Go! Fight! Twin! (7 page)

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.”

He gave her a sideways smile and an almost imperceptible nod, and leaned back in his chair to watch the film.

“Okay, don't get mad, but I think you're Alex, not Ava,” said Corey, as they walked toward the locker rooms. The “chalk and talk” session was over, and Coach K had dismissed them for the afternoon, urging them to get a good night's sleep. Most of the guys had run ahead, laughing and jostling one another.

Alex had finally allowed herself to relax the tiniest bit because the official football stuff was over, but now she felt a jolt throughout her whole body. She darted a look at Corey. She thought about protesting, but that would be futile. He knew. And anyway, he'd saved her life in there, answering Coach K's question.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Please, please, please don't tell.”

“Why would I tell?” he asked with a grin. “Was that you I was talking to yesterday, watching the cheer tryouts and pretending to be Ava?”

Alex nodded ever so briefly, her eyes darting from side to side, making sure no one was listening.

“So Ava's trying out for cheerleading, pretending to be you.” Corey gave a low whistle. “That's bold.”

“It's really complicated,” said Alex out of the side of her mouth. “I can explain, but maybe not here, or now.”

Coach D'Annolfo and Coach MacDonald walked past them, discussing something on a clipboard.

After they'd passed, Corey shrugged. “No need to explain. I'm sure you guys have your reasons. Will you . . . ah . . . will Ava be at football practice tomorrow?”

Alex nodded vigorously.

“Okay, good. Tell her to text me and I'll fill her in on what we went over today.”

Alex smiled gratefully at him as he headed into the boys' locker room. He was a good guy.
Of course, she no longer
like
liked him, but she could still admire the fact that he was a good guy. And trustworthy—hopefully.

Alex went straight to the gym to watch the end of the final day of cheerleading tryouts. She sat in the bleachers, and besides one mom who was sitting with two younger kids, overseeing their homework, she was the only spectator. Ava and five other girls were practicing a dance routine in a small group.

Rosa, Molly, and Emily were together in another group. Lindsey was in yet another group, along with Annelise and some other girls Alex didn't know.

Alex frowned. Ava was not looking at all terrible. She was moving in sync with Yvette as the high schooler led them through the steps. In fact, she looked like she was the most coordinated in the group. Alex sighed. Her sister was so competitive. She couldn't not try her hardest. Well, she'd better not have done this well all day. What a disaster it would be if Ava made the team! Alex shuddered, just thinking about it. As she looked
at the group of girls working together with such skill and coordination, she couldn't even begin to imagine herself out there. She'd fall over her own feet. They practically looked professional—and there were still cuts to be made!

“Hey, Ava,” said someone to her left.

It was Jack Valdeavano. He must have come in through the side door behind the bleachers and was standing alongside them, surveying the scene. Alex smiled at him. “Hey, Jack.”

“I promised my aunt I'd stop in to see how Lindz is doing,” said Jack. He and Lindsey Davis were cousins. “Aunt Beth says Lindsey tells her absolutely nothing, so she has to resort to spying. I've been drafted into the Secret Service.”

Alex laughed. “It looks like Lindsey's doing great,” she said. She self-consciously touched her hat, making sure her hair was still tucked up and under.

“Plus, I figured you'd be here,” he added, his face getting a tiny bit pink.

For a second Alex panicked. Why was Jack turning pink talking to her? Aside from the fact that she knew she looked cute in this Celtics hat? And then she remembered she was Ava. He was talking to Ava, not to her. What would Ava say
here? Alex wondered. Probably nothing. She'd probably punch him in the arm or something.

But he was definitely blushing.
Ha!
she thought.
So he does like Ava!
She sat up a bit straighter and swiveled her body so that her knees were pointing slightly in his direction. She'd read somewhere how important body language was in sending someone a message. Crossing your arms and legs sent a message that you weren't open to what a person had to say. Open arms, a slight lean in the person's direction—those were little signals that told the person you were interested in him. After all Ava had done for her, she owed it to her sister not to mess up here. Jack was supercute. Ava could do much worse.

“Hey, listen.” Jack didn't look at her. He kept his eyes fixed on the girls working through the routine. “I was wondering.”

Alex waited with bated breath. Was he going to ask her—Ava—out? She gave him a small, encouraging nod.

“Do you want to, like, hang out together after the game on Friday night?” He said it quickly, all in a rush, still not looking at her. His face went two shades deeper pink.

She knew it! He was asking her out! Ava would probably make a joke out of this and change the subject, or tell him to stop being such a dork, or grab his hat and toss it behind the pile of mats or something.

But she wasn't Ava. She just looked like Ava. Still, she had better seek clarification.

“So you mean, like, a date?” she asked.

He looked taken aback, and momentarily at a loss for words. “Oh! I, ah, yeah. Yes, I guess you could call it a date. But just to Sal's. And there's probably going to be a lot of guys there and we don't have to—”

“I'd love to!” she interrupted him.

He closed his mouth. Then he grinned at her with a slightly surprised look in his eyes. “Cool!” he said. “I'll come find you after the game then.”

He darted away, and Alex leaned back and smiled with satisfaction as she thought about how much easier it was to talk to a guy she didn't have a crush on. And Ava was going to be so pleased with her. Really, this identity switch was proving to have some real side benefits.

Ava was hot and sweaty and totally sore, but she still felt exhilarated. Cheerleading was really fun! It wasn't exactly a contact sport the way football was, but there was a lot of teamwork and real athleticism involved. These past few days had given her a newfound respect for how coordinated and highly trained a cheerleader needed to be.

“So how terrible were you?” Alex asked her in a low voice. They were on the late bus home, still in disguise, sitting close to the front, where there were empty seats all around them. Most kids preferred to sit toward the back.

Ava hesitated. “I tried. I wouldn't say I was
terrible, but I wasn't great or anything,” she said. “I intentionally didn't jump very high on my hurdle or my pike.”

“Do you think you'll be cut?”

Ava pressed her lips together uneasily. She was worried about this. She hadn't paid a lot of attention to how the other girls were doing. It was hard to compare yourself when you were trying to learn a complicated routine. “I think so. I hope so. There were some really talented girls, like Rosa and Lindsey. And there were some girls there who really, really want to be on the team and have clearly put in a lot of practice. It makes me feel terrible that I could be keeping someone off the team who deserves it.”

Alex shook her head. “You won't be, if you get cut. There are several girls vying for just the few slots. Not all of them will make it. You haven't deprived anyone.”

“Well, there's also Molly, who still has a sprained ankle. She was there today, participating for the first time, and her ankle was pretty heavily taped. She did okay but was clearly not a hundred percent. This isn't a game, Al. It's pretty stressful to think I might be bumping some deserving girl off the squad. I better get cut.”

They rode in silence for a while. Then Alex said, “Corey knows.”

Ava turned to her, eyes wide.

Alex explained how Corey had jumped in and saved her from Coach K's question. And how he'd guessed she wasn't Ava but had promised he wouldn't tell anyone.

Ava got a creepy-crawly feeling along her spine. This was getting more and more complicated. She liked Corey. He wasn't the kind of guy who would go around telling everyone, but still. It would be a huge disaster if her football teammates found out she had tried out for cheerleading, even if she was pretending to be her sister! She groaned softly.

“Anyway,” said Alex briskly, “tomorrow it will be over. They'll post cuts first thing in the morning, and I'll be off the team and can go to Coach Jen and ask to be manager. And you can go to football and we can pretend it never happened. We got away with it, Ave. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you were willing to do this for me.”

Ava managed a small smile.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Alex added mischievously. “I'll need to help you with your outfit for the game Friday night.”

“Why?” asked Ava, immediately growing suspicious. “What's happening Friday night?”

“Well, you'll want to look extra nice for your date.”

“My what?”

“Your date. With Jack.”

“My what?!” Ava shouted the words. She felt her face get hot as a few kids on the bus turned to look at her curiously. In a quieter, but no less frantic voice, she hissed, “My what?!”

“Your. Date. With. Jack.” Alex said it slowly, as though Ava didn't understand English very well. “He asked you out. And you said yes.” She smiled at Ava encouragingly. “I know, I know. There are some things I'm just smoother at than you, so isn't it great that I was pretending to be you when this happened? There's definitely an upside to this whole thing.”

Ava was momentarily speechless. She could only stare at her sister in disbelief. She and Jack liked each other, that was clear. But she was not ready to think about him as boyfriend material. There was Charlie, for one thing. Sure, she'd been considering telling Charlie that she really just wanted to be friends. But she hadn't yet. And what if going on a date with Jack wrecked
the fun relationship they had? He was more of a buddy than a romantic interest. She groaned and sank down low in her seat.