“Will you stop that already?” Ava asked. Music and laughter carried in from the backyard as the entire varsity football team and their families enjoyed the Sunday afternoon barbecue. She piled extra hamburger buns onto a tray in the kitchen.
“Stop what?” Alex asked. She rummaged in the pantry for more ketchup. She thought she’d done such a good job planning, but she’d way underestimated these boys’ appetites.
“Stop all that grinning. You haven’t quit smiling all weekend,” Ava said.
Alex shrugged, then smiled again. “I’m happy.”
“We need more iced tea, pronto,” Cassie announced, carrying in two empty pitchers. “Why are you so happy?” She’d caught the tail end of their conversation.
“Alex has Corey-itis,” Ava reported. Ever since coming home from the ice cream shop on Thursday, Alex had pranced about as if sprinkled by fairy dust. She was so happy that last night, she’d sneaked into Ava’s room while Ava was taking a shower and cleaned it. She’d even hung all of Ava’s jerseys in numerical order! Just because. Well, because of Corey.
“What’s Corey-itis? A disease?” Cassie asked, leaning against the table.
“Alex has a boyfriend,” Ava explained.
“Ohhhh, is this what you wanted to talk to me about?” Cassie patted the seat next to her.
“What about the iced tea?” Alex asked.
“Those guys out there can wait. This is way more important.” Cassie’s eyes glittered with excitement. “Tell me all about him!”
Alex sat and told Cassie every last detail about Corey. Ava was happy for Alex, but like with everything she did, Alex had thrown herself full force into this boyfriend business.
“What’s the hold up?” Mrs. Sackett poked her head around the open kitchen door. She looked pretty in her white pants and tangerine-colored top, yet the wisps of hair escaping from her ponytail revealed how hard she’d been working. They’d all scrambled over the last few days to put this team barbecue together. “Alex, Coach needs those buns. The burgers are ready to go.”
“No can do. They’re talking about boys.” Ava rolled her eyes at her mom.
“I see.” Mrs. Sackett grinned. “Cassie, you be kind to my son now.”
“It’s not about Tommy,” Cassie said.
“Hey, guys—” Coach burst into the kitchen, waving his spatula.
“It’s about Alex’s new boyfriend,” Cassie finished.
“Whoa! Alex’s w-w-what?” Coach sputtered. He tilted the brim of his Tigers cap to peer at Alex.
Alex’s face reddened. “It’s not like that.”
“What’s it like?” Coach seemed more confused than anything. “You’re twelve.” He turned to his wife. “She’s twelve, Laura.”
“Almost thirteen,” Ava put in helpfully.
“Michael, everything’s fine.” Mrs. Sackett gently led him back outside. “It’s just a term. It doesn’t mean anything these days.”
“It doesn’t?” Coach sounded unsure.
“Definitely not. Girls today don’t care about boyfriends,” she assured him.
“I would make that some girls,” quipped Ava.
“You’ll change your mind, Ava.” Cassie shot Alex a knowing look, as if they were part of a special boyfriend club.
“Not anytime soon,” Ava said. She left Alex and Cassie composing an intricate text to invite Corey to the barbecue. Ava couldn’t figure why it had to be so complicated. Why not just text, Want to come over? Having a boyfriend seemed like a lot of work.
Ava headed into the yard with the tray of buns. As she wound her way toward Coach at the grill, she caught sight of a football soaring through the air. She reacted by instinct. In a flash, she dropped the tray on a nearby table and jumped, arms outstretched. The ball found her fingertips, and in one fluid motion, she cradled it to her body—and then boom! She was on the ground. Tommy had tackled her!
She squeezed the football tighter, wrapping her body around it. “Get off!”
“Fumble! Fumble!” cried Tommy. When she refused to let go, he began to tickle her.
“No fair!” Ava screeched between bursts of laughter. “I’m never letting go!”
“Yes, you are.” Tommy tickled harder. After years of brother-sister wrestling matches, he knew tickling always got her.
“Tigers never give up!” Ava cried.
At that moment, a shrill whistle sliced through the music, laughter, and conversation. Everyone froze. The boys knew the sound of that whistle. Ava did too. That was Coach’s whistle—the one he used on the field.
“Hey, there, folks.” Coach turned down the flame on the grill and faced the crowd of expectant faces. “I was going to make a big speech later when I brought out my Texas sheet cake, welcoming y’all and telling you how happy I am to be leading such a fine group of athletes, and I guess I’ll still do that, but I just saw something that made me realize why I am so proud to call myself an Ashland Tiger.”
He pointed to Ava, lying on the grass. Tommy had rolled off her. “Did y’all hear Ava, when Tommy was trying to get that football from her? What did she say?”
“Tigers never give up,” answered Dion Bell.
“I’m sorry, I can’t hear you.” Coach cupped his hand around his ear.
“Tigers never give up!” yelled Dion.
“Louder,” Coach commanded.
“Tigers never give up! Tigers never give up!” the entire team chanted together. Soon the parents joined in too. Alex and Cassie hurried outside. Ava held the football high and yelled loudest of all.
“Exactly,” said Coach, once the cheers faded. “We will have our ups and downs. We will win games and we will lose them too. We will battle injuries and the loss of teammates. We will face changes. But what makes our team so fierce is our drive to succeed. As your coach, I want you to know that I believe in you. I trust you. I am loyal to you. Each and every one of you. I will never give up on my players. I hope you will grant me the same honor.”
A huge cheer rose up.
Coach fidgeted with the brim of his cap, then spotted the tray of buns. “Ava, help me get these burgers passed around. And Tommy, is that your keyboard over there?”
Tommy nodded uneasily.
Ava looked over at the electronic keyboard set up under the tree at the side of the yard. She bit her lip and glanced to Alex. Coach had never truly understood how important Tommy’s music was to him. She hoped Coach wouldn’t say anything embarrassing in front of the team.
“Did you all know that my son Tommy here is not only an amazing quarterback but an accomplished musician? Who’s up for some music?” Coach smiled.
Tommy seemed momentarily stunned.
“Go play!” Ava nudged him. Tommy stood and hurried over to his keyboard. In less than a minute, he launched into an upbeat, jazzy tune. Several parents gathered in front of him on the grass and began to move to the music. Ava watched her mom whisper something in her dad’s ear and tug him out there too.
“What’s going on here?” Alex asked Ava, sitting down alongside her. They watched in amazement as Coach began to sway to Tommy’s music. “Coach never dances!”
“Changes, I guess. Just like he said,” Ava remarked.
“Change is good,” Alex said. She flopped down on her back.
“It is.” Ava flopped down next to her. Together they stared up at the clouds in the sky.
“What do you see?” They had always looked for pictures in the clouds when they were little.
“I see a big heart and three little hearts,” Alex reported, still smiling away.
Ava made a gagging noise. “Of course you do.”
“What do you see?” Alex asked.
Ava watched the clouds. She wanted to say she saw a tiger. Or a tiger attacking a falcon. Something that would prove that the team would be okay without PJ and whichever other boys chose to leave. But she didn’t see any animals. In fact, she didn’t see anything special up there. “Maybe a bike being ridden by a witch?”
“Really?” Alex squinted. “More like a kite being flown by a wizard.”
Ava watched as the breeze slowly moved the clouds across the sky. Even though dozens of people milled around them, she didn’t get up. Neither did Alex.
They both knew if they stayed a little longer, the clouds would change.
They wanted to see what happened when they did.