CHAPTER

FOUR

Ava stomped across the driveway to where she’d left her basketball near the garage. She muttered to herself, imagining angry words she should have said to her parents.

She picked up the ball and launched it at the basket. Air ball.

At the end of football season, Coach had finally, finally, finally put up a basketball hoop in the driveway. She’d been begging him to do it since they’d moved there in July.

But right now she was so mad she couldn’t aim straight. Most of her shots clanged off the backboard.

“Wow,” said a voice in the growing darkness. “Ease up there, Ave.” It was Luke Grabowski, her tutor. He was one of Tommy’s friends, and normally Ava liked seeing him.

The ball bounced his way. He scooped it up, set down his backpack, and took a shot. It banked in neatly.

For some reason this just made Ava madder.

“Hey,” said Luke, letting the ball roll away, where it came to rest alongside the fence. “What’s up? You’re not your usual chipper self.”

Ava started to tell him about basketball, but stopped. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings. After all, her sessions with him were a big part of the reason her parents weren’t letting her play. “I’m fine,” she said dully. “Come on inside. You can help me figure out how to conjugate irregular verbs in Spanish.”

She turned and stomped up the steps.

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Alex knocked gently on Ava’s door later that night, after Luke had left. She heard a muffled “Go away” from inside, but she pushed open the door anyway.

Her sister was lying in her bed, under the covers, still fully dressed. She had her Spanish textbook propped open on her knees, but Alex felt certain she hadn’t been looking at it.

“Hey,” said Alex, moving into the room to sit down on Ava’s bed.

“Hey,” replied Ava.

“I think I found the perfect outfit to wear on the plane to Boston,” said Alex, trying to sound cheerful.

Ava didn’t look up. She grunted and turned a page.

“And it’s going to be so fun, having the party here. I’m still getting used to the idea of the ugly sweater theme, but I guess if everyone is wearing one—” She broke off. Ava didn’t seem to be interested in talking about the party. “Hey, I’m really sorry about basketball,” Alex said softly.

Ava finally looked up at her. “It’s so not fair,” she said. “I’m being penalized because I have ADHD.”

“I think Mom and Dad mean well,” said Alex, who of course had been eavesdropping on the conversation in the kitchen from a listening post at the top of the stairs.

Ava’s green eyes flashed.

“And you know, maybe they have a point, about giving you structure and consistency with your study habits,” said Alex. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them.

Ava shot her a reproachful look. “Thanks for the support,” she said bitterly.

Alex gulped. “Sorry, Ava, I didn’t mean—”

Ava dumped her textbook onto the floor.

The sound made Alex jump. “Well, see you in the morning,” she said quickly, and bolted from the room.

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Ava was late getting downstairs for breakfast the next morning—which was nothing new. To make amends, Alex toasted a bagel for her and was just slathering it with peanut butter when Ava appeared in the kitchen with her backpack on and her wet hair showing comb marks.

Coach and Tommy had already left for school. Mrs. Sackett was upstairs getting dressed.

“Thanks,” Ava said gruffly as Alex handed her the bagel on the paper towel. “Let’s get going so I don’t have to pretend to be cheerful.”

When they got to school, Ava quickly shoved her stuff into her overflowing locker and muttered good-bye to Alex.

Alex was still frowning after her sister when she heard a low voice speak in her ear.

“Hey. Quick question for you.”

Alex felt her knees buckle slightly when she turned around and saw that it was Corey. But she managed not to choke on the words as she said, “Sure! What’s up?”

“Number three on the math homework? Did you get a negative answer?”

Alex’s mind raced. Should she pretend to think it over, or just tell him yes right away? Because of course she had total recall of her homework answers. There had only been seven math problems. “Yes, I had a negative number,” she said, choosing the latter option.

“Cool,” he said, and grinned. He had such a nice smile.

“Hey, guys!”

Alex’s breath caught in her throat. Lindsey!

She felt Corey tense up next to her. She instinctively moved a few inches away from him.

If Lindsey was bothered by their being together, she didn’t say anything. “Just to let you know, we’re choosing Secret Santas at lunch today,” she said. “Spread the word!” She turned and hurried away.

“Okay!” said Alex and Corey at the exact same time.

Corey muttered a quick good-bye and hurried off.

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At lunch, everyone wrote their names on scraps of paper and put them into Corey’s baseball cap. Kids weren’t allowed to wear hats during the school day, but Emily had asked him to bring it to lunch. They passed the hat around and everyone drew a name.

Alex watched Ava unfold her paper, read the name, and blush. Ha! She must have chosen Jack, Alex thought. When it was Alex’s turn to choose, she found to her dismay that she’d selected Rosa. Of all the people whose names were in the hat, Rosa’s was the one she’d have least wanted to select. It wasn’t like they didn’t like each other, exactly. They just didn’t seem to click the way Alex did with most of the others. Plus, she had no idea what Rosa’s interests were, outside of cheerleading.

Charlotte picked next. She peeked at the name and smiled. “Ha!” she said. “I know just the thing for my Secret Sant-ee. We’re going to New York City for Christmas, of course, and there’s this ultracool boutique in Tribeca that just opened where you simply can’t go wrong.”

Alex saw several dismayed faces around the table. She was kind of happy that Charlotte had recently joined her group of friends, because it meant she and Ava weren’t the new kids anymore. And Charlotte was even more clueless than Alex was sometimes. Charlotte’s family had an enormous house, and Alex was pretty sure they even had servants, but not everyone else did. She quickly thought of a way to even the playing field in terms of gifts.

“Hey! I have an idea!” she said brightly. “Why don’t we all make our presents this year?”

“Great idea!” said Emily, almost too quickly.

Lots of other kids nodded.

Charlotte wrinkled her brow. “Make them? You mean, like pot holders and stuff?”

Alex laughed. “There are lots of things you can make,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll think of something great.”

“And homemade presents will fit in perfectly with the ugly sweater theme,” added Emily.

“About that,” said Charlotte. “I have no clue where to shop for an ugly sweater.”

Alex quickly explained to her about the planned thrift store outing, and invited her along.

Corey grinned. “The sight of you in a thrift store will be something to see,” he said to Charlotte.

Charlotte didn’t seem offended by Corey’s remark. That’s the thing about Corey, Alex thought. He knows how to tease without ever coming across as mean. She stopped herself from smiling at him across the table.

“And with Alex there to guide us to make the right fashion choices, we’ll be ready for the runway,” continued Corey with an earnest grin in her direction.

Alex had to pretend to drop her napkin and hide under the table, so people wouldn’t see how much she was blushing.