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?"
I 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.