Friends till the End (11 page)

“So?” Madison asked.

“So, why was he coming into the performers’ meeting? Isn’t he in the backstage group?”

Madison looked down at the linoleum floor. “I don’t know.”

“Wait,” Aimee said. “Hart specifically told me he was doing props so he could hang with you more before the end of school. He hasn’t switched groups, has he?”

“So what if he has?” Madison asked.

“That makes no sense,” Aimee said.

Madison just shrugged again. “Does anything make sense these days?”

Madhur and Aimee shrugged back. Then each girl returned to her locker to finish with cleanup. Madison glanced around to see if Lindsay might walk by, but she didn’t see her.

Someone else came up to her, though. It was Mariah, and her pink streaks were back again, although they were a little lighter this time.

“Nice hair,” Madison said.

“I couldn’t resist, even though the teachers will probably make me change it again,” Mariah said. “But my hair looks so boring when it’s the natural color.”

“I wish I had the guts to change my hair color,” Madison said.

“Why? You have gorgeous hair just like it is,” Mariah said.

“Thanks.”

“I can’t believe you guys are going to be in eighth grade soon,” Mariah said.

“I can’t believe you’re going to be in high school,” Madison said. “Are you scared?”

Mariah quickly replied, “No way!” and burst into a laugh.

Madison gave her a quizzical look. “You’re not?”

“Okay, maybe a little, just like any year in a new class or school. But I’m psyched to meet some new kids, too.”

“I’m so scared about next year, and I don’t know why,” Madison admitted.

“What else is up?” Mariah asked, raising an eyebrow. “Boy trouble?”

“Boys?” Madison said. “Me? No way.”

“You are
so
lying,” Mariah said, nudging Madison. “Come on, you can tell me. I know how to keep a secret. I swear.”

“Okay,” Madison confided. “There is one boy. We’ve known each other since we were kids…”

“Oh, yeah?” Mariah smiled. “So, what about him?”

Madison looked away. “It’s been this crush forever and ever. And it’s mutual…but then there’s this
other
guy who just showed up.”

“Another guy?” Mariah asked. “Hmmm.”

“He lives in New York City. I met him at turtle camp.”

“Turtle camp?” Mariah said, holding back her giggles.

“That’s what I called it. It was actually Camp Sunshine. Anyway,” Madison continued, “the point is: I’m stuck.”

“Does Forever Guy know about Turtle Camp Guy?” Mariah asked, giggling again.

“Well, not exactly…not like
that
…”

“Forever Guy is cool,” Mariah replied. “He’ll always like you, no matter what. Trust me.”

“How do you know that?” Madison asked.

“Because my brother is totally predictable,” Mariah said.

“Your brother?” Madison pinched her lips together in a frown. “Egg?”

“Yeah, that’s who you’re talking about, right? I mean, Egg is Forever Guy.”

“Egg?” Madison’s eyes got very wide.

“You’ve known each other since you were born, right?”

“Yeah, but…” Madison let out a little gasp. “Um…I was actually talking about Hart Jones,” she explained.
“He’s
Forever Guy.”

“Oh, really? He is?” Mariah said, cool as a cucumber. “Well, I’m an idiot, then. I just thought…Sorry.”

“You don’t really think Egg has a crush on
me,
do you?” Madison asked.

“Nah, nah, nah,” Mariah said. “I was just thinking out loud. I mean, we both know how much he digs Fiona.”

“Yeah,” Madison said, feeling much better. “I know she likes him.”

“Hey, Maddie!” Fiona came over to where Madison and Mariah stood and poked her head between them. “And what are you two blabbing about?” she asked.

Mariah, who was almost never at a loss for words, inhaled sharply, somehow rendered speechless by Fiona’s sudden appearance. She started to mumble something, but then stopped, waved, and started to walk away.

“Mariah?” Madison called out, but she disappeared around a corner.

“What’s the matter with
her?”
Fiona asked.

“Er…stomachache,” Madison said, lying to cover up.

“Did Mariah say anything about the field trip tomorrow?” Fiona asked.

“No,” Madison said. “She wasn’t talking about school.”

“What was she talking about?”

“You,” Madison said with a nervous giggle.

“Me?”
Fiona said, looking worried. “Why would she be talking about me?”

“I’m just kidding,” Madison said. “She was talking about her stomachache, I swear.”

“Okay, so why were you laughing? Stomachaches aren’t that funny.”

“No, but life is,” Madison said. “And we were just saying…seventh grade has been pretty hysterical, don’t you think? Like…did you think your brother Chet would
ever
admit to liking a girl? And what about your bee sting episode in the spring? And Ivy Daly as class president? Puh-leez…”

Madison went on and on, still trying to cover up for the fact that she’d just been talking about Fiona. It seemed weird. Like she had been backstabbing her BFF.

“I guess maybe you’re right. Seventh grade has been funny,” Fiona said.

Madison pushed her lips out, making a goofy face. “Funny!” she cried.

Fiona let out a laugh.

Then she and Madison ambled down the hall together, arm in arm, heading for Aimee’s locker.

T
HE PIG ALARM CLOCK
oinked, and Madison rubbed her eyes. She was awake almost immediately, keyed up about the field trip.

The field-trip
outfit,
however, left Madison a little less excited. The greenish brown, fatigue-style capris she’d selected the night before were a little snug around the hips. Plus, she wasn’t sure they were “weather appropriate.” The skies outside were more gray than blue, which meant there was a chance of showers, which also meant she should probably be dressing in something waterproof.

Wearing capris in the rain could mean damp ankles.

Madison headed back to the closet, picking through the other clothes that were hanging and piled up in there, including some loose brown cotton pants, a blue skirt with embroidered pockets, and a pair of patched jeans. After many unsuccessful try-ons, Madison decided that the capris were really the best after all. She tugged them back on, donned a dark green T-shirt, slid on her sneakers and some little ankle socks with brown trim, and pulled her hair into a French twist just like the one she’d seen some star wear to a movie premiere. It looked a lot like the way her favorite teacher, Mrs. Wing, wore her hair, too.

“Well, isn’t that a fancy hairdo for a cloudy day,” Mom said. She’d been standing at Madison’s bedroom door.

“How long have you been there?” Madison laughed.

“Long enough to see you’re having a fashion emergency.”

“Do I look okay?” Madison asked.

“Well, your hair is great, but don’t you think your outfit looks a little…well, drab…A bit like you’re going into the army or something…”

“The army? Mom, it’s camouflage. It’s supposed to be cool.”

“If you say so,” Mom conceded.

“Mo-o-o-o-om! Don’t tease me!” Madison wailed. She picked up one of the fluffy purple pillows from her bed and hurled it toward Mom.

“Hey,” Mom cried out, catching the pillow. “Whatever you decide to wear, honey bear, you need to shake a leg. We don’t want to be late.”

Since the kids from all classes needed to be lined up in front of the building for the buses to Lake Dora no later than eight thirty, Madison had decided to forgo the usual walk to school. Mom would be chauffeur for the morning.

“Do you have your bathing suit?” Mom asked Madison on her way out the door.

“Yup,” Madison said as she pulled up her T-shirt. “I put it on first. This way I don’t have to change clothes in front of the whole class. I hate that. Not that we’ll be doing much lake swimming if it rains…”

“Well, hurry up with whatever else you have to do,” Mom said, turning to go. “I’ll be downstairs.”

Madison took one last look in the mirror and then followed. Since the rush was on, Mom had packed up a cold orange (already peeled) and a fruit-and-nut granola bar for Madison to eat on the ride to school. Madison stuffed it into her bag and kissed Phinnie good-bye.

By the time the two of them arrived in front of FHJH, most of the seventh-grade kids were already waiting there in groups. No one had really lined up yet. Madison gave Mom a peck on the cheek and hopped out of the car.

“Hello!” Madison called out to Madhur and Fiona as she walked over to join them. Aimee and Lindsay came over a moment later.

“Hiya, bus buddy!” Aimee cried, tapping Madison on the shoulder.

“Bus buddy? Cool!” Fiona said. Then she tapped Lindsay.

Jokingly, Madhur looked around and then tapped herself. “I guess I’ll just be my own bus buddy,” she declared proudly. The five girls laughed.

The only difficulty with a fivesome was the fact that they weren’t an even number. Pairing off always left someone out. Usually, the five of them traded off on being the “solo” person, but most of the time, Madhur was odd girl out. Not that it mattered to her. Madhur survived as well on her own as she did in a crowd. That was a quality Madison envied.

The teachers divided the bus lines up by homeroom at first, but then everyone screamed and moaned and complained. In the end, the kids got their way, arguing that friends should be able to sit with one another, since it was the end of the year. With “free seating” in place, Hart, Egg, Chet, Drew, and Dan lined up directly behind the girls. That was good news for everyone, especially Madhur. Now there were ten friends together: an even number. And Madhur didn’t have to worry about not having a bus buddy. Chet immediately slipped into the seat next to her. The rest stayed seated in their own pairs.

“As you can all see, it looks like rain,” said Mr. Gibbons from the front of the bus. He was one of the teacher chaperones for the trip that day. Like the other teachers, he was dressed ultracasually, in jeans and a T-shirt emblazoned with the FHJH logo.

“Mr. Gibbons is cute in regular clothes,” Aimee whispered to Madison, who promptly laughed out loud.

“Are you
kidding?”
Madison cried, incredulous.

“No,” Aimee said seriously. Then she cracked a smile. “Okay, maybe he doesn’t look
that
cute. I was just saying…”

“Shhhh! We can all hear you, and you sound
stupid!”
someone whispered from a row ahead.

Of course, Madison knew who it was. Who else but Ivy knew so well how to poke her nose…or in this case, her
ears…
into every situation? Ivy was good at hearing everything, except important information in science class.

Madison glared up ahead at her nemesis, but Poison Ivy didn’t turn around.

“Beast,” Aimee whispered under her breath.

Madison laughed softly, hoping that Ivy had heard
that
at least.

“So!” Mr. Gibbons said, clapping his hands. “Shall we sing a song?”

A couple of kids at the very back of the bus groaned, but almost everyone else cheered. And so, for the next twenty minutes or so, most of the kids sang along with Mr. Gibbons.

The ride to Lake Dora was as bumpy as ever. Madison found herself staring at the back of Hart’s neck, wishing that she were in the seat next to him. Strangely, he didn’t turn around once.

“What’s up with Hart? He’s being so quiet.” Aimee whispered to Madison at one point. “Does he know about the whole Will thing?”

Madison’s heart sank. “No, of course not!” she cried defensively. Then she thought for a moment. “At least, I don’t think he knows.”

“See? Fiona and I told you…” Aimee said.

“Told me
what?”
Madison snapped. Aimee’s comments were beginning to annoy her.

For some reason, a vague memory from fifth grade popped into Madison’s head. She recalled catching a sunfish with Hart at another lake, Lake Wannalotta. There was a photograph of that proud moment somewhere. Was it at Hart’s place? Or was it back at her house? Why couldn’t Madison remember? For so many years, they’d danced around the idea of liking each other. Now that it was all out in the open, could it last? Could Madison make it last? She needed to be Hart’s girlfriend that summer and in the eighth grade. And in ninth grade after that. And then in high school, too, and maybe even college. This was one of those relationships that lasted forever, wasn’t it? Wasn’t that how it always worked in books and on TV shows?

Madison heard Gramma Helen’s voice inside her head.
Good things come to those who wait.

Madison would just have to wait to see how everything turned out.

“Can you believe this is our last field trip?” Fiona asked.

“This year, you mean,” Lindsay said.

“Yeah,” Fiona said. “But it feels like the end of something else, doesn’t it?”

Madison shrugged. All that overthinking (again) about Hart had put her in a sour mood. She didn’t want this trip—or any trip—to be the end of anything.

By the time the buses arrived at Lake Dora, the sky was beginning to clear. Madison hoped that that was a positive sign. Everyone disembarked and headed for the waterfront. The air was thick with humidity, probably due to the cloud cover. There was hardly any breeze, even close to the water.

Down by the lake’s edge, some of the seventh graders sat on the sand, patiently waiting for the other groups to get there. A few camp instructors arranged themselves on the interconnected docks, waiting to assist anyone who wanted to swim or get on a boat. One kept blowing his whistle to keep the kids from dangling their toes in the water.

Mr. Gibbons and the other teachers did their best to chaperone as the kids raced around to check out the water sports that were available. There were kayaks, rowboats, and rafts. And there were group competitions scheduled to start about a half hour after everyone arrived.

Over a rusty bullhorn, Mr. Gibbons announced that the first event of the day would be the rowboat race.

That meant that everyone had to get into their bathing suits or risk getting wet clothes.