“You know, I honestly don’t think I can do it.” Max flops onto her bed, kicking off her shoes while staring at the ceiling.

Her beat-up Vans thump to the floor and I resist the urge to bend down and put them away.

I have to be mature about this.

Max and I will be sharing this room for at least another six months. I can control my neat-freak urges.

I can.

And I will.

My fingers ball into a fist as I turn away from the rumpled shirt lying next to the shoes.

“We have to do it.” I plunk down on my own bed.

“Uh, no, actually. We don’t.” Max perches up on her elbow and stares at me.

“Come on.” I tip my head. “It’s baseball. I’m not letting those arrogant jerks take away my final season. Besides, you have to play if you want any shot at college ball. Dad promised you this move wouldn’t jeopardize that.”

Max rolls her eyes and flops back down, her jaw clenched tight.

I so wish I could take this all back for her. I wish we could have stayed in Columbus where life was perfect.

And now life’s going to suck.

I close my eyes, annoyed at my dark mood. I try so hard to stay positive and upbeat. My sisters need my strength right now, but I’m just not sure I can give it to them.

Rubbing my hip, I wince, knowing there’s a bruise under my jeans.

What a freaking jerk. Mr. Curly-Hair-Smirk-Face knew exactly what he was doing when he threw that ball at me. His tall friend—Holden—gave him a nudge and told him off, which was something, but still…

I don’t like either of them.

Nibbling my thumbnail, I try to forget how hot Holden is. I hate that I’m even mildly attracted to him. My body seriously needs to get on board with my brain on this one.

Holden.

Holden Carter.

I need to stay as far away from that guy as possible. Might be a little tricky considering who he is.

My upper lip curls as I relive the last few minutes of that torturous practice…

Just as we were about to leave, Dad went over and introduced himself.

“You must be Milo Carter’s son.” His hand shot out, and my insides crawled with irritation.

Holden took his hand and gave it a firm shake. “Yes, sir. Holden Carter.”

“Well, it’s great to meet you. I hear you’re the captain of the team.”

“Yes, sir.” He nodded while I failed to hide my horror.

“I’m confident you’ll take good care of my girls, then.” Dad’s veiled warning was so not veiled. The steely look in his eye told everyone he’d seen Luke’s dickhead throw.

Holden swallowed and nodded. “I’ll do my best, sir.”

“Great.” Dad slapped his shoulder and let go of his hand, turning away and walking us back to the car.

The car.

A relieved sigh whistles out of me as I think about our “new” car.

On the way home, Dad swung by a secondhand car dealer and hooked us up with a Toyota Camry. It’s not the nicest car in the world, but it’s a car. Dad once again stuck to his promise that he’d finally buy his daughters a car once we moved. It was a pretty quick sale. The guy’s black mustache twitched under Dad’s negotiating skills and we drove away in the yellow Camry only forty minutes after arriving at the yard.

Chloe’s already named it Sunshine, which Max made her swear to keep a secret.

“I’m not driving a car called Sunshine, Chlo.”

“Fine, I’ll only call it that when I’m driving it, then.” Chloe slumped down in the back seat. I shot her a smile in the rearview mirror. Her lips twitched.

I love how easy she is to win over.

I love it, and I hate it.

Or more precisely…it worries me.

She was practically swooning when she got back to us after collecting the ball off Holden.

“Chloe’s crushing already,” I mutter.

Max snorts and shakes her head on the pillow. “She’s Chloe. Of course she is.”

“Why does she always fall for the hotties?”

“Duh. Because they’re hot.” Max rolls onto her side, resting her head on her elbow. “And some of those guys were kind of hot. It’s a good-looking team. Chloe was bound to be intrigued by one of them.”

“I know.” I sigh. “But why the captain? Ugh. Arrogant jockiness just oozes from his pores.” I stick out my tongue.

Max doesn’t say anything, and when I glance up at her she gives me a knowing smirk.

“Not!” I retort. “Don’t even think it. He’s disgusting, not good-looking!”

“He’s gorgeous, Mads. You’d have to be blind not to notice.”

“Okay, fine. He’s handsome-ish,” I mutter, the whole time thinking I’ve never seen such a hot specimen. I’d rather eat dog poop than admit that to her though, so I finish up with a snappy, “But he knows it. And that makes him ugly.”

“Whatever.” Max shrugs. “I still don’t think I can play for them. Who the hell wants to be a Pitbull?”

“We do,” I say, very unconvincingly.

“I just don’t see how I can play with a bunch of asshats who think the sun shines out their butts. They’re no better than we are!”

“Exactly.” I snap my fingers and point at her. “And that’s what we’re going to prove. The best way to beat these guys is to show them that they’re wrong about us. We have to be the best.”

I stand from my bed, pacing in the small space while I launch into the kind of speech I’d give my team just before a crucial game. It’d fire them up and get them so pumped that when we ran onto the field we were ready to cream our opponent.

That’s what we had to do this time.

We had to be the best, to strive for perfection and show those arrogant Pitbulls that girls could play as hard and as well as any of them.

“We’re not weak!” I slap my fist into the palm of my hand. “We’re freaking Barlow sisters, and we can do anything we put our minds to.”

I glance down at Max, hoping for some kind of cheer, but her eyes have slid shut and she’s drifted into la-la-land.

Rolling my eyes with a sigh, I spin to find Chloe leaning against our doorjamb.

“Nice speech, sis.” She gives me a sweet smile.

I snicker and point at Max. “Obviously very rousing.”

Chloe giggles, her eyes sparkling as she stretches out her arms and wraps me in a hug. “I know this sucks, but we can do it. As long as we stick together.”

“That’s right.” I kiss the side of her head.

Chloe gives me a squeeze and repeats our little mantra. “We’re not just sisters, we’re besties.”

Her soft words put a smile on my face, empowering me in a way nothing else can.

My sisters mean everything to me, and even though this is freaking hard, they need me to be strong.

I can do this.

I can face this new school tomorrow.

I can show those damn Pitbulls that we belong.

Everything is going to be okay.