Friends till the End (10 page)

While walking down the hall, Madison saw herself approach Dan Ginsburg, who stood at his locker. But in this daydream, Dan was skinnier and taller. He wasn’t Pork-0 at all.

Wow.

“Hey, Maddie,” Dan said in a smoother than smooth voice.

“Hey,” Madison replied, tossing her hair.

“Are you coming to the clinic this week?” Dan asked.

“You bet,” Madison said.

“You sure you won’t go to the movies with me this Saturday?” Dan asked hopefully.

Madison grinned. “I’m sure.” Then she continued her walk down the hall. She turned a corner. There, she nearly collided with Chet Waters.

“Hey, Maddie,” Chet said, speaking with the same smooth tones that Dan had used.

“Hey,” Madison said, cocking her hip to one side and slinging her trendy bag over the opposite shoulder.

“Are you absolutely, positively sure you won’t go to the mall with me this Saturday?” Chet asked. It was more like begging.

Madison shook her head. “Another time, Chetty.”

Chetty?

What kind of a nickname was
that?

Madison kept right on walking, straight down the hallway. Other kids stopped and stared. What was everyone looking at? They weren’t looking at her, were they?

“Yo, Maddie!”

Madison stopped short in front of Egg. He blocked her path. For the first time in the daydream, here was something expected: Egg, getting in the way. But he was taller than usual. And nicer. And cuter, too. Strangely, Fiona was nowhere to be seen.

“What’s up with the plan to hang out on Saturday and play computer games?” Egg asked.

Madison bowed her head coyly and looked in the opposite direction. “No plan, man,” Madison replied, making a ridiculous rhyme that somehow sounded flirtatious.

Flirting with Egg? This really was unreal.

After Egg stepped aside, Madison walked on. A few yards farther down the hall, she saw Drew, and then Hart, both standing close by their lockers.

Drew waved but didn’t say anything. Instead, he handed Madison a note on purple paper. A note! Madison opened it.

Want to come over Saturday for a pool party? You can be my extraspecial guest. We can do karaoke.

Madison crumpled up the note and tossed it at his feet, shaking her head.

“May-beee,” she said in a teasing voice. It didn’t sound like her actual voice, either. It was more as though she were talking through her nose, not her mouth. Or singing.

Wait a minute. Madison couldn’t sing.

Hart stepped up to Madison and took her by the elbow.

“I know we’ve got plans tonight, right?” Hart asked, cocking his head. “Everyone’s going to the movies, and so are we.”

“We are?” Madison laughed.

Hart looked surprised at her response. Madison had never seen him look that way before.

Then, she realized that she wasn’t standing there alone with Hart. Everyone in school was right there, right behind her, following close, close on her heels. There were Ivy, Rose, Joanie, Dan, Drew, Chet…
everyone…
except Aimee or Fiona or Lindsay or Madhur…

“Is there a problem?” Madison said as she turned to face the crowd.

Everyone rushed toward Madison. It was a whoosh of noise and faces and smiles and frowns and, oh, my goodness, how woozy she felt as the crowd pushed closer.

Then, as if by magic, everyone froze.

An unfamiliar voice called out from behind one of the classroom doors.

“Over here, Maddie!” the voice cried.

Who was there?

When she glanced over in the direction of the voice, Madison saw a stranger. It was Will.

What was Will doing at Far Hills Junior High?

“Maddie!”

What was she supposed to say to him? And why was he yelling?

“Will you snap out of it?”

Madison blinked hard a few times. She shook her head. She was no longer inside the daydream. She was back in homeroom. And Egg—not Will—was the one yelling.

“Quit spacing out, Maddie,” Egg barked. He poked her in the arm for the umpteenth time.

“What’s going on?” Madison asked, rubbing her arm and checking it for bruises.

Egg looked concerned. He lowered his voice. “Are you okay, Maddie?”

“I think so,” Madison said. She looked down to see what she was actually wearing.
Whew.
No short skirt. No tank. No sandals. She had on faded jeans, a cotton shirt, and sneaker-mules, just as always.

“Whoa,” Madison said, squinting at Egg. “Now that was truly weird.”

“Yeah, I guess so. You never zoned out like that before,” Egg said. “The announcements are over. First period is about to start.”

“Oh,” Madison said, still feeling the ripples of her daydream. “I guess I was just thinking about stuff.”

“What was so funny?” Egg asked.

“Funny?”

“You were smiling,” Egg said. “Wacko.”

“Don’t call me names,” Madison said.

“I always call you names. It’s what I do.”

Madison rolled her eyes and scanned the room. Egg had witnessed her entire daydream episode. Had anyone else in class seen her space out as though she’d traveled all the way to Venus and back?

She clutched her chest, taking shallow little breaths. Never had such a vivid daydream or night dream happened in Madison’s life. It was like watching a crazy movie.

Brrrinnnggg!

The bell for first class rang out, and Madison jumped, startled.

Egg jumped, too.

“Why did you jump like that?” Egg cried. “Stop it! You’re freaking me out today, Maddie!”

“I guess that’s just what I do,” Madison said.

Egg groaned. “Hardy-har-har. You’re a real laugh riot.”

“Aw, just leave me alone,” Madison grumbled.

She stood up with her orange bag, checking to make sure that she had all the right books for the morning classes. Science was first, and her purple science notebook was right there. Madison had been sure to rip out the doodle pages and to scratch out any incriminating names or games, but she quickly double-checked, just to make sure. She couldn’t risk Ivy’s spotting the words “Madison Jones” or “Madison + Will?” in the margin, now, could she?

Between the doodles and the crazy daydream, Madison was beginning to feel that her secret thoughts were getting the better of her.

At the same time, she just didn’t know how to turn them off.

B
Y THE END OF THE
day on Wednesday, Madison was still preoccupied with boy thoughts. And it didn’t help that her last class was Mrs. Wing’s tech lab. Half the boys from the wild daydream were in that classroom.

Madison attempted to keep a low profile. She sat behind one of the computer monitors with a tight-lipped, blank expression on her face, trying very hard not to encourage any random conversations, especially not with Egg. No matter what the day or situation, Egg would find some sneaky way to slip under Madison’s skin and drive her crazy. Today, she wasn’t in the mood.

Sometimes Egg could be as nasty as Poison Ivy, like a bad rash that wouldn’t go away, teasing Madison relentlessly. Of course, he usually apologized in the end, but that didn’t make his annoying behavior any easier to take.

“Hey,” Egg grunted. “Are you ignoring me or what?”

Madison bit her tongue. She was
not
going to answer.

“Hey,” Egg said a little louder. “I know you can he-e-e-e-ear me.”

Not only could Madison hear him, she could feel his spit as he hurled comments her way.

“Shhhh!” she finally said, holding a finger up to her lips for emphasis. “We’re supposed to be doing site updates, not talking.”

Before Egg had a chance to say anything else, Madison was rescued by Mrs. Wing and a blue folder.

“Maddie,” Mrs. Wing said sweetly, handing the folder to Madison, “I have a few memory pages that I need inputted into the database. Would you be able to handle this before class gets out?”

“Of course,” Madison replied. “I’ll input them right now.”

Mrs. Wing handed a folder to Egg, too. He turned back to his computer and began to type.

Madison’s folder contained at least five new handwritten memory-page profiles from other students in the seventh grade. Much to her surprise, the first page inside the folder was from Joan Kenyon, super drone. Madison immediately read through the text to see just what this friend of the queen of mean had written. But nothing in the profile seemed funny or strange or even mean. In fact, Phony Joanie came across as the sweetest, most unphony person on the planet.

As if.

Madison briefly considered what would happen if she were to alter Joan’s page while inputting it on the computer. What if she changed a few words here and there, just to make Joan sound more like the mean drone she really was?

Madison giggled. First there were boy-crazy daydreams. Now she was having fleeting fantasies about getting drone revenge. Of course, it was all just fantasy. Madison wouldn’t change a word of the profile. Changing the text was something
Ivy
would have done, not Madison.

When the end-of-day bell rang, Madison avoided all the guys and hustled to gather her belongings. The rehearsal for backstage help was about to begin downstairs. Kids who helped with props had practice in one room, while kids who were performing songs and dances practiced in another.

Hart was right there in Madison’s rehearsal room, waiting. She walked over to him. Something seemed wrong. He wasn’t making eye contact.

“How are you?” Madison asked gently, slipping into the seat next to him.

“Fine, I guess, considering…” he grumbled.

“Considering…
what?”
Madison asked.

“Aw, you know,” Hart said. He still wouldn’t look her in the eye.

I know?
Madison thought.

Madison clenched her stomach muscles.

Um…no, I don’t know.

What was he talking about? Could he read her thoughts? Had Fiona or Aimee spilled the beans? Did Hart know about Will’s e-mail?

“You look a little weird today,” Hart commented, unaware of Madison’s internal freak-out.

“I do?”

“Okay, not really.”

“Oh.”

How awkward. What was going on?

“Yeah…well…um…” Hart couldn’t seem to get any words out. “I thought I would like to help with props and backstage work, but the truth is…well…I wish I was singing or dancing instead.”

“But you said you wanted to be with me…”

“I know,” Hart replied, “and I thought I meant it, but I was thinking about it all day and…I changed my mind. I’m really sorry…”

“It’s okay, I guess,” Madison said, trying to sound agreeable, even though she felt a little put off by Hart’s change of heart. Was something else going on—and getting between them?

No, no, stop overthinking,
Madison told herself.
He’s just telling you what he really feels, and you’re blowing the whole thing right out of proportion…

Madison tried to calm herself down. Up on stage, Mr. Montefiore tapped his foot and worked with the team of janitors as they hung the highest of the track lights. Madison watched them. It was better than watching Hart. He was acting so distant. Was this karmic payback for the Will e-mail and for all of Madison’s daydreams?

At the end of the revue meeting, Madison and Hart said their good-byes, and Madison headed back to her locker. Her brain was exhausted from all the overthinking. She needed a BFF or a keypal connection right now, something that would screw her head back on straight.

Kids mingled in the hallways cleaning out old textbooks, notebooks, and locker decorations. Principal Bernard had designated this Locker Cleanup Day, and Madison had a lot of cleaning left to do. It was a good thing, too, just the thing to get Madison’s mind off Hart.

But when she opened her locker, the first thing she saw was a photo of herself with Aimee, Fiona, Chet, and—guess who?—pasted on the inside. Everyone in the photo was sticking out his or her tongue in a goofy pose. Hart had his eyes crossed, too. That had been a fun day.

Seventh grade had seemed so uncomplicated before the “boy” got added to “friend.”

“Hey, Maddie,” someone said, strolling up beside Madison. It was Madhur; arms filled with papers and books. “My locker is such a sty,” she complained.

“Mine, too,” Madison said. As she reached inside, a pile of things fell out.

“Didn’t you have revue rehearsal today?” Madhur asked.

Madison nodded. “Yes. You did, too, right?”

“Down in the basement. And it was seriously lame. All the performers were right there, but no one sang or danced. The downstairs piano was out of tune. What a waste of time.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Madison said, “ours was lame, too. I was thinking maybe I would drop out.”

“Drop out?” Madhur said. She sounded genuinely shocked.

“I think maybe I’ll quit. I don’t see the point,” Madison said. “I have so much else to do.”

“Quit? No way!” Madhur said. “You are
not
dropping out of the revue. It’s our last big show of the year.”

“Well,” Madison mused. “I don’t feel like much of a
show-off.”

“You have to stay in the show,” Madhur said. “I am your friend, and I say so.”

Madison laughed. “Huh? What are you? The boss of me?”

Madhur nodded. “Absolutely. And those are the rules.”

“The rules?” Madison said, still laughing.

Aimee came over, followed by Fiona.

“Locker cleanup stinks,” Aimee declared, pinching her nose for effect.

“They should just let us toss everything in a pile and light it with a match,” Fiona said.

“Can we put Ivy in the pile, too?” Aimee said.

Madhur laughed.

“You should have seen
her
at rehearsal today,” Aimee said to Madison.

“What happened?” Madison asked.

“She stood onstage to dance for one of the group numbers. Midway through the song, she fell flat on her nose. I swear, I heard it crunch.”

“No-o-o-o!” Fiona said.

Madhur laughed again. “The classic Poison Ivy moment,” she quipped.

“Wish I’d been there,” Madison said.

“One very weird thing happened, though,” Aimee continued. “Hart came in to our rehearsal at the very end to talk to the teacher-adviser.”