by Belle Payton
“See?” Ava grinned. “Texas scores another point.”
“I guess it does.” Charlotte grinned back.
“Ready?” Alex said. “We need to walk in together.”
Ava and Charlotte nodded.
“Okay, let’s do this.” Alex rang the doorbell.
Cinderella, a pirate, and a zombie answered. Alex immediately recognized Lindsey, Owen, and Kylie.
“Yee-ha!” Lindsey cried. “Howdy, pardners! You three look amazing!”
“We wanted to show our Texas spirit,” Charlotte said.
Alex, Ava, and Charlotte modeled their cowgirl costumes—fringed shirts and vests, denim skirts, cowboy hats, and cowboy boots. They’d borrowed the boots from Kylie.
“Pure rodeo.” Kylie nodded her approval.
“Alex and I are Texans now, through and through,” Ava said. “Even without the costumes.”
“And proud of it,” Alex added with a whoop.
“I’m working on it,” Charlotte admitted.
Lindsey pulled them into the party. Kids in costume milled about everywhere. A long table displayed her sister’s amazing food—pumpkin cupcakes, witch’s brew, bat wings, skeleton fingers, eyeball salad, and werewolf dip. Alex bit into a skeleton finger. Warm cheese oozed out. Yum! Sloane’s mozzarella sticks.
“High five!” a boy in army fatigues said. He raised his hand for Alex to slap.
“Uh, sure.” She lifted her hand, although she only slightly recognized him from math class. “Why?”
“We’re on to the next round of the play-offs. Then Ashland is going to state. We are on our way. I can feel it. Can you?” he cried.
“Totally,” Alex agreed.
“Our team too,” Corey added, coming up behind her. “The middle school team is also advancing.”
“Time to celebrate!” Lindsey called out. Then she turned up the music.
Alex walked through the party, admiring costumes, talking to kids, and eating Sloane’s scrumptious pumpkin cupcakes. She was having a great time, especially when she and Ella from her debate club teamed up to win the toilet-paper mummy-wrap contest.
Then Lindsey tapped her shoulder.
“You know, right?”
“Know what?” Alex straightened her white cowboy hat. The mummy wrap had left her costume askew.
“My surprise. Emily said you’d know without me telling you. Do you like it?” Lindsey asked eagerly.
Alex didn’t know what Lindsey’s surprise was. She had no idea at all. Did that mean that Ava was right? That she truly wasn’t psychic? Alex’s stomach twisted, and not from the cupcakes.
“Didn’t I have the best idea?” Lindsey asked when Alex didn’t answer.
“Great idea.” Alex forced out the words. She was sure Lindsey had come up with something fabulous. This isn’t a lie, she told herself.
So why did she feel so horrible?
“Ava, there you are!” Lindsey waved Ava over. Charlotte followed. “Everyone is waiting for you two. There’s even a line. Can you believe it?”
“What’s she talking about?” Ava whispered to Alex.
Alex shrugged. She followed Lindsey down a hallway toward the back of the house. All the lights were dimmed. Cobwebs covered the fixtures. A group of kids gathered at the doorway of what Alex assumed was a guest bedroom. Her eyes only momentarily landed on the flowered bedspread before her focus was drawn to a crudely constructed booth. A doorway covered by a sheet featured a handmade sign: TWIN FORTUNE-TELLERS SEE YOUR FUTURE!
Alex blinked. She blinked again. Lindsey couldn’t be serious.
“Is this for us?” Ava voiced the question Alex was afraid to ask.
“It’s perfect for Halloween,” Lindsey gushed. “Spooky and paranormal.”
“I’m going first!” Emily clawed her way to the front of the group. She wore a black cat suit and pointed cat ears.
“Then me,” cried some kid in a witch’s hat.
Alex stared at the fortune-teller’s booth and all the kids eagerly waiting. And she knew. She finally knew, as clear as anything. I can’t do this, she thought. I can’t tell these kids anything about their future. I can’t find their missing hamster or misplaced cell phone.
As much as she wanted to have the Power, she didn’t. She didn’t even know if the Power was a real thing. How had she gotten so caught up? Why had she let this go on for so long?
“No,” she said finally.
“No? You don’t want to read Emily’s fortune first?” Lindsey asked.
“No, I can’t do this.” Alex looked to Ava. Ava nodded her encouragement. “We can’t do this,” Alex corrected.
“I know I didn’t tell you before. I guess I should have asked—” Lindsey began.
“That’s not it.” Alex cut her off. She needed to tell the truth before she chickened out. Everyone listened expectantly. Once again she was in the spotlight. Just not the way she’d wanted. “We can’t read fortunes. We can’t see the future. I thought we could for a while, but I was fooling myself.”
“What about my bracelet?” Rosa stepped forward.
“And Harvey?” Charlotte added.
“It wasn’t the Power. It was Ava.” Alex finally told them about Ava’s detective work.
Alex readied herself for Emily, Rosa, and Lindsey to hate her. For all the kids to hate her. She’d lied to them. She’d lied to herself, but that didn’t matter now.
“The Power thing was a great joke! I love it!” Charlotte cried out. “I mean, come on, you guys can’t tell me you believed these Sackett girls are truly psychic?” she challenged the group of kids.
“I was onto them the whole time!” Corey laughed. “If Ava were psychic, she’d know where I was planning to throw the ball and be waiting downfield.”
“Hey! I can catch any football you throw!” Ava retorted.
“But do you know what I’m thinking now?” Corey asked.
“No idea. But that’s because you rarely do,” Ava teased, lightening the mood. Several kids cheered. Alex was grateful to her. No one had laughed. Everyone acted as if they’d never thought she was psychic. As if they’d never believed she’d found things with her mind.
“But—but . . . my booth,” Lindsey sputtered.
“No worries.” Charlotte grabbed a black marker from a side table, dragged over a chair and stood on it, and began to write on the sign.
“Ta-da!” Charlotte stepped back and spotted a boy in a black gangster-style fedora. “May I?” she asked, replacing her cowboy hat with his hat. She tilted the brim and slipped the chair behind the sheet. With a flourish she pulled it back, sat on the chair, and announced, “I am open for business!”
Alex giggled when she read the new sign: NYC GIRL TELLS YOUR FASHION FUTURE.
“I will predict fashion for everyone. Guys and girls,” Charlotte announced. “I’m wicked good at fashion.”
“I do like your style,” Rosa said, stepping forward. “What do you predict for me?” She entered the booth, and others crowded around.
Charlotte regarded Rosa. “Your arms are really toned from cheerleading. I see you rocking sleeveless tops more often. And red would be a good color with your skin tone.”
“I have a red tank somewhere in my closet. It has silver studs around the collar.” Rosa sounded uncertain.
“That’s perfect! Embellished tanks are so fashion forward,” Charlotte replied with a smile.
“I’ll go find it. Thanks!” Rosa said.
“Me next!” Annelise cried.
“How awesome is she?” Ava whispered. “Charlotte totally came to our rescue.”
“She’s great,” Alex agreed. She sensed Charlotte would become a good friend.
Emily moved alongside Alex. “I wanted you to have the Power. It really seemed like you did.”
“I thought I did too. But I was wrong,” Alex admitted.
“Maybe if we look at Sibyl’s book again,” Emily offered, not giving up. “Maybe if you practice more. I can help, if you want.”
> Alex shook her head. “I’m sorry, Em. I’m done with the Power. It doesn’t work.”
“You don’t know that!” Emily protested. “If you only—”
“It doesn’t work for me and Ava, that’s what I’m saying,” Alex said. “And I’m fine with that.”
Ava wasn’t sure how to act. Every time she said something, Tommy shot her a warning look. As if he were scared she’d say something to embarrass him, which was a distinct possibility. But sitting next to Alex in the backseat as they drove home from the party and not saying anything was just plain weird.
Finally Cassie swiveled in the passenger seat to talk to them. “I like your matching outfits.”
“We don’t normally do the twin matching thing, just so you know.” If Tommy’s girlfriend was going to be hanging out with them now, Ava wanted to make that perfectly clear from the get-go.
“Oh, I got that.” Cassie grinned. She was dressed as a jockey with riding pants, a red-and-white-checked silk shirt, and a riding helmet.
“There were three of us tonight. The three cowgirls. The three amigos,” Alex said.
“And we won a contest,” Ava offered, leaning her face between Tommy and Cassie. “Best Texan Costume! We let Charlotte take home the prize—a cupcake with a mini Texas flag on top.”
“Your party sounds like fun,” Cassie said.
“Where did you guys go tonight?” Ava asked.
“None of your business,” Tommy said, turning onto their street.
“Tommy!” Cassie protested. “Be nicer to your sister.”
Ava stuck her tongue out at him. She was going to like having Cassie around. “She’s right . . . oh, wow!”
Tommy had pulled into the driveway, and Ava and Alex stared openmouthed at their front lawn.
“Did you know about this?” Alex asked, rolling down the window for a better look.
Tommy gave a mischievous grin. “My lips are sealed.”
“It was the football team, wasn’t it?” Ava squealed. “Wow! They covered every inch.”
Every tree and bush was draped with toilet paper. Their mailbox and lamppost were wrapped so tightly, they appeared mummified. Strips hung from the gutters and fluttered like streamers in the slight breeze.
“Coach is going to go ballistic,” Ava said. Coach loved football and cooking, but he also loved his lawn. He was always seeding and trimming.
Alex pointed to the light still on in their parents’ bedroom window. “I bet he hasn’t seen it yet.”
And that was when Ava thought of it. The most perfect idea. “No one tell him tonight, okay?” she said.
“Why not?” Alex asked.
Ava told them all her brilliant plan.
CHAPTER
TWELVE
“Surprise!” Ava cried the next morning. She jumped on her parents’ bed to wake them.
“Happy birthday!” Alex called, flicking on the lights.
“Party time! Whoo! Whoo!” Tommy added, clapping his hands loudly.
Coach rubbed his eyes. His hair stuck up on one side. “What’s all this?”
“Your Birthday Breakfast Bash,” Ava announced. “Time to get up.”
They pulled Coach from his bed. “Laura, did you put them up to this?” he asked.
“Not at all,” Mrs. Sackett insisted with a bemused smile. She slipped on her robe. “I know nothing.”
“Take this.” Ava handed Coach the end of a long strand of toilet paper.
“And follow it,” Alex said.
“I’m following toilet paper?” he asked incredulously.
“Exactly,” said Tommy.
“Okay.” He grinned at them, his green eyes twinkling. Ava could see he was clearly pleased with his birthday surprise. And with the big win.
The paper trail led out the bedroom door and downstairs to the front door.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Open the door!” they all cried.
He pushed it open and peered into the hazy morning light. For a moment he stood frozen, taking in the amazing sight.
They had kept last night’s toilet paper exactly as it was, and Tommy had strung up their little white Christmas lights. Alex and Ava had added a big birthday banner and lots of colorful balloons.
Coach began to laugh. “Incredible! You three are incredible!”
“Not only us,” Ava said. “The football team had a big part in the decorations.”
“Time to eat,” Alex said. She led their parents to a folding table set up in the middle of the decorated yard. The table sported a bright-orange tablecloth and blue napkins—the Tigers’ colors.
“Out here? In my pajamas?” Coach seemed horrified.
“Watch this. Instant privacy.” Ava pulled closed a curtain made from two huge bedsheets that she’d strung between trees. The sheets blocked the view of the table from the street. She’d gotten the idea from Lindsey’s fortune-telling booth.
“Football-shaped pancakes!” Coach cried with delight, as he surveyed all the food on the table.
“And gifts!” Ava gave him her football-shaped spatula. Alex gave him a platter that looked like a football field. She’d gone back to the store in the mall on Thursday and exchanged her spatula. Now their presents went together perfectly.
“One more game, and then we go to state!” Tommy reminded them, reaching for a large helping of bacon. They hadn’t tried making chocolate-covered bacon. Just getting breakfast cooked and on the table had been challenging enough for the three of them. Adding boiling chocolate to the mix would have been asking for trouble.
“State is in Austin,” Mrs. Sackett said. “I’ve always wanted to visit. I hear they have great contemporary art galleries.”
“And great live music,” Tommy said.
“And great boutiques,” Alex put in.
“If the team makes it, can we all go?” Ava asked Coach. “Please?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I’ll need my whole family with me. We’ll stay in a nice hotel.”
I hope they spring for two rooms, Ava thought. In the past, they’d always crammed into one room. Mrs. Sackett and Coach in one bed, she and Alex sharing the other, and Tommy on a cot. I don’t want to share a bed with Alex, she thought. She snores.
“I don’t want to share with you, either, Ava,” Alex retorted. “You kick at night.”
“What are you talking about?” Tommy asked. “Ava didn’t say anything.”
Ava felt a shiver run down her spine. She locked eyes with Alex. What had just happened between them?
Ready for more
ALEX AND AVA?
Here’s a sneak peek at the next book in the It Takes Two series:
A Lot to Tackle
“State! State! State!” The chant filled the crowded restaurant, echoing off the wood-beamed ceilings. Fans pounded the rhythm onto the worn tables. People just walking in immediately started stamping their feet to the beat in the aisles, dodging the waitresses balancing trays of steaming ribs and steaks.
Ava Sackett chanted so loudly that her throat hurt. The Ashland Tigers football team was going to the state championships!
She felt dizzy with excitement. Everyone in town was celebrating tonight, but Ava was sure that she was the happiest of all. This past summer, her family had moved from Massachusetts to Ashland, Texas, just so her dad could coach the high school team to victory. A lot of people had doubted him—but not Ava. She’d known Coach would lead the team all the way to the playoffs. And she knew he would win State, too.
Ava watched her twin sister Alex weave her way back from the bathroom at Fighting Tiger BBQ through the mass of fans. Strangers called out their congratulations. Alex beamed as she slid onto the bench next to Ava.
“Perfume much?” Ava teased, holding her nose. As usual, her twin sister had overly-spritzed herself with the honeysuckle body mist that she carried in her navy cross-body bag.
“You should try it,” Alex teased back, knowing that unlike her, Ava refused to wear makeup and perfume. “Besi
des, I can’t handle smelling like cooked cow.”
“You don’t have to put it that way!” Ava cried. Alex had become a vegetarian this year, so she wasn’t a huge fan of the many barbeque restaurants in Texas.
Their older brother Tommy pushed in alongside Alex, squishing the twins closer together. Tommy had bulked up since he’d started playing high school football. The three of them barely fit onto the booth’s bench.
The restaurant grew louder than other Friday night post-game celebrations. People roared, pretending to be actual tigers. Ava inhaled. Alex’s familiar sweet floral scent comforted her in the chaos. She wasn’t big on crowds.
“Austin, here we come,” Alex said. She gazed across the table at their mom. “We’re all going to the game, right? You and Daddy promised.”
“Of course!” Coach jumped in. “I need my family with me in Austin.”
The championship game would be played two weeks from that night at the big university stadium in the state capital. Austin was a few hours away, so they’d have to stay overnight in a hotel. Ava hoped it would be a nice one with room service.
“Alex and I will check out all the cute boutiques and art galleries.” Mrs. Sackett clapped her hands together.
“For sure!” Alex agreed, twirling a strand of her long, chocolate-brown hair.
Shopping was one of Alex’s passions, but it certainly wasn’t one of Ava’s. Dressing rooms held the top spot on her “Most Hated Places” list. Give her a worn jersey over a dress and tights any day! The Sackett twins looked identical, except for Alex’s long hair and Ava’s short hair, but when it came to their likes and dislikes, they were polar opposites.
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.
