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    'Tis the Off-Season
    'Tis the Off-Season
    'Tis the Off-Season
    Ebook114 pages1 hour

    'Tis the Off-Season

    By Belle Payton

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Alex and Ava team up to take on the holiday season in Ashland in the tenth book of the It Takes Two series!

    Football season is finally over, and Alex and Ava can’t wait to spend some more quality time with their family. Until their parents start acting totally unfair, that is! First they tell Ava that she can’t join the basketball team because she needs to focus on her schoolwork, and then they tell Alex she can’t host a Secret Santa party at their house after she’s already agreed to it. What is Alex supposed to tell her friends?

    On top of everything, Coach and Mrs. Sackett decide that they’re all going to stay home for the holidays instead of heading back to the East Coast. What kind of Christmas could it be without snow? Will the arrival of an unexpected guest remind Alex and Ava of all the things they have to be grateful for?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon Spotlight
    Release dateNov 17, 2015
    ISBN9781481442077
    'Tis the Off-Season
    Author

    Belle Payton

    Belle Payton isn’t a twin herself, but she does have twin brothers! She spent much of her childhood in the bleachers reading—er, cheering them on—at their football games. Though she left the South long ago to become a children’s book editor in New York City, Belle still drinks approximately a gallon of sweet tea a week and loves treating her friends to her famous homemade mac-and-cheese. Belle is the author of many books for children and tweens, and is currently having a blast writing two sides to each It Takes Two story.

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    • 4/5
      book of the day and the entrepreneur and I will call back tomorrow evening and we will have to wait for a few days for fun lol

    Book preview

    'Tis the Off-Season - Belle Payton

    CHAPTER

    ONE

    How about this one? Alex Sackett asked. She twirled around so that her twin sister, Ava, could admire the way her pleated green skirt flared. Do you think it’s festive enough for a party?

    Ava was lying on the kitchen floor alongside their dog, Moxy, rubbing Moxy’s furry stomach. She and Moxy both looked up. Ava cocked her head sideways as she regarded her twin. I guess so, she said. But Al, Christmas is three weeks away. I’ve barely recovered from Thanksgiving. What party are you even talking about?

    Alex pursed her lips and gazed at her own reflection in the kitchen window. Now that it was December, darkness fell early. She smoothed her hair. I haven’t been invited to any parties yet, but there will very likely be quite a few, given this town’s penchant for celebration.

    Ava grinned. Her sister had probably been itching to use the word penchant in a sentence. Ava had borrowed a pencil off Alex’s desk that morning—they were always sharp, with good erasers—so she knew that Alex was still going strong with her stack of SAT vocabulary cards. Moxy rolled onto her back, all four paws straight in the air, to give Ava better access to tummy rubbing.

    And I’m bound to be invited, being that I’m seventh-grade class president and all.

    Oh, yes, I almost forgot about that, said Ava drily.

    Alex didn’t seem to hear the sarcasm in Ava’s tone. And as president, I really think people look to me for style tips, she continued.

    Alex moved to a cupboard door that Ava had left open, and closed it with exaggerated annoyance. Still, I’m finding it a challenge to dress for the Christmas holiday season in a place where it never snows. I may not even have a chance to wear those boots I bought at the end-of-season sale last winter back in Massachusetts. That would be totally tragic. The Sacketts had moved from Massachusetts to Texas just this past July. The twins were still getting used to the fact that it didn’t snow—or get very cold at all—in their new town.

    I wouldn’t be so sure about that, honey. Their father, Coach Mike Sackett, loomed in the kitchen doorway. Ashland does see snow from time to time. Maybe not as much as Massachusetts, but that’s fine with me. I’m not going to miss shoveling the driveway in February.

    Moxy scrambled to her feet and charged over to Coach, wagging her whole back end with delight. He reached down and fluffed the dog’s ears. His hair was damp and combed and Ava noticed a dab of shaving cream just below his chin. She felt a surge of affection for her dad. He was the head coach of the Ashland Tigers football team—that was the reason they’d moved. It was a high-pressure job, but a few weeks ago Coach had shown the town he had what it took to win the state championship in his very first season.

    At least I’ll be able to wear my new boots when we go to Massachusetts for Christmas, said Alex.

    Ava shook her head as she got to her feet. Her sister was a planner. Alex was the sort of person who bought Christmas presents for people in July, when she saw just the right thing.

    Hey, Coach, said Ava. Who’s going to look after Moxy when we’re in Massachusetts?

    What? Coach glanced down at Moxy with a startled look, as though he’d forgotten she existed. Moxy, annoyed that he’d stopped petting her ears, pawed his pant leg. Oh, uh, we’ll work all that out, he said. He seemed relieved when Mrs. Sackett bustled into the kitchen, fastening her earring.

    She had put on a black dress and was holding a pair of strappy shoes, but Ava could see a streak of blue paint on her wrist. She grinned. Her mom might look put-together at first glance, but the twins could always spot some evidence of her artsy side.

    Girls, are you sure you’re okay making your own dinner tonight? she asked them, hopping a little as she slipped first one foot and then the other into her shoes. Tommy’s going out with Cassie, so it’s just you two.

    Of course we’re sure, both girls said at the same time. Ava was glad her brother wasn’t here. She and Alex often said the same thing, or finished each other’s sentences, and Tommy called it their creepy twin thing. It was something they’d been doing ever since they had both learned to talk.

    You and Daddy have fun. Ave and I are going to watch a romantic movie, said Alex.

    Ava smiled and nodded at their mom. In fact, the idea of sending their parents on a date tonight had been her idea. Football season was over for all of them—not just for Coach, but for Tommy, too, who was a sophomore and a player on the team, and also for Ava, who was the only girl on the Ashland Middle School team. But the real reason Ava had proposed that her parents go out tonight was because she wanted to distract them from asking how her math test had gone today. (Answer: not too well.)

    Tommy barged in, engulfed in a cloud of body spray. He stepped around Moxy and opened the refrigerator door to peer inside.

    Why are you eating now? Aren’t you and Cassie going out for pizza tonight? asked Alex.

    Yep, said Tommy, pulling out the fixings to make himself a sandwich. That’s why I need to pre-eat. I can’t show her my fearsome appetite this early in our relationship or I might scare her off.

    And, let me guess, you’re planning to pay, too, right? asked Ava with a sly look. You can’t eat as much as you would if Mom and Dad were footing the bill.

    Now, Ave, said Mrs. Sackett, suppressing a smile.

    You ready, honey? Coach asked their mom, picking up the car keys.

    Mrs. Sackett nodded as Coach opened the kitchen door and stepped aside to let her pass.

    I can’t believe we’re going on an actual date on an actual Friday night, she said with a laugh. And that we don’t have to watch a football film tonight.

    I never said that, said Coach with a grin. The night is young.

    He’s so romantic, sighed Mrs. Sackett.

    Alex followed them to the door and waved as they drove away. A few minutes later, Tommy polished off the last bite of his sandwich and then he, too, left. And then it was just the two of them and Moxy.

    Yes! said Ava. She pulled the jar of popcorn kernels and a bottle of oil out of a cupboard. Mom forgot all about my math test. She put her ten fingertips together, wiggling them evil-villain-style, and pretended to cackle. My little scheme worked out perfectly! she said.

    Alex crossed her arms and gazed sternly at her sister. Did you seriously concoct this date idea for Mom and Dad so they wouldn’t ask you about the math test you took today?

    Ava smiled sweetly. I might have.

    That is so pernicious of you! said Alex. Another vocab word.

    I just didn’t feel like thinking about schoolwork on a Friday night, said Ava. Plus I have the whole weekend to do homework. I don’t have a game tomorrow, remember? I’ve got nothing but time on my hands until basketball season starts, and that won’t be until after Christmas break. As the athletic half of the twins, not only had Ava been the lone girl on the football team, but she was planning to try out for the basketball team for the winter season. Luckily, there was a girls’ team, so Ava wouldn’t have to deal with all the publicity she’d had to endure during the football season.

    Her sister dropped the stern face and moved to pull a big mixing bowl out of the bottom cupboard. You make the popcorn. I’ll get started on the chocolate chip cookies.

    Sounds good, agreed Ava. And it’s my turn to pick the movie, so forget romance—let’s watch something scary!

    Half an hour later, the cookies were in the oven and the two sisters were settled in on opposite ends of the comfy couch in Coach’s study, watching the

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