Split Decision (8 page)

“Really?” Her brother was such a goof. But the other girls at the table agreed.

“It's like a disease around here,” Corey muttered.

“Yeah. Why do girls like older guys?” Kal asked.

“Uh, because they're older, and they aren't so awkward and annoying—they're more mature.” Lindsey rolled her eyes with the obviousness of it.

“News flash, Lindz. Johnny is only one grade ahead of us,” Emily reminded her.

Lindsay shrugged. “He's still better than a seventh grader.”

“What's with all you girls?” Corey's voice trembled with exasperation.

“Not
all
of us,” Alex corrected.

“Oh, yeah, right.” Corey shot her an angry look, then pulled out a folder of worksheets and buried his face in it.

Lindsey, Xander, and Kal continued the debate about girls liking older guys, but Alex couldn't get past the glare Corey had shot her way. She felt as if she had opened a book to a random page and was supposed to unravel the plot. Why was he angry with her?

A lump formed in her throat. She and Corey were not going to happen, and she didn't understand why. It was so unfair. She shoved her uneaten veggie wrap back in her bag and stood.

“I just remembered I have to talk to Ms.
Palmer about student council.” She left before anyone could reply.

Across the cafeteria, Ava chewed the last bite of her sandwich and examined the newest photo of Chester.

“I think Chester has a crush on Carmelita,” her friend Kylie McClaire confided. “Can't you see it in his eyes?”

“Who's Carmelita?” Ava studied Chester's soft brown eyes.

“She's being boarded at our ranch temporarily,” Kylie said. “She has a beautiful tawny coat. I wish I could ride her.” A few weeks earlier, Kylie had fallen off one of her horses and broken her leg pretty badly. She was still using a wheelchair at school, but she was so upbeat about everything that Ava sometimes forgot about her injury.

“Are you sure horses can have crushes?” Ava asked.

“Of course! Chester is totally into Carmelita. Obsessed, really,” Kylie replied confidently. She'd spent her whole life on the ranch, surrounded by horses.

Ava's phone buzzed, and she quickly glanced over at Mr. Antonucci, the teacher on lunch duty. He joked with Andy Baker and Logan Medina at the far end of her table. Phones were supposed to be off during school, but Mr. Antonucci had his back turned. Ava slid her phone discreetly under the table and sneaked a peek.

The text was from Tommy. That was weird. Her brother never texted her—especially not during school.

Insanity here! Read this!

Ava clicked on the link he'd sent.

Breaking News! Kelly Departs Tigers for Saint Francis Falcons

The short article revealed few details, reporting only that PJ Kelly had formally announced today that he was switching schools—and switching football teams.

He actually did it!
Ava thought incredulously. Unbelievable! Why would PJ toss away a state
championship team? There was no guarantee Saint Francis could build its so-called super team.

Then she realized that the article never mentioned the super team. Was it a secret? Did only she and Alex know about it? Would they try to steal other Ashland players? She tried to puzzle this out.

“Ava.” Kylie nudged her.

Ava blinked, slowly growing aware of the increased chatter around her.

“Everyone's talking about your dad!” Kylie whispered.

Other kids must have also been on their phones, because the word of PJ's defection had snaked its way throughout the cafeteria. Exclamations of outrage and shock echoed.

“Coach Sackett did this!” Andy Baker exclaimed.

“How?” asked Logan.

“Coach took away PJ's status as captain. That's the same as kicking him off the team,” Andy said, his already pink skin growing red with outrage.

“Coach Sackett just lost us our best player,” grumbled Owen Rooney.

“My uncle says his practices are brutal. He
was totally unfair punishing PJ,” Andy ranted.

“He should get in trouble for sending our best QB to another school,” Logan put in.

“Oh, he will.” Mr. Antonucci jumped into the conversation. “The Tigers will lose, and it'll all be his fault.”

“And get this! With Kelly gone, Tom Sackett will be QB1! That's Coach's son!” Kal Tippett hurried over from a different table to join in.

“What about Dion Bell?” Xander asked.

“He's still hurt, so Tommy gets it. I bet Coach planned this from the very beginning,” Kal reported.

“Hey!” Ava stood to tell them to stop talking trash about Coach. Coach had never planned this. Tommy must be horrified to be thrust into being the first-string quarterback. He was barely comfortable playing third string!

Suddenly all the other conversations swirling about the cafeteria reached her ears. Andy and his friends weren't the only ones blaming Coach. Everyone—even the teachers—seemed to think that innocent PJ had been forced out by Coach.

She wanted to stand on the table and yell that PJ and his father were lying, that they were
traitors. But would anyone believe her? Or would they just think she was defending her father? She scanned the room for Alex. She needed her twin.

But Alex wasn't there.

Ava did the mature thing. She ignored Andy Baker and his friends. She said nothing to all the kids in her afternoon classes who wrongly speculated about why PJ had left the Tigers. She knew that Alex would tell her to keep it together and not overreact. But if she heard one more snarky comment about Coach, she'd surely burst.

She hated doing the mature thing.

“Where's Alex?” she'd asked all their friends. No one knew. She finally cornered Emily before eighth period.

Emily shrugged. “Maybe still at student council? She ran off during lunch.”

Had Alex been upset about PJ and Coach too?
She wasn't still so mad at Ava that she wouldn't come talk to her about it . . . was she?

“The girls' basketball team will have an early dismissal today for an away game. All players please report to the bus now.”
The announcement crackled over the loudspeaker. Ava realized she'd have to wait until tonight for a chance to talk to Alex.

As Ava stepped onto the team bus, Callie called out, “We need to beat them. We have to show them that even with PJ, they're still losers! Am I right?”

All the girls cheered.

“Who are we playing?” Ava asked.

“Saint Francis Prep,” Madison said with a grimace.

Ava groaned. Of all the teams to be playing today!

She moved down the aisle past Tamara. Tamara stared out the window, lost in her own thoughts. Seeing her made Ava think about PJ, and that made her angry all over again. Tension on the court was already bad between them. How would they ever be able to play together now?

Ava took a seat beside Madison. She popped
in her earbuds, pretending to listen to music, and texted Coach.

how are you??? is it bad there? on bus to game now.

Don't worry about me, pumpkin. Play hard.

aren't you coming?

Coach had promised he'd watch her game today, since he'd missed the others.

Sorry. Lots to deal with here & not the best place for me to be seen right now.

Of course, Ava suddenly realized. Coach couldn't very well walk into the Saint Francis gym today. PJ had ruined Coach's team, and
now he'd messed up Coach coming to watch her play!

When they reached the end of the long, winding driveway leading to the red-roofed school, a huge purple-and-white banner greeted them.
FIGHTING FALCONS WELCOME PJ KELLY!

Ava hated seeing PJ's name up on the Saint Francis sign.

“Wow. They had that made fast,” Madison commented. “Didn't he just decide today?”

Ava knew PJ hadn't just decided today. This move had been in the works for a while. This was crazy. She wished she'd been able to find Alex earlier. What good was keeping this a secret?

“We should pull it down. That'll show them!” Callie rallied the group.

“No! Don't do that.” Coach Rader stood even though the bus hadn't stopped. “No vandalism. Got it? We're going into that school with our heads held high.”

“Who'd want to go to this stupid school anyway?” Callie asked, as they filed through the halls and into the gym. “I'd hate to have to wear a uniform.”

“Their dark-purple shirts aren't so bad,” Tamara pointed out.

“Personally, I am
never
wearing purple again. As a protest,” Madison declared. “Saint Francis stole PJ from us.”

“The way I heard it, PJ left us.” Jane waved her hand at the shiny gym floors and digital scoreboard. “He obviously wanted fancy. The bleachers even have individual cup holders!”

“That's cool, don't you think?” Tamara said.

“Not really,” said Callie.

“Do you
really
think PJ will like it here?” Madison asked Tamara.

Tamara opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She busied herself with the zipper of her warm-up jacket.

“Fancy does not win games, girls,” Coach Rader sternly reminded them. Ava's dad said that often too. “Not on the football field or on this basketball court. Let's go! Tiger warm-ups.”

They began to stretch. “One, two, three! Tiger roar, right!” called Coach Rader.

As the team cheered and moved right, Tamara stretched left. Ava watched her out of the corner of her eye. With each tiger roar, Tamara's face drained of color.

“Are you okay?” Ava whispered.

“Like you care!” Tamara's face crumpled, and
she fell out of her stretch. She choked back a sob, then dashed out of the gym.

“What's happening?” called Coach Rader.

“I'll go get her,” Ava offered, chasing after Tamara.

She found Tamara in a side hall. She had slid down between the fancy water fountain and a door leading to the parking lot. Ava sat, pulling her knees to her chin just like Tamara.

“Why are
you
here?” Tamara asked.

“I came to check on you,” Ava said. “You're upset about PJ, right?”

“Like you know the half of it,” Tamara muttered. “I figured you'd be celebrating. You're going to get what you want.”

“Huh? What do I want?” Ava turned to her.

“To be the big basketball star. When you get to Ashland High, I'll be long gone. You'll have the court to yourself. It'll be the Ava Sackett show.” Tamara kicked the floor so hard, her sneaker left an angry gray scuff mark.

Ava gulped. Had she been that obvious about trying to play better than Tamara? She hadn't thought Tamara cared.

“Why are we talking about high school?” Ava asked. “That's years away.”

“Not for me. I'm in eighth grade.” Tamara refused to look at her.

“And you don't want to play basketball? But you're so good—”

“You're not listening!” Tamara cried. “I am playing basketball. Just not at Ashland High. No more Tiger roars for me.”

“Why not?” Ava asked, confused.

“Isn't it obvious? Haven't you figured out my family by now? The Kellys and the Bakers are obsessed with sports and winning.” Tamara grimaced.

“Well, yeah, I knew that. That's why your uncle decided to move PJ to Saint Francis, to help him get into college and the pros and all that.”

“You know about the way it happened?” Tamara turned her gaze to Ava.

Ava nodded slowly. She hadn't meant to share their secret without talking to Alex again, but she didn't want to lie to Tamara.

“Uncle Doug thinks he can control the Saint Francis coach, and he thinks that's better for PJ,” Tamara explained. “Your dad won't always listen to him, and Uncle Doug hates that. My mom hates that too. And now she's talking about
having me and Andy move to Saint Francis next year.”

Ava wasn't sure what to say. “Uh . . . the purple shirts are nice.”

Tamara rolled her eyes. “The purple shirts are lame. I don't want to leave. I want to be an Ashland Tiger. Ever since the first time I held a basketball, I wanted to be an Ashland Tiger.”

“Can you talk to your mom? I'm sure she'd understand, if you just tell her—”

“Seriously? You have no idea. Trust me. There's nothing I can do once Uncle Doug and my mom put things in motion.”

“That's the truth.” PJ stepped toward them. He must have come in through the side door. His assistant coach whistle hung around his neck, but he didn't have on a Tigers jersey. Or a Falcons jersey—he wore a plain olive-green T-shirt.

The emotions she'd been holding in all day swirled together and propelled Ava up and forward. Her eyes flashed darkly at PJ. “You are making a
huge
mistake, you know. My dad is the best coach you will ever have!”