Survival of the Fiercest by Anna Carey

T’s that Ashton girls always used when classifying the Haverford basketball team: tall, tan, and toned. “I just moved this weekend, from Connecticut.”
    I know , Cate thought. After Danny gave her the first batch of intel, she’d Googled Westport and found out Eli had run a 5K there, finishing in an impressive 20:34. She discovered an old camp photo of him on a sailboat and an article on deer he’d written for the school paper. Even if he’d only spoken twenty-two words to her, she was starting to feel like she knew him better than anyone else. “How do you like New York so far?”
    Eli smirked, his lips twisting like he’d just licked a lemon. “Well…I still don’t instinctively know which way is uptown and which way is downtown like everyone else seems to, and this morning some cabbie tried to make me roadkill.” He rested his foot on the fence, his leg just inches away from Cate’s.
    Mrs. Ashford turned away from her mums and raised an eyebrow at Cate. She had been friends with Cate’s mother and felt that entitled her to eavesdrop on all Cate’s conversations. Cate shot her an evil glare and turned back to Eli.
    â€œWell, if you need any help, I’m right next door.” She imagined taking the 6 train downtown with Eli, pressed close together in the crowded subway car. They’d walk arm in arm around the über-modern Whitney Museum and giggle as they tried to figure out how a plain red canvas made “art.” Cate couldn’t wait for Blythe, Priya, and Sophie to spot them holding hands on Madison Avenue, or sharing a kiss in Bergdorf ’s. It would be official proof that Cate was over the Chi Beta Phis. She could finally stop thinking about how Sophie’s birthday was coming up in October, or how Priya’s parents were taking her to India in December, and move onto bigger and better—not to mention cuter and cuddlier—things.
    â€œI could use a personal tour guide…” Eli said, emphasizing the word personal . Cate twisted her dark brown hair into a ponytail and smiled. She would do anything to have five hours alone with Eli, even if it meant walking Manhattan from the Hudson to the East River. “I’ll take you up on that.” Then he started up his stoop.
    Cate watched him go, her hand gripping the fence. Shecouldn’t hold a stake out every night, hoping he’d walk by. She needed a goal, a plan, so she could stop imagining hanging out with him and start actually hanging out with him. “Maybe I’ll check out one of your basketball games sometime?” she called after him. She’d already looked at the schedule.
    Eli paused on the top step and put his key in the door. “Yeah, there’s one tomorrow. You should come,” He smiled, then disappeared inside.
    â€œ You should come ,” Cate whispered to herself. She held the folder to her chest, her heart pounding like she’d just run ten blocks. Tomorrow Eli would scan the stands and see her sitting there, her hair straightened, lips glossed, cheering him on. By Friday they’d be sitting in the Rose Planetarium in the dark, huddled together under a fake sky of stars. And next week she’d be lying out on the Great Lawn after school, using his chest as a pillow. Forget the fitted vest—Eli Punch was the hottest new fall accessory.

SHARING IS CARING
    S tella winced as Myra Granberry plunged the scalpel into the pig’s heart, half expecting to get squirted in the eye with formaldehyde. She’d been stuck with Myra as a lab partner ever since her first day at Ashton Prep, when Cate banned her from the Chi Beta Phis. Myra was brilliant at biology and genuinely nice, but standing next to her made Stella a nerd by association. Myra had a clunky mobile that she clipped to her uniform skirt, was the star of the Mathletes, and fancied using words like golly and gosh .
    â€œThe first cut should be vertically