Even the Score Read Online Free Page A

crowd, disappearing down the hallway.
    What is with him? Ava wondered.

    â€œI don’t get it,” Ava confided to her friend Kylie McClaire at lunch. “What did I do? Owen acts so weird when I’m around.”
    â€œWhat makes you think you did something?” Kylie asked. “How do you know he doesn’t act weird all the time?” Her dark eyes flashed mischievously. She liked sparking a debate. And Ava liked debating with her.
    She was glad that she’d found Kylie in this big school. Kylie was cool without being a slave to the popular girls. Everything about her was unique: She wore metallic beads at the ends of the dozens of thin braids that cascaded down her back. Her fingers each sported a different silver ring. Today she wore red jeans and a cropped black jacket. Plus, she lived on a ranch on the outskirts of Ashland.
    Last week, when she called Kylie her best friend, her dad was surprised. “Isn’t Alex your best friend?” he’d asked her. She’d explained that Alex was her other half , which was much more than a best friend. And totally different.
    â€œOkay, so the boy is weird.” Ava bit into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She’d eaten the same sandwich for lunch every day since kindergarten. She didn’t care that Alex had started bringing salads, because she thought they were more grown-up. She liked PB&Js with no crusts, so why change? “I wish he’d stop staring and glaring, though.”
    â€œThere’s nothing wrong with weird, you know,” Kylie pointed out. “You don’t know what Owen’s like at all.”
    Ava glanced across the cafeteria to whereOwen sat with Logan, Andy, Ryan, and bunch of the other football boys. “I do know he’s really fast and intense on the field.”
    â€œWhat about off the field?” Kylie picked at her blue nail polish as she spoke. “Owen’s really smart.”
    â€œHe’d have to be to play wide receiver.”
    Kylie gave an exasperated sigh. “Ava, he’s about so much more than football! Do you know he reads fantasy? And has smart insights on the plots and the characters?”
    â€œNo.” Ava scrunched up her nose. “How do you know that?”
    â€œWe read the same books. And we talk about them almost every night,” Kylie said.
    â€œYou two talk? How did I not know this?” Ava did a quick mental replay. Sure, she’d suspected Kylie had a little crush on Owen, but when did that turn into late-night book talks?
    â€œWell, not talk talk,” Kylie admitted sheepishly. “Chat online. We both belong to the same fantasy forum. He uses the screen name OwenRooney. Boys are so literal. But he doesn’t know I’m me. He thinks he’s talking to ranchergirl722.”
    â€œSo tell him,” Ava encouraged.
    Kyle shook her head and peeled a strip ofpolish from her thumb. “I can’t. I mean, what if I do and then he stops chatting with me?”
    Ava stared at her best friend. She’d never seen confident Kylie so unnerved. She really likes him, Ava realized.
    â€œI think he would be excited if he found out,” Ava said.
    â€œI don’t want to risk it. Besides, I don’t think he even knows I go to this school,” Kylie moaned.
    â€œI can talk to him about you,” Ava offered. “I see him at practice every day, and believe me, I’m searching for something to say. I’ll talk you up.”
    â€œReally?” Kylie’s round face broke into a smile. “But you won’t tell him about ranchergirl, promise?”
    â€œI promise. I’ll tell him how great you are. I’ll get him to notice you,” Ava pledged.
    Kylie hugged her. “You are the best best friend ever!”

CHAPTER
Three
    Alex fixed her curls in the bathroom mirror, then applied another layer of shimmery gloss to her lips. She stepped back and took a long, appraising look.
    Did she look