Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? (5 page)

Ava turned to find Charlotte standing there. Her long brown hair was piled into a messy bun, and she wore a cute tank dress and black ankle boots. Picking out an outfit obviously came easily to her.

“Fine.” Ava wriggled uncomfortably in her skirt. She didn't know how to feel about Charlotte after what had happened Monday at lunch.

“You don't look fine,” Charlotte said. “You look upset.”

“It's my dad,” Ava explained. “The big high school game is on Saturday. If they win, they're on the path to the state tournament. He's supposed get Ashland the big win. That's what they called it on the radio.”

“Can he?” Charlotte asked.

Ava shrugged. “He's an amazing coach. But the Rutland Raiders—that's who they're playing—are a great team. Everything is riding on this. I mean, this is why we moved here. His birthday is on Sunday, and we can't even talk about it, because he's too stressed. He hasn't baked anything in weeks.”

“And that's weird?” Charlotte asked.

“Yes. Coach loves to bake. Cookies and muffins, especially,” Ava explained. “But his complete focus is on the game and nothing else.”

“Don't you have a game today too?” Charlotte asked.

Ava raised her eyebrows. She was surprised that Charlotte knew this. They had barely seen each other since Monday. “I do. But I'm sure I can make the field goals if they aren't crazy far.”

“To be honest, I have no idea what a field goal is. I'm thinking it's a good thing. Perhaps better than barbecue?” Charlotte smiled.

“Definitely better.” Ava gave a slight smile. Then she frowned. “It's horrible seeing Coach this tense.”

“A party is the answer,” Charlotte said. “And chocolate. Always chocolate.”

“He said no parties,” Ava reported.

“So how about just a family meal with all his favorite foods?” Charlotte asked.

Ava laughed. “Coach does love breakfast foods. French toast with powdered sugar, omelets, biscuits.”

“Have you ever had chocolate-covered bacon? It's crazy good. There's a restaurant in New York that sells it. You could make him that,” Charlotte suggested. “Chocolate plus breakfast. Pretty perfect, huh?”

“True,” Ava said, grateful to Charlotte for helping her come up with ideas. Then she shook her head. “But he won't agree to it.”

“Make it a surprise for Sunday morning,” Charlotte said. “If he wins, he's happy. If he loses, you have this amazing breakfast to cheer him up. I mean, who wouldn't be cheered up by chocolate-covered bacon?”

“I like the way you think,” said Ava, following Charlotte into the school.

For a moment, she thought of asking Charlotte what had happened at lunch on Monday, but decided to let it pass. Charlotte had probably been nervous on her first day. Ava had said plenty of stupid things herself in the past. Charlotte was nice, fun—and she was obviously going to be a good friend.

That,
Ava decided,
is all
that I need to know.

The front door slammed, jolting Alex awake. She blinked several times, her eyes slowly adjusting to the sunlight streaming through the gaps in her shades.

Then she heard Moxy whimper from all the way downstairs.

“Oh no!” Alex bolted upright. She knew what that sound meant. Her dad had left for school already. Moxy always cried when Coach left.

“It's not really this late, is it?” She stared in horror at her bedside clock. She didn't remember turning off her alarm. She gazed at her laptop, open on her desk. The windows on the screen were still open to the pages on psychic abilities in twins. She'd stayed up late reading.

“Alex? You up?” Mrs. Sackett called upstairs. “Ava left with Daddy and Tommy. Get dressed fast and you can still make the bus. I'll wrap a muffin for you. Hurry!”

Alex swung her legs onto the floor and ran to her closet.

She didn't do last-minute well. She liked to pick out the perfect outfit the night before. But last night she hadn't been able to pull herself away from the screen.

She'd discovered that the better word to describe her and Ava was telepathic, not psychic. Psychic was too general a term. Telepathic meant two people could send information back and forth using only their minds.

A famous psychic researcher she'd read about reported that only 30 percent of all identical twins shared telepathic abilities. Were she and Ava part of that 30 percent? She couldn't be sure. She'd taken several online quizzes, but the results were all over the place. Some telepathic twins reported never having to use words to talk with each other. They could just send messages with their minds. Was that what had happened at lunch on Monday? But then why didn't Ava send her a telepathic message that she was leaving early? Didn't she know that Alex had wanted to go in early today too?

“Alex, watch the clock!” her mom called.

Alex reached into her closet and grabbed the first top and bottom she touched. She sprinted to the bathroom, washed up, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and made it to the end of the block, muffin in hand, as the bus pulled up.

She kept her head down, reviewing the study guide she'd made for the social studies quiz today. She wondered if Ava had reviewed for her quiz this morning. Probably not. If Ava reviewed anything, it was her football plays. She and Ava were so different when it came to school.

When it came to clothes.

When it came to a lot of things.

Alex walked through the school halls toward her locker, her eyes still on her notes. She'd written each event on her Industrial Revolution time line in a different color. It made the study guide look pretty. And she liked pretty.

“Double trouble today, Alex!” Jack called loudly.

She looked up. “What?”

“Oops, I saw her again!” Logan Medina elbowed Jack. The two boys cracked up as the bell rang. They ran down the hall.

Alex shrugged. Boys were weird. She slipped into her seat in her homeroom.

“Ooh! Twice as nice,” Lindsey whispered across the aisle.

Alex wrinkled her nose. “Huh?”

“The whole matching thing,” Lindsey said. “Did you plan it?”

“Girls!” Mr. Kenerson called from the front of the room. “Listen up.”

As Mrs. Gusman read the list of after-school clubs over the crackly loudspeaker, Alex wondered what Lindsey was talking about.
Did I plan
what
?

Before she could ask, the bell rang again, and Lindsey shot out the door to her first class, mouthing apologetically to Alex that she needed to study before her English quiz.

Alex headed down the opposite hall to science. Her mind snapped to the lab they were working on.

Slowly she became aware of the whispers.

And a giggle. A snicker. Another giggle.

She glanced to the sides of the hall. People were watching her.

Why? What's wrong?
Her palms began to sweat. She tugged at her skirt.

Another snicker. She raised her head.

“Oh, wow.” Her words came out in a whisper. She stared, her mouth hanging open.

Walking toward her was . . .
her!

Same light-purple V-neck sweater. Same denim skirt. Same black flats. And the same face.

But it's not,
Alex suddenly realized.
Not exactly.

“Ava!” she cried.

Ava hurried toward her, ignoring all the kids who had stopped to watch. Her familiar laughter spilled out in gasps. “Seriously, Alex? This is hysterical! Look at us.”

“W-why are you dressed like that? Like me?” Alex sputtered.

“I have an away game today, so I had to dress up,” Ava explained. “What are the chances? We haven't done the matchy-matchy thing since those frilly yellow Easter dresses Mom made us wear when we were six. Remember? We looked like Peeps.”

What
were
the chances? Alex wondered. Her sister wore jerseys to school. Always.

“How did you choose that outfit?” She squinted at her twin. She didn't even know they owned the same sweater.

Ava shrugged. “No real thought. I just grabbed what called to me. What about you?”

“Same,” Alex admitted. “Except—”

Goose bumps prickled her arms as the realization hit her. This was the proof she'd been looking for. “Do you know what this means, Ave?”

“That we can't be seen together today?” Ava asked.

“No, it means we sent each other messages with our minds, and we wore matching outfits!” Alex cried. “We
do
have psychic abilities!”

“Is this a thing here? Do you and your sister dress the same a lot?” Charlotte asked Ava outside the cafeteria. She'd caught up with Ava in the hallway, and Ava had invited her to sit with her and Kylie again. Charlotte had missed lunch yesterday to take a placement test for math.

“So not a thing,” Ava said. When she'd first spotted Alex, she'd found it funny. Then everyone kept asking about it. She was self-conscious enough in a skirt without the school weighing in on their matching outfits.

“I didn't think so,” Charlotte said, walking through the cafeteria doors. “You two don't seem to have the same style. Alex is in my English class.”

“Whoa!” Ava reached out to stop Charlotte. “Kylie's sitting next to Owen. Aren't they really cute together?”

They watched Kylie show Owen something in a notebook. Owen smiled, then darted his eyes around. He spotted Logan and Corey headed his way. He stiffened and inched away. Kylie hesitated, then rose from her seat, as if to leave.

“Oh, no! We can't let her go,” Ava said. “We need to get over there.”

“There?” Charlotte sounded unsure.

“Yes! Follow me.” Ava hurried across the cafeteria with Charlotte a few paces behind.

“Hey there.” She plopped her brown lunch bag on the table. “Did you guys buy or bring today? Owen, you met Charlotte, right? Okay if we sit here? I want Charlotte to get to know as many kids as possible. I'm her student ambassador. Got to do my job!” Ava was babbling, but she had to keep Kylie next to Owen. She sat on one side of Kylie. Kylie shot her a grateful grin.

She got Owen talking about the book she knew that he and Kylie liked. She'd never read it. Owen was pretty shy, but Kylie jumped right in. Soon they were talking again, and Owen didn't seem to care that his buddies had sat down.

“Charlotte, sit here.” Ava had just noticed Charlotte hovering by the table. She patted the seat next to her, and Charlotte perched on it, looking ready to bolt at any minute.

Lindsey, Emily, and Rosa made their way to the table.

“Where's Alex?” Ava asked Emily.

“She had to do something for student council,” Emily said, sliding across from Ava. “She'll be late.”

“Are you and Alex wearing the same outfits to my party, too?” Lindsey asked Ava, sizing up the sweater-skirt combo. “Matching costumes could be cute.”

“I'm pretty certain that today is our first and last identical appearance at Ashland Middle School,” Ava said.

“Hey, Lindz, we could match. And so could Rosa and Annelise. Matching could be the costume theme,” Emily said.

“It's already the theme here,” Charlotte muttered. Everyone gazed at Lindsey, Emily, and Rosa's blue-and-white cheerleader outfits. They were cheering at the game tonight, so they'd come to school in uniform.

“Do you cheer?” Emily asked Charlotte, ignoring her sneer.

“Please.” Charlotte snorted. “I do ballet.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Rosa asked, crossing her arms. “Cheerleading is so much harder than ballet.”

“For real?” Charlotte screwed up her nose. “Have you ever tried a grand jeté or a pirouette?”

“Have you ever tried a full layout twist or a basket toss?” Rosa retorted.

“Both cheerleading and ballet are athletic and hard,” Ava piped up, trying to ease the sudden tension. “I'd look deranged if I tried either,” she joked, even though it wasn't true—she was pretty coordinated.

“That could be a funny costume,” Charlotte said. “I'll be a deranged Texas cheerleader for Halloween.”

“What?” Lindsey asked, eyebrows raised.

“I'm thinking a blond wig, cheering outfit, cowboy boots, cowboy hat, and a rodeo lasso.” Charlotte laughed.

But no one else did.

“Hey, it was a joke.” Charlotte raised her arms in mock surrender.

“Fine, but you can only come to my party if you wear a different costume,” Lindsey said. “Nothing with cheerleading.”

“Last year my friends and I all dressed as 1920s flappers. I wore a vintage teal fringe dress. Ah-mah-zing,” Charlotte said. “But I won't be making an appearance at your party. I don't do hoedowns.”

“What are you talking about?” Lindsey cried.

“You guys square dance at parties, right?” Charlotte asked.

“No one here square dances,” Emily replied tightly.