Winter White by Jen Calonita Page B

and half looking to see who was watching them. Savannah was the once cackling. She saw Izzie and stopped cold, which made Mira look over, too.
    “Izzie!” Mira couldn’t hide her surprise. Her face was flush and Izzie didn’t know if it was because she’d been caught sucking face or because she was embarrassed to see her. “Hey. I looked for you, but—don’t you have lunch sixth period?”
    “Fifth,” Izzie said, stating the obvious since she was, in fact, there during fifth period.
    “Oh, okay,” Mira said awkwardly. “Let me introduce you to some people. You met Lea, Lauren, and Savannah this morning, but this is my boyfriend, Taylor.”
    “Hey,” he said smoothly, extending a large hand. He pulled it back and motioned to her tray. “I guess you can’t shake, huh?”
    “Not unless I grow another arm,” Izzie joked. She shifted slightly to balance her heavy tray. She leaned it on the edge of the table and Lea looked at Savannah nervously.
    “Usually our table is full, but if you want to sit with us just for today, you can,” Savannah said, extending an olive branch. “We were leaving soon anyway.”
    Well, that sounded inviting. “Thanks. I’m going to eat outside.” Izzie lifted the tray.
    Savannah’s eyes widened. “Perfect! It’s gorgeous out there.” Everyone at the table mumbled their agreement.
    “I can’t believe you grew up in Harborside!” Taylor jumped in, ignoring the awkwardness. “What was it like? Did you have bars on your windows and stuff?” Mira shot him a dirty look. “What? The article in the EC Tribune said she grew up in the worst part of town.” Izzie winced. She wondered what else some of these articles said. Half of her wanted to run and find a copy of the Tribune . The other half wanted to burn every edition of the Gazette and Tribune out there.
    Taylor stared at her expectantly. The guy was so pretty he looked like he had been un-twist-tied from a Barbie box. Unlike the girls, though, he wasn’t trying to be condescending. He just seemed clueless. “My school was definitely different from Emerald Prep,” Izzie said, staring at a fifty-two-inch flat-screen TV on the wall that had rolling announcements and a live feed of cross-country practice. “But there was no lockdown or armed guards. It wasn’t juvie hall.”
    “Yeah, but you and your friends probably know ways to get beer, though, right?” Taylor said eagerly. “You must have a fake ID.”
    “Taylor, God! Leave the girl alone,” Savannah reprimanded him, and looked at Izzie. “Sorry. Guys can be so nosy.”
    Izzie shifted the tray again. “I don’t drink, so I never had to worry about a fake ID.”
    “You don’t know what you’re missing,” Taylor said with a laugh, and Lauren snorted.
    Lea was staring at the contents of Izzie’s tray. “Are you seriously going to eat that pizza? That stuff has, like, over a thousand calories a slice!”
    “She probably burns it off swimming,” Savannah said. Her own tray had a small Fage yogurt and a water. “Mira said you placed well on your last team. Good for you!” she said condescendingly. “You must be so thankful your community center had a pool.” Izzie’s fingers clenched around her tray. “I’ll see you at EP tryouts. I’m going to be captain this year.”
    “Really?” Lauren asked excitedly. “When did they tell you?”
    “They haven’t officially,” Savannah said, and took a swig of her water. “We don’t have tryouts till next week, but it’s pretty much a done deal.” She stared smugly at Izzie. “I’m going to be the one to beat in the water and out this year.”
    “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Izzie said casually, unable to help herself. “You haven’t gone up against me yet.” Taylor nearly spit his soda out of his nose. Mira looked mortified, but Savannah just smiled.
    Going toe-to-toe with Savannah was exhausting. Izzie felt both an adrenaline rush and a meltdown coming on. “I should go.” She grabbed