Split Decision (5 page)

“I do not over-condition my players! Whoa!” Coach cried, and the jar slipped from Ava's grip and crashed to the floor. Pickle juice and shards of glass flew everywhere. Moxy ran to investigate. “Get the dog away! What? No, I wasn't talking to you.”

Alex grabbed Moxy by her collar. Tommy found the garbage can and a dish towel.

“Sorry? What were you saying?” Coach tucked the phone under his shoulder and began to pick pieces of glass from the spreading puddle. “Look, injured football players are not a big deal. It happens all the time. There's really no story here.” Moxy barked and lunged for the stray pickles. “Alex, get her!”

Alex grabbed Moxy by the collar, but not before the dog slid through the puddle. Moxy gave a
shake, spraying pickle juice in her dad's eyes.

“Do I have anything else to say?” Coach sputtered, wiping his face with his sleeve. “No. Listen, can we talk another time?”

After they'd cleaned the mess, Alex hurried upstairs to her bedroom. She opened her jewelry box and surveyed its contents. What necklace would look best with the blue sweater? She liked the gold one with the bicycle charm.

“Hey.” Ava pushed open her door and flopped onto her bed. “I think we should tell him.”

“Tell who what?” Alex held up a necklace with a silver
A
pendent. “This isn't bad.”

“Tell Coach about PJ.” Ava tossed Poppet, Alex's pale-pink stuffed bunny, up into the air as she spoke. “Or tell someone. Tell Tommy.”

“Why?” Alex grabbed for her bunny.

“Because PJ lied. He told Coach that he got hurt from too many conditioning drills at practice. He's making it sound like his knee injury is Coach's fault,” Ava said.

“But if we tell Tommy, he's going to tell Dad. He'll be angry that we disobeyed him and left our street.” Alex shook her head. “We talked about this.
It's better for everyone if we don't say anything.”

“It's better for you,” Ava said.

“You too. You don't want to get grounded,” Alex pointed out. “What if they make you stop playing basketball?”

Ava was quiet for a minute. “But I don't want the Tigers all messed up,” she said.

“PJ is out no matter how he got injured. Nothing we say is going to change that, and we don't know for sure what he's going to do with the team. We should stay out of it, and everything will be fine,” Alex assured her.

“You don't know that,” Ava protested.

“Don't you have other things to worry about besides the high school team?” Alex asked, exasperated.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Ava shot back.

Alex was worried about her date with Corey—how to make it fabulous so he would want to go out again. She didn't want to worry about PJ and the high school team. “Nothing. Forget it.”

“Maybe I will and maybe I won't.” Ava stood and walked to the door.

“You promised, Ave,” Alex reminded her. “A twin promise.”

When they were in kindergarten, they had
made a rule that a twin promise was the most special kind of promise. Alex knew that even if Ava was angry, she'd never break a twin promise.

“You're getting it, Ava!” Luke Grabowski grinned the next afternoon when Ava circled the correct pronoun on her English homework.

“Yeah, I guess.” Ava held back her own grin, but she was proud of herself. Grammar worksheets always tripped her up. “Can you come to school with me and squat down next to my desk? It's easier with you next to me.”

“Sounds painful. Besides, I don't think the middle school wants me crouching by your desk all day.” Luke snorted. He was a sophomore at Ashland High and nearing six feet tall. “Hey, you can do this without me.”

“I'm not so sure.” Ever since Luke had started tutoring her this year, Ava's grades had improved. And everything just made more sense. But sometimes in the classroom, her mind started to wander and she couldn't focus on the test or worksheet. She knew this was part of her ADHD diagnosis, but having it labeled didn't always
make it easier. “It's like with sports. I like the whole team thing with football and basketball. I can't imagine being an ice skater or a swimmer and having to go out on my own. I'd totally get off track.”

“Okay, think of me as your imaginary teammate. When you get off track, pretend I am squatting next to you and hear my voice in your head saying—”

“I'm starving!” Tommy announced, bursting into the kitchen.

“Not that,” Luke said. “Something more inspiring.”

“Food inspires
me
.” Tommy opened the refrigerator and grimaced. “Mom has been gone for five whole days. I think I may starve to death.”

“You are not going to starve to death!” Coach followed Tommy inside after football practice. “Do not tell your mother I haven't been feeding you.”

“Then please feed me,” Tommy joked.

“I thought it was your night to cook,” Ava reminded him.

Tommy groaned. “With what? It's like an episode of a cooking reality show in here. How can I make my gourmet dinner with the random ingredients we have?”

“What do you suggest?” Coach asked, sinking into a chair. He looked tired.

“I suggest that I go to the mall and find Cassie a birthday present and swing by the food court and grab burgers for everyone.” Tommy closed the fridge. “Want to take a ride, Luke?”

“Sure thing.” Luke stood.

“Can I come too?” Ava asked. “I can eat my burger at the mall while you shop and then you can drop me off at basketball. We have a night practice at the gym, and I already changed my clothes.” She stood and grabbed her bag. “Oh, Alex is at Emily's house again, but she's coming back soon,” she told Coach.

“Sounds like a plan.” Coach closed his eyes. “It's still chilly out. Ava, wear a coat.”

“What's with the coat? Mom never makes me wear a coat,” Ava grumbled.

“Aha!” Coach brightened. “You be sure to tell her that I kept you very warm this week.”

“Warm and hungry!” Tommy called over his shoulder, as Ava grabbed Alex's pink coat off the back of a chair and followed him and Luke to the car.

“So what are you getting Cassie?” Ava asked as they entered the mall. The food court bustled
with Friday evening crowds. She recognized the Fowler twins and a group of kids from school by the waffle fry place.

Tommy pushed his hands deep into his pockets and shrugged. “I have an idea.”

“Spill it,” Luke encouraged. “This'll be good.”

“It's not fully formed yet.” The tips of Tommy's ears reddened with embarrassment.

“Come on—”

“Hey, Luke, will you take me to get my burger?” Ava jumped in, hoping to help Tommy. He was new to this boyfriend business—and Luke constantly ribbed him. She sensed Tommy needed space to shop. “I need to eat before practice.”

Ava and Luke found a table in the food court and ordered cheeseburgers and fries. As she shoved the change the cashier handed her into the pocket of her coat, her fingertips landed on one of Alex's stretchy pink headbands. She pulled it on, pushing her overgrown hair out of her eyes, as Luke asked her about basketball.

“There are only three more games left this season.” Ava chewed thoughtfully. “I was thinking that I might sit them out.”

“Why would you do that?” Luke leaned
forward. Ava liked how he listened to her. Tommy never listened like Luke did.

Ava told him about how off her first game back had been and how out of sync with the team she felt. “I'm messing them up. They did better without me.”

“Isn't that the coach's decision to make? If he doesn't want to play you, he doesn't have to. Besides, no one blames just you for that loss,” Luke assured her.

But Ava knew Mrs. Baker blamed her. Maybe others, too.

“Do you like playing?” he asked.

“Yes, but—”

“No buts. It's a simple question,” Luke said.

“Not really. I stink right now.” Ava pushed away her fries, no longer hungry. “I wonder if I came back too soon. Maybe I need more time to work on my skills.”

And to get better than Tamara,
she thought.

She felt guilty. Since her Pee Wee team days, Coach Sackett had reminded her endlessly that sports weren't about being the best on the team. But being second to Tamara bothered her.

“So do I stay with the team? Quick! Yes or no?” Ava asked Luke.

“I can't decide that for you,” Luke protested.

“How do I decide?” Ava asked.

“I think you need to play in another game and see how you feel.” Then Luke grinned mischievously. “Or you can ask Mr. Wonder.”

“Who?”

Luke tapped the screen of his phone. “Mr. Wonder. Have you seen this awesome app? It tells your future.” Animation of a funny little guy with big ears and a glowing blue crystal ball appeared. The character danced along what looked to be an oversize hand. “First you measure the lines on your palm.”

Luke scooted his chair closer, reached for Ava's hand, and flipped it over. He traced the lines. “This is your line of good fortune. And this is your line of grit.”

“Grit like dirt?” Ava giggled.

“No, grit like perseverance and determination.” Luke followed the line with his finger. “Look how long it is!” He typed something into the app.

“What does Mr. Wonder say?' Ava asked.

“Mr. Wonder says you are not a quitter.” Luke shot her a meaningful look. “And Mr. Wonder knows all.”

Five more days,
Alex thought as she walked into the cafeteria on Monday. Her fingertips tingled just thinking about the group date on Friday. She was dying to see Corey and talk to him. Emily and Lindsey, too. She'd been out of the loop all weekend.

On Saturday morning Coach had dragged them to visit Uncle Scott in the remote ranching town of Eagle Ridge, about forty-five minutes from Ashland. Uncle Scott was her dad's younger brother. He'd lived with them for a while but had recently gotten a job as a software engineer and moved into his own apartment. Uncle Scott was starting a community garden,
and he'd proudly brought them all to volunteer at a composting plant, which had been kind of cool, but also smelly and disgusting! Even Ava and Tommy thought so. Alex could see why her mom had encouraged them to visit while she was away.

She wondered if Corey had missed her. Had he even known she was away?
He must have,
she thought.

“Hi!” she called brightly as she approached their lunch table. She flipped her hair to the side the way girls on TV did. Her dark curls looked particularly shiny today, especially against her pale-pink shirt.

“Hey!” Emily called. Lindsey and Rosa greeted her too.

Alex tried to lock eyes with Corey, but his gaze stayed fixed on the block of mac-and-cheese on his tray. Kal sat next to Corey, but he pushed down, making room for Alex. She liked that everyone already thought of them as a couple.

Corey and Alex. Alex and Corey. Their names sounded so good together.

“How was your weekend?” she asked him, pulling a blueberry yogurt from her brown paper bag.

Corey shrugged.

Alex began to tell him about Eagle Ridge. How Uncle Scott had taken them on a long hike and showed them how to make a meal from weeds and wild berries. It had actually been pretty good.

After a few minutes, Alex realized that Corey hadn't said one word. Was she rambling? She had a tendency to do that. “Sorry I'm being really verbose today,” she said.

“What?” Corey asked. “What does that mean?”

“You speak like you're in college, Alex!” Rosa said with a slight giggle.

“No, I don't,” Alex protested.

“It's not a bad thing. Really.” Emily had seen her panicked expression.

“We're probably too immature for you to hang with,” Corey said in an oddly flat voice.

“No way! Come on!” She elbowed him playfully. “Hey, how's this for mature?” She balanced her plastic spoon on the tip of her nose. “Ta-da!”

“Let me try!” Kal said. Rosa and Emily tried too. Soon they were all laughing and snapping spoon-nose photos. Everyone except Corey. Instead he silently stabbed holes in his congealed pasta with his fork.

“Are you okay? Is something wrong?” Alex asked quietly.

“Fine.” He wouldn't look at her.

Alex wasn't sure what to do. Corey was obviously having a bad day. For a few minutes, she ate her yogurt in perplexed silence and listened to the conversation swirl around them. Then she decided to try again.

“Did you see the
Ashland Times
?” When he didn't answer, Alex continued. “They reviewed
Escape from Dark Woods
. They said it was pee-in-your-pants scary.”

As soon as the words were out, she regretted them. Peeing in your pants was not a very romantic image.

“I mean, not that I'm going to—or you—or any of us, really.” Alex's stomach twisted, as if it were being squeezed. Why was Corey just sitting there, staring at his tray? He always joked around with her. That was one of the things she liked most about him.