'Tis the Off-Season (12 page)

Tommy dropped them off, and the girls surveyed Corey's house. It was large—three stories—and a wide flight of stairs led to the front entrance.

“Corey said the party would be in his basement, but I'm not used to Texas houses having a basement aboveground,” remarked Ava.

Alex shivered. She seemed too nervous to comment. Ava knew she was stressing about Corey and Lindsey. Or possibly it was the fact that the weather had definitely turned colder since this morning.

Corey's mom greeted them at the front door. “Ava!” she said. “This must be your twin sister!”

Ava had met both of Corey's parents before, of course, as they'd come to most of their football games. She introduced Mrs. O'Sullivan to Alex. Alex, who was usually pretty comfortable around adults, stammered out a nervous hello.

“Oh, don't you two look adorable!” she gushed, pulling Alex and Ava into the house. “Everyone's downstairs, but I insist on taking a picture!”

Mr. O'Sullivan came around the corner, carrying a tray full of cheese and crackers. “Hello, Ava,” he called. “And you must be Alex! Great sweaters!”

Alex laughed, but Ava could hear a nervous edge to it.

“I'm just replenishing some of the food down there!” he said, heading toward the basement. Ava could hear music playing and voices murmuring.

“Stand here, in front of the trophy case,” Mrs. O'Sullivan commanded the girls.

“Mom! Dad!” Corey had come up the stairs at the sound of the doorbell. “Enough already!”

Ava laughed when she saw Corey. He had on an electric-purple sweater vest. The way it clashed with his red hair was, well, hideous. But even more so, she noticed, his face had gone as red as his hair. Was he embarrassed by his parents?

“You don't need to take a picture of everyone,” said Corey to his mother, through gritted teeth.

“Too late!” she said with a laugh.

“Come on down, you guys,” said Corey to Alex and Ava. “Dad, I got that,” he said, and took the tray out of his father's hands. “Thanks, though.”

As they headed downstairs, Corey apologized for his parents. “They've been brutal ever since my brother went off to college and I've been the only kid,” he explained. “That would have been the third trip my dad made down the stairs in half an hour, if I'd let him go.”

Ava smiled. She was glad Alex liked Corey. He was nice, and willing to be seen in public wearing an ugly sweater vest with snowmen all over it.

At the bottom of the stairs, Corey set the tray down on a table that was already overloaded with food and gestured around. “You can stick your presents over in that pile,” he said. “And in there we have a pool table and Ping-Pong and stuff.” Through the open doorway Ava spotted Jack and Kylie playing a heated game of Ping-Pong. She saw Charlotte at the pool table and did a double take at the sight of her sweater. It appeared to have actual Christmas ornaments hanging from it, which she guessed were probably pom-poms made of yarn. Ava saw two kids with their backs to her shooting baskets on an electronic basketball game complete with scoreboard and buzzer. It was a dream basement, as far as Ava was concerned.

“Your decoration committee did a great job,” said Alex.

Corey rolled his eyes. “That would be my mom,” he said.

Ava hadn't paid much attention to the decorations, but she did so now. Strings of lights sparkled, and garlands of mistletoe were strung along the walls. Fun dance music played, but not deafeningly so. There seemed to be way more people than Ava expected. Lindsey and Emily, the main party planners, must have increased the guest list significantly. Nearly everyone wore an ugly sweater, and many had accessorized with ugly socks, pants, and headbands with reindeer antlers.

“O'Sullivan, you're up next!” yelled Jack from the doorway. “I just demolished Kylie.” His eyes fell on Ava and he waved.

Ava waved back, pointed at his sweater, and gave him a big thumbs-up. Jack's sweater was green with a huge reindeer face on the front, and it was way too small for him.

As soon as Corey had joined Jack at Ping-Pong, Ava felt Alex tugging on her arm. “There's Lindsey,” she whispered. “Did you see how she was staring at us as we came down the stairs? I don't think I can do it, Ave. I'm too nervous to talk to her about Corey.”

“You can do it, Al,” said Ava. “Go now, before you lose your nerve. I'm off to go annihilate Jack in Ping-Pong, as soon as he's beaten Corey.”

A little while later, Emily yelled “Secret Santa time!” Lindsey stopped the music, and everyone gathered around in a big group near the pile of presents. Emily plunked a Santa hat onto Corey's head, which Alex couldn't help but notice made him doubly adorable. Even if his red curls did clash with the hat.

One by one everyone opened their gift from their Secret Santa. Alex held her breath when Rosa opened the bulletin board she'd made for her. But Rosa seemed genuinely pleased by it. Everyone else complimented Alex on her awesome craft skills, which made her feel good. She had to admit, she'd done a pretty good job with the quilting and the diagonal ribbons. She'd chosen the complementary shades of orange and gray carefully and had added a dash of aqua for contrast.

Jack really liked his Moxy calendar from Ava, too, although he eyed Ava suspiciously and asked her if she'd really put it together all by herself.

“Of course!” said Ava with mock indignation. “All it takes is a little Internet expertise, the right camera . . . and Alex Sackett as your twin sister.”

Everyone laughed at that, and that made Alex feel even happier.

Ava's Secret Santa was Lindsey, and her gift was a collage of pictures from Ava's football season. In the middle was a crowd shot of everyone wearing their pink T-shirts in support of Ava being on the team. Ava seemed genuinely touched. “This is really great,” she said to Lindsey.

When it was Logan's turn to open his present, he pulled out a bright-orange, misshapen-looking length of knitting. “Uh, wow!” he said, looking around. Then he glanced at the card and his eyebrows shot up. “Thanks, Charlotte.”

Charlotte smiled shyly. “I made it myself,” she said. “I taught myself how to knit by looking at videos online. I had a little trouble casting on, and keeping the stitches even, and I know it's not long enough for a scarf, but I figured you could maybe use it as a pot holder.”

Everyone laughed, even Charlotte.

“What do you give to the guy who has everything?” Corey remarked.

But Logan acted like he was really happy to have it. Alex wondered if maybe he might like Charlotte. She filed that away for future pondering.

“Hey, Alex didn't get one,” said Emily.

“Oh, right,” said Corey. He held out a present for Alex. “Almost forgot this.”

Is he blushing?
Alex wondered. With a jolt she realized that Corey must be her Secret Santa. The present was long and narrow, about the size of a TV remote, but it felt smooth through the lumpy wrapping. Clearly Corey had wrapped this himself, without any help from his mother. Even Ava was a better present wrapper. Slowly she pulled off the paper.

It was a nameplate, made of triangular-shaped wood that would allow it to stand on a desk. The carved letters weren't perfectly formed or anything, but they were definitely readable:
MADAM PRESIDENT
.

“Awww!” said several guys. Someone gave Corey's shoulder a playful shove.

Corey reddened again.

Alex realized it must be inconvenient to be a redhead sometimes, because even though your hair is a thrilling color, redheads seemed prone to very visible blushing.

“I had to make
something
in wood shop,” Corey muttered with a shrug.

“Look, Al, the bottom looks like it slides off,” Ava said, leaning in to look.

Alex looked. Sure enough, the bottom of the nameplate was a different wood from the top. She slid the top and bottom in opposite directions, and the bottom came off, revealing a hollow interior. Inside was the hair clip she'd admired in the thrift shop that time they'd all gone together. She pulled it out. Now it was her turn to blush.

“Hey, I thought everyone was supposed to
make
their gifts!” said Rosa.

There was an awkward silence. Then Jack stuck a paste-on bow on Corey's Santa hat, and Ava jumped up and clasped her hands.

“Isn't it time for the sweater-judging contest?” she asked.

Alex shot her a grateful look.

Charlotte won the contest. Her sweater, with its protruding, round yarn pom-poms made to look like ornaments, was the hands-down favorite. Emily and Lindsey presented her with her prize: an ugly knitted Christmas hat. It had a pointy top that was attached to a long string, on the end of which was a huge yarn pom-pom that practically matched those on Charlotte's sweater.

“How could we not give it to you?” Emily laughed. “It was made to be worn with your sweater!”

Charlotte put on the hat and beamed. She even managed to look chic in her hat and sweater outfit.
Only Charlotte,
Alex thought.

“Hey,” said a low voice next to her.

It was Lindsey. Alex jumped.

“I have something for you,” said Lindsey, and she pulled Alex to the back of the group where they wouldn't be seen. Lindsey held something out to her but kept it hidden, so anyone observing them wouldn't know what it was.

Alex gulped. Was Lindsey going to give her a letter saying she was never going to speak to her again?

She held out her hand, trying not to let it shake, and Lindsey pressed something scratchy into her palm.

It was a sprig of mistletoe.

“Uh, thanks?” said Alex, feeling seriously confused.

Lindsey gestured toward Corey, who was across the room, jokingly strutting with Jack like male models on a runway.

“Just go talk to him, why don't you?” said Lindsey. Her expression was open and encouraging, not angry.

“To—to who?” Alex stammered out, although of course she knew who Lindsey meant. Also, she knew grammatically she should have said to whom, but she didn't want to sound like a big jerk.

“Duh, Corey. Anyone with a pair of eyes can see you two like each other.” Lindsey sighed, crossed her arms, and leaned against the wall. “Okay, okay, I admit that I was a little weirded out by it when I first realized. I mean, even though I am so over him, he was still my first crush and the first guy I ever went out with. And it bothered me a lot when he broke up with me when I wasn't expecting it. That's why I kept trying to come between you guys whenever I saw you together. But I get that that's not fair, especially because I really do like Johnny.”

“You really don't mind?” asked Alex.

“I really don't,” said Lindsey. “So go
talk
to the guy.”

And Lindsey turned and walked away, with Alex still clutching the sprig of mistletoe.

Someone turned the music back up, and people actually began dancing. Alex looked wildly around for Ava, desperate to tell her what Lindsey had said. But she was dancing with Jack and Kylie. She'd taken off her itchy sweater and was just wearing her Spurs jersey, looking much more comfortable.

Air. That's what she needed. She needed to get outside and gulp some fresh air. But the thought of walking up the stairs past Corey's parents was extremely unappealing.

Ha! There was a corridor leading to a door, and the door led straight outside. Now she was really happy that Texas basements were actually situated on the first floor.

Alex slipped out of the main room, headed past the washer and dryer, and tried the knob. It was open, and it led into the O'Sullivans' backyard.

The air had grown even colder, but it felt nice after the heat and noise of the party. Alex was happy she had her sweater on. She sat down on the low stone wall and breathed.

The door to the house flew open and Corey stepped outside. “Alex!” he said, hurrying to her side. “Are you okay? I saw you leave, and . . . are you sick?”