“If we’re going to be teammates, then you should come to the Tryout Day celebration,” Savannah told them. “We’re having a pool party and ordering dinner at the EC Country Club. It’s sort of an EP tradition. A welcome-to-the-team sort of thing.”
Nicole frowned. “I don’t remember being invited last year.”
“You weren’t,” Savannah said simply. She looked at Izzie. “Look, I got a little territorial before. If you and Brayden are really just friends, I’ll get over it,” she said with a shrug. “But the swim team means a lot to me and this is a new year, new team. Might as well all get used to each other, right?” She smiled at Violet and Nicole. “Millie’s coming and a lot of the other girls’ teams will be there, too. So are you guys in?”
Izzie glanced at Violet and Nicole questioningly. Was Savannah actually extending an olive branch? She really did want to fit in and feel like part of the team. No guts, no glory.
“Okay,” Izzie said to Savannah, who smiled. “We’re in.”
Fourteen
By the time Mira got to the Emerald Cove Country Club, the Tryout Day party was already in full swing. Girls from field hockey, swim, and cheerleading (better luck getting an invitation next year, cross-country team) had changed out of their practice clothes and were sitting on lounge chairs and floats or were at the edge of the pool. Navy and green balloons were tied to every chair, and there was a long table full of green gift bags (courtesy of Savannah’s mom) that held sunscreen, goggles, and exclusive Tryout Day beach towels that would be paraded around school afterward by those fortunate enough to be invited. Mira was collecting hers when Savannah caught up with her.
“Where have you been?” she demanded, looking peeved but beautiful in a green one-piece that was almost identical to the pink one Mira had on (they had bought them together).
Mira knew her cover, but she hesitated when she saw Savannah’s stony expresssion. “I…”
I was working on a still life of a water lily that I botched in painting class today was the real answer. And the truth was, she wished she was still at the art studio with Kellen instead. She could have listened to him wax poetic about painters like Paul Gauguin all afternoon, but after three texts and two frantic calls from Savannah, Mira knew she should get to the club before things turned ugly.
“I’ve been waiting for you for an hour!” Savannah complained. “Didn’t you get my texts? You were supposed to help me set up.” She looked at Mira suspiciously. “Where were you, anyway?”
“Science lab,” Mira lied, glancing at her hands for signs of paint. “I had to finish that stupid experiment on sound effects on plants, and I guess I left my phone in my bag. Sorry, Vanna.” She nudged her pouting friend playfully. “Looks like you did a great job without me, though. Everyone is having a great time.” She shook her goody bag. “Love the towel.”
Savannah’s face relaxed. “It’s cute, right? But that’s nothing compared to this afternoon’s entertainment.” She pointed out four girls sitting at the edge of the pool.
Mira recognized Violet and Nicole in their team swimsuits right away. The third girl with them was definitely a freshman, but it was the fourth girl who surprised Mira the most. It was Izzie, and she sat in the middle, her mouth going a mile a minute while her slender legs swished back and forth in the water. Mira watched her cousin throw her head back and laugh. She’d never seen Izzie laugh at anything before. She looked comfortable for once, Mira realized. And she did it all without my help. An arctic freeze had settled over the two girls since the regatta party. Izzie wasn’t stupid. She knew Mira didn’t like her and she was steering clear. Not having to pretend anymore should have been a relief to Mira, but instead she felt haunted by her behavior. She kept seeing the pained look on Izzie’s face that night on the patio.
“Today is phase one,” Savannah declared, watching the girls. “It’s payback. We’re going to sink Izzie before she even learns how to swim. Figuratively, of course.”
Mira’s stomach felt like it had dropped out of her bathing suit. “How so?”
“She’s a total embarrassment to you and your family, Mira. Let’s face it—having her around takes your class factor down a notch.” Mira winced. “What’s worse is her messing with my life.” Savannah glared at Izzie. “Beating my time on the IM today? Hanging out at the party with my boyfriend?” Her voice rose. “It’s humiliating! I can’t have her undermine me like that! Brayden had the nerve to tell me that I have to get used to them being friends. Can you believe that?” Her voice was shrill. “He never talks back to me like that. Never. I don’t get it. Why would he care so much about being friends with a girl he just met?” Her brown eyes looked sad as she added in a whisper, “Don’t tell anyone, okay? I would die if people knew Brayden and I fought over her.”
Mira had never seen Savannah so flustered. So Brayden and Izzie were really friends? She’d heard what had happened that night at the party, but she just assumed the two bumped into each other and the story got spun out of control. But if Brayden was laying claim to the friendship and not worrying about Savannah’s wrath, then something had to be going on. “Vanna, don’t freak out. You know he adores you,” Mira insisted.
Savannah’s emotions turned off like a switch, and her sly smile returned. “Of course he adores me. And once he realizes what a troublemaker Izzie is, he’ll probably never mention her name to me again.” She smoothed her hair with one hand but kept her eyes on Izzie. “That change starts today.” She motioned to Lauren and Lea, who were lounging nearby. “Let’s go say hi to Mira’s cousin,” she told them. Mira followed, feeling like a reluctant puppy. As soon as Izzie saw them coming, her face clouded over. “Hi!” Savannah squealed. “How are you guys? Having fun?”
“This is a little bigger party than you’d described.” Violet looked around in wonder.
“It reminds me of an episode of It’s My Party,” Izzie said. Mira noticed that the way Izzie said it, it didn’t sound like a compliment.
“I love that show!” Nicole and Violet said in unison, and the three of them laughed.
“I’m pretty much a shoo-in for next season,” Savannah told them confidentially. “My mom has been in talks with them about it for the last year.” She took a seat by the edge of the pool, and everyone still standing followed suit. “I’m just glad you guys were willing to come today. Fresh start, right?” Savannah looked at Mira. “Did Izzie tell you? She made the team. She’s amazing.” Izzie’s eyes were wary.
“That’s great, Izzie!” Mira said, and she meant it, but Izzie didn’t say anything. And why should she? She was doing fine on her own.
“This is our other new recruit, Minnie,” Savannah added, pointing out the tiny brunette.
“It’s Millie,” she said. She had to be a freshman. Only a freshman would correct Savannah.
“Now that everyone is here, it’s time to start the initiation,” Savannah told them.
“Initiation?” Izzie repeated, not looking convinced. Neither was Mira. As far as she could recall, they never played games or had initiations on Tryout Day. Come to think of it, other than the hazing that went on during cotillion season, EP didn’t have any sort of initiations at all.
“It’s been a tradition at EP forever,” Savannah told Izzie, her expression never wavering. Savannah was an excellent liar. “Since the school started, practically, but the Tryout Day one is sort of new. ”
“Are all the teams involved? Or just the swim team?” Izzie asked. Mira couldn’t help noticing a change in her cousin. She didn’t know if it was because Izzie made the swim team or had finally made a few friends, but she suddenly had no problem standing up to Savannah.
“Each team has its own initiations, and some teams do them another day,” Savannah said. “But the swim team one always happens here. What better place to be initiated than the pool?”
Millie looked like she might break out in hives. “What do we have to do?”
“Steal the club’s emerald choker,” Savannah said as if it
was the easiest task in the world. “Take a picture while wearing it at the pool, then put it back.”
Mira knew the prank was a death sentence. Both the town and the country club were named after a priceless jewel for one reason: Victor Strausburg, EC’s founder, made his fortune mining emeralds and other gems in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. He had his first haul of baubles made into a necklace for his wife, Audrey. It was worth millions, but it had been passed down for generations and was now guarded at the club in a temperature-controlled, locked case.
“No problem! Maybe I’ll just hold on to the necklace to wear to the first Butterflies formal, too,” Violet deadpanned. Violet turned to Izzie to explain how dicey the situation actually was. “This necklace she wants us to steal—”
“Borrow,” Savannah corrected.
“—is under lock and key,” Violet told Izzie. “This town worships that stupid necklace so much they voted down a request from the mayor to wear the emeralds to the Governor’s Ball last fall.” Violet shot daggers at Savannah. “It can’t be done. That necklace has more locks on it than the vaults in Gringotts.”
Savannah sipped her lemonade. “Don’t be so dramatic. Do you really think we’d ask you to snag it if was impossible to pull off? I know where they keep the key.”
Izzie’s eyes narrowed. “How?”
“Does it matter?” Savannah asked. “The point is, I can get you to the key, you can do your initiation, and we can go back to tanning.” She gave them a bored look. “You guys are really making this more complicated than it is.”
“And ruining the fun,” Lauren said, swirling the water with her finger. “Just get it over with already.”
“It’s a suicide mission,” Violet said. “If we got caught, my family would be kicked out of the club, and my mother would die of shame, be shunned at her book club, and blacklisted from Emerald Cove Cares. She’d rather move than lose her favorite things.” Lauren pretended to shed a tear.
“We’d also be kicked off the team,” Izzie reminded them. “I’m not risking my spot for a childish dare.”
“Don’t be such a whiner,” Savannah said. “You could do this game blindfolded. And then you get to do what the rest of us never have—try on the necklace.” Savannah looked wistful while Millie appeared on the verge of throwing up. “I got to wear it once for a split second, and it made me feel like a queen.”
Izzie didn’t take her bait. “Well, you’ll have to keep dreaming about the day you land Prince Harry so you can wear it again. We’re not playing along, Savannah.”
Good, Mira thought. She couldn’t say it in front of Savannah, but if Izzie got caught stealing Strausburg’s emeralds, her parents would not only go ape and be mortified, but Lucas would go postal.
“Suit yourselves,” she snapped, her tone changing. “I just hope the rest of the team doesn’t ban you over this. Everyone on the team has been initiated but you four.” Savannah glanced at the other swim team members hanging out near the diving board. “Might make swim practice uncomfortable. The swim team is a sisterhood, and sisterhoods have rituals.”
Lea spoke up. “This is a cakewalk compared to what the seniors made me do last year. I had to streak through the boys’ locker room after football practice. I didn’t eat for a week leading up to it.”
“You see?” Savannah said. “This is easy.” The girls didn’t budge and Savannah stared at Millie ruefully. “Fine, don’t play. Leave. Seriously. No initiation, no party.” Millie’s eyes widened. “You may be club members, but this is an invitation-only affair. Your names have just been crossed off the team party list permanently.”
“I think we’ll survive.” Izzie stood up and grabbed a towel. Nicole and Violet did the same. “Come on, Millie.”
Millie’s butt was glued to the pool edge. She swung her legs in the water, not looking up at them. “Maybe we should do this. I don’t want to be a whipping post all season. It’s a long season! And besides”—she looked around—“I want to be invited back here.”
“Freshmen,” Violet mumbled. “They’re so easily swayed.”
“I’m usually easily swayed,” Nicole said. “But even I think this has disaster written all over it.”
“Look,” Savannah said soothingly, “we don’t want you to get caught. This is all in fun. It’s almost five thirty. The club closed early for the party. The grounds crew is out on the course. No one is even in the building. You just go in, get the necklace, bring it here, click, click, click, bring it back, and done. We’ll never ask you to do another dare again.”
“The answer is still no,” Izzie said with a steely gaze, and the girls turned to leave.
“I’ll do it,” Millie said. Izzie and Violet did a double take. Millie pulled herself out of the pool and crossed her skinny arms across her chest. “Where do I find the key?”
Savannah looked impressed. “In the main room there is an aquarium. Reach your hand underneath, and the key is taped to the bottom of the tank.” Mira didn’t want to know how Savannah knew that. “You should be back here in time for finger foods. We’re having sushi.”
“Where is the aquarium again?” Millie hesitated. “My family just joined the club last week.”
Izzie groaned. “Fine! I don’t know where I’m going, but I’ll take you.” Millie looked so happy, Mira thought she might cry. “You have botched job written all over you.”
“Don’t do it,” Mira blurted out. Had she said that out loud? Izzie looked at her strangely. Mira could feel Savannah’s nails digging into her arm. She quickly looked down at the water.
“There is no way you’re doing this alone,” Violet told Izzie. “You haven’t even been inside the club yet.” Nicole nodded. “We’re coming with you, too.” Izzie didn’t argue with them. Instead, she actually smiled. She wasn’t alone anymore.
“Great, you’re all one big family,” Savannah said. “So get in there, already! I want a photo of me wearing that necklace as my phone screensaver. Once I have that, you can all give me your addresses so I can send you invites to my sweet sixteen. It’s not for another few weeks, but it’s worth the wait.”
“You can save my stamp,” Izzie told Savannah. Mira had never heard Izzie this fired up before. “I’m only doing this to save Millie’s butt.”
Savannah held her heart. “That’s so sweet. Have fun!”
Mira’s heart felt like it was on vibrate mode as she watched the girls leave the pool area. Savannah was right. The club was practically deserted at that hour. All the golf carts were back, dinner had been served on the outdoor terrace, and most of the club staff were gone for the night. They should be able to snatch the necklace and have it back again before anyone even noticed it was missing. But for some reason, Mira felt uneasy, and she should have known why.
Savannah watched the girls head inside the clubhouse door. “Make the call,” she said quietly.
Lauren reached for her bag near the pool ledge and pulled out her phone. “Hi, Mr. Matthews? This is Lauren Sal-brook, Parker’s daughter,” she told him, her voice bubbling with sweetness. “I’m at the Tryout Day bash and this is so awkward….” She looked at Savannah gleefully. “I’m okay, it’s just… I heard some girls talking about stealing the Strausburg emeralds.”
Mira stared at Savannah in horror, but she was busy watching Lauren’s Emmy-worthy performance.
“Oh, you’re still here at a meeting?” Lauren’s eyes widened. “Yes. I would head downstairs right away. They’re probably in the club lounge right now.” She hung up and squealed. “He’s calling the police.”
“Savannah.” Mira yanked her arm. “What are you doing? If Izzie gets caught—”
Savannah pulled her wet arm from Mira’s grasp and started to get out of the pool. Mira scrambled after her. “I thought you wanted her gone as bad as I do.”
“I do,” Mira said. But is that what she wanted? She’d never thought about Izzie being run out of town—just sort of tucked away enough not to embarrass her anymore. She didn’t want
her to land in jail.
“But I don’t want it to happen like this. If the press finds out what happened, my dad’s campaign brownie points will be gone.” She thought quickly. “That means your dad can kiss those coastal revitalization plans goodbye.”
Savannah’s dad was in charge of some major low-income makeover project in North Carolina. Mira didn’t know the details, but her parents had mentioned it in passing, and she knew that Savannah’s dad, who owned a big commercial contracting firm, wanted to build new housing, hotels, and storefronts in impoverished areas. Seemed like a slam dunk, but apparently Mr. Ingram had to knock down important town buildings to get the job done, and some communities were still balking. If Mr. Ingram didn’t get Mira’s dad’s backing on this, it might not happen.
The color drained from Savannah’s face. “You’ve got to learn to open your mouth, Mira. You’re supposed to keep me in check, remember?” she whispered. “Now look what you’ve done!”
“What I’ve done?” Mira ran a hand through her hair. This was not good.
Both girls stared across the lush green lawn at the clubhouse doors, willing them to open. After what felt like an eternity, the four girls bolted out a side door and raced across the lawn toward the pool. Mira could see Millie cradling the necklace in her hands like she was holding a baby. Her face was beaming triumphantly, but Mira noticed that Izzie looked apprehensive. That’s when Mira heard the sirens. She turned her head in time to see three cop cars screech to a halt by the club gates. The girls hesitated for half a second, unsure where to turn. Then Izzie’s eyes locked on Savannah, and she started charging for her just as Mr. Matthews, the club manager, appeared on the club lawn with two officers in tow.
“This is it,” Lea said gleefully as Savannah’s and Mira’s faces turned pale.
Izzie is going down, Mira thought, and I’ve done nothing to help her.
“You set us up!” Izzie yelled as she raced into the pool area, stopping inches from Savannah’s face.