Two Steps Back (9 page)

Alex gulped, but obediently made her way toward the back table where Luke was sitting, avoiding her gaze for fear of betraying his love. “Be cool, be cool, be cool,” she said under her breath.

Tommy and Harley and Jackson began to play.

Alex hadn't even pulled the chair out when her phone buzzed. A text. From Ava.

Al, where are you? I need to talk to you right away. It's important. I'm at the park near our house. Please come?

What could that mean? Ava was not one to be overly dramatic. It really must be important. Alex texted back:

Okay. I have my bike with me.

Be there in ten.

With an apologetic look, she turned to Luke. “I have to go, sorry. Ava needs me. But I'll see you here tonight?”

“Sounds good,” said Luke, but he barely glanced at her. He was pretending to be engrossed in the music.

Fine,
Alex thought.
Better not to make a scene.

As she turned to go, though, he suddenly stood up and put a hand on her arm, sending electric sparks shooting down to her fingertips. “Hey, Al? Can I ask you something?”

Now was the moment. He was going to ask her to Homecoming. She stood stock-still, breathing shallow breaths.

The music stopped.

“How does that sound?” Tommy yelled to Luke and Alex.

They both turned.

“Great!” called Alex, but it came out a little squeaky. She felt as though she and Luke had been caught doing something they shouldn't.

“Harley needs to move the mike closer,” Luke called, not sounding a bit nervous or guilty. “Her low notes are getting swallowed.”

Alex turned and stared at him with newfound admiration. He knew about music, too? What
didn't
this guy do well?

Luke seemed to read her thoughts. “I'm just an amateur,” he said modestly. “But they asked me to be their manager because I have a good ear and I'm pretty good at sound mixing and stuff. I helped them put together their EP.”

“That's so cool,” she breathed. “So what were you going to ask me?”

“Oh! Right. Okay, I know this is weird. Not the sort of thing a guy my age should ask a girl your age. But you're pretty mature for stuff like this.”

“Yes! I am!” Alex blurted out. Then she mentally kicked herself.
Don't keep interrupting him.

“So what I want to ask is a surprise, and . . . I know this is your big story and all, but when you introduce the band on camera tonight, can you also introduce me? You know, as the band's manager? And then I'll ask a quick question. It—it has to do with Homecoming. You can probably guess what I'm going to do. But I promise not to mess up your story.”

She looked into his summer-sky-blue eyes, soft and dewy and slightly pleading. She couldn't say no to those eyes, even if she wanted to. Which she didn't. “Of—of course,” she managed to say. “No problem! I'll be ready!”

“You're the best,” he said, and gave her a quick hug, which left her gasping for air.

As she bicycled toward Ava and the park near their house, she wanted to scream with joy at the top of her lungs, but barely restrained herself. Luke was going to ask her to Homecoming
on camera
! What a story this was turning out to be!

Ava paced up and down, up and down, scanning the corner for Alex to appear. What was taking her so long? It had been more than fifteen minutes since Alex had texted that she was coming. And Alex was
never
late.

Ten more minutes went by, but at last she saw her sister round the corner on her blue bike, her silver helmet gleaming in the afternoon sun.

Alex rode through the open gate and skidded to a stop near Ava. She hopped off, leaning her bike against the fence. “What's up?” she asked, panting slightly as she took off her helmet and shook out her long hair. “That was a strange message you sent.”

“What took you so long?” asked Ava. “You're never late.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” said Alex, and she blushed to the roots of her hair. “I was unavoidably detained by—well, tell me what's up first, and then I'll tell you why I was late. Why couldn't I just meet you at home?”

“Because it's about Coach Byron,” said Ava. “I didn't know what to do. I was just at home with Coach and Mom, and I swear I wasn't listening on purpose, but I was carrying a basket of laundry downstairs and I heard them talking in the kitchen. I guess Mr. Kelly went to the athletic director and demanded that Coach fire Coach Byron for missing so many practices.”

Alex gasped. “No! He can't!”

“Well, yes he can, actually. I heard Coach tell Mom that he doesn't think there's anything he can really do about it, that he sort of has to fire him because he's not fulfilling his obligations, and he's going to have a talk with him Monday morning.” Tears welled up in Ava's eyes, and she swallowed down a lump in her throat. “I'd babysit for his kids every second if I could, but football takes up so much time, and the times they need babysitting—during high school practices—are usually at the same time as
my
practices. I want to do something, though, Al. I love those kids.”

Alex put a hand on Ava's shoulder. “That's bad,” she agreed. “You're right. We need to do something. Let's sit on the swings so I can think.”

The park was empty, and the girls sat down side by side on the swing set. It brought back memories for Ava of endless hours swinging together in their backyard in Massachusetts. Ava had always been the daredevil, swinging as high as she could and leaping off.

Now they sat quietly, barely moving. Ava could almost see the wheels turning in Alex's brain. Alex was so good at organizing and strategizing, way better than Ava. And Ava knew Alex adored Shane and Jamila too. Plus, Ava still felt like Alex really owed her one after almost going ahead with her news story about Briar Ridge when Ava had asked her not to.

“Let me ponder this a little more,” said Alex at last. “It sounds like nothing's going to happen before Monday. We have a little time to come up with a plan.”

“Okay,” said Ava, feeling a tiny bit better, but still wishing Alex had jumped into action like she normally did. “Thanks for coming. Now tell me where you were, and why you were late.”

Alex swiveled her swing so she was facing Ava and told her about her new idea for her story. “Tommy's trio is so good, Ave. And they're all really good-looking, so they'll look great on television. It's the perfect piece. Marcy mentioned something about interviewing Coach, too, about his son playing piano and football, but I don't think Tommy will mind. The story will be great publicity for the trio.”

Ava nodded. Her suspicions about Marcy Maxon were growing. It really did seem as though Marcy's main priority was to use Alex to get to Coach, from whatever angle she could. First she'd wanted the story to be about Coach's daughter, denied the right to play football. Now it was Coach's son, the misunderstood artist forced by circumstances to be a football player. Well, maybe their mom was right. Everyone could use an angle. If this was a good way to get publicity for Tommy's trio, then maybe Marcy's motives in using Alex didn't matter.

“Ava, I know I owe you a gigantic apology,” said Alex. She hung her head. “You were right. I
did
want you to sit out so I could do my piece. Marcy asked me to, and I was so anxious to get a good story that I forgot that sisters come first. I'm really sorry, Ave.”

Ava stared at her sister. She couldn't exactly say she was surprised to hear this, but still. Her suspicions about Alex's motives had been right. But she brushed it off. Maybe Alex had swayed her decision, but Ava didn't want to believe that she, Ava, had allowed Alex to be the deciding factor. She shook her head. “
I
made the decision not to play,” she said. “Maybe what you said got me to decide sooner than I would have, but I think I would have decided not to play no matter what, because the game meant so much to my team. And I'm glad that I did. Because by not playing, I called attention to how stupid the Briar Ridge administration was, and it got a ton of press, and Coach K told me that now it's become a huge issue at the school, and there's a whole group of other parents who want the school to apologize to Ashland Middle School and to me. So even though it stunk that I couldn't play, I'm glad it turned out the way it did.”

“I'm glad too,” said Alex. “Even if Marcy Maxon did get mad at me for deciding not to do the story on you.”

“Well, I'm sure this one is going to turn out great,” said Ava, more stiffly than she meant to. All of what she had just said was true, but she was still feeling a little stunned and hurt by Alex's confession.
This might take me some time to get over,
she realized.

“Thanks, Ave,” said Alex. Her eyes suddenly sparkled. “Okay, so now I'll tell you why I was late. I have huge, I mean,
huge
news. Remember I told you about the guy who has a crush on me?”

Ava nodded warily.

“Well, he just asked me if I would mind if he asked me to Homecoming
on camera
tonight.”

Ava stared at Alex. “That's crazy! Who is it? Will you tell me now?”
Please don't let her say Luke,
Ava thought, as hard as she could.

Alex clutched Ava's arm with two hands. “Luke! Luke Grabowski!” She let out a little squeal and did a delighted back-and-forth swoop on her swing.

Ava groaned and put her head in her hands. “It can't be,” she said. “That's impossible.”

Alex's smile evaporated, and she made her swing stop dead. “Why is it impossible? It's impossible that he would want to ask me to Homecoming?”

“Well, yeah, kind of,” said Ava. “Al, it's pretty clear you've had a crush on him since the first time you laid eyes on him, but I really, really don't think it's mutual. Trust me on this one.”

“Well, I
don't
trust you on this one,” said Alex. “Because he told me he's going to ask me. So there.”

“But last time he came over, he told me he had a crush on someone.”

“I know,” said Alex. “On me. Duh. For obvious reasons, he didn't tell you who it was.”

Now doubt was creeping into Ava's mind. Could it really be that Luke liked Alex? “But Al, he's my
tutor
! Ew!”

“This isn't about you, Ave. He's not
my
tutor. We have a separate relationship. We talk about books, and—and, well, coffee.”

“But he's three grades older than you are. What exactly did he say to you?”

“He asked me if I would mind introducing him tonight, along with Tommy and Harley and Jackson,” Alex said frostily. “Because he's the band's manager. And then he asked if I would mind if he asked me to Homecoming on camera. I won't even tell Marcy it's going to happen. She'll love it. It'll make a great story. We're sort of a Romeo and Juliet couple.”

“Romeo and Juliet?” repeated Ava, and a snort escaped from her.

Now Alex looked quite indignant. She stood up from her swing and crossed her arms. “Yes, we are. Because the whole entire world is trying to keep us apart. Mom doesn't want me to come near him when the two of you are working together. You tell me he's too old for me, which he is not. Even Tommy tried to interrupt a conversation we were having. But I don't care what the world thinks. We were meant to be together.”

Ava was stunned. Was Alex delusional? Luke hadn't shown the slightest sign that he was interested in Alex when Ava had been around the two of them. And Alex had certainly been known to misunderstand things like this in the past. “Listen, Al. Should I come to the Press tonight? I know Tommy said he didn't want the whole family coming because that would seem dorky, but maybe I should be there to, ah, to support you?”

“That won't be necessary,” said Alex primly.

Ava could tell her twin was mad at her. “Okay, well, I'll have my phone nearby in case you need me.”

“I won't need you,” Alex snapped. “Now I have to go get changed and do my makeup for the shoot.” She shoved her helmet on her head and stalked off.

Ava watched her climb on her bike and ride away.

Alex sat in the car and took some cleansing breaths. “Do I look okay, Mom?”

Mrs. Sackett stared at Alex and reached out to touch a lock of her shiny, newly straightened hair. “You look beautiful, honey. I'm not really used to seeing you, so, um, camera-ready, but I guess I'll have to get used to it if I'm going to be the mother of a famous TV reporter. Are you absolutely sure Daddy and I can't come in and see this?”

“No, sorry, Mom,” said Alex. “Tommy gave strict instructions to make this about his group, and you know how Coach attracts attention wherever he goes. Plus, well, it's not exactly your crowd.”

Mrs. Sackett sighed. “I can't believe we're about to have four celebrities in the family. First your father and his coaching, then your sister and her football, and now Tom, my famous musician son, and you, my famous reporter daughter.”