Split Decision

by Belle Payton

  “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.”

  CHAPTER

  FIVE

  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 slig
ht 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.

  She left him alone. Sometimes when she was in a bad mood, she just wanted to be in a bad mood and didn’t want Ava trying to cheer her up. Instead she talked to Emily about the English test. The bell finally rang, and Alex hurried to the trash can so she could walk out with Emily. She was dying to see what her friend thought of Corey’s moodiness.

  “Alex.” Corey appeared next to her.

  “Hi.” She grinned. He had snapped out of it already.

  “I can’t go to the movies on Friday.”

  “Okay,” Alex said, relieved they were talking again. “Maybe Saturday then? Or I bet we could move it all to next week.”

  “Um . . .” He stared at his sneakers. “That won’t work.”

  “The movies? We can do something else,” she offered. She hadn’t wanted to see a scary movie anyway.

  “No. I don’t think so. There’s a lot going on right now, so it’s just not . . . not going to happen.” He took a large step back, then another, putting distance between them.

  “Is this about Max?” Alex asked suddenly. Corey couldn’t still be jealous, could he? She’d only been helping Max with social studies. “I don’t like him like that.”

  “I know, you told me that. But you can do whatever you like, anyway . . . it’s a free country.” He crossed his arms and refused to meet her gaze.

  Alex stared at him. Why was he talking about America being a free country? “So, are we—?”

  “No. Look, I’ve got to, uh, get to class.” He hurried out of the cafeteria and was swallowed up by the hallway crowds. Part of her wanted to chase after him and beg for an explanation. But the part of her that stayed frozen next to the trash can knew the horrible truth.

  She had been dumped.

  “You coming, Alex?” Emily waited for her with Lindsey and Rosa.

  “No. I need to do something,” Alex lied, struggling to hold back the tears. She wasn’t ready to tell her friends—who all had boyfriends—that she been dumped before her first date.

  Ava burned up the court on Monday afternoon in the game against the Plainview Pioneers. The Plainview girls played hard. Ava tried to play harder. She dodged the guards and hit the rim from the outside. Then she sank a three-pointer. Mr. Wonder was right—she wasn’t a quitter.

  But Tamara was everywhere. Every basket Ava netted, Tamara netted two. Ava sprang up for a layup. Tamara jumped higher. Ava blocked. Tamara blocked harder.

  “You show ’em, Tam!” Mrs. Baker yelled over and over from the stands.

  “You’re messing up our plays, Sackett,” Tamara said under her breath as they set up again. “Hang back a bit, okay? I’ve got this.”

  Ava seethed. She didn’t want to hang back. Why did Tamara think she was queen of the court?

  “Teamwork, girls!” PJ Kelly called from the side. He leaned heavily on his crutches, tracking the game’s progress.

  Just hearing his voice made her angry. Her dad still knew nothing about his dirt bike accident and the Saint Francis super-team tryout.

  Ava turned her focus back to the action on the court, but Plainview scored eight points in a row. The louder Mrs. Baker screamed and the more Tamara shone, the more frustrated Ava grew. She tried to get around the Plainview guard and found herself fouled once more for roughness.

  Coach Rader called her out and sent Jane in. Ava sat on the bench and closed her eyes. Why had she done that?

  “Hey, Little Sackett.”

  Ava opened her eyes to find PJ sitting next to her. His brown eyes searched hers, and he gave her a slight grin. “Tough time out there?”

  Ava stiffened and looked away. She refused to talk to him.

  “Doesn’t look promising.” He pointed to the scoreboard. Their team was down sixteen points with only three minutes left.

  Ava stayed silent.

  “You don’t need to do that out there, you know,” he said softly.

  “Do what?” So much for her short-lived vow of silence.

  “All that pushing and fouling. You have great skills. Let them shine. You don’t need anything else,” he said.

  “Thanks.” She folded her arms. She didn’t want him to see that she appreciated his compliment.

  “Just my opinion, but I think you’ve lost focus of who you’re playing against out there.”

  “I know who I’m playing against,” Ava retorted, annoyed again. He didn’t know her.

  “Do you? Sometimes you look as if you’re playing against Tamara, your own teammate.”

  Ava cringed inwardly. PJ was right. Today’s game had become about showing up Tamara. Why did that keep happening?

  “Ride your talent, Little Sackett,” PJ advised. “Play the game, don’t let the game play you.”

  “Hey! That’s one of Coach’s sayings.” She whirled to face him.

  “I know.” PJ grinned again. “I like borrowing them. Your dad has some great ones.” PJ then reeled off a few of Coach’s other favorites.

  Ava found herself nodding. “I’ve been hearing them my whole life and I still like them.”

  “You’re lucky,” PJ said. “Your dad is truly great at what he does.”

  “Thanks. I think so too,” Ava agreed. She was surprised that PJ felt this way. “Do you want to coach someday? Is that why you’re coaching us?”

  “I never really considered it, but yeah, maybe someday after I’m done playing and all that.” PJ sighed. “It’s scary to think that far ahead.”

  “You’d be a good coach.” Ava couldn’t believe she was being nice to PJ Kelly.

  “Really? That means a lot coming from you,” PJ said. “I guess it was a good thing that my aunt forced me to do this.”

  “Tamara’s mom?” Ava asked.

  “Yeah. She my dad’s sister. She thought it would be a good idea,” PJ confided. “You know, for college applications and—”

  Before he could finish, the final whistle blew and Tamara stormed over. “What are you saying to her?”

  “No worries, Tam,” PJ said. “Just coaching a bit.” He winked at Ava.

  “You’re supposed to be helping me, not Ava. That’s why Mom pulled strings to make you our assistant coach,” Tamara protested.

  “I can help both of you,” PJ insisted. “In fact, the two of you need to—”

  “PJ!” Tamara’s voice was so loud, several girls on their team turned to them with interest. “It doesn’t work like that.”

  “I’m aware, Tam, of how it works.” PJ looked from Ava to Tamara and then up into the stands at Mrs. Baker. He sighed. “You want my advice? Just
play the game.”

  CHAPTER

  SIX

  “Mom!” Ava caught sight of her mom as she emerged from the locker room after the game. She ran to her and hugged her. If she hadn’t been in the school hallway, she would have wrapped her legs around her mother in the full-body hug she’d done when she was little. “I missed you. You were gone forever!”

  Laura Sackett laughed. “Only a week, honey. But yes, it felt like a long time.”

  As they drove back home, Mrs. Sackett told her about the other artists she’d met at the retreat, and Ava filled her in on her tense return to the basketball team.

  “That’s not good timing,” Mrs. Sackett murmured, adjusting her sunglasses from the Texas glare.

  “What’s not?” Ava had explained all her fouls and Tamara’s bad attitude. PJ’s deception remained her and Alex’s secret.

  “An interview with your father came out today on TexasHighSports.” Mrs. Sackett chewed her lip worriedly.

  “Coach talked to them on the phone the other night,” Ava said.

  “Yeah, well, whatever he was trying to say didn’t come across or they misinterpreted it. It’s not good,” she said.

  Ava quickly pulled up the site on her phone. At the top of the page, a bold headline screamed:

  WHERE HAVE ALL THE PLAYERS GONE?

  SACKETT BRUSHES OFF INJURIES

  Coach Michael Sackett of the State Championship Ashland Tigers should be riding high this spring with his young, talented team, yet we have received reports that practices are lackluster at best. Sackett finds himself with a roster that’s severely depleted by injuries. Football is dangerous, even at the high school level, and will never be injury free. However, the Ashland players “are dropping like flies,” according to one anonymous Ashland fan. “We’ve lost six out of twenty-two players, and most of those kids were starters.”

  At last week’s practice, three players watched from the sidelines with crutches. In addition, quarterback Dion Bell is still recovering from a concussion, which has deeply concerned the parents of several players, so much so that they have pulled their sons from the program. Ashland is also seeing numbers drop at the youth level.