Chapter 3: Becoming Alex
1046 Words
Ava couldn't sleep that night
Everytime she closed her eyes, she saw the number 17 jersey.
By morning, the crazy idea had not gone away.
If anything, it had gotten worse.
Ava sat at the kitchen table, staring blankly at the bowl of cereal infront of her as she video called with Alex from the hospital.
"You look awful," he said
"So do you."
"Fair."
Ava sighed.
"It's insane."
Alex grinned.
"So that's a yes?"
"It is not a yes."
"That's not a no either."
Ava glared at him.
The grin only grew.
"Ava, think about it. Mom and Dad are leaving for Singapore tomorrow. They'll be gone for three weeks."
Their parents worked for an international consulting company, which meant they were always traveling.
Usually, Alex and Ava stayed with their aunt who lived in the state.
But, unfortunatelty, their aunt had broken her ankle and was recuperating with family out of state.
So, for the first time ever, Alex and Ava would be alone
"No parents," Alex said.
"No one to watch our backs."
"A lot of people know you."
"They know me at school."
Alex gestured to himself
"They know me as Alex Carter."
He gestured to her
"And you happen to look a lot like Alex Carter."
Ava rubbed her temples.
The more he said, the more it made sense.
And that terrifed her.
Two days later their parents left.
Ava watched their car drive down the street until it disappeared from sight.
As soon as it was gone, Alex turned to her.
"So."
"No.“You didn’t even let me finish.”I already know where this is going."
"Good."
Alex tossed her a pair of scissors.
Ava stared at them then at him.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
The arguing lasted precisely thirty seconds before Ava found herself infront of the bathroom mirror, staring at her long, dark hair.
Hair that she has worn for years.
Hair that would instantly give her away.
Alex stood beside her.
"Last chance."
Ava swallowed hard.
The dream she had chased her whole life was in her hands.
Slowly, she raised the scissors to her hair and sliced off a thick chunk of it.
Ava's heart pounded in her chest as she looked down at the mass of hair in the sink.
Alex whistled.
"No going back now."
Thirty minutes later, Ava barely recongized the girl looking back at her in the mirror
Her once long hair now skimmed the top of her ears.
It was short, messy, boyish, and altogether different from how she had ever worn it before.
Alex stared at her.
"WOW."
"What?"
"You actually look like me."
Ava rolled her eyes.
"Let's not get carried away."
But as she looked in the mirror, she had to admit she looked good.
In fact, for the first time ever, she could see herself in Alex.
The next hurdle was the voice.
"Your voice is wrong," Ava groaned.
They had spent three hours practicing.
Alex sat on the couch, giving bad acting coach lectures.
"Lower.“I am lowering it.”Lower."
"My voice doesn't go lower."
"It does now."
Ava lowered her voice.
"Like this?"
Alex pointed.
"There."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
More practicing.
Voice, walking, posture, everything.
Girls crossed their legs when they sat.
Alex didn't.
Girls didn't slouch the way he did.
Girls smiled, Alex smirked.
By the evening, Ava felt silly but ready.
More practicing.
The next day, they moved onto studying habits.
Alex handed her a notebook.
"What is this?"
"My guide to being me."
Ava laughed.
"You made notes?"
"Of course."
She flipped through the pages, filled with everything from favorite phrases to the way he walked to the way he laughed to the food he liked to the teachers he talked to the most to the people he talked to the least to the way he held a hockey stick.
"You really planned this."
"I was bored."
For hours, Ava memorized everything.
Practice made perfect, and with every passing moment, Ava became more and more like Alex.
It was unnerving for him.
"That's creepy."
"What is?"
"You just did my smile perfectly."
Ava smirked like Alex.
His eyes went wide.
"Okay, that's weird."
She was laughing but deep inside, she was thrilled.
It was all very exciting.
For the first time ever, hockey was within her grasp.
It was so close she could taste it, one step away.
Three days later, the trial began.
Training camp.
The start of the season.
Ava stood infront of her bedroom mirror wearing the Ridgewood Falcons practice jersey, number 17.
She could hardly breath.
The jersey fit perfect, too perfect.
Alex sat on her bed, watching her.
Neither of them spoke.
The reality of what they were about to do finally set in.
If they got caught, it would be disastrous.
Ava could be kicked out of school, and Alex could be kicked off the team for good.
They could both get in alot of trouble.
"You can still back out," Alex said quietly.
Ava looked in the mirror, taking in her short hair, her jersey, her bag, and her dream.
Then she shook her head.
"No."
Alex smiled.
A proud smile, the kind only a brother could give.
"Then go show them what Number 17 is made of"
Ava grabbed her hockey bag.
Her hands shook as she walked towards the front door.
Suddenly, she hesitated.
"What if they figure it out?"
Alex leaned back against the wall.
"They won't."
"You sound very confident."
"I'm not."
That made them both laugh.
She opened the door and stepped out into the cool morning air.
A black team bus was waiting at the end of the street.
Her ride to training camp.
Her ride into a lie, and possibly her biggest mistake.
The players boarded the bus one by one.
Ava gripped her hockey bag tightly as her heart pounded in her chest.
This was it.
No more practicing.
No more planning.
No more pretending.
Now it was time to really become Alex.
She took a deep breath and walked towards the bus.
Tomorrow, she would meet the team.
Tomorrow, she would meet Captain Jaxon Reed.
Tomorrow, her new life could begin.
And tomorrow, she had no idea what was in store for her.
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