Read Online Split Decision by Belle Payton - Free Book Online

doesn’t send the message,” Coach Sackett said. “But for the spring season, he will no longer be team captain.”
    â€œSeriously? You took away his captain title?” Tommy jumped up. “Did he freak?”
    â€œPJ was upset, sure,” Coach said. “Mr. Kelly was livid.”
    â€œNo one’s ever been kicked off as captain.” Tommy shook his head in disbelief.
    â€œHe must be crazy mad,” Alex said.
    â€œI told him we’d revisit it for the fall season, if PJ shows me he can be trusted. There’s no room for lies in my football family.” Coach landed his gaze on Alex and Ava. “Or in this family.”
    Alex readied herself for her dad’s lecture. When they messed up with their mother, she could be awfully loud, but she got over it quickly. Coach simmered. Alex dreaded his disappointment and lectures more than her mom’s outbursts.
    â€œWe never meant to eavesdrop,” Alex said.
    â€œWe felt weird tattling—that’s why we didn’t tell you about PJ,” Ava put in.
    â€œWhat I can’t understand is why you left our street when I clearly told you not to,” Coach said.
    â€œMoxy ran,” Alex said. “She went after a rabbit.”
    â€œShe did,” Ava backed her up. “Moxy runs fast, and we had to chase her.”
    â€œBut did she run from our street all the way to the Kellys’ house?” he asked.
    â€œKind of.” Alex twisted her hair with her finger. She tended to do that when she wasn’t telling the truth. “Are we punished?”
    Coach and Mrs. Sackett carried on a silent conversation with their eyes.
    â€œWe are going to sleep on it,” Mrs. Sackett announced finally. “It’s late now, and I, for one, have had an exhausting day. Up to bed, all of you. We’ll revisit this in the morning.”
    In the bathroom they shared, Ava and Alex washed up at their side-by-side sinks.
    â€œThat wasn’t too bad,” Ava remarked.
    â€œWe’ll see.” Alex wasn’t letting Ava off so easily.
    â€œI’m sorry, Al,” Ava said. “Let’s talk to Mom in the morning. You can tell her all about Corey. She’s a softie for that stuff. I bet she’ll go easy and not ground you and you can still go out.”
    Tell Mom all about Corey? Alex almost let out a laugh. Where should she start? That she was the only one of her friends without a boyfriend, and when she finally got the boy she’d liked forever to go to the movies with her, he blew her off for no reason? And even if she managed to fix things and get him back into movie night, now she might be grounded!
    â€œWhatever,” she said angrily to Ava, even though she knew none of that was really Ava’s fault. Then she stormed to her room and shut the door.
    Ava winced. It’s not like Alex to be so mean, she thought as she turned out the light and went to bed.

CHAPTER
SEVEN
    Every time Alex glimpsed Corey’s dark-red hair down a crowded hallway the next morning, she found it hard to breathe. She wanted to talk to Corey, yet she was scared to talk to Corey.
    The anger and confusion she’d felt yesterday had transformed into a nervous, fluttery ache. She liked Corey. Really liked him. What if he wasn’t just having a bad day? What if he really didn’t like her anymore?
    She buzzed on high alert all morning, barely absorbing anything the teachers said in her classes. At lunchtime, Alex hovered in the cafeteria doorway, watching her usual table fill up. Lindsey, Emily, and Rosa sat. So did Kal, Xander, and Corey.
    She was sure that Corey hadn’t told anyone that he’d dumped her, because none of her friends had mentioned it. Even if he’d told one of the guys, it would’ve trickled down to her. So she still had a chance to turn it all around. Maybe he wouldn’t even remember.
    â€œLet’s go,” she whispered to herself. She was determined to