Free Go! Fight! Twin! by Belle Payton

thanks to all her sports and her daredevil climbing and bike riding. But not Alex—she was always the careful, deliberate one. “I can call my mom,” said Alex in a small voice.

    Mrs. Sackett was at the school in fifteen minutes, a smear of paint on her chin and still wearing the blue-and-white-striped apron from her pottery studio. On the way to the walk-in clinic, she called their pediatrician’s office. On speakerphone Alex heard the nurse say they’d call ahead to the walk-in clinic.
    Coach Jen had bandaged Alex’s chin with gauze and tape. It hurt, but the waves of guilt washing over her made Alex feel so much worse. She had caused the accident! This was all her fault. Her mom kept glancing anxiously at her as they drove to the clinic, one hand on Alex’s knee.
    At the walk-in clinic, they were seen almost immediately by a nurse, who examined Alex’s chin. She asked Mrs. Sackett a bunch of questions and wrote everything down on a clipboard, and then hurried out. A moment later the doctor walked in. Her name was Dr. Kumar. She was young and nice, and told Alex everything she was going to do before she did it. The numbing shots hurt a little at first, but after that, the stitching part was just a disconcerting tugging. At last Dr. Kumar finished and taped Alex’s chin with a surprisingly small sticky bandage. Then Dr. Kumar asked Alex a bunch of questions, shone a light into her eyes, and made her go through a series of exercises like extending her arms out and touching her nose, first with one index finger, then with the other.
    â€œI think we can rule out a concussion,” Dr. Kumar told Mrs. Sackett, patting Alex on theback. “But keep an eye on her, and be sure to call if you have any concerns. She can visit her regular doctor in a week to have the stitches removed.” She handed Mrs. Sackett an information sheet about how to care for Alex’s stitches, and another about concussions.
    Mrs. Sackett thanked Dr. Kumar, and after the doctor had left, helped Alex collect her things.
    â€œI’m going to keep you home from school tomorrow,” she said to Alex. “Even though the doctor doesn’t think there’s much danger of a concussion, I’d rather play it safe and keep an eye on you for a day.”
    Alex started to protest. That would mean she’d miss the pep rally at school! But as she thought about it, she liked her mom’s plan more and more. How could she face her teammates? She stared down at her T-shirt, which had three dark drops of blood on it.
    As they drove home, her mind flashed back to what had happened. Rosa slipping. Annelise falling. She, Alex, diving headfirst underneath Annelise in order to cushion her fall. The whole thing had been Alex’s fault. Rosa had slipped on Alex’s lip balm, for sure. On top of the gnawing guilt she was feeling, Alex was also acutelyaware of another, darker voice, telling her that if this was the worst thing that had happened, she was very lucky. She had no business being on the team. How could she have thought she would be good enough to be an Ashland cheerleader? She could have caused someone a serious injury.
    When they got home, Alex told her mother she was going upstairs to bed.

CHAPTER
Thirteen
    On Friday Alex stayed in bed as she heard Ava getting ready for school. Her mom had, as usual, been right. Her chin did hurt, her stitches itched, and she didn’t want to face everyone at the pep rally.
    She made it through a dozen of her vocabulary flash cards, finished the English reading through the following Wednesday, and worked on some sample math problems. After lunch she watched a documentary about termites from an African country called Burkina, although her heart wasn’t in it. She couldn’t stop thinking about what a terrible thing she’d done.
    By early afternoon, she came to a decision.She went downstairs to the kitchen, where her mom was paying bills at the