Split Decision (9 page)

“Probably,” PJ agreed.

Ava blinked at his calm response, but she
kept going. “You lied to him. You lied to everyone. And not only about the dirt biking. I know about the super team
and
your secret practice.”

“I never wanted to lie to him. You've got to believe me, Little Sackett.” PJ leaned against the wall. “The thing's out of my hands.”

“What's that mean?” Ava demanded.

“My dad is in charge. He has a plan for my future. He says this move is best for me.” For a long while, PJ stared at the scuff mark from Tamara's shoe on the floor. “All I want to do is play football. Do you get that? I just want to be out there with the ball. That's the best feeling.”

Ava nodded. So did Tamara. They both knew that feeling.

“We need to do something,” Tamara said to PJ. “Something major.”

“Beat Saint Francis today,” PJ said.

“What good will that do?” asked Tamara.

“Probably nothing for me. But it will sure feel good, don't you think?” PJ smirked mischievously. “And if you wipe them off the court, Aunt Carrie may think twice about sending
you
here, Tam.”

Tamara brightened. Then she regarded Ava warily. “They're a good team. You in?”

“So in,” Ava said. She turned to PJ. “I'm still
mad at you. Nothing will change that.”

“Yeah, I know. Your dad is furious too.” PJ sighed. “It's a mess.”

“What you did makes me
really
want to beat Saint Francis,” Ava said.

“Go for it,” PJ encouraged her. “I mean it, Little Sackett. You and Tam can be great together. Forget the other stuff out on the court. Just play your game.”

“Just play your game—that's another one of Coach's sayings,” Ava remarked.

PJ nodded. “I know. It's a good one.”

Alex sat high in the stands, took a gulp of her peach iced tea, and then placed the bottle in the purple plastic cup holder so she could clap for Tamara's awesome free throw. The middle school basketball game had been extremely close since the start, with only two points dividing the teams in each quarter. She leaned forward to watch Ava catch a pass from Tamara, then send the ball back so Tamara could score again. The Ashland fans cheered when the team finally pulled ahead at the end of the fourth quarter.

“Go, Ashland!” cried Hallie LaVersa, Whitney's sister. Whitney's mom joined in, igniting the rest of the fans in a Tigers chant.

“We're going to win! Why aren't you cheering?” Alex asked her mom. Mrs. Sackett had been sitting silently next to Alex for the entire game, even though Ava had scored many times.

“I'm trying to stay under the radar.” Mrs. Sackett discreetly eyed the other parents in the stands. There wasn't a huge crowd, but the ones who'd showed had been loudly whispering nonstop—and they all whispered the same thing. Coach Sackett had driven poor PJ Kelly to leave. He'd been wrong to take away PJ's captain title. He overreacted to dirt biking. The Tigers were sure to lose in the fall.

“Block them out.” Behind them Mrs. Baker shrilly confirmed the other parents' worst thoughts about Coach Sackett, and Alex rested her hand on her mom's arm to keep her from turning. “They don't know what they're talking about.”

“It's not easy,” Mrs. Sackett confided, tucking her long, wavy hair behind her ears.

Alex wanted to turn and tell Mrs. Baker that PJ was a liar. She was sure Ava was dying to
tell her too. A few of her friends had told her that Ava had been looking for her. Alex felt bad about not seeing Ava in school, but she'd hidden in the bathroom and in Ms. Palmer's room during class changes to avoid Corey in the hallways. And Lindsey and Emily, too. His blow-off had been so mortifying!

“Rush her, Tam! Go strong!” Andy Baker's raspy yell carried throughout the gym.

Andy sat up near his mother. Greg and Tim Fowler sat with him. Alex tried to ignore them. She watched Tamara fake left and pass the ball to Ava. The Fowler twins were good friends with Corey. Should she say something to them? What?

“You seem a million miles away from this game,” Mrs. Sackett said.

“Just thinking about something. Not Daddy . . . just something else.”

“A boy?” her mom asked.

“How'd you know?” Alex blushed. Her mom seemed to always clue in to what she was thinking.

“I'm familiar with the look.” Mrs. Sackett grinned and perked up. “Is he cute?”

“Very.” Alex hesitated to say more. Then she saw how eager her mom was to listen to something besides the gossiping parents. “It's Corey
O'Sullivan. He asked me to go to the movies.”

Mrs. Sackett raised her eyebrows. “A date? I don't know how I feel about that.”

“You don't have to feel anything. It's not a date. Not now. And anyway, it was a group thing. But now it's not. At least, I'm not part of it anymore.” She kept her voice low, so the Fowler twins couldn't hear.

“You've lost me,” Mrs. Sackett confessed.

Alex explained the Corey confusion the best she could.

Mrs. Sackett leaned in closer. “Alex, you've never been afraid to speak your mind. Don't change now. You need to stand in front of Corey and ask him why he canceled.”

“Maybe I'll ask Emily to ask him. Or Ava,” Alex suggested. “That's easier.”

“I think he owes
you
an explanation, not your friends,” Mrs. Sackett said. “That's the only way you'll understand what happened.”

Alex wasn't sure she could do it. Standing in front of the boy she liked and demanding to know why he didn't like her back would be the most humiliating thing ever. And she'd already been humiliated enough for one day.

The Ashland fans stamped their feet and rattled the metal bleachers as the girls' basketball team closed out the game four points ahead of Saint Francis. Alex whooped watching Ava and Tamara jump simultaneously for an in-the-sky high five.

Ava's definitely a better sport than I am
, Alex thought. She wasn't sure that she could be friends with any of the Kelly or Baker kids now, let alone keep passing the ball back and forth. As it was, she refused to greet Andy and his mom as they walked past.

“I don't want chicken again,” Andy was saying to Mrs. Baker. “All you ever make is chicken.”

“Everyone wants something different. Do I look like a restaurant?” Mrs. Baker grumbled.

“Tim and Greg are going to the food court in the mall. Can I go?” Andy asked.

“How will you get home? Yoo-hoo, Tam!” Mrs. Baker waved wildly to Tamara. “We're supposed to go to Uncle Doug's later.”

“Corey's going to be there, too. I can grab a ride from his mom and meet you at Uncle Doug's,” Andy said.

Alex's ears pricked at the mention of Corey's name. Corey would be at the mall. Should she ask her mom to go to the mall too?

She shook her head. Reality check! She couldn't talk to Corey at school. Did she really think it would be any easier in front of Andy Baker in the mall food court? She needed to talk to her friends first.

“We need to swing by the high school,” Mrs. Sackett told Alex and Ava as they drove away from Saint Francis. “Your dad is letting Tommy and Luke borrow his car, so we'll pick him up. Warning—he's in a foul mood.”

Alex met Ava's gaze from the backseat. Once again, they didn't need words. They silently agreed to tell him the rest of their story. He had
to know that the Kellys had planned PJ's football move before the dirt biking accident.

“At least you beat Saint Francis,” Alex whispered to Ava.

Ava nodded. She knew what Alex meant. Coach's foul mood would definitely get worse.

When they reached the high school parking lot, Tommy and Luke were in Coach's car, waiting to go. Their sneakers tapped the dashboard to the bass line of the reggae music blaring out the car's open windows. Mrs. Sackett pulled up alongside them and called Coach, but he was stuck in an endless meeting with the athletic director.

“Change of plans,” Mrs. Sackett yelled to Tommy. “Your dad needs more time.”

“No way!” Tommy turned down the volume. “Cassie's birthday is tomorrow. The store messed up the engraving once. I need to get there.”

“Tommy, it's been a long day—”

“Please, Mom. We've got to help Tommy out. It's for his
girlfriend
.” Alex emphasized this fact. Tommy was shy. The fact that he had a girlfriend was a huge deal in itself; the fact that she was as cool as Cassie was mind-boggling. Alex wanted them to stay together.

Mrs. Sackett sighed. “Okay. Leave the car here for your dad, and I'll swing you over to the mall. Grab your books out of the backseat.”

“Me too, Mrs. S?” Luke called.

“You too.” Mrs. Sackett liked easygoing Luke. The whole family did. And Alex used to more-than-like him, but she was over that now. He was too old for her!

Tommy hurried into the front seat. He tossed a pink coat into the back.

“Hey, careful with my coat!” Alex cried. “What are you doing with it?”

“Pink is his color,” Luke teased, as he slid in beside Ava. “Tommy was thinking he'd add pink ruffles to his jersey this season.”

“Yeah, because I'm not enough of a target after PJ bailed on us,” Tommy grumbled.

“I must've left the coat in the car the other day,” Ava put in.

Alex smoothed out the sleeves and slipped it on. “You messed it up.”

“No, I didn't,” Ava shot back.

“Yes, you did,” Alex couldn't help herself. When Ava started, she just had to finish.

“Girls!” Mrs. Sackett cautioned, and Alex and Ava shared a smile. If they were annoying their
mom with their bickering, things were back to normal.

A few minutes later, they pulled up to the main entrance of the mall. “You boys be fast. I'm going to drive down the street and grab a pizza. You dad loves the supreme pie. It may soothe the sting of the day.”

“Can I come too? I'm great at shopping. I'll make sure Cassie's present is perfect.” Suddenly Alex felt bold. It had to be fate that she was here. She should go talk to Corey.

“Count me out. I'm sweaty, and I hate the mall,” Ava said.

Tommy hurried Luke and Alex to Magic Memories as Mrs. Sackett drove off. The small store was decorated in pink and black and featured a variety of silver items that could all be engraved.

“Oh, look at this.” Alex held up a silver-backed hairbrush that had been monogrammed. “You should have monogrammed something for Cassie. I think monograms are classy. What's Cassie's middle name?”

“No idea,” Tommy admitted.

“What kind of lame boyfriend are you?” Alex asked. Her middle name—Wright—was her mom's
maiden name.
A
S
W
. Alex loved the way that looked. When she was older, she planned to monogram everything in her home—the plates, the towel, and even the toilet paper. She'd seen monogrammed toilet paper in a catalog once.

“Want to know the kind of lame boyfriend Tommy is? He can't even get a bookmark engraved right,” Luke teased.

“That was not my fault. Can you believe they engraved ‘Our story begs together'?” Tommy said.

“What does that even mean?” Alex asked.

“He's begging that she doesn't break up with him!” Luke laughed.

“It means nothing. They made a mistake,” Tommy said.

“What were you aiming for?' Alex asked.

“ ‘Our story begins together,' ” Tommy said. “Get it? It's a bookmark, and we just started going out.”

“I like it. Deep, yet romantic.” Alex nodded. “Impressive. Total approval.”

“Thank you.” Tommy gave a deep bow.

“Except Lover Boy has horrible handwriting,” Luke put in.

“They got it right this time,” Tommy said, as
the clerk in retro black-framed glasses presented the newly engraved bookmark for inspection.

Alex proofread the bookmark. “Perfect! She'll love it.”

“Would you like me to wrap it?” the clerk asked.

“Definitely,” Alex answered for Tommy. She'd spied the shiny pink-and-black wrapping paper and the matching organza ribbon. Tommy could never wrap better on his own.

“It's going to take about ten minutes. Cool?” The clerk pointed to a pile of presents another clerk was wrapping.

“Very cool,” Alex answered again. Now she had time to find Corey. “Listen, Tommy. A friend is at the food court. I need to tell him something.”

“Text him.” Tommy counted the money in his wallet.

“It's not that easy. I need to see him. I'll be superfast. I promise,” Alex said.

Tommy eyed her suspiciously. “Mom will freak if I let you wander around the mall on your own.”

Alex pointed at Luke. “I'm not on my own. Luke will come with me.”

“I will?” Luke asked.