waved Ava over when she climbed off the stage.
âDonât tell me you saw that,â Ava said.
âMost of it,â said Alex. âI can tell itâs not easy.â
âThatâs an understatement,â Ava said with a sigh.
Then Alex had an idea. âHey, you should ask Coach for help,â she said. âHeâs a good dancer, and he grew up in Texas, so he probably knows how to line dance.â
âThatâs what Tommy said,â Ava told her.
âIf both of your siblings are giving you the same advice, you should probably take it,â Alex said.
Ava sighed. âFine, Iâll do it. I just wish I had never gotten into this in the first place!â
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
The next day at school Alex looked around anxiously for Max. She had no idea what had happened after heâd made his confession. Had he been suspended?
She finally saw him in the hallway on the way to social studies. His hair was a mess, there was a hole in the bottom of the T-shirt he was wearing, and his shoelaces were untiedâso he looked pretty much the same as always. Alex couldnât tell if something bad had happened or not.
She wove through the crowd to talk to him, but Max saw her out of the corner of his eye and actually broke into a jog to avoid her. He obviously didnât want to speak to her. He quicklydarted into class. When Alex entered, she saw that he had his notebook open and was pretending to study something very intently.
Alex tried to approach him again at lunchtime, as he walked out of the lunch line. But he made a sharp turn in the opposite direction, and Alex didnât follow. He was clearly avoiding her, embarrassed by what had happened.
But Alex really wanted to thank him. Copying her homeworkâthat had been wrong. But telling the truth to keep Alex out of troubleâthat was really brave. She didnât want Max to walk around thinking she was angry with him.
This is exactly like my Lindsey problem, Alex thought. Max wonât even talk to me! Things were getting pretty frustrating.
Her twin noticed something was bothering Alex on the bus ride home.
âYouâve got that look on your face,â Ava said. âAnd youâve only told me three things that happened to you today, when normally at this point you would be up to ten things.â
âHa-ha,â Alex said drily.
âYou look like youâre trying to figure out a problem,â Ava said. âWhatâs bugging you? The Lindsey thing?â
âWell, that, and then this thing happened with Max,â Alex said, and she told her sister the whole story.
âWow, Al, and youâre not mad at him?â Ava asked.
Alex shook her head. âNo. It was brave of him to tell the truth, and anyway, I think thereâs a reason heâs cheating and itâs not because heâs lazy. Tommy thought there was something up with him too, when we gave him a ride home last week, and he thought I could figure it out. But I havenât been able to.â
âWait a minute. You know where he lives?â Ava asked.
Alex nodded. âYes.â
âSo go over there and talk to him,â Ava suggested. âHe probably doesnât want to talk about it in school, where everybody can listen.â
âAve, thatâs a great idea!â Alex said. âHeâs in Magnolia Terrace. Itâs not that far. Iâm going to ride my bike over there as soon as we get home. Thank you. Thatâs great advice.â
âWell, I owe you one,â Ava said. âYou and Tommy.â
âWhat do you mean?â Alex asked.
âIâm finally going to take your advice,â Avasaid. âI told Coach I needed help.â
âYou know, sometimes I wonder how people manage who donât have a twin,â Alex remarked. âI mean, look at us. Weâre solving each otherâs problems!â
The bus came to a stop near the Sackettsâ house.
âNot