A Whole New Ball Game (6 page)

After much discussion, Mrs. Sackett made some of Alex's purchases, and then the two headed toward the hair salon. Mrs. Sackett chatted about the art supply store and how pleasantly surprised she'd been to find some of her favorite paint brands. Then they passed the food court and Alex did a double take.

Jack. Ava's crush. He was easily recognizable in his orange basketball jersey, with his jet-black hair. He was sitting at a table with someone.

A girl.

Alex moved behind a potted palm, which was conveniently located outside the food court. She peered through the leaves. There was no mistaking the body language between Jack and the girl. The situation had “date” written all over it. She watched them laughing about something. She didn't like the looks of the girl. She was certainly pretty, with blond hair, a slender build, and candy-pink nails. The girl reached over and helped herself to one of Jack's french fries.
Ew.
Way too flirty.

“Al, what are you doing?” asked her mother. “We'll be late for the hair appointment.”

Alex stepped away from her surveillance position and rejoined her mother. But she was lost in thought. She wondered how much Ava really liked Jack.
Poor Ave,
she thought.
Her second-ever crush, and he already has a girlfriend.
Her sister was headed for certain disappointment. It was hard not to get mad at Jack. What was he up to, flirting with Ava? She'd need to talk Ava out of liking him and find someone more appropriate for her.

Ava was at the salon waiting for them when they arrived. The place was bustling. Ava and Alex were both given gowns to put on and then led to stations on opposite sides of the center aisle of mirrors. Mrs. Sackett settled into an empty chair along the wall behind Alex and opened her mystery novel.

Alex's stylist was named Jolene. She was young, with shoulder-length, butter-colored hair that gleamed in the salon's flattering lighting. Soon she and Alex were chatting away.

“I was thinking of maybe adding in some layers,” said Alex. She looked at Jolene in the mirror for confirmation. “Or straightening it?”

“I don't think you need layers,” said Jolene,
fluffing up Alex's hair with all ten fingers. She sectioned off a horizontal part and twisted the rest of Alex's hair into a ponytail. Then she secured it with a clip to the top of her head. “And you've got such a fantastic natural curl. It'd be a shame to see it go.” Her silver scissors flashed as she snipped away.

“What about highlights?” asked Alex. “It seems like a lot of the girls at my new school have blond hair. Should I lighten my hair up, do you think? Nothing too crazy, maybe just some caramel-colored pieces . . . it can be kind of a gradual transition and then maybe I can go lighter. . . .” Alex chattered on.

“Stop!” said Jolene, laughing. “Dark hair and green eyes—why, you have Scarlett O'Hara's coloring!”

Alex knew that was a character from
Gone with the Wind
. She made a mental note to add the book to her reading list.

“Anyway, didn't I see you with a twin sister?” asked Jolene. “How silly would it look for you to have blond hair when your identical twin doesn't?”

“That's true,” said Alex. “And of course I would
never
change my look drastically without
consulting Ava. We've always had the same hairstyle. I just want to be sure I'm up-to-date with whatever is trending at my new school. I've noticed everyone here seems to have straight hair. Are you sure my curls aren't a problem?”

Jolene laughed again. “You're a beautiful girl with beautiful hair. And clearly very smart, too! I wouldn't be too worried.”

They talked about nail color and fashions, Jolene's scissors flashing and whirring all the while as a small fringe of brown hair fell to the floor around Alex's chair.

At last she handed Alex a mirror and spun her around so she could see the back.

“Thanks. It looks great,” said Alex. “You like it, Mom?”

Her mom didn't answer. Alex put the hand mirror down and looked at her mother. Didn't she like her hair?

But Mrs. Sackett wasn't staring at Alex. She was staring past her. Alex swiveled her chair around to follow her gaze.

Ava had emerged from around the bank of mirrors. She stood a few feet away, still draped in her navy-blue smock, smiling shyly at them.

Alex gasped.

Ava's hair was all cut off. Up to her
chin
. It was almost as short as
Tommy's
. For a second or two, Alex thought maybe it was just pulled back in a bun, although logically that made no sense. Then the realization sank in.

“What did you do?” sputtered Alex.

Jolene seemed to sense that now might be a good time to step away. “You're all set, honey,” she said, patting Alex on the shoulder. “I have another client.” She turned meaningfully toward Mrs. Sackett. “Good luck with them, Mom,” she said, and hurried off.

Ava's smile had evaporated. “You don't like it?”

Actually, now that the initial shock was wearing off, Alex had to admit, objectively, that she
did
like it. The shorter hair brought attention to Ava's great cheekbones—cheekbones Alex realized she must have too, but somehow had never noticed. Ava looked delicate and pretty, adorable but totally sophisticated. And completely
different.
Alex didn't know whether to feel upset or jealous. But she definitely felt betrayed.

“No!” said Alex. “I mean, yes! I mean, you just look so . . . different! Why didn't you . . . ask me? Why'd you just do it?” Alex didn't mean
for her words to come out so forcefully, but she couldn't help it.

Ava's brow furrowed. “I didn't
know
I needed your per
mission
,” she said with some heat. “I did it for sports. I'm so sick of dealing with hot, sweaty hair all the time. It's so much easier like this.”

Mrs. Sackett stood up and went to Ava, wrapping an arm protectively around her shoulder.
Why is she comforting Ava right now?
Alex thought bitterly. She, Alex, was the one who needed comforting. This was totally catastrophic. No—
cataclysmic
. That was the word for it.

“Well,” sniffed Ava. “Obviously you don't like it. Sorry if you're embarrassed to be seen with me.”

“That's not fair,” said Alex, her voice quivering. She wanted to say so much more, to explain to her sister that her reaction had nothing to do with embarrassment and everything to do with feeling abandoned, but she was afraid she'd cry, and that would be mortifying in the middle of the salon.

“I think you look wonderful, pumpkin,” said her mother hastily. She spun Ava around to face her, crooked her index finger under Ava's
chin, and tilted her face up slightly, the better to admire her new look. “I had no idea curly hair could look this cute short, but this haircut is just so becoming on you!”

As Alex had said to Jolene, she and Ava had had the same hairstyles their whole lives. Back when they were six, they'd both gotten bobbed to just an inch or so below the chin. That had been the shortest they'd ever gone. And they'd done it together. It wasn't about how short Ava's hair was—although it was
very
short, in Alex's opinion—it was just that Ava had chosen such a dramatic way to emphasize how far apart they were growing. Was this Ava's way of announcing that she no longer wanted to look like twins?

That night Alex slept on the couch again. Before she went to sleep, she sorted through her final choices of bulletin-board pictures. She came upon a picture of herself and Ava, grinning from the side of a swimming pool, their chins on their arms, their elbows side by side. They were both missing their two front teeth, and they both had their hair slicked back. They were about seven years old, she guessed. And they looked absolutely, positively identical. She sighed and placed the photo in the “do not put up” pile.
Then she burrowed into the couch cushions and held her half of the baby blanket tight. Once again, she wished Ava had invited her to sleep in her room tonight. Obviously Ava was trying to look forward, rather than back. Well, maybe she was right. And if looking forward was what Ava was going to do, then maybe Alex ought to do the same thing.

Upstairs in her room, Ava wasn't asleep either. She was thinking about Alex and wishing Alex had asked to sleep in her room tonight. But Alex hadn't asked. She'd seemed to prefer the couch.
Oh well.
Just another example of how they were growing apart.

Ava ran a hand through her short hair for the zillionth time. She still couldn't believe she'd gone through with it, despite having threatened to every day since they'd moved to Texas. It bothered her that Alex was pretending to be shocked about it. Granted, she hadn't exactly
discussed
her decision with her sister, but she'd made it clear plenty of times that she wanted to cut her hair. And besides, just because her hair
was short didn't make it all that different. It was still brown and curly like Alex's. There was just less of it now.

No, that wasn't what Alex was upset about, Ava decided. She was just upset because she thought it didn't look good. Or maybe Alex thought short hair was hopelessly uncool, and that Ava had forfeited any chance of becoming accepted into the popular crowd. Well, so what? It was exhausting, trying to fit in. She'd always had Alex, and Charlie. Charlie wouldn't care about a stupid haircut.

Her mind wandered to Jack. She wondered if he would like it. Then she reprimanded herself. She barely knew the guy. He probably had a girlfriend. No one that good-looking and that athletic would be single. Right?

Her phone vibrated. She'd found it, of course, when they had gotten home from the mall. It had slipped behind her bed. She did lose stuff a lot, but she always found it again, eventually. The problem last year had been that the things she tended to misplace were usually homework assignments. And handing homework in the next day usually resulted in a lower grade. She sighed. She really hoped she could do better
this year—maybe starting over at a new school would help.

She glanced at her phone. It was a text from Charlie. That was weird. Almost like he sensed her thoughts from so many miles away.

Hey cowboy.

What up?

Not much.

Got all my hair cut off.

Huh. For real?

Yep. It's good for sports.

Send me a pic?

Maybe tomorrow.

It's all sticking up right now.

You playing football?

Not sure yet.

But I played basketball.

Might try out for the team.

Awesome.

Ava knew it was her turn to say something. But she couldn't think of anything to say. She was thinking about Jack. She was even starting to have trouble picturing what Charlie looked like.

She knew Charlie was waiting for her next text, so she added:

Well, G2G.

Going to Coach's 6 a.m. practice

tomorrow. Ha ha.

CU L8ter