Twice the Talent by Belle Payton Read Free Book Online

in Ashland!

CHAPTER
EIGHT
    â€œTwo cheeseburgers, extra ketchup,” Ava announced, holding up a greasy white paper bag as she walked into Kylie’s hospital room later that afternoon.
    â€œAva, you’re the best,” Kylie said, sitting up in her hospital bed. Ava pulled a green plastic chair closer to Kylie’s bed and sat down. She thought her friend still looked really tired. Her braids were pulled back behind her neck.
    â€œWhen you texted me that you had creamed chicken with peas for dinner on Sunday, I thought you might appreciate these,” Ava said, handing Kylie the bag. “Mom stopped at Burger Hut on the way here.”
    â€œTell her thanks,” Kylie said, biting into the burger. “Oh wow, that’s good.”
    â€œHow does your leg feel after the surgery?” Ava asked.
    â€œIt hurts pretty badly, but the medicine helps,” Kylie said. “I just want to get out of here! I’m going crazy. But the doctor says I might have to say another couple of days.” She sighed.
    â€œWell, you didn’t miss much at school,” Ava reported, trying to remember if anything interesting had happened. “Oh yeah. During lunch, Billy Scarbek balanced a chair on his nose. He said he was practicing for the Variety Show.”
    Kylie stopped chewing and looked down at her hands.
    â€œHey, you looked sad when Alex mentioned the Variety Show on Saturday, too,” Ava said, remembering. “You weren’t going to be in it, were you?”
    Kylie put down the cheeseburger she was eating and took a deep breath. “Ava, I need to tell you something about me that you don’t know,” she said solemnly.
    â€œOkay, now I’m in suspense. What is it?” Ava asked.
    â€œI love line dancing,” Kylie blurted out. “I knowyou probably think it’s goofy, being from the East Coast and everything, but it’s actually a lot of fun. I learned when I was a little kid.”
    â€œWell, you are wrong about me thinking line dancing is silly, because I don’t even know what line dancing is,” Ava admitted.
    Kylie picked up her phone and found a video clip. Then she handed it to Ava.
    â€œThis is line dancing. You’ve probably seen it in movies and stuff.”
    Ava looked at the video playing on the phone. Three rows of people wearing cowboy hats were dancing in perfect step. They clapped and slapped their knees in time with the music. Ava thought the tune was pretty catchy.
    â€œHey, this is cool,” Ava said. “It’s pretty amazing the way everybody does the steps at exactly the same time, and they keep the lines straight too.”
    Kylie smiled. “I’m glad you don’t think it’s dumb. Anyway, since the theme this year is Wild West, my line-dancing friends and I were really excited to have an act in the Variety Show. When I texted them that I broke my leg, I could tell they were upset. The dance works with five people, but it looks a lot better with six.”
    Kylie looked really sad, and Ava felt so badfor her friend. She wanted to do anything she could to make Kylie feel better. Before she could really think about it, she blurted out, “I’ll take your place!”
    Kylie looked surprised. “Ava, that’s sweet, but what about your ankle?”
    â€œIt’s been a week already, and it doesn’t even hurt,” Ava countered. “I’m allowed to walk on the brace, I just can’t jump and run and stuff. It doesn’t look like there’s any of that in the video.”
    Kylie looked thoughtful. “No, there isn’t, really. I mean, you’d probably be okay . . . but you didn’t even know what line dancing was until I told you!”
    â€œI know, but it doesn’t look that hard,” Ava said. “I mean, I’m sure you need to practice a lot, but I learned a lot of complicated cheerleading routines when I was pretending to be Alex,