'Tis the Off-Season (4 page)

Alex knocked gently on Ava's door later that night, after Luke had left. She heard a muffled “Go away” from inside, but she pushed open the door anyway.

Her sister was lying in her bed, under the covers, still fully dressed. She had her Spanish textbook propped open on her knees, but Alex felt certain she hadn't been looking at it.

“Hey,” said Alex, moving into the room to sit down on Ava's bed.

“Hey,” replied Ava.

“I think I found the perfect outfit to wear on the plane to Boston,” said Alex, trying to sound cheerful.

Ava didn't look up. She grunted and turned a page.

“And it's going to be so fun, having the party here. I'm still getting used to the idea of the ugly sweater theme, but I guess if everyone is wearing one—” She broke off. Ava didn't seem to be interested in talking about the party. “Hey, I'm really sorry about basketball,” Alex said softly.

Ava finally looked up at her. “It's so not fair,” she said. “I'm being penalized because I have ADHD.”

“I think Mom and Dad mean well,” said Alex, who of course had been eavesdropping on the conversation in the kitchen from a listening post at the top of the stairs.

Ava's green eyes flashed.

“And you know, maybe they have a point, about giving you structure and consistency with your study habits,” said Alex. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them.

Ava shot her a reproachful look. “Thanks for the support,” she said bitterly.

Alex gulped. “Sorry, Ava, I didn't mean—”

Ava dumped her textbook onto the floor.

The sound made Alex jump. “Well, see you in the morning,” she said quickly, and bolted from the room.

Ava was late getting downstairs for breakfast the next morning—which was nothing new. To make amends, Alex toasted a bagel for her and was just slathering it with peanut butter when Ava appeared in the kitchen with her backpack on and her wet hair showing comb marks.

Coach and Tommy had already left for school. Mrs. Sackett was upstairs getting dressed.

“Thanks,” Ava said gruffly as Alex handed her the bagel on the paper towel. “Let's get going so I don't have to pretend to be cheerful.”

When they got to school, Ava quickly shoved her stuff into her overflowing locker and muttered good-bye to Alex.

Alex was still frowning after her sister when she heard a low voice speak in her ear.

“Hey. Quick question for you.”

Alex felt her knees buckle slightly when she turned around and saw that it was Corey. But she managed not to choke on the words as she said, “Sure! What's up?”

“Number three on the math homework? Did you get a negative answer?”

Alex's mind raced. Should she pretend to think it over, or just tell him yes right away? Because of course she had total recall of her homework answers. There had only been seven math problems. “Yes, I had a negative number,” she said, choosing the latter option.

“Cool,” he said, and grinned. He had such a nice smile.

“Hey, guys!”

Alex's breath caught in her throat. Lindsey!

She felt Corey tense up next to her. She instinctively moved a few inches away from him.

If Lindsey was bothered by their being together, she didn't say anything. “Just to let you know, we're choosing Secret Santas at lunch today,” she said. “Spread the word!” She turned and hurried away.

“Okay!” said Alex and Corey at the exact same time.

Corey muttered a quick good-bye and hurried off.

At lunch, everyone wrote their names on scraps of paper and put them into Corey's baseball cap. Kids weren't allowed to wear hats during the school day, but Emily had asked him to bring it to lunch. They passed the hat around and everyone drew a name.

Alex watched Ava unfold her paper, read the name, and blush.
Ha! She must have chosen Jack,
Alex thought. When it was Alex's turn to choose, she found to her dismay that she'd selected Rosa. Of all the people whose names were in the hat, Rosa's was the one she'd have least wanted to select. It wasn't like they didn't like each other, exactly. They just didn't seem to click the way Alex did with most of the others. Plus, she had no idea what Rosa's interests were, outside of cheerleading.

Charlotte picked next. She peeked at the name and smiled. “Ha!” she said. “I know just the thing for my Secret Sant-ee. We're going to New York City for Christmas, of course, and there's this ultracool boutique in Tribeca that just opened where you simply can't go wrong.”

Alex saw several dismayed faces around the table. She was kind of happy that Charlotte had recently joined her group of friends, because it meant she and Ava weren't the new kids anymore. And Charlotte was even more clueless than Alex was sometimes. Charlotte's family had an enormous house, and Alex was pretty sure they even had servants, but not everyone else did. She quickly thought of a way to even the playing field in terms of gifts.

“Hey! I have an idea!” she said brightly. “Why don't we all
make
our presents this year?”

“Great idea!” said Emily, almost too quickly.

Lots of other kids nodded.

Charlotte wrinkled her brow. “
Make
them? You mean, like pot holders and stuff?”

Alex laughed. “There are lots of things you can make,” she said. “I'm sure you'll think of something great.”

“And homemade presents will fit in perfectly with the ugly sweater theme,” added Emily.

“About that,” said Charlotte. “I have no clue where to shop for an ugly sweater.”

Alex quickly explained to her about the planned thrift store outing, and invited her along.

Corey grinned. “The sight of you in a thrift store will be something to see,” he said to Charlotte.

Charlotte didn't seem offended by Corey's remark.
That's the thing about Corey,
Alex thought.
He knows how to tease without ever coming across as mean.
She stopped herself from smiling at him across the table.

“And with Alex there to guide us to make the right fashion choices, we'll be ready for the runway,” continued Corey with an earnest grin in her direction.

Alex had to pretend to drop her napkin and hide under the table, so people wouldn't see how much she was blushing.

“Ava, I noticed you didn't pass in a thesis statement for your persuasive essay yesterday,” said Mr. Rader. He'd asked Ava to stop by to see him before leaving for her next class.

Ava stared down at her sneakers. The white rubber toes were covered in flowers that her friend Kylie had drawn. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “I'm still thinking about what to write. I'm trying to decide between, um, why we should have a later start time to our school day and why we should have a longer lunch hour.” In fact, she hadn't thought much about her topic at all, but those topics were as good as any. She couldn't imagine writing four pages' worth of stuff on any topic.

Mr. Rader lowered his chin and frowned at her over the tops of his glasses. “Well, decide soon, Ava. As you know, the outline is due Thursday. I may need to have a word with Mrs. Hyde about helping you narrow down your arguments and supporting a thesis statement,” he said.

Ava shook her head. “I'm on it, Mr. Rader, I promise,” she said.

He nodded. “Run along or you'll be late for your next class,” he said.

Ava's heart sank as she swung her backpack onto her shoulder and headed out. If Mr. Rader spoke to Mrs. Hyde, her parents were sure to find out. She thought about the Spanish test she'd taken this morning. She had to admit, it was a good thing Luke had been there last night to drill her on her irregular verbs, because she would have bombed it otherwise. Still. Couldn't her parents see that she was doing worse, not better, without sports? This winter could be a disaster both athletically
and
academically.

A thought struck her. She'd try appealing directly to her father. He was a
coach
, and he'd once been an athlete. He would listen to reason.

“Ava!” called Madison. “Are you coming to the gym after school today to play?”

The final bell had just rung, and Ava couldn't get out of the middle school fast enough.

“Can't today,” said Ava.

“You didn't come to the rec center last night!” Madison reproached her. “You're not having second thoughts about coming out for the team, are you?”

“Me? No,” said Ava quickly. “
I
am definitely not having second thoughts.”

She left it at that. There was no need to go public with her parents' ridiculous decree just yet. She felt sure she could get through to Coach.

Ashland High was just across the parking lot from the middle school. The high schoolers had gotten out earlier, but Ava knew where to find her father. He oversaw the weight-training kids—mostly fall and spring athletes who didn't do a formal winter sport.

She could hear the clanking of weights and blasting of music before she'd even turned the corner of the hallway that led to the weight room. Inside it was hot and crowded with high school kids, many of whom she recognized from the football team. She saw Tommy standing behind his friend Winston on the bench press, but knew better than to distract him while he was spotting.

Coach noticed her almost immediately. He waved and beckoned her over to where he was scribbling some notes on a clipboard.

“Ave!” He shouted to be heard over the clanging weights. “What brings you here?”

She pointed toward the doorway, indicating that she wanted to talk in quieter surroundings, and he nodded and strode after her.

Once in the hallway, she turned and looked at him with a pleading expression. “Coach,” she began. “About me not playing basketball. I was hoping to talk it over with you calmly and rationally.”

Coach stiffened. He pressed his lips together and nodded guardedly.

“See, I have a feeling this is not your decision and that it's coming mostly from Mom,” said Ava. “Because you know sports so well, and you know that—”