I rolled my eyes . How can you be the best when you were the only brother not invited to that camp?
Noah narrowed his eyes, no doubt not liking my attitude towards his claim . "You don't believe me?"
I stepped out the room and pointed at his brothers room .
He stepped out as well to see what I was pointing at . He looked back at me, "You think my brothers are better than me?"
AdvertisementI nodded . Obviously .
He crossed his noodle arms over his chest . "Okay, fine . So I'm not the best . But, I'll have you know, I'm the best freshman . Even my brothers didn't make the varsity team as freshmen . That's a fact . "
I looked at him curiously . Could he be better than me?
"What? Are you still doubting me?" He stood a little taller .
I shook my head, no . I'm sure he's better than average with this attitude . Noah looks to be a pretty straightforward kid .
He smiled at my submission and threw an arm around my shoulders, dragging me back to our room . "You're a smart kid, Jake . I like you . Let's finish mom's cookies and then I'll show you around the neighborhood . There's a park down the street where we can throw the ball . "
He pulled the cookie plate off his bed and sat on the floor . He gestured for me to sit on the other side of the plate . "You haven't tried them yet . Come on, grab one . "
I did what I was told and took a cookie . It looked to be chocolate chip . I don't think my mom ever set a foot in the kitchen, let alone baked homemade cookies . I ate the cookie slowly, savoring every bite . So good . It was soft and melted in my mouth .
"Mom only makes these on special occasions, holidays, and birthdays . They're super good so my dad's afraid that we won't be able to hold ourselves back when eating them . Hence why we don't get them everyday . "
I finished my first cookie since forever . I looked at Noah, then at the plate, then back at Noah .
He understood right away and pushed it closer to me . "Help yourself . You don't have to ask me for a cookie . " And so I did . "Ya know, I thought I wasn't going to like you . "
I froze . Then slid further away from him and the cookies .
"I said thought!" He scooted the plate to me, but stayed where he was . "My brothers are super close so I always feel a little left out . The age gap is only two and three years, but we haven't been to the same school since we were kids in elementary school . And we never played on the same team before . Look, even now, they were picked for the elite camp and I wasn't . It just feels good to have someone a bit closer . "
I stuffed a cookie in my mouth . I got what Noah was trying to say . He thought I might be like his brothers and that there would be a significant gap between us . I also felt like there was a gap between me and my brother . He was ten when I was three so there was a seven year gap . Dad took him away and not me . That's all I remember, but that's enough to make a difference between us .
"You'll meet them tomorrow by the way . You better be on my side for everything like the twins are . They fight the most, yet they like to team up together against me . So now, it'll be two versus two . " Noah continued .
I held up three fingers then two, trying to ask about his oldest brother .
He squinted at me, then he got it . "Oh, Zeke? He doesn't really meddle unless it's baseball . He likes to act all high and mighty . " He frowned . "He's the captain of the varsity team so he's a bit more strict lately . "
I offered him the last cookie to cheer him up .
He shook his head . "I'm good . You have it . Then we'll go down and see if mom will let us go to the park . "
I nodded in agreement and ate the last cookie just as slowly as I ate the first .
Chapter end
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