After the game, Coach asked us to meet up in the clubhouse. We all sat around, taking cleats off when he walked in with a frown upon his face.

"Not bad, boys. But also, not so good. I won't force a practice this afternoon. Instead, we'll hit the gym.

"

Hit the what? What does that mean? I looked around and saw some of the guys looking relieved and others looked indifferent. Only Noah was upset.

Coach gave instructions to meet in the gym at 3pm and to tell our parents we'll be done by 5pm.

Noah looked even more distressed.

After Coach left, I poked him.

"What did he mean by gym? The one where we have Health class?

"

Noah shook his head.

"No, he means the weight room. We'll be lifting and working out this afternoon.

" He looked up at me with a sad expression.

"That means no more baseball today. By the time we go home, shower, eat lunch, there won't be enough time to do anything before lifting. Then afterwards it'll be showers again, dinner, and afterwards, there's no way Mom and Dad will let us go to the cages or play at the park.

"

I patted his shoulder.

"We still have practice tomorrow.

" I was satisfied with weight lifting. It couldn't be worse than running laps or something.

"Don't look so pleased.

" Noah laughed.

"You weren't with the team in the fall so you don't know how bad it's going to be. I'll put you in my prayers.

"

My jaw dropped.

"What? Why! Is it hard?

"

"Have you met Zeke?

" Noah joked, then patted my shoulder.

"Good luck trying to swing a bat tomorrow. Or run. Or move. Or just exist.

"

"...are you joking?

" I asked, hoping that he was.

Noah finished packing up his bag.

"Let's just say, I couldn't even get out of bed after my first day in the weight room. And that was with all the baseball players, not just the varsity team so you know they went easy on me.

"

The corner of my eye twitched. That doesn't sound good.

True to Noah's prediction of the day, we went home and showered as Mrs. Atkins prepared an early lunch. We stuffed our faces...okay, I stuffed my face, then I took a nap. The twins went to the backyard and I'm not sure what Noah and Zeke did as I slept. But Noah was there to wake me to get ready for lifting.

Once we got to school, Zeke threw me a curve by parking in the upper lot near the gymnasium. I followed the four brothers as they walked to a building off to the side and almost unnoticeable except for the fact that we were walking to it. Zeke opened the door and waved the rest of us in just as other guys from the team started to show up.

Walking in, I was surprised to see the whole room to be fully furnished like a real weightlifting gym. They had all the stations to work on biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings, and so on.

I looked to Noah, about to ask him how and where do we start, but the words got caught in my mouth. Noah was shifting from foot to foot, looking like he was on edge. He raised his eyebrows up and down at me, like he was trying to send a signal. Unfortunately, I didn't receive it. I just stared at him, bewildered at the faces he was making at me.

"What are you two doing...?

" Dave asked, with Kyle next to him.

"It's like this...Jake is too shy to ask for help. He's embarrassed that he doesn't know how to work any of these machines. And I don't think it's appropriate if I help him since we're both freshmen.

" Noah explained. Yet...I was even more confused. What's happening?

"And since there's going to be an odd number of players when pairing up, we want to be the group of three. That way we have an upperclassman to help us.

"

The more he spoke, the more lost I felt.

Dave grinned at us.

"Say no more, I'll guide you two.

"

A flash of disproval crossed Noah's face but it didn't last. He pasted a smile on while focusing on Kyle.

"Oh. Is Kyle not knowledgeable at lifting?

"

"What!

" Kyle joined in.

"Says who?

" He elbowed Dave away.

"I'm the one who actually took weightlifting as a class. You brats would be safer with me.

"

Dave glared at his twin.

"But-

"

"Cool! Thanks Kyle!

" Noah cut Dave off. He pushed Kyle to one corner of the room.

"Let's start with arms.

"

I still didn't know what was going on, but I chose to follow Noah as he guided Kyle away from Dave. I didn't dare glance back at Dave or speak up to Kyle. Obviously Noah has some kind of plan and I don't want to screw it up.

The coaches soon arrived and told us to come to them with any questions or concerns. They supervised from one end of the room, sharing a conversation among themselves.

Kyle took the lead and started to instruct us on what to do and how to do it. I have to say, he was right, he knew a lot about lifting weights. That didn't stop him from making fun of us though as we moved from machine to machine. He had a lot to say about how weak our muscles are and how he had to double the weight when it was his turn.

I could see Noah holding back, trying not to start a fight. After half the time had passed, we found ourselves in a corner, doing wall squats. Noah looked around and saw that we were a little secluded from others, then nodded.

"So, Kyle...What was with Dad getting you guys such an early birthday gift? Do you think he'll do the same for me?

"

"Nah, probably not.

" Kyle answered honestly.

Noah's eyes narrowed.

"Why not?

"

"You-

" Kyle stopped.

"Uh, I don't know actually. Maybe he will. Dave said he wants to give us the chance to improve our pitching during the season.

"

"But I can't improve my batting? Or get something to help my fielding?

"

Kyle stood up out of the squat.

"Uh, I really don't know. You can ask Dad when we get home or something.

"

"I just think it's funny that you and Dave convince us to go to a party and break the rules, yet you're the ones to get a gift.

" Noah pointed out. I finally figured out that he was trying to find out what they were all hiding.

"So? Is it because you blamed us or something? Or do you have blackmail on Mom and Dad?

"

Kyle frowned and his lips thinned into a grimace.

"Neither, okay? If you want to know so bad, just ask them.

"

"So there is something that you're hiding!

" Noah had an 'a-ha' moment, like there was a crack in the case. Except, there wasn't. We already knew they were hiding something. If anything, they know that we know that they're hiding something.

Kyle glanced at me. Then straighten up and started to look around.

"Hey, why don't I switch with Dave or Zeke. You two have probably have had enough of me. Laters.

" He briskly walked away.

"Darn it.

" Noah watched his brother's back.

"We almost had him.

"

I raised an eyebrow.

"When? All you did was let him know that we were suspicious of something going on.

"

Noah looked at me and snorted.

"What do you know? What I did, was scare him.

"

"Yea, scared him off.

" I cracked a smile, remembering how quick Kyle was to escape.

Noah laughed too.

"Yea, but now he'll start to slip up more. At some point, he'll want to tell Dave and Zeke that we know something's up. Or maybe even tell Mom and Dad. So what we've gotta do now, is stick to him like glue. He'll either crumble and tell us, or we'll get to overhear him tell them. One or the other.

"

"Doesn't that mean we should be following him right now?

" I asked, pointing at Kyle who was waiting while Zeke was doing a bench press.

Noah nodded.

"Let's go. Even if he doesn't want to lift with us, we'll stick close to him.

" Noah swiftly cut across the room to stand near Kyle. I tagged along, also eager to see if Noah's predictions would happen.