594 V2 ch66 (1/2)
”What do you want to talk about softball for?” Alisha asked, smiling. She glanced down at what Noah was holding. ”Is it a softball?”
Noah laughed, looking a little awkward. It made me grin. ”No...uh, I actually brought you a gift.” He handed it to her. ”It's nothing much. I was getting something else, and-”
”Thanks!” Alisha smiled and accepted the present, not willing to hear Noah's excuses. I figured she wanted to believe the gift was more genuine. It would suck if she knew it was just a cover for him to get pink dye for the twins. Alisha looked at me. ”Is that box for me too?”
I shrugged. ”You can have one. Jeremy signed baseball cards for everyone.”
”Oh! Cool!” Alisha gripped the gift from Noah. ”I'm going to go put this in my room real quick. Then I can show you were to put that box.”
”Okay, we'll wait.” Noah told her.
Alisha sprinted back up the stairs, then immediately came back down within a minute. It was obvious she didn't open up Noah's gift when she went up. Interesting.
”Follow me!” Alisha took the small box out of my hands and took the lead. We followed her to the backyard where our classmates had gathered. It was already packed with forty plus kids. It was good that she had such a big house and yard, but with this many people, it felt small.
Alisha lifted the box in the air. ”Hey! Listen up!”
The other teens actually listened, getting quiet and looking our way. I shifted more behind Alisha and Noah.
”Most of you guys know Jake.” Alisha tilted her head at me. I turned red. ”Well, as promised, he asked Jeremy Patterson for his autograph. So in this box is autographed baseball cards. Take only one to make sure everyone can get one.”
”Really?!”
”WOW!”
”I want one!”
The ones closest to us started to approach.
Alisha placed the box on a side table next to a speaker. ”I'll leave it here! There's enough for everyone so don't rush or make a mess.” She then led us away as most of the kids started to line up to get a baseball card.
We went towards the grill area and started to make a plate of food. Noah was somehow hungry even though we had a big breakfast this morning. He filled his plate with a hotdog and a cheeseburger, grabbing two bags of chips. Alisha and I took half that amount.
Alisha took us to a smaller table in the corner of the yard. ”Here. This way Jake won't feel so nervous.”
I smiled, thankful for such a considerate friend. We sat down and started to eat.
”Looks like those cards are a hit.” Alisha said between bites, eyeing the teens lining up to get one. ”How long did it take him to sign so many?”
I shrugged. ”He said he did it on a flight so not long, I guess.”
”It's not like he had to do thousands.” Noah pointed out. ”We maybe have a few hundred kids in our grade.” He looked at Alisha. ”Did you invite everyone?”
A hundred? I coughed. ”That's a lot.”
Alisha laughed. ”More than that came to your championship game. You're going to be okay. Plus, you know some of them. I didn't invite anyone in a different grade.”
”That's too bad.” Noah said. ”It would have been nice to invite Andy and KJ. We played some baseball with Andy today and it was weird to tell him that we were going to your party. And he's not invited.”
Alisha laughed. ”Well, maybe I can host some softball team parties. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind. It'd be weird with Mr. Miller and Stu though.”
”They can just hang out with your parents.” Noah pointed out.
Their conversation flowed easily, with the occasional laugh. Noah told her all about this morning; going on a run with the Wilson brothers, playing 'over the line', and how Zeke was going to a grad nite party at the beach with the other seniors.
”Wouldn't it be cool if we crashed it..?” Alisha smiled deviously.
Noah grinned. ”I like the way you're thinking. The twins would definitely be in too.”
”I don't think we should...” I interjected. ”Zeke would be mad. I don't want to start the summer off by getting in trouble.”
”True.” Noah sighed. ”What a good missed opportunity.”
”Hey Alisha!” A girl called out from the pool area. ”Are you going to get in the pool with us?”