Free A Whole New Ball Game by Belle Payton Page A

She knew she had to say something, but her mind was totally blank.
    â€œSo how’s your dad’s team look?” Corey finally said.
    Alex’s heart sank. She knew nothing aboutfootball and cared nothing about football. She couldn’t carry on a conversation about it to save her life—not like Ava could. She would have to make a note to learn the game better. She could learn the players’ names, that kind of thing. But for now, what should she say to Corey? She needed to come up with a standard response to this question, because it seemed to be the one everyone asked.
    â€œUm, okay, I guess,” she managed.
    Corey abruptly sat down next to her on the lounge chair. Her whole body stiffened—whether in thrilled excitement or pure terror, she had no clue.
    â€œSorry, that was a dumb question,” he said.
    â€œNo, it wasn’t. It’s just that I—”
    â€œYou’ve probably been asked that by every person in this whole town,” he said.
    She smiled gratefully. “I do hear it a lot,” she admitted.
    â€œI was just trying to make conversation. I’m not great at small talk.”
    Inside, her stomach did a cautious little flip. Maybe he liked her, too!
    â€œWell, you should really ask my sister that question,” she said. “She’s really into our dad’steam. She even plays football herself. She was the star kicker at our school back in Massachusetts.”
    â€œNo kidding,” he said. “That’s pretty cool. But you told me before you weren’t that into sports, right?”
    She nodded. “Yeah, I’m very uncoordinated,” she said. “Ava and I are pretty different, even though we look exactly alike. Or used to,” she added under her breath.
    â€œIt must be awesome to have a twin. You two are probably super close, huh?”
    A wave of sadness washed over her. “We always have been,” she said. “But since we moved here, we’ve kind of been drifting apart a little.”
    â€œI guess you guys must be under a lot of pressure, just like your dad is,” said Corey thoughtfully. “I was just talking about it with my dad last night. He said a lot of people have been kind of ragging on Coach Sackett at practice, criticizing some of his coaching decisions and saying if your dad doesn’t get to the state finals, he’ll be out of a job. That there are no second chances in Ashland.” Seeing Alex’s horrified face, he quickly continued. “But my dad said that wasn’t fair. People who know what they’re talking about,who really know the game, are saying that your dad is an awesome coach. He needs a season to rebuild the team because they lost a lot of seniors and they’re not very big this year. I think your dad’s awesome. I learn so much about my own game when I watch him coaching.”
    Alex flashed a dazzling smile. “Thanks for saying that.”
    His ears instantly turned bright red, which made her like him all the more.
    The others returned just then, carrying drinks and snacks and chattering away about the latest episode of a reality TV show Alex hadn’t heard of. She told herself she would look into it before school started.
    Corey stood up. Over where his friends were sitting, the boys were collecting their towels and clothes and shoving them into backpacks. “Gotta go,” he said, a bit wistfully. “Our summer park district football team has practice.”
    He and Alex exchanged a quick smile. He jerked his chin up ever so slightly as a quick good-bye gesture to her, and she felt herself blush. She was glad she had on her big sunglasses.
    Alex watched him knock over a small plastic table as he left. He joined up with his friendsand then they all wound their way through the sea of suntanners and swimmers. She sighed. How could anyone be that cute and that nice?
    An hour or so passed, in which the girls alternated between jumping