Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? (3 page)

Alex let out a loud laugh. She showed Emily the text. “The only power Ava and I share is the need to eat!”

Ava stared at the yellow slip of paper instructing her to go to the principal's office.

It was Monday morning. She had just walked into homeroom. What could she have possibly done? Her mind raced through the possibilities. She had turned in all her homework last week. She hadn't been late to practice at all. She always threw away her trash at lunch.

“Ava?” Ms. Kerry tapped her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Ava forced a smile. “I hope so. I guess I should go, huh?”

Her teacher nodded, and Ava headed to Ms. Farmen's office. She had been there only twice: on her first day of school, and when she was fighting the school board to let her play football.

Mrs. Gusman, the school secretary, was on the phone. She smiled broadly at Ava and pointed toward Ms. Farmen's door.

If I were getting in trouble, Mrs. Gusman wouldn't smile. Right?
Ava reasoned.

Unless the secretary was evil.

But Ava didn't think she was. Mrs. Gusman was known for handing out hard butterscotch candies to the kids.

Ava cautiously pushed open the principal's door. An amazing-looking girl stood next to Ms. Farmen. She had caramel-colored skin, almond-shaped eyes, and brown hair that cascaded down her back. She wore skinny jeans, a sheer white shirt that revealed a red tank, and lots of silver jewelry.

“This is Ava Sackett,” Ms. Farmen said. “Ava, this is Charlotte Huang. Charlotte is new to our school.”

“Hey,” Ava said, still confused.

Charlotte gave a forced smile.

“Ava, I've chosen you to be Charlotte's buddy today. I'd like you to help her find her classes and her locker. Introduce her around,” Ms. Farmen explained.

“Me?” Ava asked. She wondered if the principal had sent for the wrong twin by mistake. Alex was on the student council. She was the one teachers picked to do this kind of thing. “But I'm still new here too.”

“Exactly!” Ms. Farmen cried. “I thought you'd be perfect for this honor. You remember what it feels like, and all your teachers say you've been fitting in well and are easy to get along with. Here are passes to be late to first period. Give Charlotte the grand tour!”

Before Ava could respond, she and Charlotte were guided into the hall, and Ms. Farmen turned her attention to Kal Tippett, who was waiting by her door. From his angry pose and his defiant expression, Ava suspected Kal was in trouble.

And she'd been given an honor. Pretty cool!

“Why don't I walk you around the school?” Ava suggested to Charlotte.

“Sure. Fine,” Charlotte said, not looking at Ava. She shuffled down the hallway, barely acknowledging the classrooms and teachers Ava pointed out.

Hmmm, I better channel my inner Alex,
Ava thought. “So, where did you move from?” she asked Charlotte brightly.

“New York City,” Charlotte said defiantly. “This is my first time moving.”

“It was mine, too. Alex and I had always gone to the same school before we moved here this summer. We used to live just outside Boston,” Ava said, scanning Charlotte's schedule. “Moving is a huge deal.”

“You're from Boston? And who's Alex?” Charlotte asked, looking up at Ava for the first time.

“She's my twin. We're identical, but that's biological. We like different stuff and do different things.” Ava glanced at Charlotte's outfit. “I think you'll really like Alex.”

“I think I'll like both of you,” Charlotte said, peering into the empty cafeteria. “We could be the three East Coast girls.”

“We could,” Ava agreed.
There we go!
she thought.
I'm getting her to open up.
“But I bet our little Boston suburb was a lot different from living in New York City.”

“This is all very different,” Charlotte muttered, looking away again.

“The school?”

“The whole Texas thing. It's hard to take it all in,” Charlotte said.

“I hear you. When I first moved, it felt like we'd landed on a different planet. Texas is very . . . well”—Ava wasn't sure how to describe it—“very Texas. But you get used to it.”

“I hope not!” Charlotte said. Then, apologetically, “My parents sprang the moving thing on me.” She was quiet for a moment. “So tell me about Ashland.”

“Well, what do you think about football?” Ava asked.

Charlotte shrugged. “I'm not really into sports, unless you count ballet. I like to dance.”

“That's not going to fly here in Texas,” Ava said, laughing.

“For real?” Charlotte looked panicked. “I know nothing about football.”

“You'll have to learn,” Ava said. “The Friday night high school games are a huge deal. It's touchdowns instead of tutus for you now.” She grinned.

Charlotte frowned. “Friday night in my family is movie night. We see new movies on opening weekend. An air-conditioned movie theater sounds way sweeter than a hot stadium.”

“You're right about the heat. Texas is crazy hot!” Ava said.

“It's like living with a hair dryer constantly blasting on you,” Charlotte agreed, laughing. Then she got quiet again. “I'm going to miss snow. And the city. Walking to the French bakery on the corner. My doorman. My apartment.”

They wandered down several halls in uncomfortable silence.

“And what's with all the barbecue places?” Charlotte asked suddenly. “Every restaurant in town is barbecue or burritos. I bet they put barbecue sauce in their sushi down here!”

“Now you're getting the picture!” Ava laughed. It had taken her a while to get used to all these things too. Charlotte would be fine. “And don't forget the cowboy boots and hats.”

“The only way I could see myself rocking a pair of cowboy boots is if they're red,” Charlotte said. “And only in a sarcastic kind of way.”

Ava wasn't sure what she meant. She'd never worn her clothes in any special kind of way.

“Oh, hey, do you have boots?” Charlotte asked. “I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to put you down.”

“You didn't. I haven't bought boots yet,” Ava confessed. Although she had thought about it last week for the first time, now that it was getting a little cooler.

“I told you! We're East Coast girls. We need to stick together,” Charlotte said. “I'm glad I met you.”

“Me too,” Ava said. Charlotte seemed really sweet, and Ava knew what it was like to be homesick. “Listen, I could teach you about football,” she offered. She explained that she played on the boys' team.

“I'm going to pass,” Charlotte said. “I'm not going to need that knowledge. Ever.”

Ava wasn't so sure about this—after all, most of the Ashland social scene revolved around football games, and Charlotte seemed like someone who'd want to be social. But she didn't want to harass the new girl on her first day.

“We could go see movies together, though,” Charlotte said shyly.

“Sure!” said Ava. “And hey, do you want to sit with me at lunch?”

Charlotte's eyes brightened. “Thank you. Girls without boots need to stick together.”

“That doesn't quite work,” Ava admitted. “My friend Kylie, you'll meet her at lunch, always wears boots—she lives on a ranch.”

“A ranch? Like with cows?” Charlotte asked.

“Not cows. In Texas they're called cattle. Cows are the girls. Bulls are the boys,” Ava said, strangely impressed that she now knew that.

Charlotte sighed. “I don't belong here.”

“Don't say that. You'll make tons of friends,” Ava promised. “Everyone will love you.”

“Madame Sibyl said that Alex has the Power!” Emily announced to the entire lunch table on Monday.

“What's the Power?” Rosa Navarro asked before biting into her ham sandwich.

“Come on, Rosa. Haven't you watched the TV show?” Lindsey asked. “The Power is a psychic thing. You know, knowing things before they happen. Reading people's minds.”

“You can do that?” Rosa asked Alex.

“She and Ava can do it together. That's what Madame Sibyl said,” Emily proclaimed proudly. She wrapped her arm around Alex's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“Like how you guys said the same thing on the bus on Friday?” Corey asked.

All eyes turned to Alex. She was suddenly the center of attention. Lindsey had been the center of attention earlier when she'd described her Halloween party plans. Now everyone wanted to know about Alex's psychic abilities.

“Ava and I often have the same thoughts and say the same things. It's like we can read each other's minds,” Alex explained. She avoided saying anything about the Power. She didn't believe what Madame Sibyl had said.

At least, she didn't think she did.

“But isn't mind reading a twin thing?” Annelise Mueller asked. Annelise was a cheerleader, along with Rosa, Lindsey, and Emily. Alex wasn't—she'd had a disastrous tryout—but she worked with them on their fund-raising and publicity. “Lots of twins do that.”

“Well, sure—” Alex began.

“With Alex and Ava, it's something much more intense,” Emily explained. “Tell us, Alex.”

Everyone leaned forward, looking at her. Smiling at her. This was her chance to be someone more than the new girl or the do-gooder class president or Coach Sackett's daughter. To be someone exotic. Someone with the Power.

Alex tried to explain her and Ava's connection. It wasn't easy. She'd never put it into words before. It was just a feeling she'd always had. She thought Ava felt it too, but she'd never asked her.

“So how does the Power work?” Logan Medina asked. “What do you do first?”

“It's not like a recipe you can follow,” Emily scoffed.

“I don't know if it's really a power,” Alex said hesitantly. “It just happens. We think the same things. And if we think something hard enough, it happens. Last week, I was thinking that I really wanted to see Ava, and then she showed up, even though I thought she was at football.”

“Can you do it now?” Annelise asked.

“Yes!” Emily cried. “Do it now, Alex. Show us the Power!”

“Here?” Alex bit her lip.

“Totally!” Emily said. She pointed to a table across the cafeteria, where Ava sat with Kylie McClaire and a pretty girl whom Alex didn't recognize. “Use your mind to get Ava to come over here.”

“Go for it!” cried Xander Browning. He pounded the tabletop.

Soon all the boys were pounding and chanting. “Show us the Power!”

“Okay, okay,” Alex said shakily. She gazed at Ava, hoping to give her some kind of signal. But Ava's back was toward Alex, and she seemed to be laughing at something Kylie had said.

How was she supposed to silently communicate with her twin on command? What had she gotten herself into?

“Are you doing it?” Emily whispered.

Alex nodded and closed her eyes.

“Shhh, guys,” Emily whispered to the others.

Ava. Ava. Ava.
Alex silently repeated her sister's name.

Could she somehow sneakily text Ava to hightail it over here? That seemed like the only way this would work. She opened one eye.

Everyone was watching her.

She closed her eye. What choice did she have? There was no logical way that Ava could receive her psychic message. Alex knew that. Whenever they'd had twin connections before, they'd always been together. And the past few days had just been full of coincidences.

This was going to end badly.

They'll all laugh at me
, she realized.
By next period, I'll be the joke of the school.

She came up with a plan. She'd keep her eyes closed until the bell rang. Maybe convince them that there hadn't been enough time. Or the conditions weren't ideal.

Or something.

She inhaled the pungent odor of tacos. She listened to distant laughter. And waited. And thought really, really hard about Ava.