Free Winter White by Jen Calonita Page A

bed.”
    “About lifeguarding,” Lucas spoke up, “this is one thing we all agree on. While we admire your tenacity, we feel it would be best for you to find a job more local. If you even want a job. The boardwalk is sort of far from here and, well, shall we say, unsavory?”
    “You work at the boardwalk?” Connor asked in awe. “Mom and Dad never take me there! Matthew in my class said they have knife fights all the time and you can watch.”
    Izzie felt like the room was spinning. She was dizzy again. “I’ve never seen a knife fight, and I’ve lived by the boardwalk my whole life,” she told Connor, but she said it more for the family’s sake. “The boardwalk is totally safe and a lot of fun.”
    “That may be, but we still don’t think it’s the best place for you to work now that you’re living with us,” Izzie’s uncle said gently.
    She wished they would just be honest with her: The problem wasn’t the boardwalk; it was Harborside. She’d seen outsiders react this way before.
    “What about my swim team?” Izzie asked, even though she already knew the answer. “I have a meet this Saturday.”
    The adults looked at each other. Izzie’s aunt spoke. “I’m sorry. It’s just too far to take you to practice every day. You can try out for Emerald Prep’s swim team, though. They have an excellent team.”
    “You’re going to love it,” Mira chimed in. Izzie noticed she was drinking water. A slice of strudel was nowhere near her. Suddenly Izzie wasn’t hungry, either. She pushed her strudel away.
    Izzie felt like her heart would break. No lifeguarding, no community center, no surf lessons. Her mind kept going back to Brayden. When would she see him again? He hadn’t texted her back yet. Kylie had practically blown up Izzie’s phone with calls after receiving Izzie’s text, but she hadn’t had a minute to herself yet to call her back.
    “We have a lifeguard job lined up for you at our country club,” her aunt said with enthusiasm. “People hardly even go in the water. I’d be surprised if you ever had to do a rescue.”
    “That sounds real exciting, Mom,” Hayden joked.
    But Izzie wasn’t laughing. She liked making rescues. The adrenaline was enough to keep her pumped up for days. Suddenly she felt so overwhelmed with heartache she thought she might burst into tears. She would not let herself do that in front of a group of strangers. Or Barbara. “Could I be excused?” she asked quietly.
    “Of course,” her aunt said, and glanced at her husband worriedly. “This has been a long day for everyone. We’ll talk more about all this tomorrow.”
    “We’re just so glad you’re here,” her uncle added.
    “Thanks for having me,” Izzie said as if on autopilot. She could feel Mira watching her as she brought her untouched plate to the sink.
    “Izzie, is there anything else you want the Monroes to know about you before I go?” Barbara asked.
    Izzie turned around and looked at the faces staring at her. “Izzie,” she said quietly. “I prefer to be called Izzie.”
    “Izzie,” Lucas repeated as if he were learning a foreign language. He held up his coffee mug in a toast. “Welcome to the Monroe family.”

Six

    Every high school has a rumor mill. Emerald Prep’s just tended to be on a more extravagant scale. Three years later, people were still talking about Perry Stanton’s dad supposedly buying the headmaster a Range Rover to keep Perry on the football team. And there wasn’t a week that went by that someone didn’t bring up the rumor about an ancient pirate treasure being buried somewhere on school grounds. Mira’s favorite gossip was the one about the Underground Railroad. Supposedly, passageways under the main schoolhouse were a part of history. Mira would have given anything for that rumor to be true. It was the first day of her sophomore year and yet all she wanted to do was find a tunnel and wait for the whispers about her family to die off.
    In classic style, Lucas