Double or Nothing (12 page)

Just before lunch, everyone filed into the auditorium for an all-school assembly to announce the election results. Alex wished she could sit with Ava, but you were supposed to sit with your fourth-period class, and that, ironically, was gym for Alex. Not her best subject. The only person she kind of knew in the class was Madison.

Ms. Farmen droned on for a few minutes about fall Homecoming and the upcoming all-school community service day. Then at last she cleared her throat. “And now, we turn to the results of the all-school elections. Starting with sixth grade.”

She opened one of the envelopes in front of her and read off the results of class secretary, treasurer, vice president, and president. Chloe Klein got president and received an enthusiastic round of applause and whoops. She stood up and waved, grinning broadly.

Alex held her breath while Ms. Farmen
opened the next envelope. She felt Madison grab her hand and squeeze it rather painfully. Ms. Farmen read off the names of the secretary, treasurer, and vice president, each announcement followed by applause.

“And the winner of the presidential election for this year's seventh-grade class is”—she paused dramatically—“Alex Sackett!”

The place erupted. Alex felt like she was dreaming. She felt Madison gently guide her up to a standing position, and she stood up and waved to the crowd.

Ava and Kylie, about ten seats in front and to the right of her, were going crazy. Corey was over on the left aisle with a big group of his football teammates, and they were standing up and clapping and whistling. Emily and Lindsey were jumping up and down and cheering.

She couldn't see Ella or Logan. She'd look for Ella later.

She couldn't believe it. She'd actually won.

Ava's first game was at home on Saturday morning; the Tiger Cubs were playing the Mainville
Hawks. She dressed alone in the quiet girls' locker room. Next door she could hear her teammates yelling and getting psyched. It was strange not to be in the midst of all that, but she'd get used to it.

She walked over to the field in her uniform—number fourteen—and she saw Alex waiting for her near the chain-link fence just behind their bench. As she trotted toward her sister, her eye was drawn to something else. A sea of pink in the stands. Even Alex was wearing a pink shirt, and Alex rarely wore pink.

“Hey, Ave! You like our shirts?” asked Alex, her eyes shining, as Ava got closer.

Ava looked. Alex took a step back so she could read what it said on the front of her pink T-shirt. There was a silhouette of a girl football player and above it, the words
GIRLS CAN'T WHAT?
Then Alex turned around so Ava could see the back.
SACKETT #14
.

“Where did these come from?” asked Ava, her eye moving toward the stand. She realized that at least half the spectators—and practically all the middle-school-aged kids—had the shirt on.

“Ella Sanchez,” said Alex. “She was totally psyched about you being able to play, and we
met with her dad on Thursday and he offered to help us get these T-shirts made. That's where I went yesterday afternoon, too—to his printing company. He got half his staff to drop what they were doing so we could get them done in time for the game! They finished them late last night. Ella's handing them out at the entrance—you wouldn't believe how enthusiastic people are about wearing them!”

Ava felt her eyes mist up and was glad she had her helmet on. She was not going to be seen crying at her first game. She gave her sister a quick hug.

“Thanks, Al. I'm the luckiest sister in the world.”

“Go win the game!” said Alex, with a tap on Ava's helmet.

Ava grinned and went to join her team.

Alex was climbing the bleachers toward where her mom sat when Emily and Lindsey jumped up from their seats to give her a huge hug. They were both wearing pink shirts too.

“So what did Charlie say when you told him you'd won?” asked Lindsey.

“Charlie?” said Alex, furrowing her brow.

“Yeah! Charlie!”

Alex was about to ask who in the world Charlie was when she remembered, in the nick of time, that Charlie was her pretend boyfriend from back home—the name she'd blurted out to them as a way to avoid complications with Corey.

“Oh! Ah, right! He's psyched, ha-ha,” she replied.
That was a close one,
she thought. “Well! I'd better get going. It's almost game time!”

Coach and Tommy joined Alex and Mrs. Sackett just as Ava kicked off to start the game. All four Sacketts were wearing the pink T-shirts.

“Awesome idea, Alex,” said Coach, giving her a quick hug. “I'm proud of my girls.”

“Thanks, Daddy,” said Alex.

“Do you think he'll try her at receiver today?” asked Mrs. Sackett.

“I doubt it,” said Coach. “She hasn't been practicing with the team enough. Probably needs another week or two to learn the plays. But that was a fine kickoff.”

“Look, Daddy!” whispered Alex. “There are the Kellys over there.”

Sure enough, Mr. and Mrs. Kelly were sitting
a few rows in front of the Sacketts. The Kellys were conspicuous for being among the few Ashland fans not wearing pink T-shirts. Their arms were crossed primly in front of them.

“Why are they even here?” Alex hissed.

“Ava says they have a nephew on the team,” said Mrs. Sackett.

Alex forgot about the Kellys in the excitement of the game.

At the end of the first half, the score was 7–6 after Corey found Andy Baker in the end zone for a fifteen-yard touchdown pass. The Tiger Cubs had the chance to kick the extra point, but Coach K signaled them to attempt a two-point conversion. The runner, Owen Rooney, was buried at the one yard line.

“Why didn't he let Ava try to kick it?” demanded Mrs. Sackett.

“Because Coach K wanted to get ahead,” said Coach. “It could end up being a low-scoring game. With only two touchdowns in the first half, he went for two points rather than one.”

With five minutes to play in the third quarter, the score was still 7–6. Ava finally trotted onto the field with the field goal kicking team. It was a twenty-one-yard attempt.

The Ashland spectators rose to their feet and cheered.

The center snapped the ball to Corey. Ava took one step with her left, planted her right foot, swung back wide, and booted the ball.

It soared through the goal posts and the crowd went wild. The scoreboard read 9–7.

Alex glanced over at the Kellys. They remained seated, arms still crossed disapprovingly.

But by the time the clock ticked down in the final seconds, Ava's team was still ahead 9–7. Ava's kick had proved the decisive factor in the win. Now the fans in pink were back on their feet, roaring and cheering “Ayyy-VAH! Ayyy-VAH! Ayy-VAH!”

Alex glanced at the Kellys once more. Mrs. Kelly was on her feet and had joined in the chant. Mr. Kelly was still slumped in his seat, stoic and immovable. As Alex watched, Mrs. Kelly turned and bashed her husband over the head with her rolled-up program.

“Oh, stand up, Doug!” Alex heard Mrs. Kelly say. “That girl can kick!”

Alex turned back toward the scoreboard just as it ticked down to zero. Ava's team had won.

Alex smiled. Yep. That girl really could kick.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

The bass drum player was pounding rhythmically to excite the crowd. The cheerleaders shouted and clapped and performed hair-raising acrobatics. Ava Sackett watched, holding her breath, as her friend Kylie McClaire's older sister, Yvette, stood on another girl's shoulders high above the ground and then pointed one leg up into the air.

But then the opposing team scored another field goal, and the Ashland Tigers' fans lapsed into a despondent silence. The Tigers were losing by seventeen points, and there were only seven minutes left in the game.

From her seat high in the stands, Ava looked down at her older brother, Tommy. He stood on the sidelines with the rest of his teammates, dejectedly watching what was happening on the field. His helmet was off, and when he turned his head, she could see his thick brown hair drooping down over his eyes. Ava knew what he was thinking—not only was the team going to lose, but also there was no way he'd be going into the game.

Farther along the sideline was their father, Mike Sackett, who was the coach of the Ashland Tigers. His job was the reason their family had moved to Ashland, Texas, from the East Coast just a few months earlier. Ava watched as Coach stalked up and down the sideline in his Tigers jacket, communicating with his assistant coaches through the big headphones he wore. The assistant coaches were stationed in the tower high above the field, where they could watch the game.

The crowd groaned.

“What happened?” demanded Ava's friend Kylie. Kylie hadn't really paid attention to football before she and Ava became friends—she was more interested in things like jewelry making and fantasy novels—but Ava was teaching
her how the game worked. To Ava's delight, Kylie seemed to enjoy football almost as much as Ava did.

“PJ misjudged the throw,” said Ava. “Did you see how Tyler Whitley stopped and cut over toward the sideline? PJ's lucky it didn't get intercepted. It doesn't look good.”

“Is there any way we can pull out a win?” asked Kylie.

“Highly doubtful.” Ava watched Kylie's sister leap off two people's shoulders, land in a pike on their waiting arms, bounce up onto her feet, do a backbend, and finally land in a split. “Wow. Your sister is awesome.”

“Wow. Kylie McClaire's sister is awesome,” said Alex Sackett, who was sitting between Lindsey Davis and Emily Campbell, a few feet farther along the bleacher from her twin sister.

“She's amazing,” agreed Emily.

Alex watched in fascination as Yvette stood on the shoulders of two teammates standing side by side, her arms up in a V. Then she pulled her right leg up from the side so it was touching her
ear—all while standing on one foot on someone's shoulder.

“She's so flexible,” said Alex.

“Well, at our level we don't do stuff like that,” said Lindsey. “But we do a lot of choreographed routines. It just takes practice.”

“I'm sure you could do it if you worked at it, Alex,” said Emily. “You should try out for cheerleading with us.”

“Yeah,” agreed Lindsey. “You're from such an athletic family.”

“Ha,” said Alex. “Ava and Tommy inherited all the athletic genes.” Not only was Tommy on the high school football team, but Ava had just made the middle school football team a few weeks ago. Alex noticed that Rosa Navarro, sitting on the other side of Lindsey, was listening intently to the conversation but not adding to it. Alex had heard Rosa was one of the best seventh grade cheerleaders.
Does she not think I have what it takes?
Alex wondered.

“It's a combination of dance, gymnastics, and tumbling,” Emily said. “But not all of us do the big acrobatic tumbling stuff. That you really do need to have practiced from a young age.”