On Thin Ice

by Matt Christopher

  Text copyright © 2004 by Matt Christopher Royalties, Inc. Illustrations copyright © 2004 by Michael Koelsch

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Time Warner Book Group

  237 Park Avenue

  New York, NY 10017

  Visit our Web site at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

  First eBook Edition: September 2008

  The Hachette Book Group Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Matt Christopher® is a registered trademark of Catherine M. Christopher.

  ISBN: 978-0-316-03006-9

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  What Do You Need?

  The eXtreme Team

  CHAPTER ONE

  Savannah Smith sat at her desk, chin in hand, staring at the fat snowflakes falling past the window. I wonder if the hill will be ready for snowboarding soon, she thought. That would make Bizz happy. Belicia “Bizz” Juarez was Savannah’s best friend. She was helping Savannah learn to snowboard.

  Savannah wished for the thousandth time that she and Bizz attended the same school. But this September, Savannah had started at a private, all-girls school called the Academy. Bizz went to their old school.

  Savannah missed seeing Bizz and her other friends every day. But her father wouldn’t hear of her switching schools. “You’ll get a wonderful education at the Academy,” he said. “And you’ll still get to see Bizz after school and on the weekends. Plus, you’ll make new friends at the Academy.”

  Luckily, Savannah had started to become friends with a few girls. One girl in particular, Angela Sturgess, had gone out of her way to make Savannah feel welcome. Angela was very different from Bizz. Bizz loved extreme sports, especially roller hockey. Angela preferred quieter activities, like arts and crafts. Savannah enjoyed art projects, too, but she also liked blading and boarding with Bizz at the local skatepark. She sometimes wondered how Angela and Bizz would get along if they met.

  The bell rang, signaling the end of the school week. Savannah joined the throng of girls in the hallway.

  “Hey, Savannah! Wait up!” It was Angela. Savannah paused until the pretty blond girl caught up to her. “I got your party invitation.”

  “Wow, that was quick!” Savannah and her family were hosting a holiday ice-skating party for Savannah’s classmates and their parents. Mr. Smith had installed a rink in the backyard earlier that year. People could skate until it got dark, then they could come inside for refreshments. Invitations to the party had gone out only a few days before.

  Savannah had thought about inviting Bizz and her other friends to the party, too. But when she tried to imagine her Academy classmates hanging out with them, she couldn’t. Besides, she knew her old friend Jonas Malloy would have a party. He always did. So in the end, she hadn’t invited Bizz and the others to the skating party. In fact, she hadn’t even told them about it. Not yet, anyway.

  “It’s so cool that you have a skating rink in your backyard,” Angela was saying. “Could I skate on it someday?”

  “Sure!” Savannah replied. “Ask your mom if you can come over tomorrow afternoon.”

  The two girls joined the other students waiting for their parents to pick them up. “The invitation says to bring a present to exchange,” Angela said. “Does that mean one present for each of our classmates or just one present only?”

  “Just one present only,” Savannah confirmed. “We’ll do a grab-bag swap.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Each kid brings a present and puts it into a big box. Then everyone gets a number. Number one picks a present from the box and opens it. Then number two picks a present and opens it. If number two wants to keep her present, she can, or she can trade her present for number one’s present. And so on until everyone’s picked and traded.”

  “Seems like number one gets a raw deal,” Angela said.

  “Actually, it’s good to be number one,” said Savannah, “because once everyone’s picked, number one does the last trade, so she gets to pick from all the gifts!”

  “Ooh, then I hope I get to be number one!”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Mrs. Smith drove up a moment later. Savannah got into the car, waved good-bye to Angela, and settled into the backseat. Plows had cleared most of the snow from the streets, so she and her mother made it home in no time. The phone was ringing when they walked into the house.

  “Hey, girlfriend!” Bizz bellowed from the other end. “Grab your board and meet us at the skatepark!”

  “My board?” Savannah replied. “Are you crazy? There must be at least six inches of snow on the ground!”

  Bizz laughed. “Not your skateboard, your snow-board! Alison called to say the hill behind the park is open for business!”

  Alison Lee was a teenager in charge of the local skatepark. She made sure the kids who were skate-boarding, inline skating, and snowboarding were being careful. Savannah knew that if Alison said it was okay to snowboard today, then the conditions were just right.

  “I’ll meet you there!”

  Twenty minutes later, her mother dropped her off in the parking lot. Savannah joined a parade of kids climbing the hill. She had just reached the top when thwap! a snowball smacked into her stomach. She looked up to see Xavier “X” McSweeney grinning at her. Jonas Malloy and Bizz were behind him.

  “Yo, Savannah!” Jonas said. “When are you going to get yourself some proper snowboarding gear? You know, goggles and a face thingy like mine.” He tugged his fleece face warmer into place so that only his eyes were peeking out. These he covered with yellow-tinted goggles.

  “Forget him,” X said. “You’re just in time to see my first revert of the season.”

  “Don’t make a big hole in the snow when you do a plant!” Jonas joked.

  “Ha!” X snorted. “If I fall, I’ll eat my hat.” With a wave, he took off, zigzagging his way down the hill. When he’d gone halfway, he suddenly twisted around one hundred and eighty degrees. Then he rode the rest of the hill backward. Bizz and Jonas cheered.

  “That’s a revert?” Savannah said. “Switching from forward to backward?”

  “Forward to fakie,” Jonas corrected. “Yep, that’s it. Wanna give it a try?”

  Savannah shook her head. “I’m still a newbie at this stuff. It’s cruiser runs for me all the way.”

  “I’m with you!” Bizz agreed. She flung an arm around Savannah’s shoulders. Savannah grinned and put an arm around Bizz, too.

  “Great shot! Say cheese!” Bizz and Savannah looked up to see Alison pointing a camera at them. “I’m taking photos to hang on the wall of the Community Center,” Alison told them as she snapped their picture. “‘Friends to the end,’ that’s what I’ll label this one. Now get a move on. You’re holding up the line!”

  Bizz didn’t hesitate. She strapped herself on to her board, gave a little hop, and took off down the slope. Savannah watched her friend go, then secured her bindings and followed Bizz down the hill.

  Friends to the end, she thought. That’s Bizz and me, all
right!

  CHAPTER THREE

  Savannah was still new to snowboarding, so she swished down the slope nice and easy, getting used to the feel of the snowboard. She had to pinwheel her arms a few times to stay upright. Otherwise, her first run of the winter felt great.

  She caught up with Bizz at the bottom. As they stepped out of their bindings, they saw Charlie Abbott and Mark Goldstein with X.

  “Hey, guys!” Bizz called. “Wait for —”

  Floosh! A wall of snow covered Bizz and Savannah. Jonas had just finished his run. He’d ended it by digging his board into the snow sideways, lifting the white powder into the air.

  “Get him!” Bizz yelled. She scooped up some snow and heaved it at Jonas. Savannah and the others did the same. Then, following some unspoken signal, X and Jonas teamed up, Charlie and Mark turned on Savannah and Bizz — and the snowball fight turned into a three-way battle.

  After a few breathless minutes, Savannah dove behind a snowbank for protection. She lay still for a moment, then risked a peek.

  Bizz, X, Charlie, Jonas, and Mark jumped up from behind the other side of the bank. Each had a huge armload of snow. Savannah ducked inside her coat, but her friends moved faster. She shrieked as snow hit her neck and trickled down her back.

  “Seriously, girl, you gotta get a face warmer thingy. It protects your neck, too,” Jonas advised. Then he hurled himself over the snowbank. The others followed, howling with laughter.

  “Smile for the camera!”

  Still grinning, the kids looked up just as Alison snapped a photo. She took two more shots, then tucked her camera safely inside her coat pocket.

  “If you guys want to do any more runs, you’d better stop clowning around,” Alison said. “The sun’s going down. I have to close the hill soon.”

  Without another word, Savannah and the others scrambled up, grabbed their boards, and rushed to the top of the hill. They each got in three more runs before Alison called an end to boarding for the day.

  Tired and happy, Savannah tromped with her friends to the parking lot. Looking at their smiling faces, she felt a wave of guilt for keeping her skating party a secret. I’m going to invite them after all! she thought. They’re my oldest friends and I want them there!

  She opened her mouth to speak, when Jonas suddenly smacked his forehead. “I almost forgot!” he said. “My dad’s finally got our party planned. Get this: We’re going bowling! The bowling alley is putting in one of his video games next week. The owner said we could have a couple of lanes.”

  Mr. Malloy had the coolest job ever. He was a video-game designer. He got to work at home, thinking up fun games for kids — and adults — to play. Some, like the one that was going into the bowling alley, were made for arcades.

  “We can bowl and play his video game for a few hours,” Jonas continued, “then go to my house for the Christmas party!”

  “Ahem,” Mark Goldstein cleared his throat. “Sorry, Mark, I mean the holiday party,” Jonas amended. “You can bring your dreidel and show us how to play Hanukkah games. We can exchange gifts, too. Okay?”

  “Gifts? What makes you think I wanna give you a gift?” Bizz punched Jonas in the shoulder.

  “Back off, or I’m returning what I got you,” Jonas warned. Bizz held up her hands in mock terror.

  The talk of gifts reminded Savannah of her school skating party. “Jonas, when’s your party?” she asked.

  “Saturday, December 15, at three o’clock. The lanes are reserved for two hours.”

  Savannah’s heart sank. Jonas’s party was the same day and time as her Academy party!

  CHAPTER FOUR

  While the other kids chatted excitedly about Jonas’s party, Savannah remained silent. She knew she should tell them she couldn’t go, but she couldn’t get the words out. How could she? She hadn’t told them about the Academy skating party. She tried to imagine telling them now, maybe even inviting them to come by after the bowling party. But somehow, she didn’t think that would go over so well. They’d want to know why they hadn’t been invited to the real party. And Savannah knew she wasn’t ready to explain that. She was glad when her mother finally pulled in.

  Bizz poked her head inside the door. “Hi, Mrs. Smith!” she said. “Can Savannah come snowboarding again tomorrow?”

  “Hello, Bizz. Not in the morning,” Savannah’s mother replied. “She and I are going Christmas shopping.”

  “Well, I certainly don’t want to stop you from doing that, just in case you’re getting something for someone special!” Bizz waggled her eyebrows and grinned. “But can she come tomorrow afternoon?”

  Mrs. Smith laughed. “If she wants to, it’s fine with me!”

  Savannah was eating her breakfast the next morning when the phone rang. It was Angela.

  “My mom says I can come over to skate this afternoon,” she said happily.

  Savannah had completely forgotten she’d invited Angela to her house. She couldn’t very well cancel those plans, even though it meant she couldn’t go snowboarding with Bizz after all. She thought about telling Angela that the rink was still covered with snow, but a peek out the kitchen window showed that her father had already cleared it. She couldn’t lie to her new friend, so she told Angela to come by after lunch.

  After she hung up, she called Bizz to let her know she wouldn’t be snowboarding that day. She got the answering machine.

  “Um, Bizz, I can’t meet you at the hill,” she said. “I, um, I’m not sure if I’ll be home from shopping in time. I’ll call you later, okay?”

  She and her mother left after breakfast to start their Christmas shopping at the mall. Savannah looked at toys, books, CDs, and jewelry. But nothing she saw seemed quite right for the gift swap.

  “Let’s go to the craft store,” Savannah’s mother finally said. “Maybe we’ll find something there.”

  The craft store was one of Savannah’s favorite places. Any time she had money to spend, that’s where she went. Savannah spied the perfect gift the minute they walked in. It was a bulb-planting kit. The kit came with a bowl, special paints, a bag of white stones, and five bulbs. You painted the bowl, then filled it with the stones. When the paint was dry, you added water and planted the bulbs in the stones. In a few weeks, the bulbs sprouted roots and, later, green shoots and flowers. In the spring, you planted the bulbs in the ground. If you were lucky, the flowers grew again the next year.

  Savannah thought it would be cool to have flowers in the winter. She hoped one of her classmates would think so, too. She carried the kit to the counter and pulled money from her pocket to pay. The kit cost a little more than she’d planned to spend, but she thought it was worth it.

  Suddenly, as she reached for the bag, Savannah realized she’d just spent most of her savings on the kit. Where was she going to get the money to buy presents for Bizz and the others?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  When they got home, Savannah hurried to her room to count the money remaining in her piggy bank. There wasn’t much left. She thought about asking her mother for an advance on her allowance, but since she didn’t know what she was going to get Bizz and the others, she didn’t know how much to ask for. What if it wasn’t enough and she had to ask for more later? Sighing, she put the money back in the bank and went to the kitchen for lunch. Her mother was on the phone in her office, but she’d left a sandwich on the table for her.

  Angela showed up just after Savannah finished eating. She was dressed in a skater’s outfit — a little skirt with a matching sweater, sparkling tights, and fluffy white earmuffs and mittens. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun with a bow.

  “Don’t you have a skating outfit?”

  Savannah looked down at her leggings and warm sweater and shrugged. “This is what I always wear. It’s comfortable.”

  The girls put on their skates and stepped onto the rink. Angela struck off for the far end, then swooped back and grabbed Savannah’s hand. “This is unbelievable!” she cried happily.

  “I’l
l say,” a new voice remarked.

  Startled, Savannah whirled around. Bizz was standing near the rink, skates in hand. She stared at Savannah and Angela, still hand-in-hand on the rink.

  Savannah dropped Angela’s hand and skated over to Bizz. “What are you doing here?”

  “I heard my mom talking to your mom on the phone, so I asked if I could come over. Your mom said to bring my skates. Guess she forgot to tell you I was coming.” Bizz put her skates down and glanced at Angela. “Who’s that?”

  Angela introduced herself. “Do you know Savannah from the Academy, too?”

  Bizz eyed the other girl’s skating outfit. “No, I know Savannah because I’m her best friend. I’m Bizz.”

  “Oh,” Angela said. She sized up Bizz’s torn blue jeans and baggy sweatshirt.

  Before Bizz had a chance to say anything else, Savannah pulled her to a bench. “I’m glad you’re here! Let’s do some skating, okay?” She handed Bizz her skates.

  Bizz gave Angela another suspicious look, then laced up her skates and stepped onto the rink. “I haven’t skated since last winter,” she confessed. The words were barely out of her mouth when she fell hard on the ice.

  Angela skated by and giggled. “Good thing you’re wearing thick leg protection,” she said, pointing at Bizz’s blue jeans.

  Bizz glared at her, then slowly stood up and started skating around the rink. As she got used to her skates, she picked up speed until she was a blur of movement. Finally, with a spray of ice chips, she came to a halt next to Savannah. “This rink is big enough for a game of hockey, you know,” she said, breathing hard.

  Angela skated to Savannah’s other side. “Hockey? Who wants to watch a bunch of dumb boys play hockey?”

  “It’s better than figure skating,” Bizz retorted. “Anyway, who said anything about watching? I’d play!”

  “You would?” Angela shuddered. “I’d never play hockey. Would you, Savannah?”

  “Yes, Savannah,” Bizz asked, staring closely at her friend, “would you?”