600 V2 ch72 (1/2)
”Three hours of just Spanish is harder than I thought.” Noah sighed as we walked to the spot Zeke had dropped us off at.
Mitchell joined us on the short walk. ”How do you think I feel? I already took this class. This is round two for me.”
Noah laughed. ”Shouldn't it be easier on you then?”
Mitchell shrugged. ”For right now. I remember a lot of the vocabulary so I have a head start.” He sighed. ”I wish I didn't fail it the first time though.”
”How did you get to play baseball all spring if you weren't doing well?” Noah asked.
”I had a C for most of the semester. Then bombed the final. Did awful on a presentation after the championship game and I sunk to a D- which is just as good as a fail to my parents. Thankfully got A's in everything else so they didn't kill me.”
Noah laughed. ”That's rough.” We stopped by the loading zone, waiting for our rides. ”Are you playing baseball this summer?”
”Not real baseball.” Mitchell explained. ”I do some specialized catcher training three times a week in Santa Cruz.”
”Oh! Fancy!” Noah exclaimed.
Mitchell chuckled. ”It kind of is. My dad found it and after talking with the people that run the place, we think it's a better for me than going to some kind of baseball camps.”
”Because they focus solely on catchers?” Noah asked.
”Yep.” He nodded. ”Last year I went to a few camps and most of the time, got stuck doing bullpen work. So basically my parents paid money for me to sit under the blazing sun to catch baseballs.”
Noah and I both made faces of disgust.
”Exactly!” He laughed. ”It was the worst experience. But at this facility, I have a trainer and coach that come up with specialized training just for me. It's very individualized.”
”Sounds like you're going to be improving even more this summer!” Noah told him, happy for him.
”I hope so.” He made a face. ”Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I made the varsity team for the second half of the season, but...it was really boring. At least on JV, I got to play every game. Catching and hitting.”
Noah nodded, understanding. ”Well, at least things look good with Kelvin and Alex graduating.”
”I think so too.” He told us, smiling. ”How about you guys? I remember you asking the team to join your adult softball team. Did you get enough players?”
Noah nodded. ”We did! Started games last week. Won on Tuesday night. Had to forfeit on Thursday because of Zeke's graduation. And then won Saturday morning. It's very fun.”
Noah grinned. ”You know Zeke...that's not all he's doing. He's already started training us since the season ended. There are no off days with him.”
Mitchell was surprised. ”No joke?”
I nodded. ”Every morning we run and lift weights.”
Noah rubbed his stomach. ”I have abs already.”
Mitchell laughed. ”Damn. That's rough. He must really want you guys to replace him next year. It's kind of reassuring knowing that he still wants this team to do well. Once a captain, always a captain.”
Zeke's car pulled into the school's lot.
”Speak of the devil.” Noah said.
Zeke pulled up to the curb and we got in the car. Noah waved to Mitchell. ”See you tomorrow! Bye!”
Mitchell waved back and we left to go home. Noah talked the whole way, telling Zeke all about the class, how there's no homework, tests every Thursday, and then about Mitchell and his summer plans. Noah gladly repeated himself to the twins over lunch.