Go! Fight! Twin! by Belle Payton

alone. They drove home without speaking.
    Once back, Alex headed up to her room, closed the door, and buried her face in her pillow. She stayed that way for a while. She wondered if her parents could afford boarding school. Or reform school. Or a study abroad program that started the following week. She wondered if seventh graders were allowed to join the military, or the Peace Corps. She had to go somewhere, because she couldn’t bear to think of showing her face at Ashland Middle School on Monday.
    About an hour later, the doorbell rang. She heard her mother answer, voices murmuring together, and feet on the staircase. And then there was a knock at her bedroom door and it was Emily and Lindsey, still in their cheerleading uniforms.
    If they noticed Alex’s face was swollen and blotchy from crying, they pretended not to. “How’s your chin?” asked Emily, moving into the room and sprawling onto Alex’s bed.
    â€œA little better,” said Alex in a tiny voice. She couldn’t believe they were speaking to her in such a normal way. “How was the pep rally?”
    â€œIt was pretty fun,” Lindsey said.
    â€œHow did Molly do?”
    â€œShe was good,” said Emily. “Her ankle seemsto be better and better. I think she’s going to be a really nice addition to the team.”
    â€œWe’re all leaving for the game together around six,” said Lindsey. “You’re going to come, right?”
    Alex nodded. “I guess I have to. My dad’s the coach and my brother’s a player. But I’ll sit with my mom. I understand.”
    â€œBut the whole team is sitting together!” said Emily. “You have to come!”
    â€œI’m not on the team anymore,” said Alex. “Remember how I quit?”
    Emily and Lindsey exchanged looks.
    â€œTell her,” said Lindsey.
    â€œTell me what?”
    â€œWe had a team meeting after the pep rally,” said Lindsey. “No one’s mad at you. Not even Rosa. She knows it was an accident. And we understand why you decided to resign, although Em and I are sad about it. But then we proposed that you should be our public relations person. Like, head up the fund-raising for our new uniforms, and do the posters for all the pep rallies. That kind of thing.”
    â€œPublic relations?” breathed Alex. Her heart leaped with joy. “I’d be perfect for that job!”
    â€œWe know,” said Emily with a laugh. “That’s just what we told Coach Jen, and the rest of the team agreed!”
    â€œThe first thing I’ll do is make sure everyone’s new uniform is properly fitted,” said Alex excitedly. “Even a quarter of an inch in the hem, or a simple tuck in the waist, can make a huge difference in the way the uniform fits each person. Plus, the other day I saw some absolutely adorable polka-dot ribbon at the craft store that would totally go with our colors!”
    Lindsey and Emily both smiled.
    â€œI can be ready for the game in ten minutes!” said Alex, and galloped off to get dressed.

CHAPTER
Fourteen
    â€œAre you sure you’re okay?” Ava’s friend Kylie asked her again. “You seem extra nervous tonight.”
    Ava and Kylie were in the stands, waiting for the Tigers’ game to begin. Ava was glad to see Alex was at the game too. She knew her sister hadn’t gone to school, but obviously she’d talked their mom into letting her go to the game.
    Ava had made the decision not to talk to Alex—she didn’t want her sister to know that something was bothering her. It was too hard to keep that sort of thing from her twin. Alex would be able to sense how nervous Ava was. What if something went wrong with Tommy’splan? What if Coach somehow found out that he was sneaking out of the stadium to go to his band concert? And she, Ava, was going to help him with the whole thing. She glanced down at the small duffel bag at her