Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?

by Belle Payton

  “Do you like it here?” Ava asked.

  Ben shrugged. “Don’t know yet. It was kind of sudden. Mom told us on a Monday, and by Friday some moving company had packed us and we were on the plane.”

  “Really?” Ava’s parents had discussed the pros and cons of their move with their kids for weeks before her dad accepted the coaching job.

  “Mom’s like that. She works for Rouge.” Ben looked to Ava for a reaction, but she had none. “Okay . . . most girls scream when they hear that. It’s a big makeup company.”

  “Never heard of it,” Ava admitted. “But I’m not into makeup. My twin sister would probably be drooling.”

  “They chose Mom to head up the Southwest division, and they needed her right away, so—boom!—here we are,” Ben explained. “My dad already had a business trip scheduled to Hong Kong, so he flew off and well, Charlotte and I were kind of dropped in Texas. It’s been weird.”

  “That’s rough,” Ava said. Her parents never flew off on business trips.

  “Who lives here?” Ben asked suddenly, staring up at the huge flag.

  Ava looked at the big house. An ASHLAND TIGERS 1979 STATE CHAMPS banner was strung across the porch. A second banner, WHITTAKER #34, flew below it. “I’m guessing this is Floyd Whittaker’s house. He’s crazy about Ashland football. He runs the Booster Club.”

  “Hey, maybe Harvey ran here because he wants to join the football team!” Ben cried.

  “He would be a good running back,” Ava agreed. “Actually, so would you. You’re fast.”

  “You think?” Ben grinned.

  Ava nodded.

  “Something smells good,” he said.

  Ava inhaled the spicy aroma of charcoal smoke. She glanced over the wall. Floyd Whittaker stood in the center of the largest concrete patio she’d ever seen. His back was to them, but Ava spotted a large stainless-steel barbecue grill.

  “He must be making dinner,” she said.

  “I’d like some,” Ben said. Harvey whimpered. “So would old Harvey here. Maybe Harvey was coming for some barbecued ribs.”

  “He’s a smart dog,” Ava said. Then she heard Alex call her name. Ben carried Harvey, and they walked to the house. Their mom’s SUV waited in the driveway.

  “Took you long enough. I have your backpack.” Alex opened the car’s back door and tossed both packs in. Then she waved to Charlotte and slid in too.

  “Alex told me about the Power,” Charlotte said before Ava could follow.

  “She did?” Ava shifted her weight. She didn’t want to talk about this.

  “I think it’s amazing,” Charlotte said. “I’ve never known anyone with psychic abilities.”

  “We don’t—” Ava didn’t get to finish.

  “Ave, come on!” her mom called.

  “Got to go,” Ava said, and hurried into the car. “Thanks for having us!”

  “Alex has a dentist appointment,” Mrs. Sackett said, starting up the car. “Ava, I’ll drop you at home with Tommy. I left sandwiches for dinner. And Luke is coming to tutor you tonight.”

  Ava nodded. Luke was in high school with Tommy. Ever since she’d found out she had ADHD, he’d been helping her twice a week with her homework. Luke focused her, and he was fun to be around.

  “What about Daddy?” Alex asked.

  “He’s still at the school. It’ll be a late night with the coaches.” Their mom gripped the steering wheel tightly. “I can’t wait for this game to be over.”

  For a moment, they were all silent, thinking about tomorrow’s big game. Then Ava told Mrs. Sackett about the dog chase.

  “You’re awfully quiet, Alex,” their mom commented at the end of the story. “Nothing to add?”

  Alex had never let Ava tell a full story without jumping in. Now Alex typed furiously on her phone.

  “What’s up?” Ava asked, whispering so their mom couldn’t hear them.

  “Everyone is talking about it.” Alex showed her the screen.

  “It?” Ava had a sinking feeling she knew what “it” was.

  “Our Power. How we found Rosa’s bracelet.” Alex beamed.

  “What?” Ava winced. She should have told Alex the truth about how she’d found the bracelet earlier. Now the whole school knew.

  “Actually, they’re kind of only talking about me. They don’t seem to think you were involved. I promise I’ll set everyone straight.” Alex turned back to her phone.

  Ava grabbed her wrist. “Oh, no! Leave me out of this.”

  “Really?” Alex shrugged. “It’s fun to have everyone be so amazed, don’t you think?”

  “Ava, scoot. Alex is going to be late.” Mrs. Sackett had pulled into their driveway.

  “Alex, about that . . .” Ava’s voice trailed off.

  “Finish that thought later,” Mrs. Sackett commanded. “And tell Tommy to leave a sandwich for Alex. Out you go.”

  Ava had no choice. She got out and watched Alex drive away, believing they had the Power.

  Ava scooped a stray football off their lawn. She twirled it in her hands, letting a new thought poke the corners of her mind. If she told her sister, Alex would probably say Rosa’s bracelet didn’t prove anything. Alex would still insist that they did have powers. They had worn the same outfit and bought Coach the same present.

  What did it matter to her what Alex believed? Or what the kids at school believed?

  She could just leave it alone and everyone would be happy.

  CHAPTER

  NINE

  Alex was pleased with her costume. It was pretty genius, if she said so herself.

  And she had to say so, because no one was home to say it.

  Ava had left the house early for Saturday football practice. The middle school team planned to walk together to the high school stadium to watch the game. Alex hoped Ava had remembered to pack a costume. She hadn’t had a chance to remind her last night. Ava had showered after Luke left and fell asleep while Alex was downstairs watching an eighties rom-com with her mom.

  Tommy and Coach had left this morning right after Ava. Why they needed hours in the locker room to get ready for the game was a mystery to Alex.

  And Mrs. Sackett had just run to the store, because the bags of mini chocolate bars she’d hidden away for trick-or-treaters earlier in the month were now basically bags of empty wrappers. Alex shook her head. Her mom should have chosen a better hiding place. She knew that when Coach couldn’t sleep, he headed right for the candy.

  And before the big game this week, there had been a lot of sleepless nights.

  Alex checked the clock. They were cutting it awfully close. Kickoff was in less than thirty minutes. Luckily, the coach’s family had reserved seats.

  Alex turned her attention back to the fork on the kitchen table. She visualized it rising up, up, up. She stared at it until her eyes crossed and she had to blink.

  The fork lay there. Not moving. Not levitating.

  “I need Ava,” she said aloud.

  “You need Ava for what?” The kitchen door banged open, and an orange-and-black tiger hurried in and tossed two bags of sour lollipops onto the counter. “The drugstore was totally wiped out. This is all they had left.”

  Alex decided not to answer the Ava question. Right before the big game was not the time to tell her mom that they had psychic powers. She wasn’t quite sure when the right time was.

  “You look cute, but your costume isn’t going to win for originality in this town,” Alex told her mom. “I do like your whiskers, though.”

  “Grrrr,” Mom growled, and her furry tiger ears tilted atop her head. “I have to support the team.” She took a closer look at Alex. “Is that my glass bowl?”

  Alex nodded. She’d turned it upside down and wrapped the open bottom with a red scarf. “It’s not the good one. It’s that gross one that the wilted flowers from Great-Aunt Leslie came in. It’s going to be my crystal ball. Can you guess what I am?”

  Alex had dressed in a long velvet skirt, a white ruffled blouse, and
short black boots. She’d wrapped a purple scarf around her hair, which she’d worn extra curly. Several silk scarves hung down from her waist, and many gold and silver chains circled her neck.

  “You’re a fortune-teller!” Mrs. Sackett grinned. “I like it.”

  Alex liked it too. She liked it, because it felt real. She could find things and link thoughts with Ava, and that was amazing.

  The stadium was packed when they arrived. Werewolves, vampires, bunnies, witches, and hundreds of tigers all stomped as the Ashland High marching band played the school song to announce the team.

  “There he is!” Mrs. Sackett grasped Alex’s hand as Coach jogged onto the field behind the last player. The stands erupted in cheers.

  Coach looked serious, holding his clipboard. He glanced up at the forty yard line, where they had their reserved seats, and gave Mrs. Sackett a quick nod. Mrs. Sackett nodded back. They did this before every home game. Alex wasn’t sure what it meant exactly, but she knew it was a good-luck thing. Coach was superstitious that way. He was wearing the socks he’d worn during the last game they won, sure that his smelly feet juices were lucky and would help them win again. He only washed them when they lost.

  Alex cringed. Those socks must be vile by now. The Tigers had won a lot this season.

  The game started. Tommy was only third-string quarterback, so he sat on the players’ bench. Alex spotted Ava in the bleachers a few sections away, sitting with the middle school football team.

  “What is she?” she asked her mom.

  Mrs. Sackett studied Ava for a bit. “A pioneer, maybe?”

  “Really? You think Ava went all Little House on the Prairie? That seems odd,” Alex said, standing for a better look.

  “I see a blue bonnet,” Mrs. Sackett said. “And a green shirt and green shorts.”

  “I’m completely clueless,” Alex admitted. She texted Ava. Then she laughed. “Classic! She’s the state flower of Texas. She’s a bluebonnet. Get it?”

  Her mom chuckled. “How did she even know what the flower is?”

  “We learn lots of Texas facts in school,” Alex said. “It’s kind of cool, because I never knew that stuff about Massachusetts.”

  When the dance team came out for the halftime show, their neighbors, Dr. and Mr. Cahill, showed up to sit with Mrs. Sackett, and Alex went off to join Ava and her friends.

  She squeezed in next to Lindsey. “This is not my party costume,” Lindsey informed her. She wore a red lifeguard shirt, white makeup on her nose, sunglasses on her head, and a whistle around her neck. “I’m going all out tonight.”

  Alex peered into her crystal ball. “I am the Great Alexandra, and I can see into the future. I see that your party is going to be epic.”

  “You are very wise, O Great Alexandra!” Lindsey grinned.

  Corey leaned over. He had green makeup smeared over his face and what she guessed were aluminum-foil antennae attached to his baseball cap. But he still looked cute. “What do you see for the Ashland Tigers?” he asked.

  “Victory, of course!” Alex said.

  “Well, they better get to it,” Corey remarked. The first half had ended with a score of 0–0.

  “PJ’s doing okay, right?” Alex called to Ava, who was sitting a few people down. PJ Kelly played quarterback. Alex didn’t think it was PJ’s fault that the game was scoreless. He’d been throwing well and trying to run down the field. He just kept getting tackled.

  “He’s doing fine,” Ava called back.

  “Rutland’s defense is awesome,” Corey put in. “They’re not letting us complete our passes.”

  “Our defense is holding strong too,” Owen added. “They can’t score off us either.”

  “Coach must be going nuts in the locker room right now,” Ava said, “trying to motivate our guys to score.”

  “We’re not losing,” Alex reminded her.

  “But we’re not winning,” Ava said.

  They shared a knowing look. They hadn’t started preparing for Coach’s birthday brunch. They hadn’t even talked about it. Alex felt it would jinx the game. She thought Ava felt the same.

  It’s our telepathic thing again, Alex realized. She flashed Ava a secretive smile.

  By the end of the final quarter, the game was tied 14–14. Alex watched the scoreboard clock tick down. In a minute, they’d go into overtime. She watched her dad pace the sidelines. His arms were folded, his eyebrows knitted together, his mouth set in a grim line. Alex chewed her bottom lip in frustration. She wished she could do something to make the players on the field score.

  But all she could do was cheer. She felt useless.

  And questions kept swirling in her head.

  Would they have to leave, if the team didn’t make it to the next round in the play-offs? She was pretty sure the school liked her dad and wouldn’t fire him. But what did she know? Ashland was crazy when it came to football. If they had to leave, would they move back to Massachusetts? Would her friends there welcome her? Did she even want to go back?

  Alex glanced at her Ashland friends, all crowded together. She liked them. She liked it here. A lot. The fans around her let out a collective groan as some huge player tackled PJ before he could complete his pass. Alex couldn’t bear to keep watching.

  “Did Charlotte ever come to the game?” Alex called to Ava to get her mind off the field.

  Ava shook her head. “I didn’t see her.”

  “That girl is totally rude,” Lindsey remarked. Emily and Rosa, who sat behind them, nodded vigorously.

  Emily leaned forward. “She mocked me for saying ‘y’all’ yesterday when I came up to her in the hall.”

  “She hates us,” Rosa added. “I don’t know why.”

  “She hates Texas,” Kylie offered.

  “She better not mess with Texas or else,” Corey declared, puffing out his chest.

  “Or else what?” Owen challenged.

  Corey grinned. “Or else I’ll lasso her in my pickup truck!”

  Lindsey elbowed him. “You don’t have a pickup truck. Your parents drive SUVs.”

  Corey smiled. “It was a Texas joke.”

  “Hey, I have a pickup truck and a lasso,” Kylie announced proudly. “No joke!”

  “Charlotte’s really not mean,” Alex said. She liked Charlotte. She felt bad that her new friend wasn’t here to defend herself. “You should give her another chance. Right, Ava?”

  “Right,” Ava agreed. Then she screamed. “Guys! Look! Look!”

  Alex stood on her tiptoes to see over the tall guy in front of her. PJ dodged to the left and then the right. He pulled his arm back and fired the ball downfield. The stadium grew quiet, tracking the arc of the ball. It landed in the outstretched arms of Tyler Whitely, and the Ashland fans roared. The Tigers’ blockers expertly cleared the way, and Tyler ran down the field. The stadium bleachers shook and rattled with cheers and stamping feet.

  “He’s doing it!” Corey cried.

  “Go, go!” Alex screamed.

  Coach Sackett moved his arms like a windmill, as if that could propel his player farther down the field. Tyler dove for the end zone. The referee raised his arms.

  “He did it!” Lindsey shrieked.

  “The big win!” Ava yelled.

  “We won!” Alex cried. The band erupted in a victory song. The cheerleaders flipped on the sideline. And Coach Sackett smiled for the first time that week.

  “We are the Ashland Tigers, hear us roar!” Alex sang along with her friends as they filed out of the stadium.

  “Alex! Ava! Alex!”

  A voice rang out over the noise. Alex looked around, uncertain where it came from and who was calling her. The parking lot was filled with people in costume. Little kids lined up for Trunk-or-Treat, where they collected candy from different decorated cars. Kylie was helping Owen at his family’s car.

  “Alex! Ava!” Charlotte pushed her way forward. Her eyes were puffy and her voice hoarse. She wasn’t in a costume, and her knees and palms were streaked with d
irt.

  “What’s wrong?” Alex cried.

  “Harvey.” Charlotte leaned forward, gasping for breath. “I was home alone, and Harvey ran away. It was my fault. I left the back door open. I’ve looked everywhere. I can’t find him.”

  “We can help look,” Ava offered.

  Charlotte shook her head. “I need more than that. It’s an emergency. Ben went out with my mom. Harvey is his best friend. I can’t tell him I lost his best friend!” She sounded hysterical.

  “What do you need?” Alex asked.

  “You! Your Power! I need you to find Harvey with your Power!” Charlotte cried, grabbing onto one of Alex’s many scarves.

  “But—I don’t know—it’s a dog—I’m not sure—” Alex fumbled for an answer. She hadn’t had a chance to ask Ava how the whole bracelet vision had come to her. She needed more time to understand the Power and how it worked.

  “You’ve done it before.” Emily placed her hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You can find her dog.”

  “Alex can totally do this,” Rosa agreed.

  A warmth spread through Alex. Her friends believed in her.

  “Hold up.” Ava stepped forward. “Charlotte, this is Harvey we’re talking about. Not a bracelet. We need to move fast.”

  “Our telepathy thing does take time. . . .” Alex’s voice trailed off.

  “There are a lot of cars pulling away from the parking lot now,” Kylie pointed out.

  Charlotte’s skin turned the same green as Corey’s alien makeup. “Oh no! Harvey can’t get hit by a car!”

  “That’s why we need to search your neighborhood now. There are a lot of us. We can go in groups.” Ava gestured to all their friends.

  Charlotte’s eyes darted around, taking in the large group for the first time. “No! Not them! I just need you two!” she cried.

  “Well, gee, thanks,” Lindsey quipped.

  “We should all go,” Ava insisted.

  “I’m not going,” Lindsey said. “I’m getting ready for my party. Rosa, Emily, come on.”

  “But, Lindz, I want to see Alex find the dog,” Emily said.

  “Me too.” Rosa pulled out her phone. “We can film it and upload to Madame Sibyl’s site. Alex will be famous.”