Free On Thin Ice by Nancy Krulik

Chapter 1
    “I got this medal for best short ice-skating routine,” Emma Stavros told the group of fourth-grade girls who were gathered around her on the Cherrydale Elementary School playground.
    Katie Carew stared at the big gold medal Emma S. was wearing around her neck. “Isn’t that heavy?” she asked.
    Emma S. nodded. “Yeah. But I love wearing it. I was up against some pretty tough competition. One girl was even a sixth-grader. But she couldn’t land her axel the way I could. It’s a jump. You start on the outside of your left foot and . . .”
    Katie didn’t get to hear the rest of Emma S.’s explanation, because her best friend, Suzanne Lock, pulled her away from the crowd.
    “Can you believe Emma S.?” Suzanne asked Katie. “She brags so much. I mean, I’ve been in lots of runway shows in my modeling class, but you don’t see me walking around with a medal around my neck.”
    Katie had a feeling that if Suzanne had a gold medal, she would definitely be wearing it. But she didn’t say that. Suzanne would just deny it, anyway.
    “I don’t see what the big deal is about ice-skating, anyway,” Suzanne went on. “It’s just sliding around the ice. Anyone can do it.”
    Katie shook her head. “Not the way Emma S. can. I’ve seen her. She’s amazing.”
    “Modeling is much harder,” Suzanne told Katie. “I doubt Emma S. could walk down a runway in high heels without falling. No one in this grade— besides me —could ever be a model.”
    Katie shrugged. “No one in this grade besides Emma S. could win a gold medal in a skating competition, either. People have different talents.”
    Suzanne sighed. “Yeah, well, she doesn’t have to brag so much about it.”
    Katie choked back a laugh. That was pretty funny coming from Suzanne. After all, if they gave medals for bragging, Suzanne would be the world champion!
    “And guess what!” Katie heard Emma S. say. “You guys aren’t going to believe this .”
    Katie turned her attention away from Suzanne and moved closer so she could hear what Emma S. was saying.
    “Kerry Gaffigan is coming to town this Sunday!” Emma S. squealed. “She’s going to put on a special show at the Cherrydale Arena!”
    That was exciting! Kerry Gaffigan was a very famous skater. Even Katie—who knew almost nothing about ice-skating—had heard of her.
    Kerry had grown up in Cherrydale. She had learned to skate at the same rink where Emma S. skated now. Kerry was so talented, she’d even skated in the Olympics!
    “Kerry Gaffigan!” Mandy Banks exclaimed. “Wow!”
    “I know,” Emma S. said. “She’s totally my hero. And I’m going to get to meet her.”
    “Yeah, right,” Suzanne said, rolling her eyes. “How are you going to meet an Olympic skater?”
    “Anyone can—if you have a ticket to the show,” Emma S. told her. “She’s signing autographs before her performance.”
    “Oh, so it’s not like you’re the only one who’s going to meet her,” Suzanne said. “You’ll probably have to wait in line for hours.”
    Emma S. shrugged. “I don’t care, as long as I get her autograph.”
    “Oh, I want to go, too,” Miriam said. “Do you think there are tickets left?”
    Emma S. nodded. “Sure. The kids who skate at the rink got first dibs, but the rest of you can get tickets after school.”
    “Oh, wow!” Emma Weber exclaimed. She turned to Katie. “We’re going to meet a real live Olympic athlete.”

    “I’m definitely going. Do you want a ticket for the show?” Katie asked Suzanne.
    Suzanne sighed. “If I don’t have anything better to do, I might,” she said. “Of course, I might have to go to New York or Paris for a modeling show that day.”
    “Wow,” Emma W. said. “I didn’t know you were modeling professionally now.”
    Suzanne frowned slightly. “Well, I’m not, exactly. But you never know. Maybe someone will come to my modeling class this afternoon and discover me.”
    Katie sighed. That was a really big maybe