Survival of the Fiercest Read Free Page B

cubes. “I haven’t been riding since last May, though.”
    â€œI ride horses in Prospect Park.” Thea’s hair fell in front of her face as she tucked the Tupperware container back into her SOY TO THE WORLD tote. “You should come sometime.”
    â€œThat would be brilliant.” Lola clapped her hands. She imagined riding a tree-lined bridle path, trotting alongside Thea on a brown-spotted Appaloosa. Soon they’d be hanging out at Thea’s apartment after school, or writing notes to each other on their orchestra sheet music. Lola was certain she could come to like vegan cookies. And if she didn’t, it was worth scarfing one down every once in a while if it meant she’d have a real friend in school—and one to go riding with.
    Mr. McGregor turned on the telly in the corner of the room. Betsy Carmichael was already on screen, sitting at a table with the Ashton Prep crest behind it. She shuffled the stack of papers in her hand. “Good afternoon, ladies of Ashton Prep. I’m Betsy Carmichael, and this is your Ashton News .”
    As Thea and the rest of the study hall listened intently, Lola doodled a picture of Starlett on her notebook. Betsy kept on about the Ashton girls’ soccer team, or how Shelley DeWitt had won first place in the six hundred at a track meet on Saturday.
    â€œAnd now for the first-week-of-school highlight reel.” Betsy’s voice echoed in the room. Lola finished Starlett’s tail, but the drawing looked a little like a German shepherd. Stella was always the one who was good at art.
    Thea smacked her hand on Lola’s desk, covering the drawing. “Look—it’s Andie.” Lola glanced up as the screen flashed a pictureof Andie scoring a goal at last week’s soccer game. The reel had been set to Pink’s “So What,” and it continued, showing a girl with dreadlocks jumping off the high dive. Then there was a clip of Cate and Stella at Jackson Hole with the Chi Beta Whatevers. And that’s when it started: footage of Lola tripping in the street, her uniform skirt flying over her head to reveal her days-of-the-week knickers. Betsy had taken the video on the first day of school, and now it had been edited so that Lola fell over and over again, endlessly flashing the camera. The room broke out in laughter.
    Lola adjusted her cloth headband, making sure it held down the tops of her ears. She wanted to throw her pencil at the screen, right between Betsy’s big bug eyes. She already felt like Super Klutz of the Universe. She didn’t need some ninth-year announcing it to the entire school.
    â€œWho is that?” Thea asked, squinting at the telly like she needed glasses.
    â€œI don’t know,” Lola lied. But a few of the girls in study hall had turned around, recognizing her. Lola had thought the footage had gone away, that Betsy would find a better story—bad mahimahi in the cafeteria or the librarian’s stomach flu—to keep on about. But she was wrong.
    Betsy looked directly into the camera and smiled. “And that, Ashton Prep, is your afternoon news. I’m Betsy Carmichael, signing off.” She blew a kiss and the screen went black.
    Thea glanced around as the rest of the girls filed out of the room, still giggling. A few turned back and pointed in Lola’s direction. “I couldn’t even tell it was you,” Thea offered. “Want me to walk you home?”
    Lola’s nose twitched, the way it always did when she was about to cry. “That’s all right,” she said, not looking Thea in the eye. She wasn’t about to be a bloody mess in front of someone she’d just met five minutes ago. And she could forget being friends with her now. “I just need a second.”
    â€œOkay…” Thea picked her bag up as if she were in slow motion. As she walked away, Lola could feel her eyes on her, but she refused to look up. Seeing the clips