Twice the Talent by Belle Payton

front of Mrs. Bridges’s desk when Alex entered the room.
    â€œClose the door behind you, please, Alex,” the teacher instructed.
    Alex obeyed and took a seat next to Max.
    Mrs. Bridges took a deep breath. “So, I havespoken with Principal Farmen, and she agrees with me that we need to have a meeting with your parents and consider putting you on academic probation if it happens again,” she announced, and Alex gasped. That sounded a lot more serious than a warning!
    â€œCheating is not tolerated in this school,” Mrs. Bridges said, looking at Max, and then she looked right at Alex. “Nor is helping someone else to cheat. Would you like to tell me what happened, Alex?”
    Alex’s mind was racing. There were more consequences to keeping quiet than she thought. If Alex told what she knew, Max could be in real trouble. If she didn’t tell, then she could be in real trouble too. But she had a nagging feeling that whatever was happening with Max wasn’t his fault. Even though he was totally messing things up for her, she didn’t want to see him get in trouble.
    â€œI don’t know what happened,” Alex said. “I did my homework on Monday night, by myself. If Max had the same answers as I did, I don’t know why.”
    Which was all true, technically. She had a clue that Max had copied from her paper, but she hadn’t actually witnessed it.
    Mrs. Bridges kept her gaze locked on Alex. “So you have no idea how Max ended up with exactly the same answers as you.”
    Alex shook her head. It was getting harder to avoid the teacher’s direct line of questioning.
    â€œI copied from Alex’s paper!” Max suddenly blurted out. “She didn’t have anything to do with it and didn’t know about it, I swear. She left her social studies folder on a table in the library, and when she walked away, I copied the homework answers.”
    Mrs. Bridges nodded as if that was what she’d been waiting to hear. “Thank you, Max. Alex, you may leave the room.”
    Alex quickly got up and left. This time she didn’t linger outside the door—she didn’t want to embarrass Max more by eavesdropping on his punishment.
    Poor Max! she thought. But at least he had done the right thing and told the truth.
    She walked down the hallway, wondering if Corey was at the park, and if it would be weird if she went to see if he was there. As she passed the auditorium, she heard country music playing. For a moment, she panicked. Was she supposed to meet Chloe and the others for a Variety Showmeeting? She quickly checked her phone and saw that the next meeting wasn’t until Thursday. It must just be an act using the auditorium for practice.
    Curious, she slipped inside—and saw Ava, with the rest of the Toe the Line dancers, practicing their routine.
    For a weird second, she wasn’t sure if it was actually Ava out there—or herself! Her twin was having a hard time keeping up with the other dancers, and twice she bumped into the tall boy standing on her left. Which was all very Alex, and not very Ava at all. Although to Ava’s credit, she wasn’t tripping over her feet, like Alex would have.
    What is up with her? Alex wondered, but the more she watched, the more she understood. It was a really complicated dance, more complicated than a cheerleading routine, even.
    Then Alex remembered when Ava had talked to her about it, on the bus, and she had seemed a little unsure of herself—as though she were convincing herself to do it. If Alex hadn’t been so wrapped up in all the Max and Lindsey drama, she might have given her sister some advice. Well, it was never too late. Alex waited until the practice was over.
    â€œGood effort, Ava,” Carly said, and Alex saw her sister cringe. She knew—and she knew that Ava knew—that “good effort” really meant, “You stink, but at least you’re trying.”
    Alex