A Lot to Tackle (12 page)

She glanced at Alex. Well, most Sacketts did.

With only two minutes left, the game remained tied. The crowd went wild. All eyes and hopes and dreams rested on Tommy. Tommy had successfully brought their team down to the thirty yard line, but Ava worried whether he could continue to stand up to the pressure. She feared going into overtime.

And then, as if he'd been reading her mind, Coach pulled Tommy out and sent PJ back into the game. The stands erupted at the sight of their beloved quarterback. PJ attacked with renewed energy. Tommy had allowed him to rest and had kept the game on track, setting up a great field position for his return.

Ava felt dizzy. In minutes the game would be over. Tommy might not have been the best player out there, but she knew he wanted to win for one of the same reasons she did—to stay in Ashland. Their fate now lay in the hands of Andy's cousin and Kylie's neighbor.

Thirty seconds after hitting the field, PJ
raced down the right side with the ball cradled in his arms. Linebackers cleared a path, blocking potential tackles. Ava sprang to her feet. “Go, go, go!” she screamed, as PJ ran past the twenty yard line . . . past the ten . . . the five . . . TOUCHDOWN!

The Tigers had won State!

Ava flung her arms around Alex. “We're staying!”

The lobby of their hotel felt like the middle of a parade in Ashland's town square. Everyone the Sacketts knew, and many people they didn't, crammed into the sleek space and offered hearty congratulations, backslaps, handshakes, and the majestic Tiger roar to the players and their families. Plans were made for celebration dinners and parties in Austin.

Ava waded through the crowd, then hesitated. Lindsey, Emily, Rosa, and several other girls from school sat on a black leather sofa along the lobby's far wall. Corey, Xander, Jack, Logan, and Andy bumped fists near a tall ficus tree by the reception desk. She didn't know
where Alex had gone. She couldn't very well stand in the middle of this crowd by herself. Should she go over to the girls? Or the boys? What was she supposed to do? Now that Coach was assured a new contract—one that guaranteed his job for several years—Ava worried that this choice could define the rest of her life here in Ashland. Or at least, the rest of her time in middle school.

She spotted Coach and Tommy talking with the Kellys and Mr. Whittaker. She didn't feel like joining
that
conversation. Maybe her mom would hang out with her while she worked out what to do. Ava raised herself to her tiptoes to scan the sea of orange sweatshirts. Mrs. Cookson's white linen dress caught her attention. Ava sucked in her breath. Her mother stood with Mrs. Cookson! The two women appeared deep in conversation.

Not good. Not good at all,
thought Ava, especially now that the team had won.
We didn't need a plan B. I never should have doubted Coach,
Ava chided herself.

Then Mrs. Cookson hugged her mom! What was
that
about?

Should I go over to them?
Ava wondered, nervously shifting her weight. But her mom caught
her eye and headed toward her. Ava stiffened.

“I've officially met Michelle Cookson,” Mrs. Sackett said. Her voice didn't give anything away. Ava couldn't tell whether she should prepare for a scolding.

“She's nice, right? She likes to hug,” Ava said, trying to sound neutral too.

“That she does. She told me what you did.” Her mom's hazel eyes searched hers.

“I was only trying to help. Coach said he might not have a job if the team lost. But I
really
wanted to stay in Ashland, so I thought that if
you
had a job, we wouldn't have to move. Teaching and art together seemed like the perfect job. Please don't be mad. It doesn't matter now, anyway,” Ava said.

“I'm touched, pumpkin. Quite impressed, actually,” Mrs. Sackett said.

“Really?”

“Yes. You felt our family had a problem, and you took it upon yourself to find a solution. That takes a special kind of gumption.” Her mom wrapped her arm around her. “I didn't know you were so scared about leaving here. You should've talked to me about that.”

“Everyone was so busy with the football game.
I figured it would be better if I fixed it on my own.” Ava grinned. “That's kind of an Alex thing, isn't it? Racing out and setting up a job interview?”

“Not anymore. Now it's an Ava thing too,” Mrs. Sackett said. “But about the job . . . I told Mrs. Cookson I'm not interested in it.”

Ava shrugged. “I figured that.”

“But she invited me to be a part of the school's crafts fair. People come from all over. The fair should help get the word out about my ceramics business, so I have to thank you.” Her mom paused, thinking. “And I really like Michelle. We have a lot of the same interests.”

“So I found you a friend?” Ava asked. Her mom hadn't made many close friends yet in Ashland.

“I think you did.” Her mom squeezed her tight. “Thank you for that. Oh, your dad is motioning me over. You should go have fun with
your
friends. Have everyone up to the room. Here's money for the vending machines. Just promise to stay in the hotel. We'll come check on you in a little bit.”

Ava watched her mom join Coach. She looked again between the girls and the boys.

“What's wrong?” Alex asked, coming up behind her.

“I don't know which group I'm supposed to be with,” Ava said.

“Well, I'm going to solve your problem: I'm going to get Lindsey and Corey back together,” Alex announced.

“What makes you think you can do that?” Ava asked. “You know nothing about matchmaking.”

“I knew nothing about changing a tire, and we did that,” Alex countered.

“We had a video to talk us through it,” Ava pointed out.

“Details!” Alex grabbed her hand. “Have some confidence. We can do this! Let's talk to Lindsey first.”

Ava followed her sister over to the sofa. Before Alex could speak, Ava jumped in. “Lindsey, I'm sorry. I was trying to be a good friend to Corey, and I guess that made me a bad friend to you.”

“No, I shouldn't have yelled like that,” Lindsey admitted. “I was really upset on Monday. I'm
so
much better now.”

“Better how?” Alex asked.

“Like I don't care about Corey. He got pushed into going out with me, because our parents are close. Deep down I always sensed that he wasn't into it. That's why I was trying so hard to make
it right. But it's his loss. I was a great girlfriend,” Lindsey boasted.

“You were,” Alex agreed, and the other girls backed her up.

“Besides”—Lindsey lowered her voice so the girls all had to lean in—“Johnny Morton bought me a slushie at the game today.”

“Who's he?” Ava asked.

“He's on student council,” Alex said. “He's in eighth grade and plays baseball and—”

“—is adorably cute,” finished Lindsey. “I think it's much cooler to go out with an older boy like Johnny.”

“For sure,” Emily agreed.

“So you and Corey are totally over?” Alex asked. Ava sensed her sister's disappointment at not being given the chance to fix their broken relationship.

“Totally.” Lindsey held out her phone triumphantly. “Johnny just texted me!”

“So there's no reason that we can't talk to Corey and the other guys now?” Ava clarified.

Lindsey shrugged. “I don't care. I can be friends with Corey. Of course, he'll have to hang out with Johnny, too.”

Ava shook her head. How could Lindsey
be so sure that she'd soon be going out with Johnny? Ava longed to talk about the game with Corey and Jack. Football was so much simpler.

“How about I invite the guys up to our room?” Ava suggested. “Alex and I are throwing a party!”

“Let's do it,” Emily agreed.

“I have lots of soda in my room that I can bring,” Rosa offered.

“I have money for snacks.” Ava handed Alex a bunch of dollar bills. “Will you get them?” She looked around. The boys had left their post by the reception desk. “I'm going to search for the guys.”

Alex made a detour before heading to the vending machines.

“Mom.” She tapped her mom's shoulder. “I have a surprise for you!”

Mrs. Sackett turned and chuckled. “First Ava, now you! Did you arrange to buy me a new house to go with the job?”

Alex didn't get the joke. “What job? I got you a dinner reservation.”

“Dinner?” Her mom stepped closer to hear her better in the noisy lobby.

“You and Daddy have an eight o'clock reservation tonight at Mercury Grill,” Alex said proudly.

“Really?” Mrs. Sackett cried. “I called earlier in the week, but they were booked. How did
you
get us a reservation?”

“I called after the game. I explained that the famous Coach Sackett and his wife wanted to celebrate the big win tonight. And I told them that all the websites and newspapers interviewing Daddy would be interested in printing the name of the restaurant where he chose to eat. Mercury Grill said they have their best table waiting for you,” Alex said.

Mrs. Sackett jumped up and down. Alex had never seen her mom do that before. “You are amazing, Alex!”

“Sometimes I am,” Alex said. And sometimes she wasn't. She was learning to accept that.

Kind of.

Alex smoothed the dollar bills as she followed signs to the vending machines. She spotted their blue neon glow near the indoor pool. The water shimmered in the dim light. The pool and the surrounding lounge chairs were empty. The moist, chlorine-tinged heat curled the flyaway
hairs by her face, and she pushed them back as she scrutinized the choices.

Nacho chips? Vanilla sandwich cookies? M & Ms?

“I always go for the Hershey bar.”

The boy's voice startled her. Corey stood alongside the farthest machine. He moved closer.

“What a boring choice,” Alex said. “Plain chocolate?”

“It's classic,” Corey countered. “Too much stuff in chocolate messes up the taste. Don't tell me you were going for the peanut chews. My grandmother eats those.”

“Do not knock peanuts in chocolate! Nothing beats Snickers. Actually, nothing beats a frozen Snickers,” Alex replied. She couldn't help grinning at him.

“Frozen candy rules,” Corey agreed. “Whoa! You must really be starving. That's a lot of money.”

“Everyone's coming up to our room. I'm getting snacks. Didn't Ava tell you?” Alex asked.

“No. I got hungry, so I ditched the guys.” He stared at the still pool water for a moment. “What do you mean
everyone?
”

“All the girls, and Ava's getting all the guys to come too,” Alex explained.

“Yeah, well, you have fun with that.”

“Aren't you coming?” Alex asked.

“Nah. The girls are mad at me 'cause of Lindsey. Aren't you mad too?” he asked.

“I don't care about that. I mean, I do care, because Lindsey's my friend. But I'm not mad at you,” Alex said.

“Really? I thought you were.”

Alex was surprised that Corey cared what she thought. “Lindsey's not mad anymore either. Everyone's over it.”

“Cool.” He fiddled with his quarters. He seemed unsure what to do next. He was fidgeting the way he had that time by the stairs at the pizza party.

“You go first. I have to get snacks for everyone, and that's a lot of choosing,” she said, stepping aside.

He fed his quarters into the machine. They watched in awkward silence as each clinked down. He pressed D3. “Oh, come on!” he cried, when a pack of Skittles fell in place of his chosen Hershey bar.

Alex couldn't hold back her laughter. “Okay, I have to know. What do you think of Skittles?”

Corey raised his eyebrows. “As a candy? Hate them.”

“I knew it!” Alex said triumphantly, thinking back to Lindsey's cake.

“I'm glad you're not mad at me,” Corey said.

“For the candy?” Alex asked.

“No. I don't know. For everything.” He looked directly at her, and she felt her face grow warm.

“It's hot in here,” she mumbled.

“I'm glad you're not mad at me,” he repeated.

“You said that already,” Alex replied softly.

“Yeah, I guess I did.” His deep blue eyes stayed on her.

Does he like me?
she wondered. The steam of the indoor pool made it almost impossible to breathe. Impossible to think. She'd liked Corey since the day she'd stepped into Ashland Middle School, but Lindsey was still her friend. Did that matter now that they weren't a couple anymore?

Maybe he doesn't like me,
she thought.
Maybe I'm making this all up.

“Found you, Corey!” Ava's voice rang out. She jogged over to them. “Hey, we're having a party!”