Winter White (26 page)

Mira’s mom dropped her off down the block from Corky’s just as the rain let up. It had been pouring all day, and the cobblestone street was one giant puddle. Normally you couldn’t pay Mira to be out in that kind of weather, but that night she was going to do something she should have done sooner. It was time to face Izzie, spill the beans about Savannah, and say sorry for being such a coldhearted… well, you know. If Izzie was ever really going to fit in with their family, then Mira had to try (not fake try) to get to know her. If that heart-to-heart went well, then part two of her confessional road trip included meeting up with Taylor and dropping a huge bombshell on him, too.

First things first: Find Izzie. Mira’s mom had said she was at Corky’s, but that sounded off base. Half of EP hung out at Corky’s, which meant Izzie would probably steer clear. Mira and her friends loved it there. The diner was fun and loud and known for its gravy fries and kitchen sink full of ice cream that waitresses delivered on roller skates. It was the last place Mira would have expected to find her cousin, but she decided to give it a shot.

The place was mobbed, but she thought she saw the back of Izzie’s head across the room. She breathed in the smell of sweet-potato fries as she moved across the room to the beat of the Rihanna song playing on the jukebox.

“Mira!” She heard Savannah’s voice and stopped dead in her tracks. Savannah was sitting at a table with Lauren and Lea, and Mira’s heart sank as her best friend waved her over. Savannah had on a thick cream headband that matched the fitted sweater she wore with pearls to a tee. Mira had picked out the top for her last week. “Sit!” Savannah said. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you out with Taylor?”

Mira sank in the seat next to her, feeling like she weighed a thousand pounds. “I’m not meeting him for another hour. I came down here early to, uh, do some shopping.”

“At Corky’s?” Savannah looked at Lea. “Can you check on those fries?”

“We just ordered them,” Lea said as she stirred her vanilla Coke with a spoon.

“So?” Savannah sniped at her. “I’m hungry, Lea. Can you check on the fries and take Lauren with you?”

Lauren rolled her eyes at Mira as she and Lea slid out of the booth.

“Thanks!” Savannah sang and turned to Mira, her face full of worry. “I can tell when something is wrong with you. What’s going on?”

Mira bit her lip. She was going to have to tell Savannah eventually. She was telling Taylor tonight. “All right. The reason I’ve been so weird lately is because I’ve been hiding something.” Savannah’s brown eyes darkened. “I dropped public speaking and study hall to take painting and sculpting classes.” There. She’d said it.

Savannah started to laugh. “That’s your dark secret? You’re joking, right? Art classes are so cheesy.”

“They’re not,” Mira insisted, and immediately her mind went to Kellen. She felt like he had been avoiding her since the other afternoon in the art studio. He hadn’t come after school to work with her once. She thought about going to a cross-country meet but worried he wouldn’t speak to her. She had screwed up with him, too. “You know how you’re always making fun of me for paying so much attention to the hemline on a skirt or to a flower in your mom’s garden? I think I do that because I think of everything as art. I figured it was time to find out if I can actually paint what I see in my head.” She smiled. “It turns out I can.” Wow, getting this off her chest was better than she had imagined. No more sneaking around. No more worrying about what her friends thought….

Savannah pursed her lips. “Have you told Taylor that you’re an artsy chick yet?”

“I was going to tell him tonight.” Mira tugged on one of her dangling crystal earrings. “I don’t know how he’s going to take it, though. He sort of freaked out when he found me in the art studio the other afternoon with Kellen.”

“Kellen Harper?” Savannah asked, her eyebrows raised. “How do you know him?”

“He’s in two of my art classes,” Mira explained. “He’s cool.”

“You better not say that around Taylor,” Savannah said, her mouth twitching slightly. “In fact, I think you should forget about saying anything about art to him tonight or ever.” She touched Mira’s hand. “Sweetie, taking art is kind of, I don’t know, a waste of time, don’t you think?”

“No,” Mira insisted, her face reddening. “And if Taylor has a problem with it—”

“If you say ‘Taylor and I are breaking up,’ I will freak out,” Savannah told her. “I already sent the party planner my seating chart, and you and Taylor are sitting with me.” Savannah’s sweet sixteen was on Saturday. Everyone in their class had clamored for an invitation. Less than half got one.

Mira looked at the table. “I didn’t say we were breaking up. I just want things to change.”

Savannah sipped her soda, leaving a lipstick mark on the straw. “Mira, you’re dating one of the hottest guys in school. He’s the quarterback, for God’s sake. Things don’t change. You do.” She looked at her suspiciously. “What’s this really about? This doesn’t have anything to do with Izzie, does it? Tell me you’re not feeling bad for her again.”

Mira’s mouth felt dry. She decided to ignore the Izzie comment. Savannah could only handle so much in one conversation. “This is about Taylor,” Mira said. “Vanna, he’s not the guy I thought he was when we started dating. He wants a girlfriend who looks pretty and waves an EP flag at every game and practice. Like a trophy wife. I am so not a trophy wife in training! I want him to know that. I’m tired of things always being about him.”

“We all get sick of the guys sometimes, but they get sick of us, too. It doesn’t mean you’re going to break up. You’re just having a rough patch.” Savannah looked far, far away as she played with a strand of her blond hair. “Whenever Brayden gets whiny with me about my attitude, I tell him he can’t dump me. Our parents would kill him.” Brayden and Savannah were practically an arranged marriage waiting to happen. Their parents joked about a wedding all the time. “Now cheer up and stop stressing about Taylor and trophy wives,” Savannah added, a devious smile returning to her face. “We’re making headway on the Izzie front. It pays to have parents who have the most lavish parties in town. Every restaurant in EC is afraid to tick them off! I told the vendors that if they wanted to keep my parents’ business, they’d say no to Isabelle Scott. And it worked! Izzie’s got no caterer and no flowers. Butter Me Up caved for some reason, but she can’t plan a party with cupcakes. I give it two more days before she waves a white flag.”

Mira grabbed Savannah’s Coke and took a sip. Mira’s mom was so excited about Izzie’s Butterflies chair position, she’d already told Mira’s dad and all her friends about it. She thought it was a sign of Izzie starting to fit in. If Savannah’s plan failed, and they linked it back to Mira, she didn’t know how her parents would react. “Savannah, listen. I…”

“I saved the best for last.” Savannah leaned in confidentially. “I’m having my mom book something at the arts center that conflicts with our event! Some big, splashy party for Dad’s coastal revitalization project. She’ll offer the school so much money they can’t say no.” She looked like she’d won the lottery. “Oh, and on top of that, I got Wave Machine to agree to deejay for Izzie’s event. They’re going to cancel on her the week before,” she said gleefully. “Am I despicably clever or what?”

Mira felt nauseated. This was going too far. “Savannah, I… we can’t do this. I’m serious. This is taking things too far.” Mira felt stronger just saying the words out loud, but Savannah looked like she could spit fire.

Lea and Lauren appeared at the table out of nowhere. Mira had never been happier to see them, even if they did look like they had just come from a funeral. “Vanna, we have to talk to you.”

“I told you to stay busy.” Savannnah glanced at their empty hands. “Where are my fries?”

Lauren pulled at her chunky necklace and looked nervously at Lea. “Brayden’s here.”

Savannah’s face brightened. “Really? I didn’t know he was coming tonight.” She sat up on her knees, seeming to forget about Mira’s betrayal, and looked around. “Did you tell him I’m here, too?”

Lea shook her head. She seemed sort of frightened. “We didn’t talk to him.”

“Why not?” Savannah started to get up, but Lauren blocked her path.

“He’s with Izzie,” Lea said quietly.

“He’s with Izzie? At Corky’s?” Savannah sat down again, momentarily deflated. “Alone?” The girls nodded. Savannah looked around the room anxiously. “Can you imagine what everybody is thinking right now?” she whispered. “This is so humiliating. My boyfriend is hanging out with
her
while I sit on the other side of the room with my friends.” She glared at Mira. “This is your fault. You were trying to stall me so that I wouldn’t find them together!”

“I didn’t know they were here,” Mira said, watching Savannah unravel in front of her.

“You just said you’re on her side!” Her voice rose, making people stare. Savannah was never anything but refined in public, which made her being this unhinged a sight to be seen.

Lea cleared her throat. “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen them together, either.” She glanced at Lauren. “We weren’t sure if we should tell you, but yesterday, we saw them walking on Main Street.” Savannah’s face turned pink. “He, um, took her to Butter Me Up.”

Mira was paralyzed. Brayden must have gotten Butter Me Up to agree to help Izzie.

The thought wasn’t lost on Savannah. “You told him about our plan, didn’t you?” Savannah glared at Mira. “You tried to turn him against me!”

“Savannah, calm down,” Lea said, knowing the last thing Savannah wanted was a scene.

“Savannah, lower your voice. I didn’t do anything!” Mira tried to steer her out of Corky’s before she regretted it, but Savannah pushed her away and turned to Lea.

“Where are they sitting?” she asked calmly.

Lea pointed to a booth near the jukebox, and Savannah strode across the diner before Mira could stop her. She moved so fast she almost knocked down a waitress as she glided by on roller skates. Mira, Lea, and Lauren followed, watching as Savannah stopped short a few feet from Brayden and Izzie’s table. They were leaning into each other over a plate of potato skins, and they looked like they were having an intense conversation. Izzie was shaking her head and starting to get up. That’s when she saw Savannah.

“You. Go. Now,” Savannah hissed to Izzie in a quiet, menacing voice that was almost impossible to hear over Jay-Z. Izzie looked from Savannah to Mira and began to walk away without a fight, which surprised Mira.

“Savannah, what…” Brayden’s face looked guilty. He slid out of the booth, and she put up her hand to stop him.

“Girls, we’re going to need some time alone. You go deal with
this
,” Savannah said, pointing at Izzie’s retreating frame.

“My pleasure,” Lauren said, her eyes narrowing at Izzie as she headed for the door. Mira grabbed Lauren’s arm before she got too far.

“I’ll go,” Mira told Lauren. “She’ll listen to me.”

She headed after Izzie before the others could stop her. Izzie was already halfway down the block by the time Mira reached her. She ran through the puddles. “Izzie! Wait up!”

Izzie turned slowly, her arms crossed. She was wearing a tan hooded sweater and cute jeans with sneakers. Mira wouldn’t be caught dead in sneakers off the field, but the look worked for Izzie. She would have told her that, but Izzie was furious. “What do you want?”

“I want to talk to you,” Mira said, and realized as she got closer that she had no clue what she was going to say. Most of the stores along Main Street were closed, and the street was deserted. She could still hear the jukebox playing faintly from Corky’s. “What was going on back there?”

Izzie stared at a large puddle. “You can call off your min-ions. Brayden and I are just friends.” Her voice sounded strained. “And that’s all it’s ever going to be.”

“Good,” Mira said, and Izzie’s face darkened. “I just mean he’s taken. If Savannah thought anything was going on between you two, she’d make your life hell.”

“Aren’t you two doing that already?” Mira winced. “I’m not an idiot. I know you two called all the stores and told them not to work with me. Thanks for volunteering to help.”

Mira shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t know how far Savannah was going to take things. I came here tonight to warn you. I wanted to confess,” she explained. “I want to help you.”

“And why would you want to do that?” Izzie asked. “I know you don’t like me.” Now it was Mira’s turn to look away. “It’s fine, but stop pretending. The pep squad act has got to go.”

Mira’s eyes narrowed. “I was trying to be nice. It’s called being a good hostess! You’re the one who didn’t want to give me or our family a chance. They’ve been nothing but good to you since you got here, and all you’ve done is make a mess of everything!”

“With your help!” Izzie shouted back. Their voices echoed in the empty street. It had started to rain again, and they stood there, staring each other down. Izzie wrapped her arms around herself. “You really think I want to muck things up, Mira?” Izzie asked quietly. “I’ve been killing myself to make things work with your family, but you and your friends sabotage me at every turn! My family is at stake, too. I don’t want Grams kicked out of her nursing home. Where else is she going to go?”