May the Best Twin Win by Belle Payton

Author:Belle Payton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Spotlight

CHAPTER

NINE

Ava realized Kylie would score the touchdown the second she saw her take off running. She knew enough about angles and speed to understand that no one on the blue team was close enough, or fast enough, to overtake her and grab her flag. The blue team was going to lose. Her team, the heavy favorite, was going to lose. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It’s only a dumb Powder Puff game, she told herself. Who cares?

She opened her eyes. That had worked. She was calm. She was already over it. Good for Alex, she thought.

The clock ticked down, and the crowd cheered and honked. Ava headed off the field, already thinking about real football practice.

“Ava!” Rosa and Lindsey were beckoning her over. Both teams, the blue and the orange, were congregating around Corey.

Corey was reading a text to the group. “Good job, seventh-grade orange!” he said. “And this just in: I have the results of the eighth-grade game.” Everyone leaned in, and Corey waited dramatically before continuing. “The blue team beat the orange team.”

The crowd erupted in half cheers, half disappointed “ohhs” from most of the other girls, except Alex and Ava, who, being new, didn’t really know any of the eighth-grade girls yet.

Corey continued, “So this Friday’s matchup will be seventh-grade orange against eighth-grade blue. With teachers, of course. And you have to elect a new coach. Xander and I can’t coach you guys on Friday, because we have to be on the cheerleading squad.”

Ava grinned. A bunch of the seventh- and eighth-grade boys would be dressing up as cheerleaders and performing a routine during the halftime of the Powder Puff final. That would be a sight to behold.

“I nominate Ava,” said Rosa immediately.

That got Ava’s attention. “What? Me? The coach? I have no leadership skills.”

“Yes, she does,” said Alex loyally. “Don’t believe her. She’ll be a great coach. Plus, I think we can all agree she’s pretty much the only seventh grader who actually understands how to play football.”

The others nodded in agreement.

“So that’s settled then,” said Corey. “Ava’s going to coach the seventh-grade student-faculty team.”

Ava opened her mouth to say something, but then shrugged. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll coach you guys.”

“Your first job is to recruit some female teachers to play for the seventh-grade team in the game on Friday,” said Corey, looking down at his clipboard. “According to the rules, there have to be at least five teachers and six students on the field at all times for each team.”

“But there aren’t any decent athletes among the seventh-grade teachers,” said Rosa with a groan. “We’re going to get creamed.”

“And some of the eighth-grade faculty are crazy athletic,” added Annelise. “Like Ms. Peterson, the math teacher? She played college basketball.” She looked around the group to be sure her words had sunk in.

“And Ms. Santos used to play for the Mexican national team in soccer,” said Sydney.

“And my older brother saw Mrs. Burleigh, the eighth-grade social studies teacher, in the weight room the other day deadlifting two hundred pounds,” said Rosa glumly.

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