Even the Score (11 page)

“Hold on, Dorothy, we're in for a ride!” Tommy joked. He snapped on a flashlight.

Ava pulled her knees to her chin inside the white ceramic bathtub. Moxy pressed her trembling body against her, her damp fur tickling
Ava's nose. Alex squeezed beside her in the same Buddha-like position, her back angled away, nose-to-nose with the faucet.

“Are you okay?” Ava had felt a strange coldness between them the whole ride home.

“Do I look okay?” Alex shot back.

None of them looked okay. Tommy huddled on the closed toilet, and Coach was pressed against the towel bar. Mrs. Sackett hurried in, closed the door tightly behind her, and squeezed against the sink. Not an inch of space remained. The single beam of Tommy's flashlight bounced along the sage-green walls.

“What's in there?” Tommy pointed to the huge, lumpy sack Mrs. Sackett had dragged in.

She reached inside and pulled out five football helmets.

“Team sports?” Tommy laughed. “I never knew you wanted to play, Mom.”

“I don't,” Mrs. Sackett replied. “The helmets are to keep our heads safe.”

“Safe from what?” Ava asked.

“The tornado.” Their mom handed each of them a banged-up helmet. “I know I've been wrapped up in my work, but I put it on hold to go into preparation mode this morning. I bought
milk, bread, batteries, and cases of water. And I came up with the helmet idea. We certainly have enough of them in the garage.”

“I'm not wearing this!” Alex protested, sniffing the inside. “It reeks like Tommy's smelly feet.”

Tommy pushed his big feet onto the rim of the tub, and both girls swatted them away.

“It's too tight in here for that nonsense,” Coach said. “Listen to your mother. Suit up.”

They all slipped on the helmets and waited silently, as the roar of the wind increased and the tornado closed in. Ava felt her insides tighten. Her parents gave her stiff smiles from behind the grilles of their helmets. But their false grins didn't mask their worry. Her dad reached for her mom's hand.

“Remember how we used to hold hands during thunderstorms?” Ava whispered to Alex, who sat rigid next to her with her helmet sagging over her eyes.

When they were little, they would intertwine their fingers, squeezing and daring each other to let go. Letting go first meant you lost.

“You should've stayed with your football family. I bet they would hold your hand,” Alex muttered. “You guys stick together, right?”

“Stay with them? What are you talking about?” Ava asked.

“Girls, not now, okay?” Coach asked. He gazed uncertainly at the ceiling.

Moxy wiggled and tried to stand. Ava pushed her down uncomfortably into her lap. Alex crossed her arms and stared stonily at the drain, refusing to speak.

With the bobbing beam of the flashlight, the scary rush of wind, and Moxy's damp-dog stench, the bathroom felt as if it were growing smaller and smaller.

“What is your problem?” Ava finally demanded. She was never able to outlast Alex's silent treatment.

“I know you chose them over me,” Alex said quietly.

“Who?” Ava couldn't make sense of her sister's words.

“Girls, this is not the time to bicker,” Mrs. Sackett said, her voice barely audible.

“Look.” Alex leaned over Moxy's head. “I know you signed that petition. I can't believe you chose your team over your twin.”

“What?” Ava cried. “I—”

The rest of her words were drowned out by
what sounded like a jumbo jet touching down on their roof. The roar momentarily shook the house.

Instinctively, Ava reached for Alex's hand. Alex hesitated, then held on tight, and they squeezed their fingers together.

Neither letting go.

As fast as the roar came, it left. They all huddled together, listening to one another breathe in the sudden silence. Alex heard her heart thudding.

Tommy waved his flashlight from face to face. “That was weird.”

“That was scary,” Mrs. Sackett corrected.

“I think it passed through,” Coach added.

Alex felt Ava's warm fingers still laced with hers. She liked how perfectly they fit together. “Did you sign?” she asked softly.

“I didn't. I would
never
sign,” Ava replied.

Alex blinked back her surprise and the rush of relief. “But you worked so hard to be a part of the team.”

“Do you seriously think I'd choose a scoreboard over you?” Ava asked.

“I hoped not, but it seems as if everyone is against me.”

“Not everyone.”

“What are you two going on about?” Tommy demanded.

“It's a twin thing,” Alex and Ava said at the same time. They shared a secret smile.

“Can we get out of here?” Tommy asked.

“Let's go,” Mrs. Sackett agreed. She pushed open the door. Moxy leaped up and trotted into the dark house.

Alex stood in the tub, hand in hand with Ava. Football helmets still on, they stepped out together to survey the damage.

Alex parted the curtains in the family room and stared out at the empty street. The rain had started up again and the wind, although greatly lessened, still swayed the trees. Branches and twigs littered their lawn. No one was outside. The town felt eerily silent.

Would another tornado follow? Sometimes that happened, she knew.

The house looked the same as it always had, except the lights, TV, and phone didn't work. She glanced at her phone. “How can it only be four o'clock?” The ride home and the huddle in the bathroom felt as if it had lasted a lifetime.

“No game tonight,” Coach said, sending the
announcement out through his cell phone.

“Really?” Ava asked. “Because our team looks ready to take the field.”

Alex laughed. They all still wore their helmets! What would Johnny from student council think if he could see her now? The Sacketts really were all about football!

“Friday night and no game,” Tommy muttered, pulling off his helmet. “Can I go to Luke's?”

“No way,” their mom said. “You're staying put until we're sure this weather has passed.”

“What are we going to do here with no power?” Tommy grimaced. “You know, if I had a real piano instead of an electric keyboard, I'd be able to play it now. Wouldn't that be nice?”

“Nice try,” Coach said. “Not happening.”

“Thought it was worth a shot.” Tommy had been angling for a piano ever since they'd moved.

“I know! Game night!” Alex cried. She loved board games. She didn't stand a chance out on a field with her father, Tommy, and Ava, but board games were her thing. And her mom's, too, but Alex was way more competitive. She grabbed a flashlight and pulled her favorites from the shelves. Coach lit candles and they all gathered around the table.

“Kylie just texted. Her family is fine. And Jack texted that they're all good too,” Ava reported.

“Phones away,” Alex commanded. “You too, Daddy.”

“Did that tornado rattle your brain?” Tommy asked. “The Queen of Texting is asking us to power down?”

“You'll all need your full attention if you have any chance against me in these games!” Alex crowed, turning off her phone.

After several rounds of Apples to Apples, Scrabble, and Clue, Tommy gave up. “I'm losing because I'm hungry.”

“That's a lame excuse,” Alex replied. “You're always hungry.”

“Actually, hungry is good. Very good,” Coach said. “We need Tommy to devour the food in the fridge and freezer. Without power, it'll melt or go bad.”

“Oh no!” Mrs. Sackett jumped up. “Everyone follow me!”

They trailed her into the garage. Even Moxy followed. Mrs. Sackett pulled open the freezer door of the extra refrigerator in the corner.

“Is that all ice cream?” Alex asked. Forty cartons were stacked inside. Chocolate, vanilla,
cookie dough, peanut butter fudge swirl . . . She couldn't read all the different flavors.

“The Ice Cream Chow-Down. Wow! It's tonight. Or I guess it was supposed to be.” Coach scratched his head.

“Are you surprised I remembered?” their mom asked.

“Well, you have been a bit preoccupied lately . . . ,” Coach started.

“You shouldn't doubt me,” she teased.

“You're so right.” He groaned. “But for once, I decided not to bother you with the team. I called the Creamery yesterday. They're scheduled to deliver twenty gallons of ice cream to the house later!”

“More ice cream?” Alex cried.

“And we're not even having all those guys over,” Ava added.

“There's still going to be an ice cream chow-down tonight, just with a different team. The Sackett team. Ava, go grab five spoons,” Mrs. Sackett said. “Everyone pick a flavor. We need to eat as much of this as we can before it melts!”

“And before the ice cream truck arrives,” Coach Sackett added. “I don't think I can cancel the delivery.”

Alex reached for the cherry vanilla. She gazed at the pots and bowls on the drying rack. Her mom had run out this morning to buy the ice cream and prepare them for the storm when she should have been getting the ceramics ready to ship.

“I have an idea,” she announced, and in minutes she formed everyone into an assembly line. Sharing ice cream straight from the cartons, they wrapped, packed, and labeled by candlelight.

Tommy popped the bubble wrap as they worked. “Name that tune,” he said.

“ ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat,' ” Alex guessed. Tommy was forever tapping out tunes on odd objects.

“No! It's ‘Yellow Rose of Texas.' ” Tommy scowled and tried to pick out the notes again.

“What's that song?” Ava asked, sticking her spoon into the peanut butter fudge swirl.

“Only the best Texas song ever,” Coach said. Then he began to sing. His voice was deep and very flat.

“No!” Alex and Ava teased, plugging their ears.

“You want to talk Texas?” Their father didn't wait for an answer and launched into a story of a huge storm he'd been through when he was growing up in Texas.

The hum of the refrigerator suddenly filled the air, and the lights turned back on. Ava cheered, but Alex felt a bit let down. Having the tornado come through Ashland had been strangely fun. She loved having her family laughing and talking together on a Friday night. When was the last time that had happened during football season? Had it ever happened during football season?

Moxy barked and paced in front of the side door that led into the garage.

“Knock, knock!” called a man's deep voice.

Her dad opened the door to find Doug Kelly, their neighbor, on the stoop. Mr. Kelly, whose son PJ was the high school quarterback, had broad shoulders and a hulking frame that made Alex suspect he'd played Texas football when he was in school.

“You folks all right?” Mr. Kelly asked, pushing his thick, graying hair from his eyes. “Figured I'd walk about and check up on y'all.”

“That's mighty kind of you,” Coach said. “We're fine. Your family?”

Mr. Kelly nodded. “This section of town fared okay. Some downed branches and a missing shingle or two, but that's nothing. But I'm hearing reports that over at the middle school—”

“Is everyone okay?” Alex jumped in. She thought of all the kids waiting for their parents when she and Ava had left with their mom.

“All the kids and teachers took cover long before it hit. The warning was early this time,” Mr. Kelly said. “It's the football field and the baseball diamond. The twister churned them up something good.”

“Churned them up?” Ava asked.

“The tornado missed the school buildings but bulldozed its way down the fields. Trees are uprooted. The bleachers are in pieces, and the scoreboard splintered. One goalpost is leaning. And grass and dirt are everywhere,” he said.

“But we have a big game tomorrow,” Ava cried.

Mr. Kelly shook his head. “Not on that field, you don't. The game's been canceled. I have no idea where the middle school will play or practice for the next few weeks. They say the field is destroyed.” Alex couldn't tell if he was happy or sad about this. He had tried to prevent Ava from getting on the football team; he was one of the people who didn't think girls should play.

Ava's eyes grew wide. “But we were just starting our season.”

Alex felt horrible for Ava. And for the team.
True, they hadn't been so nice to her lately, but they'd been upset about losing their new scoreboard. She got that, even though she didn't agree with them. And now they'd lost their home field. Alex knew that was a big deal. Her dad always told her teams played better on the grass they knew and practiced on.

She wished she could find them a new field. But where? She'd only just moved to Ashland. She knew nothing about fields.

Mr. Kelly changed the conversation to the high school team's prospects, and Alex tuned out. She placed the final box on top of the pile of boxes that were labeled, packed, and ready to ship. She was proud they'd banded together today to help her mom. Then she thought back to the drama club's flood. The student council had banded together to buy them new costumes and props.