“Ava! Hi! Ava? Hello?”
With a start, Alex realized Corey was addressing her. She jumped back from where she was peering through the slats in the bleachers at Ava’s tryout. Corey was clearly just back from football practice: He was carrying his practice pads and had black stuff on his cheeks.
“Oh, hi,” she said, adjusting the brim of her Celtics hat. She touched the back of her head and tucked a stray tendril of long hair underneath the cap.
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine. Why?”
Corey looked puzzled. “Xander said you had an appointment.”
“Oh! Oh, yeah, fine. It was just a dentist appointment, a routine checkup.”
Corey looked even more confused. “He said you thought you might have strep.”
“Oh! Ah, ha-ha. Well, my dentist is awesome. He was a double major in dentistry and medicine and he, ah, he . . .” Alex desperately needed to change the subject. “Anyway, I don’t have strep—or any cavities.”
“That’s good,” said Corey uncertainly. “So how’s Alex doing with tryouts? I heard she was pretty good yesterday.”
“Yeah, she made first cuts,” said Alex, unable to contain the pride in her voice. “She doesn’t think she’s good enough to actually make the team, because she has too many other interests and can’t commit to such a specialized skill, but she’s a determined person and believes you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. And she decided she really wanted to make first cuts.”
“Huh. No kidding.” He studied her curiously. “Well, I need to run. My mom’s waiting for me. See you at practice tomorrow.”
He turned. “In case you were wondering, practice was pretty tough today. We did a lot of conditioning. But Coach K said we’re watching film tomorrow. He says we need a day to regroup and rest up. So no pads.”
“Okay, thanks,” said Alex, stopping herself just before she said, I’ll let Ava know.
Corey paused again. “Hey, do you remember the name of our fake extra-point call?”
Alex could only shake her head. She had no idea what he was talking about.
Corey nodded. “That’s okay. I can ask Xander.” He started to walk away.
Was he looking at her suspiciously? Had he guessed that she wasn’t really Ava?
Then Corey said, “What’s up, Alex?”
Alex felt an electric jolt through her body. How had he recognized her through her disguise? They didn’t know each other that well. Then she heard Ava respond behind her.
“Hey, Corey.”
Oh. So he’d been saying hi to Ava, dressed as Alex, who had come up behind her. Alex wiped her brow. They both watched Corey disappear down the hallway.
“I need to go wash my face and take off this dumb bow,” muttered Ava in Alex’s ear.
“You’ll have to wait till we get home,” Alex whispered back. “There’s nowhere to go without risking being discovered.”
“Okay, but I can’t be seen on the bus,” said Ava. “I’m supposed to have strep. Let’s walk.”
They slipped out of a side door and set off for home.
“So how did it go today? Did you remember to be bad?”
“Um, yeah,” said Ava. “Mostly.”
Alex noted a hint of uncertainty in her tone.
“I landed funny on a jump and turned my ankle a little,” said Ava. “But I think it’ll be okay for practice tomorrow. Football practice, I mean, of course.”
“And they’ll make final cuts tonight?”
“No, they said one more day of tryouts, because there are quite a few girls who could go one way or the other, and Molly gets to try out tomorrow.”
Alex stopped. “Ave, then you have to go back tomorrow. You can’t not show up.”
“Yes, I can,” said Ava. “I am not going to miss another day of football practice.”
Alex remembered what Corey had said, and a desperate idea popped into her head. “I’ll go to football in your place!”
Now it was Ava’s turn to stop walking. “Alex. Do you realize what you’re saying?”
“No! I mean, yes!”
“You wouldn’t know the difference between a tight end and a split end if your life depended on it.”
“I know. I know. But Corey told me—you—that tomorrow Coach K is just talking to the team. There’s no actual practice involved. So I can be you, because I don’t have to do anything except sit there and watch films and listen to the coaches talk.”
“Hey, Ava! Think fast!” came a voice from behind them.
Both girls whirled around. A basketball came sailing out of thin air, headed straight for Alex. The twins hadn’t realized they were so close to home already—they were passing the little park near their house, and Jack was shooting baskets on the court.
Alex gave a little squeal and covered her face with her arms. The ball bounced off her elbow and rolled away.
“Alex!” hissed Ava under her breath. “You’re me, remember? I would have caught that! Now go get the ball!”
Alex ran over and picked up the ball. “Hey, Jack!” she called. “Didn’t see you.”
“Hey,” Jack yelled back. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Ave! From there!”
“What’s he asking me?” Alex hissed at Ava.
“He wants you to try a long bomb from here. Shoot the ball. Into the basket.”
“From here?”
“It’s just a game. Jack and I do it all the time. Go on.”
Alex dribbled the ball once, then hoisted it into the air, her elbows flapping out awkwardly. It missed the basket. It missed the basketball court. It landed in the grass near the play area and bumped to a stop against the slide.
Ava closed her eyes with a pained expression.
Jack looked at Alex-as-Ava with a surprised look. “Nice shot,” he said. “Not.”
“Ha-ha! My bad!” called Alex. Ava tugged her by the sleeve, and the two girls hurried off.