Thursday morning, as their bus pulled into the unloading area at school, Ava looked out the window to see a crowd of reporters.
“Oh no,” she said, nudging Alex and pointing outside.
“Wow,” said Alex. “They’re certainly making a big deal out of this.”
As they stood up to file off, Ava put a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Hey, Al? Thanks for your speeches yesterday and last night.”
Alex smiled. “It took me a while to get a clue, but I guess you’re used to that by now.”
Ava saw with relief that Ms. Farmen was standing at the door of the bus, ready to escort Alex and Ava into the school. “We’ll let you know when the school board’s decision has been announced,” she said to the reporters. “Now please let these children enter their school so that learning may commence.”
Once again, the reporters meekly dropped away.
As they moved down the hallway toward their lockers, Alex pointed at the walls. “Look!” she said. “With all the football excitement, I totally forgot today was election day!”
Someone had put up dozens of new posters advertising Alex’s campaign. Every few feet was another sign.
“ ‘She’s five foot two and the president for you!’ ” Ava read. “ ‘Check the bracket next to Sackett!’ These are great! Who do you think did them?”
“I’m guessing it was Emily and Lindsey,” said Alex, smiling.
“I’m going to go vote,” said Ava. “Good luck today, Al.”
“Thanks, Ava,” said Alex. “Good luck today to you, too. I hope they let you go to practice.”
Ava was about to go into homeroom when Ms. Kerry intercepted her in the doorway. “You’re supposed to report directly to Ms. Farmen’s office,” she said to Ava. “Good luck.”
Ava thanked her, and a few minutes later Mrs. Gusman was escorting her into Ms. Farmen’s office. Coach Kenerson and Mr. Guajardo were also there. They stood up when she came in.
“Sit down, Ava,” said Ms. Farmen. “This will be brief, as I know you need to get to class. Mr. Guajardo?”
“First off, Miss Sackett,” said Mr. Guajardo, “I would like to commend you, and your sister, for the way you conducted yourselves at the meeting last night. The board was very impressed with your poise, your perseverance, and the respectful way that you presented your case.”
“Thanks,” said Ava, her voice barely above a whisper. Her heart was pounding with anticipation.
“The board has decided that it will allow you to remain a member of the Ashland Middle School football team.”
Ava leaped up and shrieked. “That’s totally awesome!” she said. “Thank you so much!”
Coach Kenerson was beaming. “Told him you’re my best kicker,” he said. “I’m going to move Xander to punter and have you be our field goal kicker. You’ve got an excellent foot. And I want you to train with the receivers, too, Sackett. You’ve got good hands.”
“Receivers?” repeated Ava, dumbfounded. “I’ve never played that position.”
“You had the second-fastest time in the pro-agility test,” said Coach K. “And a four-point-nine-five-second forty. I’d be foolish not to use your speed and quickness.”
“All right, Ava, you may go to class now,” said Ms. Farmen, rising from her chair. Everyone else stood up too. “Congratulations.”
Ava shook hands quickly with all three of them and then practically danced her way to Spanish class.
Alex was just setting up her science lab with Madison when Ava’s text came in, telling her about the football decision. She knew, of course, that she wasn’t allowed to use her phone in class, but today she didn’t care if she got in trouble. She’d told Ava she wanted to be the first to hear.
She inhaled sharply when she looked at her phone.
“What’s up?” asked Madison, who was lining up their beakers.
“Alex?” Mr. Lehner was across the room, helping Ella Sanchez and her partner, Nate Nielson, adjust a Bunsen burner. He peered at her through his safety goggles, looking a bit like a fish in an aquarium. “Something to share with the group? I’m sure you weren’t texting, right?”
“Um, well, maybe just a tiny bit,” said Alex, flushing. “You can give me a detention for it, Mr. Lehner, but I had to know what the school board decided about my sister.”
“Well, tell us then!” said Mr. Lehner. The rest of the class stopped what they were doing at their lab tables and all waited to hear what Alex was going to say.
“They’re going to let her play!” said Alex, bouncing up and down with excitement.
The class erupted in a cheer. Alex was pleased to see that even Ella looked genuinely delighted.
After science class, as Alex was packing up her stuff, Ella Sanchez made her way over to her.
“Hey, Alex, can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked shyly.
“Sure!” said Alex, trying to hide her surprise. She and Ella had never really had a conversation before now. And on election day, of all days!
“I just wanted to tell you that I think your speech yesterday was really great,” said Ella. “I’m really happy for your sister. And if I don’t win this dumb election, I hope you do. The worst scenario would be if Logan won.”
Alex smiled. “I agree! I have a sinking feeling he’s going to win because he’s so popular. Plus, I don’t think my speech that was all about my sister necessarily helped my candidacy. But I really appreciate your saying that, and I think you’d make a great president.”
“Well, between you and me,” said Ella, lowering her voice, “I honestly won’t be devastated if I lose. My parents are the ones who pushed me to run. My mom practically wrote my speech, and my dad’s secretary make all those fancy signs. I would rather just hang out at the science lab and work on my experiments. But they think I need to be well-rounded for when I apply to college. Which won’t even happen for five more years.”
Alex laughed. “Thanks for telling me, Ella,” she said.
“I’ll walk you toward S wing,” said Ella. “I want to float an idea past you, if you’re free after school today.”