Two Steps Back (2 page)

“But didn't you do that
last
Sunday too? I thought all the coaches take turns.”

Ava noticed Coach and her mom exchange a quick look. Coach didn't say anything, so Ava did.

“Did Coach Byron mess up again?” she asked worriedly.

He hesitated. “His babysitter canceled on him,” he said. “It's tough being a single parent, no question. He's struggling with all his personal obligations.”

“But it's taking its toll on
our
house too, Michael,” said Mrs. Sackett quietly. “First Tommy skips out for his rehearsal, and now you have to go cover for Byron. Yet again.”

Coach engulfed her in a bear hug. “I know, hon,” he said. “I'll talk to Byron.”

Moxy watched him leave and then sank back down onto the floor and heaved a heavy sigh.

Ava moved uneasily around the table, gathering up the napkins. She didn't like the ominous tone in her father's voice. Coach Byron was her favorite of her father's assistant coaches. His kids, Jamila and Shane, were really cute. And it hadn't been very long since his wife had passed away. He was still sad about it, you could tell. What if his job was in trouble just because he couldn't find babysitters?

“I can babysit for him tonight,” she said quickly. “Movie night is no big deal.”

“You have your math homework to finish too, sweetie,” said Mrs. Sackett. “And I'm still counting on watching the movie with you and Alex after that.”

Alex bustled back into the kitchen, her eyes bright. “That was Marcy Maxon's assistant again,” she said. “Her name is Candace. Isn't that a cool name?”

“Awesome,” said Ava, but of course, Alex didn't pick up on the sarcasm in her tone. Ava didn't look at Mrs. Sackett, but she could feel her mother's disapproving stare.

“Candace was following up on the e-mail she sent me today,” Alex continued. “And she told me how great my essay was, and how impressed Marcy Maxon was by it, and she told me Ms. Maxon wants some ideas for my story by Tuesday. I'm supposed to e-mail Ms. Maxon directly!”

“That's wonderful, honey,” said Mrs. Sackett.

“So, I'm really sorry, but I just don't think I can participate in our Sunday movie night this week. I need to concept some ideas.”

“Did you just use ‘concept' as a verb?” asked Ava.

“That's journalism talk,” Alex explained. “Anyway, sorry again about missing the movie. Such is the life of a features reporter.”

Ava waited for Alex to leave the room before she rolled her eyes. She had expected their mom to object to Alex skipping their movie. Sunday night movies were a time-honored tradition in the Sackett household. Ava knew Alex's story was a big deal, but she wished it didn't have to interfere. She and Mrs. Sackett finished up the dishes together.

Ava underhanded the sponge toward the counter and watched it bounce and then land almost right where it belonged next to the sink. “You do realize that she is going to be impossible to live with,” she said to her mother.

Mrs. Sackett smiled. “Let's be happy for her, Ave,” she said. “It's a tremendous accomplishment.”

“I know. I am happy for her. But a tiny part of me is wondering if the fact that she's Coach's daughter might have had something to do with her winning the contest.”

Ava could tell by the look on her mom's face that a similar thought had occurred to her, too. But her mom shrugged. “Everyone can use an angle,” she said. “She wouldn't have won if her essay hadn't been terrific. Come on. Go finish up your math, and then let's you and I watch the movie.”

The next day at school Ava got to the lunchroom late. She'd forgotten to hand in her science homework and had had to run back to her classroom to put it into the basket. When she walked into the cafeteria, Alex and a big group of their friends were already sitting at a large table, chattering and eating. Ava's friend Kylie moved over to make room for her.

“So how awesome is your twin sister?” Jack Valdeavano said to Ava from across the table.

“She's pretty awesome,” said Ava, and mostly meant it.

“We were just talking about what story she should do,” said Jack.

Ava appreciated how he made the effort to bring her into the conversation. Jack was great. She still hadn't decided if she liked him “that way,” but she always had a lot of fun hanging out with him.

“Alex Sackett, girl reporter,” said Corey with a grin.

Lindsey, who was sitting next to Corey, smiled at Alex and helped herself to one of Corey's fries.

Ever since they'd officially started going out again, Lindsey seemed to have adopted a possessive streak with Corey, Ava noted. She always seemed to be wearing his sweatshirt or helping herself to his lunch.

“Do you know what your story's going to be about, Alex?” asked Annelise.

Alex shook her head and stirred her yogurt thoughtfully. “Not yet,” she said. “It feels like such a momentous decision. I'm weighing all my options. That's an important first step in the story process.”

“So, you guys pumped for Briar Ridge this Saturday?” asked Jack.

Ava was grateful he'd changed the subject before Alex began throwing around too much more of her showbiz talk. “It's always a close game, right, Corey?” she asked. Corey was the quarterback for the Ashland Middle School Tiger Cubs.

Corey nodded. “Every year it seems to be a really tight contest,” he said. “I remember it was even when my older brother was playing. The game doesn't count in the league standings, because Briar Ridge is a private school. But still. We care about beating them.”

“Wasn't last year's game controversial?” asked Kylie.

Ava grinned. Kylie had never cared about football before, but now that she and Ava had become friends, Kylie had become a loyal fan of the high school team. She even went to the middle school games now, although Ava suspected it wasn't just to support her: The guy Kylie liked, Owen Rooney, was the wide receiver.

“It was totally controversial,” said Jack. Jack played soccer and basketball, not football, but he was good friends with most of the guys on the football team. “Corey completed a touchdown pass to Bobby Evans with two seconds left on the clock, but the officials ruled it incomplete. But the film later showed that both of Bobby's feet were on the ground and in play. You guys got robbed.”

“Yeah, well, we'll get revenge for that on Saturday,” said Corey. “Especially with our new stud kicker.” He grinned at Ava.

“I don't know what's a bigger deal,” said Emily. “The Cubs-Colts matchup or Homecoming!”

“They're both going to be so fun!” said Lindsey. She looked at Corey and giggled.

That afternoon when practice was over, Coach Kenerson pulled Ava aside to talk with him. He beckoned her away from the other players, and they went to stand near the fence.

“Did I do something wrong, Coach?” asked Ava anxiously.

“What? Yes. I mean, no,” he said, his voice gruffer than usual. “You didn't do anything wrong, Sackett. In fact, you've been doing a good job out there. I like your instincts, your speed, your quickness. With some work you could be a fine receiver.”

Ava nodded and waited. He clearly had something on his mind, but it was hard to read his expression behind his mirrored sunglasses. She watched him take off his sunglasses, polish them on his shirt, put them back on, and take them off again. Then he coughed twice. Finally he looked at her.

“I got a call from the Briar Ridge athletic director,” he said.

Ava's heart sank. Suddenly she thought she knew what was coming.

“And it seems that, ah, well, it seems that some of the parents there are objecting to, ah, well . . .” He put his sunglasses back on and looked away.

“. . . to a girl playing,” Ava finished for him quietly.

“Yes. Yes, that's right. To a girl playing.”

Ava bumped her helmet against her thigh and scuffed her shoe against the dusty ground.
Here we go again,
she thought.

“As you know,” said Coach K, “Briar Ridge is an affluent school, and there are a lot of parents who are lawyers, and a few of them have raised concerns about liability, in the unlikely event that their kid should, ah, cause you to sustain an injury.”

“They're worried I'm going to
sue
them?” asked Ava.

Coach took his glasses off again and coughed. “Well, yes, to put it bluntly. But there's the added factor that you're a high-profile kid, Sackett, considering who your father is. I've told the Briar Ridge AD that I'm going to support you, and so will the Ashland Middle School administration. I told him that if the Colts choose to forfeit the game, they can. They're a private school, so they're not subject to our league rules. He said he'd go back and talk to the parents and the head of school. It's not a final decision. They're still debating. But I wanted to give you a heads-up that this could blow up to be a big issue.” He took a deep breath and looked right at Ava. “I'm sorry, Sackett. I know this isn't your doing. I wanted to tell you first, should it actually come to pass. And before I talked to the team.”

Ava closed her eyes and groaned softly. “They've been looking forward to this game all year! And now it won't be played because of me.”

“
Might
not,” he corrected her. “And no matter what happens, let me emphasize that you are in no way responsible for the way this has turned out. It was Briar Ridge's decision.”

“Why do people make such a big deal about this?” she asked. “I wish they'd just let me play.”

“Me too, Sackett. Me too.”

Alex knocked quietly on Tommy's door, which was partly open. He sat at his desk, noodling around on his electronic keyboard.

“That sounds nice,” said Alex, stepping into the room. She frowned at his unmade bed and the heap of clothes on the floor. Moxy lay sprawled on top of a small pile of socks near Tommy's feet. Moxy loved listening to him play and usually nosed her way into his room when he was practicing.

“It's a new piece I'm working on,” said Tommy, without pausing his playing. “We've got our first real gig coming up next Saturday night. Downtown, at the Press.”

“Ooh, I love that place!” said Alex.

“Have you ever been there?” he asked her dubiously.

“Well, no, not exactly,” she admitted, pulling at Tommy's sheets. “But I
hear
it's really great.” She made a mental note to check out the Press soon. She knew that it was a combination coffee bar and bookstore, frequented by the cool, smart high school kids and twentysomethings. She'd seen postings around town about shows there—they had poetry readings, and open mike comedy evenings, and performances from local musicians. And now that she was practically in high school and might have a high school boy interested in her, she had to get up to speed about popular high school hangouts.

“Um, what are you doing, Al?” asked Tommy, looking over at her in amusement.

“Making your bed so I can sit down on it,” she said. She finished tugging his sheets back into place and smoothing the coverlet. Then she plopped down on the bed and sat cross-legged, her chin in her hands. She didn't often spend one-on-one time with Tommy, or at least, not as often as Ava did. They seemed to have a special bond, those two. But with her ever-growing crush on Luke, she realized that having a high schooler for an older brother was an untapped resource.
And
Tom and Luke were friends! She needed to take advantage of this opportunity.

He finished his song, a jazzy, bluesy tune over a walking bass line, and then set the keyboard aside and pulled out his math book.

“The Press is such a cool place! It's so . . . European,” said Alex, trying to keep Tommy's focus away from his math homework, at least for another few minutes.

“Yeah, we were psyched to be asked to perform there. We're not getting paid for it, but it's great exposure.” He pulled out his calculator and a pad of graph paper.