by Belle Payton
EIGHT
As soon as they were finished helping with the dinner dishes, Alex nodded to Ava, and the two girls hurried upstairs and into Alex’s room. They sat side by side as Alex’s fingers flew across the keyboard. A moment later they were staring at the list of girls asked to return for the second day of tryouts.
Ava let out a whoop. “We made it!” she yelled, doing a fist pump and then giving Alex a high five.
Alex laughed. “You made it, you mean. You were so good, Ave. I cannot wait to see Rosa’s face when she has to admit that I can do anything I set my mind to. Or, er, that I set your mind to.”
Both girls looked at each other with troubled expressions. Alex was starting to feel that her circular logic wasn’t quite working. What was she proving here? And now that she was past the first round of cuts, the consequences of what she and Ava had done were finally starting to sink in. She’d been so focused on just “making first cuts” that she hadn’t really thought beyond this point. How did I not contemplate the next step? she thought.
“Well, anyway, it’s done,” said Ava, getting to her feet. “I’m glad I could help you out, but I’m really relieved not to have to do this again.”
“Um, about that,” said Alex slowly.
Ava’s eyes narrowed. “Alex,” she said. “No.”
“Sit down,” said Alex gently. “Let’s discuss this calmly and rationally.”
“Al, there’s nothing to discuss. I did what you wanted. You made first cuts. You go tomorrow and you don’t make the team. Then you can be manager or whatever.”
Alex shook her head, slowly, wearily. “No, Ave, it won’t work. First of all, if I go to tryouts tomorrow and I am completely and utterly horrible, when I was amazing the day before, they’re going to suspect something. I don’t know the routines you learned today. The clinic went on for hours, and I didn’t watch each and every minute, to be honest. And there’s no time for me to learn them!” With a pang of guilt, she thought about how she’d curled up on the mats and read for most of the clinic.
“So e-mail Coach Jen and tell her you had second thoughts, and that you’ve decided to quit.”
“I can’t do that, Ave! If I quit now, she’ll never in a million years let me be manager. You of all people know that coaches do not look kindly on quitters. If I don’t become manager, I’m looking at some horror show of a sports activity. Like Square Dance Club!” She shuddered. “No, I have to get cut fair and square, but it has to be you. You have to go back and just be convincingly semi-awful, rather than a disaster, which is what I would be.”
Ava shook her head violently back and forth. “Al! Tomorrow is Monday. I have football practice. I can’t miss football practice to go to cheerleading tryouts!”
“Don’t worry,” said Alex. “I have a plan for that.”
Ava stared at her with a disbelieving look.
“Just tell Coach K that you have a doctor’s appointment. Kids do have doctors’ appointments sometimes. He’ll be fine with that. Please?”
Ava opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again when she saw the desperate look in her sister’s eyes. She sat, massaging her temples. Then she said, “Okay. You’re right. Even though I thought—and still think—this whole plan was stupid and doomed, I see that what you’re saying makes some sense, in a warped kind of way. We’re in this too far. If you show up tomorrow and you don’t know anything, they’ll guess in two seconds that we switched places and we’ll both be in big trouble. But you know if Mom finds out about this, she’ll kill us both.”
“I know.” Alex hugged her. “Ave, thanks. You’re the best, most generous sister anyone could ever ask for.”
“But no glitter this time,” said Ava firmly.
“Hey,” said Kylie in a low voice. She and Ava were sitting side by side in social studies the next day. Kylie nudged Ava’s sneaker under the desk with the side of her green cowboy boot. “You are definitely distracted today. You keep drumming your fingers, tapping your foot, squirming in your chair, and you just used the blue pencil to color Panama, and blue is our ocean color.”
Ava stared down at their map of Central America and groaned. “Sorry,” she said. She picked up the eraser and scrubbed at the blue.
“What’s up? You seem to have a lot on your mind today.”
“I guess I am a little distracted,” said Ava. She chuckled ruefully. “Maybe it’s my ADHD.” Or maybe I’m distracted because I’m helping both my sister and my brother with their harebrained, risky plans to deceive people, she thought.
“How’s tutoring going?”
“It hasn’t started yet, but I think my parents might have found someone. And my sister promptly developed a crush on him,” said Ava.
Kylie rolled her eyes. “Of course she did. Hey, you know what you need? Some riding therapy! Maybe you should come to the ranch this weekend and we’ll take the horses out for a nice, long ride.”
“That sounds awesome,” agreed Ava. “But first I have to get through the rest of this week.”
Monday afternoon, just after the last bell rang, Ava hurried to her football teammate Xander’s locker, which wasn’t far from hers.
“Hey, Xander,” she said, as he slammed his locker door closed and hoisted his practice stuff onto his shoulder.
“Hey,” he said. “What’s up?”
“I need you to tell Coach K I won’t be at practice today.”
“Are you sick?” he asked her, raising his eyebrows.
Ava gave a little cough. “Just a little. It’s more that I have a really bad sore throat and my mom thinks it could be strep, so I’m going to get a strep test. I don’t want to infect the team.”
“Okay,” he said. “Feel better.” He headed down the hallway toward the locker room.
Ava blew out a breath. Getting out of going to practice wasn’t so hard, she thought. She hurried off to meet Alex.
They had picked a remote bathroom in a far corner of the school, where almost no one went at this time of day. Alex was already dressed in Ava-wear. Her hair was tucked into the Celtics cap, and she had on one of Ava’s faded, comfy T-shirts and jeans.
“Freakishly convincing,” said Ava, when she saw her sister. “Except I don’t wear bubblegum-pink lip gloss. You need to wipe it off.”
Alex’s hand flew to her mouth. “Right. I forgot. Let me borrow your lip balm.”
Ava dug it out of her pocket and handed it over.
“We need to hurry,” said Alex, getting right down to work. “Tryouts are in fifteen minutes.”
Ava sighed and took the neatly folded T-shirt and shorts from her sister. “This is crazy,” she muttered as she went into the stall to change.
Ten minutes later Ava looked at herself in the mirror and saw her amazed reflection staring back. Her eyes looked huge, rimmed with dark, smudgy eye pencil. Her lips glistened with pink gloss. She gave her hair a shake, and the fake ponytail swayed back and forth. She had to admit that once in a while she missed the feeling of having long hair. Although this big bow did look ridiculous.
“Four minutes till tryouts start,” said Alex briskly, moving to open the door. “Remember: Don’t try too hard. Be below average. Don’t get carried away and get all competitive, okay? Just be bad enough to get cut, and it will all be over.”
“It will all be over,” repeated Ava, and hustled off toward the gym.
There were fewer girls in the gym today, of course, but still at least twenty. Ava was put into a different group from the day before, led by a high school girl named Serena. Rosa was also in the group. After stretching, they practiced poses.
Serena demonstrated something called a scorpion. Ava watched in amazement as Serena stood on her left foot and used one hand to grab her right foot, bent at the knee, behind her. Slowly and smoothly, her right foot went up, up, up behind her body, until it was at the back of her head. Then she grabbed the leg with her other hand and stood perfectly balanced.
“Wow,” the girls said.
&nb
sp; “This is a flexibility pose,” said Serena, lowering her foot. “I’ll spot you guys, don’t worry.”
A few of the girls were super flexible, and although not as graceful as Serena, could do the pose with some guidance. When it was Rosa’s turn, she expertly grabbed her foot and sinuously moved it up until she looked just like Serena.
Ava was next. “I’ve never tried this,” she admitted to Serena under her breath.
“Don’t worry. I’m here to spot you,” said Serena reassuringly. “I know you’re flexible, but don’t push yourself too hard.”
Ava had no trouble grabbing her back foot. Up, up it went.
“Nice!” said Serena encouragingly. “Now reach back as far as you can with your other hand and grab your foot with both.”
Ava was amazed. She could grab her foot with two hands!
“Nice flexibility!” said Serena. “Have you really never tried this before? You’re doing great!”
With a start, Ava reminded herself she was supposed to be performing badly today. No, no! Not great. She dropped her foot quickly. “Oops,” she said. “Lost my balance.” She smiled apologetically at Serena and rejoined the group.
CHAPTER
Nine
“Ava! Hi! Ava? Hello?”
With a start, Alex realized Corey was addressing her. She jumped back from where she was peering through the slats in the bleachers at Ava’s tryout. Corey was clearly just back from football practice: He was carrying his practice pads and had black stuff on his cheeks.
“Oh, hi,” she said, adjusting the brim of her Celtics hat. She touched the back of her head and tucked a stray tendril of long hair underneath the cap.
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine. Why?”
Corey looked puzzled. “Xander said you had an appointment.”
“Oh! Oh, yeah, fine. It was just a dentist appointment, a routine checkup.”
Corey looked even more confused. “He said you thought you might have strep.”
“Oh! Ah, ha-ha. Well, my dentist is awesome. He was a double major in dentistry and medicine and he, ah, he . . .” Alex desperately needed to change the subject. “Anyway, I don’t have strep—or any cavities.”
“That’s good,” said Corey uncertainly. “So how’s Alex doing with tryouts? I heard she was pretty good yesterday.”
“Yeah, she made first cuts,” said Alex, unable to contain the pride in her voice. “She doesn’t think she’s good enough to actually make the team, because she has too many other interests and can’t commit to such a specialized skill, but she’s a determined person and believes you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. And she decided she really wanted to make first cuts.”
“Huh. No kidding.” He studied her curiously. “Well, I need to run. My mom’s waiting for me. See you at practice tomorrow.”
“Yep, see you.”
He turned. “In case you were wondering, practice was pretty tough today. We did a lot of conditioning. But Coach K said we’re watching film tomorrow. He says we need a day to regroup and rest up. So no pads.”
“Okay, thanks,” said Alex, stopping herself just before she said, I’ll let Ava know.
Corey paused again. “Hey, do you remember the name of our fake extra-point call?”
Alex could only shake her head. She had no idea what he was talking about.
Corey nodded. “That’s okay. I can ask Xander.” He started to walk away.
Was he looking at her suspiciously? Had he guessed that she wasn’t really Ava?
Then Corey said, “What’s up, Alex?”
Alex felt an electric jolt through her body. How had he recognized her through her disguise? They didn’t know each other that well. Then she heard Ava respond behind her.
“Hey, Corey.”
Oh. So he’d been saying hi to Ava, dressed as Alex, who had come up behind her. Alex wiped her brow. They both watched Corey disappear down the hallway.
“I need to go wash my face and take off this dumb bow,” muttered Ava in Alex’s ear.
“You’ll have to wait till we get home,” Alex whispered back. “There’s nowhere to go without risking being discovered.”
“Okay, but I can’t be seen on the bus,” said Ava. “I’m supposed to have strep. Let’s walk.”
They slipped out of a side door and set off for home.
“So how did it go today? Did you remember to be bad?”
“Um, yeah,” said Ava. “Mostly.”
Alex noted a hint of uncertainty in her tone.
“I landed funny on a jump and turned my ankle a little,” said Ava. “But I think it’ll be okay for practice tomorrow. Football practice, I mean, of course.”
“And they’ll make final cuts tonight?”
“No, they said one more day of tryouts, because there are quite a few girls who could go one way or the other, and Molly gets to try out tomorrow.”
Alex stopped. “Ave, then you have to go back tomorrow. You can’t not show up.”
“Yes, I can,” said Ava. “I am not going to miss another day of football practice.”
Alex remembered what Corey had said, and a desperate idea popped into her head. “I’ll go to football in your place!”
Now it was Ava’s turn to stop walking. “Alex. Do you realize what you’re saying?”
“No! I mean, yes!”
“You wouldn’t know the difference between a tight end and a split end if your life depended on it.”
“I know. I know. But Corey told me—you—that tomorrow Coach K is just talking to the team. There’s no actual practice involved. So I can be you, because I don’t have to do anything except sit there and watch films and listen to the coaches talk.”
“Hey, Ava! Think fast!” came a voice from behind them.
Both girls whirled around. A basketball came sailing out of thin air, headed straight for Alex. The twins hadn’t realized they were so close to home already—they were passing the little park near their house, and Jack was shooting baskets on the court.
Alex gave a little squeal and covered her face with her arms. The ball bounced off her elbow and rolled away.
“Alex!” hissed Ava under her breath. “You’re me, remember? I would have caught that! Now go get the ball!”
Alex ran over and picked up the ball. “Hey, Jack!” she called. “Didn’t see you.”
“Hey,” Jack yelled back. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Ave! From there!”
“What’s he asking me?” Alex hissed at Ava.
“He wants you to try a long bomb from here. Shoot the ball. Into the basket.”
“From here?”
“It’s just a game. Jack and I do it all the time. Go on.”
Alex dribbled the ball once, then hoisted it into the air, her elbows flapping out awkwardly. It missed the basket. It missed the basketball court. It landed in the grass near the play area and bumped to a stop against the slide.
Ava closed her eyes with a pained expression.
Jack looked at Alex-as-Ava with a surprised look. “Nice shot,” he said. “Not.”
“Ha-ha! My bad!” called Alex. Ava tugged her by the sleeve, and the two girls hurried off.
CHAPTER
Ten
The next day Alex sat in the girls’ locker room, lacing up Ava’s cleats. She had to admit, Ava’s clothes certainly were comfy. Her baggy T-shirt, faded and soft from dozens of washings, flopped over her loose shorts, which billowed around Alex’s legs and extended almost down to her knees.
“Hi, Ava,” said a girl as she entered the bank of lockers where Alex was sitting. “No pads today?”
Alex shook her head. “Nope. We’re watching film.”
The girl, whom Alex didn’t know, was quickly changing into what looked like volleyball clothes. Alex admired the way her mahogany-brown hair tumbled over her pretty purple shirt as she propped a foot up on the bench to tie her shoe.
“That burgundy tee is a perfect complement to your hair color,” she blurted out.<
br />
The girl looked at her, startled. “Huh?” she said.
Shoot. Ava would never say anything like that, Alex thought. “Nothing,” she said. “I better get going—see you!”
The girl cocked her head at Alex, looking slightly confused, but managed a “Yeah, see you,” as Alex hurried out to practice.
One of the coaches—was it Coach D’Annolfo?—was standing outside the locker rooms, directing kids down the hall to an empty classroom to watch the film. Alex slipped into the darkened room and found a seat way at the back, without looking at anyone.
“Sackett! Feeling better?” barked Coach Kenerson from the front of the room, where he was fiddling with a camera attached to a laptop.
Alex froze. What would Ava say? “Yes, Coach!” she said, and prayed he wouldn’t ask her anything else.
“You missed the pro formation review we did at practice yesterday, Sackett. Tell me: Where would the X receiver line up?” he asked.
Wait. He was asking her? Fear clutched her heart. Ava had been right. It was a terrible, terrible idea for her to go to Ava’s football practice. Alex’s heart pounded like the big bass drum in the high school marching band.
“Did you say the X receiver?” she stammered, stalling for time. “I—uh—”
Wait. Was someone saying something to her? Someone was. Corey. He was sitting right next to her and talking in a low voice.
“. . . to the left, to the left, to the left,” he murmured.
“To the left!” she blurted out.
Corey was still murmuring, “The X receiver would align to the left of the formation, on the outside.”
“The X receiver would align to the left of the formation, on the outside,” repeated Alex, in a louder voice.
Corey murmured, “. . . and the X receiver would be on the ball.”
“And the X receiver would be on the ball,” she added.
“Good! Nice job, Sackett,” said Coach Kenerson. He hit the play button and rolled the film.
Alex nearly wept with relief. She collapsed in her seat, her heart still hammering so loud she was sure the whole room could hear it. She turned to Corey and whispered, “Thanks.”