think that these college coaches can’t tell that you’re not in shape." He eyed Kyle. "You need to start running everyday."

Kyle nodded. "Yea...I think so too." He looked down at . "You’re getting stronger though. Hard to believe you couldn’t do a lap around the baseball field without collapsing."

I waved him away like an annoying fly. "Tell sothing I don’t know."

Dave busted up laughing. Noah joined in too.

Kyle rolled his eyes and went to grab the dumbbells. "You hang out with Noah too much."

Zeke directed to a different exercise while Dave started with pushups and planks. Their garage and driveway beca a makeshift gym on a Thursday morning. The cool air made it bearable. I feel like this will be the new normal starting today.