A Lot to Tackle Read Online Free PDF Page A

on the football team because she was a girl. He was the only one who couldn’t move beyond that.
    â€œOne more touchdown and we’d be going to the championship,” Ava shot back. “There was that missed opportunity in the second quarter, wasn’t there?” She stared at Andy. He knew she was referring to the ball he’d failed to catch. She wasn’t giving him the satisfaction of rattling her, especially in front of the otherguys. Besides, who was Andy Baker to make the whole loss her fault?
    â€œWhoa!” Corey waved his arms. “Everyone chill out. That game is over. Done. Finito. Next year will be our year to go all the way.”
    â€œYou got it,” Andy agreed. “And we won’t have to worry about Ava kicking for us.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” Ava demanded. Andy made her so angry! Did he really think she wouldn’t make the team next year? She could run and kick circles around him.
    â€œI’m talking about the game in Austin,” Andy said with a self-satisfied grin. “If your dad can’t bring home the State Championship trophy, the town will fire him. Coach Sackett and your whole family will be out of Ashland for good.”
    â€œAre you crazy?” Xander cried, jumping to his feet. “The Tigers are not going to lose.”
    â€œYeah, you can’t even think that.” Corey shook his head. “The high school guys have the game in the bag.”
    â€œThe Tigers are going to win, for sure,” Jack agreed. He turned to Ava. “You’re not going anywhere.”
    â€œI know that,” Ava scoffed. “Andy’s talking crazy.”
    â€œDessert time!” Lindsey’s voice rang out. She carried out a heart-shaped cake. Alex and Emily trailed in with the plate of brownies. The boys dove into the sweets.
    Ava sat back, turning over in her head what Andy had said. On Friday night she’d believed that the Tigers would easily win the big game. Her dad was a great coach, and the Tigers were a skilled team. But after her own game yesterday, she saw that sometimes the talent and training didn’t come together. What if the Tigers lost in Austin? Would Coach be fired? Would they have to move to a different town?
    Her stomach tightened. She’d miss everyone here. Maybe not Andy, but everyone else. She liked living in Ashland. She belonged here.
    She needed to talk to Coach.

CHAPTER
FOUR
    â€œAttention, class!” Madame Knowlton rapped her knuckles on her desk on Monday at school.
    Alex looked up from the poster she and Charlotte were coloring.
    â€œShe’s not adding something else, is she?” Logan groaned next to her.
    Madame Knowlton, their French teacher, was famous for assigning a project and then adding a new part to it each day. Alex found this infuriating. She liked knowing what was what before she started.
    At least I have Charlotte, Jack, and Logan in my group, she thought.
    Usually group projects were torturous, andAlex ended up doing all the work. She knew she shouldn’t, but rarely did anyone do things exactly the way she thought they should be done. Her mom had warned her over and over that she was too much of a perfectionist. Even now, she had to try super hard not to criticize the haphazard way Charlotte was coloring the cow’s spots. Each group had to create their own restaurant, with a complete menu and poster in French. They’d named their restaurant La Petite Vache—or the Little Cow.
    Madame Knowlton adjusted her round, wire-framed glasses on her long nose and fidgeted until the class quieted down. “Remember that we have a test tomorrow.”
    â€œI have two other quizzes tomorrow,” Jack grumbled.
    Alex nodded. She also had a ton of homework and had forgotten about this test.
    â€œThe test will cover the vocabulary in this French restaurant unit, including all the new verbs, and you will need to know the conjugations,” Madame