On Thin Ice by Matt Christopher, Stephanie Peters Read Free Book Online

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