by Belle Payton
“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.
Ready for more
ALEX AND AVA?
Here’s a sneak peek at the next book in the It Takes Two series:
Go! Fight! Twin!
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.”
“Rosa’s our best tumbler,” said Lindsey.
“Don’t you think Alex should try out, Rosa?” asked Emily.
Rosa hesitated. “Well, not everyone is cut out for cheerleading,” she said. “It takes a lot of coordination and flexibility.”
Alex’s eyes narrowed. What was that supposed to mean? Did Rosa think she was uncoordinated?
The roar of the opposing team’s fans interrupted the conversation. The clock ran down. The Tigers had lost.
Alex was still busy thinking as everyone stood up to leave and her sister poked her arm.
“That was pretty grim,” said Ava.
“Huh? What was grim?” asked Alex, puzzled.
Ava stared at her. “Uh, the game? The fact that we just lost?”
“Oh!” said Alex with a little laugh. “Right. Yeah, too bad. So are you going to Sal’s?” The middle school kids usually gathered at the local pizza place after home games.
Ava frowned at her. “Yeah, I promised Kylie I’d head over with her,” she said. “But I’m only staying for a little while—I want to rest up for my game tomorrow. I’ll see you there?”
“Yep, sure,” said Alex. She was still thinking about Rosa’s remarks. Not that she had time to participate in sports, now that she was class president. And it was true that Alex herself commented all the time that she was uncoordinated athletically. But it was one thing for Alex to say it. It was quite another thing for someone else to agree with her, out loud, in front of everyone.
And honestly, cheerleading? How hard could it be?
About the Author
Belle Payton isn’t a twin herself, but she does have twin brothers! She spent much of her childhood in the bleachers reading–er, cheering them on–at their football games. Though she left the South long ago to become a children’s book editor in New York City, Belle still drinks approximately a gallon of sweet tea a week and loves treating her friends to her famous homemade mac-and-cheese. Belle is the author of many books for children and tweens, and is currently having a blast writing two sides to each It Takes Two story.
Meet the author, watch videos, and get extras at
KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com
authors.simonandschuster.com/Belle-Payton
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This Simon Spotlight edition August 2014
© 2014 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Text by Sarah Albee
Cover art by Anthony VanArsdale
Designed by Ciara Gay
ISBN 978-1-4814-1652-8 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-1653-5 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-1654-2 (eBook)
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2013955431
