The closer we got to the scheduled time, the more crowded it was. It wasn't long before a trio of men came in and requested to set up the camera in the dining room. Mr. Atkins helped them make space while Mrs. Atkins started laying out snack platters throughout the house.
"What a circus." Mahki said as people came and went, and even chatted to one another.
Noah nodded. "Mom should have made him do this at the school. I feel like the gym would have had more space than this."
"Too bad none of the Stanford players came." Kyle sighed. "That would have been cool. I could get a rematch on that handstand competition."
"Pshh." Dave scoffed. "Not like you've been training for it."
The twins started to bicker, and Mahki watched on with amusement across his face.
"You doing alright, Bambi?" Garret asked. Him and Julian were both near me, kind of like a pair of guards, making sure no one got too close.
I nodded tentatively. "Yea, thanks." I looked at Julian, who was standing this whole time. "Do you want to sit?"
Julian shook his head. "I'm good." He glanced down at his feet. "I'm all healed up now so no need to worry."
"Do you think you'll play on Wednesday?" Garret asked.
"I'll be ready. But, it's up to Coach whether I'll start or not." Julian shrugged helplessly. "Sean's been doing okay this past week."
Garret didn't say anymore. It's not his place to say who should and shouldn't be sat. He wouldn't want to make that decision and neither would I. "If it's any consolation, I don't think I'll be getting the start. Redwood kicked my butt last time."
Mahki laughed from his spot on the couch. "Yea, right. You may not get the start on the mound, but you'll definitely be in the lineup. You crushed them at the plate. That was your multi-homerun game."
"Eh, that was just luck." Garret laughed. "Though...it'd be nice if they gave out the same pitcher again."
"I doubt that they would." Julian said. "Just like how you weren't effective against them, their pitcher wasn't effective against us. We'll send out someone new and they will too."
"Me! Me!" Kyle waved his arm and jumped up and down. He did a little dance. "I'll be getting the start for sure."
The seniors laughed, yet Garret didn't look amused. Neither did Dave. Dave merely glanced at his twin before looking down at his hand. His frustration was written all over his face.
"Hey." A masculine voice grabbed our attention. Zeke had come back to our little group. "They want to get started with the video. Mom says the four of you should come and be inspected before they start rolling."
"We're fine. Good to go!" Kyle claimed.
Noah pointed at his shirt. "Oh yea? You want to be seen with all those crumbs on your shirt?" He laughed and I cracked a smile.
Kyle wiped the crumbs with a sheepish smile. "I was getting hungry."
Zeke didn't bother with him. He just turned away and started to maneuver through the crowd, heading to the dining room.
"Come on." Noah tugged my sleeve, forcing me to get up and follow. He led the way, giving friendly smiles to those he made eye contact with. I kept my head down and focused on my feet. As long as I didn't step on anyone's toes, I'd be safe.
I could hear the twins following as well, making a racket compared to us.
"Make way! Make way!" Kyle yelled. "I'm the costar of today's event, please let me through."
"God, you're so dumb." Dave didn't even lower his voice. "If you weren't my carbon copy, I wouldn't believe that we are related."
"Who's the copy?? I'm older by two minutes."
"No, you're not. It's me."
"Liar."
"Ugh."
"David. Kyle." Mr. Atkins raised his voice to be heard.
Noah had stopped and so had I. We had reached the dining room, where Zeke and their parents were waiting.
Mr. Atkins had obviously heard the twins bickering and didn't look happy as he looked at them behind me and Noah. "Best behavior right now."
The two had let out simultaneous sighs.
"Okay, let's start off with some photos!" A man commanded the room's attention. Looking at him, I found him somewhat familiar, but couldn't place a name with the face. He started to move people out of the way before pointing at Zeke. "Why don't you take a seat at the center. We'll do solo shots first."
"Sure." Zeke listened and went to sit at his normal spot at the table. Papers and a pen were placed in front of him.
"Don't sign anything just yet." The man instructed. "Just pretend for now and for future pictures. We'll do a video recording of the actual signing to send to the news station."
"Alright." Zeke picked up the pen and held it just above the paper.
The man picked up his big camera hanging around his neck and started to take some pictures. First it was just Zeke. Then Zeke with his parents behind him. Then add Coach. Then take them away and it was just Zeke and the Stanford coach. It went on and on, like this, for awhile.
After sending the others back to the living room and kitchen, the cameraman smiled at the four of us. I shifted slightly behind Noah. "Okay, come on. Your turn. Why don't the four of you stand behind Zeke first?"
I looked around, not really wanting to.
"Jake?" Noah asked when he noticed I wasn't moving. "What's up?"
I shrugged slowly, feeling unwilling to tell him the truth. This seemed like a family photo. Right. He wanted Zeke's brothers to stand behind him like the parents did. But the thing is...I'm not his brother. I'm just some kid that was placed in this home since their parents take in foster children every once in awhile. Something I've started to notice, is that, there are no pictures of these kids. Noah had once told me that they don't stay for long. Wouldn't it be intrusive if I joined?
"Jake?" Noah waved his hand back and forth in front of my face.
"What are you two doing?" Zeke spoke up. "Just come over already. We don't have all day."
With Zeke's command, Noah didn't hesitate to grab me by my shoulders and lead me over to the spot the cameraman was suggesting. We both stood right behind the sitting Zeke, with each twin on either side of us.
The guy with the camera started to snap away. After a few clicks, he made eye contact with me. "Jake, are you unhappy?"
I was startled to find out the guy knew my name.
"Jake! You gotta smile!" Noah shook me.
"Here! I can help!" Kyle, who was next to me started to tickle me near the underarms.
I fought off a laugh as I moved closer to Noah to get away from this evil twin.
"That's better!" The camera man started to click away again. "Hold that smile! Okay, now stand straight! All eyes on me." He clicked some more. "Okay, why don't you stand up now, Zeke?" He paused to instruct. "Just stay in the center. Yea, squeeze between Noah and Jake. That's good!"
Zeke had done what he was told, getting up and pushing me and Noah apart. He rested each of his arms around our shoulders and looked into the camera. After a few more clicks, the camera guy asked Wayne and Mary to stand on each side, going for an extended shot. Then he asked for them to stand on each side of Zeke, with a twin on the outer edges. Noah and I were instructed to stand in front of them, since we were the shortest.
My smile got weaker the more pictures he took. This was obviously the time for the family shots, yet here I was, crashing their pictures. Once I started to shift uncomfortably, the cameraman noticed.
"Let's take a break." He smiled. "I think I've got plenty of shots. I'll get the guys in here to start the videotaping. Zeke, we can probably fit eight to ten people in the background. Do you know who you want to pick?"
Zeke nodded. "Yes. I'll go gather them." He left the rest of us in the dining room as he went to gather his background props.