Free Even the Score by Belle Payton

the back was a shirt with the most adorable pink rhinestone kitty on it.”
    â€œReally? I missed that.” Bridget actually looked concerned. “Do you like cats?”
    â€œLike them? I’m crazy for cats. For my birthday this year, I’m getting three kittens!” Ava exclaimed.
    â€œThree?” Bridget puckered her glossed lips in an O of surprise.
    â€œI’m such a cat person,” Ava said. Out of the corner of her eye, she detected Owen grimacing, and that fueled her confidence. “Do you know what I’m going to name them? Larkin, Louie, and Linus!”
    â€œAfter Three Amigos? You like them too?”
    Three Amigos was a silly teen boy band. Ava hated their high-pitched warbling. The three singers had floppy hair and chiseled good looks that all the boys on the team ridiculed.
    â€œI thought you were one of those sporty girls. You seem so different today. What happened?” Bridget asked.
    Ava felt Owen, Jack, and the rest of the class lean in to hear her answer. She giggled and waved her hand. “I like sports, but this is the real me. I was just afraid that they wouldn’t take me on the team if I dressed pretty like this. The whole jersey-and-jeans thing was a costume. DidI fool you?” She giggled again for good measure. She hoped she wasn’t overdoing it.
    â€œTotally!” Bridget cried.
    As Ava slid into her seat and Mrs. Vargas started class, she allowed herself to turn in Owen’s direction.
    He wrinkled his forehead, looking perplexed.
    Ava crossed her fingers. Had her performance worked?

    Alex tried to add the line of numbers in her head, but she kept messing up. Usually math class was a breeze for her. She hated that she couldn’t concentrate today.
    While Ava had entered the school to a flurry of amused gasps, Alex’s own reception had been harsh. Boys openly glared at her. People gave her the silent treatment. A few weeks ago, she’d ridden her wave of popularity to be elected president. Now she was being frozen out.
    All because of a scoreboard.
    Not everyone was unkind. The drama kids loved her. Probably the art and music kids too. But she’d suddenly realized that those kids weren’ther friends. At least, not yet. The first friends she’d made in Ashland were the football players, the cheerleaders, and the halftime dancers.
    And then Andy Baker came up to her before math class and, in front of Corey, Lindsey, and Emily, accused her of being “anti-football.”
    â€œMe? You think I’m anti-football?” she cried.
    â€œAll the other towns around us have high-tech boards, but because of you, we don’t.” Andy crossed his beefy arms. “So, yeah, I’m calling you anti-football.”
    The idea was so ridiculous that Alex thought she might laugh. She was a Sackett.
    Instead she countered, “It was not me . The student council presidents made the decision.”
    â€œIgnore Andy,” Emily said, as they took their seats. “He’s such a hothead.”
    â€œHe’s not the only one.”
    â€œYeah, a lot of the guys are going to the principal. They want her to overturn your—I mean, the student council’s decision,” Emily informed her.
    â€œSeriously?” Alex wondered if this would work.
    â€œThat’s what I’ve heard. Logan Medina is leading the charge. You know what else he’s doing?”
    Alex could only imagine. Logan had been her competition running for seventh-grade president. He played football and was crazy popular with the athletic kids. Losing to her had been a shock—one he hadn’t taken all that well.
    â€œHe’s been saying that he would have been a better choice than you,” Emily confided.
    â€œGirls!” Ms. Kerry, their math teacher, called. “No more chatting. Start solving the problem on the board.”
    What if Logan found a way to unseat her as president? Alex’s stomach tightened at the