Split Decision (3 page)

Moxy let out a series of short, high yelps.

“I have an extra.” Alex pulled out her cute hot-pink jacket with a trendy shawl collar. “You can wear this one.”

“Seriously?” Ava rolled her eyes. “Never! That's so pink and so not me.”

“Just throw it on.” Coach sighed. “Help me here, Ava. Moxy needs to go pronto, and I need to make dinner.”

Ava echoed his sigh, reluctantly slipping on the hot-pink jacket. They hurried Moxy outside.

“Hey,” Alex called to Ava, who had already been pulled ahead by Moxy as they headed down their block. “You look like me.”

“Didn't anyone ever tell you? We're twins,” Ava called back.

“Obviously! I mean from the back, with the pink coat. Plus, your hair has grown out a lot,” Alex explained.

Ava touched the ends of her wet, tangled hair. They now grazed her shoulders. “I need a haircut.”

When they'd first moved to Ashland, Ava had cut her hair just below her chin without consulting Alex. At the time, it had felt like a betrayal to Alex. They'd always had different interests, but Alex took comfort in looking exactly the same as Ava. Now that they were no longer the “new girls,” she knew it would take a whole lot more than a haircut to weaken their twin bond.

Alex and Ava walked side by side with Moxy on the leash between them. The air was warmer than it had been in months, although it had never gotten anywhere as cold as it used to in Boston during the winters. It had snowed only once, and that was just flurries!

“Time to turn around,” Ava said when they reach the end of their street.

“Let's keep walking. I have something amazing to tell you,” Alex said.

“But we promised—” Ava started.

“I know, but it's so nice out, and Coach will need forever to try to cook that frozen chicken. We'll just walk down Ridgewood. It's no big deal.” Alex grabbed Moxy's leash and headed right before Ava could protest. Then she called over her shoulder. “Corey asked me out.”

Ava raced after her. “What?”

“You heard me,” Alex said breezily, as if it weren't the big deal that it clearly was.

“When? How? I need details!” Ava cried.

As they walked down Ridgewood, then turned onto Quincy Street, Alex told Ava everything she knew, which she soon realized wasn't much.

“Does this mean you guys are a couple?” Ava asked

“I don't know,” Alex admitted.

“So is it just the two of you at the movies? Are other people going?” Ava asked.

“No clue,” Alex admitted. “Do you think other people should go too?”

“Definitely. Especially if you have this all wrong and he thinks you're going to the movies as friends,” Ava said.

“Why would he think that?” Alex demanded.

“I've gone to the movies with Corey, Xander,
and Kal, and I am sure not going out with any of them,” Ava said.

“That's different,” Alex said, as they turned onto another street. “You went to the movies as a football team.”

“All I'm saying is we never go to a restaurant without you pulling up the menu online, analyzing every option, and knowing what you're going to order before we even get there. It just seems odd to me that you don't know what kind of date this is or if it is a date,” Ava said.

Alex slowed. Ava was right. How could she not know all this?

She loosened her grip on the leash and fumbled in her coat pocket for her phone. It didn't seem to be there. She must've left it in the house. “Ugh, I need to text Emily—” Alex let out a shriek as a rabbit jumped out from a nearby bush and Moxy lunged after it, yanking the leash from her hand. With it flapping on the pavement behind her, Moxy raced down the street after the rabbit.

“Moxy! Stop!” Alex screamed.

But Moxy kept moving at top speed, intent on catching the rabbit.

“Come back!” Alex cried, as she and Ava started to run too. Moxy cut through lawn after
lawn and zigzagged down unfamiliar streets. They chased her across backyards until she disappeared behind a cluster of trees.

Alex ran as fast as she could, gasping for breath. “Where is she?”

“There!” Ava cried. She pointed, and Alex glimpsed Moxy heading for a street behind the trees. She heard a car horn beep.

“Oh no!” Alex cried.

Ava's body reacted to the car horn as if it were the starting gun at a race. Leaving Alex far behind, she burst forward and sprinted faster than she'd ever run on the football field.

Moxy!
She had to get to Moxy before . . .

She spotted Moxy on a lawn, momentarily startled by the noise. Her dog stood, panting, alongside the curb. The rabbit was long gone. Ava didn't bother to yell. She flung her body and tackled Moxy from behind, grabbing her collar with her hands. Moxy squirmed, but Ava held on tightly, rolling over in the grass.

“Hey, girl, hey, girl,” she repeated. “I've got you.”

Alex reached them and grabbed the leash.
Then she waved to the woman in the stopped car. “Thanks so much! Sorry 'bout that!” The woman cautioned them to be careful, then drove off.

Ava stayed on the ground curled around Moxy, catching her breath. “I'm glad I was wearing sneakers.”

“You saved her.” Alex sat with them.

Ava looked around. “Where are we?”

“Someone's yard?” Alex gazed around, disoriented. “I don't recognize these houses.”

“Me neither.” Ava stood and whirled about. “Should we call Coach to come get us?” Ava asked.

“I don't have my phone, remember? Besides, if we called him, we'd get in trouble. We promised we wouldn't leave our block. We just need to retrace our steps,” Alex said. “I think we should cut through this yard. I'm pretty sure we came from the street behind this house.” She led them up a narrow driveway. A row of thick, high hedges bordered the backyard.

“Are you sure?” Ava asked. She'd never been great at directions. “Look, here comes someone. Maybe we should ask.” She pointed to a light-blue truck driving down the street.

“No way. I'm not talking to some stranger.
I've got this,” Alex assured her. The truck slowed in front of the house and began to turn up the driveway. “They must live here. Hide!”

“What? Why?” Ava asked, bewildered.

“Quick!” Alex pulled her and Moxy behind the tall hedge.

“This is silly. We can run across the lawn. They won't see us. And if they do, they don't know us.” Ava pointed out the path they would take. The truck had pulled to the top of the driveway. Only the hedge separated them. “Ready? Okay—” Then she spotted the man stepping out of the driver's side. Ava stared in disbelief. It was Mr. Kelly! He walked around the back of the truck. She knew the Kellys lived in their neighborhood, but how was it possible that she and Alex had ended up at
their
house?

“Wait!” She grabbed Alex's arm to stop her. Ava squeezed her other hand around Moxy's snout to keep the dog quiet.

Mr. Kelly would surely recognize the Sackett twins. How would they explain why they were in his backyard? He hated Coach already and loved making trouble for their family. It was less risky to hide behind the thick leaves until he went inside.

She caught Alex's eye. Ava could tell her twin knew exactly what she was thinking.

Ava held Moxy tightly and watched through gaps in the leaves as Mr. Kelly opened the passenger door. PJ Kelly hobbled out. Ava held back her gasp. Coach's star quarterback was injured! PJ's left knee was cased in a big black brace, and he leaned heavily on crutches. Dried mud covered his track pants and arms. A large bruise bloomed on his left cheek. Even from where she hid, Ava could see him cringe in pain.

Alex nudged her and raised her eyebrows in alarm. “What happened?” she mouthed silently.

Ava raised her eyebrows back. She remembered that Tommy said PJ hadn't been at practice today. And he hadn't been at her basketball practice either. So what had happened? Did Coach know?

“I didn't like that doctor,” PJ said to his dad. “Dr. Rodriguez is much nicer.”

“Do you think I wanted to take off work and drive you five towns away to Hellman? You're lucky I got Dr. Chang to see you at all. And that he promised to keep his mouth shut,” Mr. Kelly grumbled. “Dr. Rodriguez's office is crawling with folks from Ashland. Coach Sackett would
already know what you've been up to if I were stupid enough to take you to him.”

Mr. Kelly moved around to the back of the pickup. “Speaking of stupid . . .” Mr. Kelly lifted a mangled dirt bike from the truck's bed. “What would possibly possess you to go dirt biking by that quarry?”

“You said you wanted me to bond with the guys from Saint Francis,” PJ replied.

“Bond, yeah. Have a burger. Watch some movies. Not twist your knee so you're benched from football!” Mr. Kelly yelled.

“I wasn't trying to do that,” PJ shot back. “We'd had a great practice, and they were all going, so it seemed like the right thing.”

“You're just not getting it. They want your skill and talent. That's why they invited you to their football practice. Their quarterback is graduating,” Mr. Kelly said. “They need you. You have nothing to prove to them.”

PJ leaned against the truck. “I don't get why leaving Ashland High is a good thing. It feels wrong. I mean, we just won state.”

“Look at the big picture, son. Saint Francis is a private school with a lot of money to spend on football. They are putting together a super
team of the best players in the state, and
you
will be the face of that team. The men behind this team—the men with money and power—will get you into the college of your dreams, and then they will get you into the NFL.” Mr. Kelly beamed. “Boom! Just like that.”

“But Coach Sackett—” PJ started.

“Coach Sackett is small-time. Outside Ashland, he has no connections and no power. Saint Francis is your ticket to the big leagues.” Mr. Kelly opened the garage door and tossed the mangled bike inside. “
No one
can know about this. The dirt biking or the Saint Francis practice.”

“Coach Sackett is not going to be happy that I'm injured,” PJ said.

“No one is happy, believe me. Now go put some ice on that knee. That knee is your future!” Mr. Kelly stalked into the garage.

As PJ began to hobble after him, Moxy wriggled her mouth free and let out a strained yelp of frustration.

PJ stopped. He looked over his shoulder and squinted in their direction.

Ava heard her own heart pound. She clamped her hands tighter over Moxy's mouth. Had PJ seen them?

Go away, go away,
Alex chanted silently, trying to motivate PJ with the power of her mind.

PJ's eyes scanned the yard as he balanced on his crutches. Alex, Ava, and even Moxy froze.

Go away.

PJ turned and slowly made his way into the house. Mind-power triumph!

“I was sure he saw us. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.” Alex exhaled loudly.

“Me too. Let's get out of here.” Ava tightened her grip on Moxy's leash and ran across the yard.

“I'm pretty sure I know the way,” said Alex. She led them in and out of a few yards until she found Quincy Street again. They slowed to
a walk and caught their breath. “Okay, what just happened back there? Is PJ really ditching the Tigers?”

“He's such a traitor!” Ava cried.

“He's stupid, too. Daddy told his players not to do dangerous things like dirt biking. He's going to be mad,” Alex said.

“He's going to be
furious
. And not only about the injury, but about PJ and his dad being dirty, rotten, sneaky liars!” Ava's face grew red. “I can't wait to tell Coach.”

“Whoa!” Alex grabbed Ava's shoulder. “I don't think we should.”

“What? Why not?” Ava demanded.

Alex chewed her lip. “We did something that we weren't supposed to do too. We promised that we wouldn't leave the block.”

“That's different,” Ava scoffed.

“I don't know. Dad hates it when we break the rules. He might punish us. He might not let me go to the movies with Corey.” Alex suddenly wished she had listened. No movies might mean no boyfriend and then no kiss. She couldn't cancel on Corey
again
—she'd already had to do that once when he'd asked her to hang out at the park. She didn't think that was a date, but she never got to
find out, because she had to study with Max, a boy in her social studies class she was helping. If she bailed on Corey again, she was sure he wouldn't ask her out a third time.

“News flash, Alex. This is not about you. It's about the team—and PJ,” Ava said, as they neared home.

“But you don't know that PJ is really going to leave. He sounded unsure to me. In fact, he sounded like he didn't want to go,” Alex pointed out.