Friends till the End (3 page)

“Yeah, right,” Fiona said, glancing toward the other end of the table, where the boys were sitting. They couldn’t hear the girls’ conversation, thankfully.

“Anyway,” Madhur said, changing the subject, “my mother told me about the trip, and I almost flipped. Grandmamma is going, too. They took me one other time when I was three or whatever, but I don’t remember much of that trip. This will be different. This will be so real.”

“Pakistan and India are so far away,” Madison mused.

Madhur grinned. “I wish I could bring all of you there with me. Now,
that
would be a blast.”

“My family might go to California again this summer,” Fiona said, “but that’s not as exciting as a trip halfway across the globe. And our trip is really just for my dad. I think he may be interviewing for a new job again. He keeps talking about how much he misses the West Coast.”

Madison didn’t know what to say to that. Lately, she’d been more and more worried that Fiona’s family might move back to their old state and leave Far Hills permanently.

“Aren’t you going to England again with your aunt Mimi?” Aimee asked Lindsay.

Lindsay nodded. “Dad’s going, too. I think he’s renting a flat for a month, in London or somewhere in the country. I can’t remember. We’ll be riding horses, though. I love that.”

“Wow, horses? And a whole
month!”
Madison asked, her voice tinged with mild envy. She had never been to London.

“You guys may be massive jet-setters, but
I’m
going somewhere cooler than all of you this summer,” Aimee chimed in.

“You are?” Madison asked, bewildered. “Where?”

“Far Hills. Have you heard of it? It’s this totally unhip place. Ha-ha-ha…”

Aimee was fake-laughing, but everyone else was laughing for real.

“Seriously,” Aimee continued, “I’m stuck here for the summer, but it’s all good, because Mom is letting me take this advanced dance class. I’m going to learn more tap and jazz from this famous teacher who has a course in New York City. Maybe I’ll get more dance solos next year…”

“You’re all so busy,” Madison said. “I guess I’ll hang out at the town pool. La-la-la …all alone…”

“Aw, Maddie…” Aimee said, reaching over to squeeze Madison’s shoulder. “Stop exaggerating. That isn’t how it’s going to be, and you know it.”

“Summer after seventh grade, and everyone gets to fly around the world and take exciting classes—except for me,” Madison grumbled.

“We won’t all be gone at the same time, Maddie,” Lindsay said, “and you won’t be alone. We’re always with you.”

“With my luck,” Madison said, “I’ll end up with Ivy Daly as my pool partner this summer. Now, wouldn’t that be perfection?”

Everyone laughed again—louder this time.

“Hey! What’s so funny?” Hart asked from the other end of the table.

The boys shoved closer. Hart squeezed in next to Madison; Dan moved near Lindsay; Chet cozied up to Madhur; and Egg and Fiona squished in together. Aimee was the only one who was without a crush at the table. Drew was a friend, nothing more. She had her eye on another seventh grader, Ben Buckley, anyway; and nothing could change her mind about that crush, even if it was never going to be realized. Madison thought about how funny it was that the five of them had started the year solo but had all ended up either paired with or liking some boy. They each would head into eighth grade with real boyfriends, unless, of course, everything fell apart over the summer.

“Which one of you guys is going to be in Far Hills this summer?” Madison asked the table.

“As far as I know, I’m lifeguarding again at the Far Hills pool,” Hart said. “Unless something changes…”

“I’m a fool for the pool,” Egg said.

“I’m working in one of my dad’s offices downtown,” Drew said. “I have my own cubicle.”

“I’m at the animal clinic all summer,” Dan groaned, “but you guys knew that already.”

Madison chuckled to herself. Was it possible that her post-seventh-grade summer might be spent more with boys than with girls? She wondered if that was good, or weird, or both.

Eventually, the boys got distracted and drifted back to their side of the table.

“Listen. No matter what happens this summer,” Madison whispered, “we have to stick together, right? Like those girls in
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.”

“Maybe we should get our own pants,” Lindsay joked. “If they were magic, even I would fit into them, right?”

Madison smiled. Lindsay was always stressing out about her weight. So was Aimee, for that matter, but for opposite reasons. It didn’t seem to matter whether someone was chubby or skinny—nobody ever felt just right. The only person Madison knew who didn’t care so much about her body was Fiona. She ate whatever she wanted, exercised, and hardly ever freaked out about her wardrobe.

“Come on! We don’t need a pair of pants to keep us together!” Aimee said.

“But no matter what,” Madison started to say again, “we will stay in touch, right?” She needed confirmation from everyone in the group.

“Forever and ever,” Aimee chirped.

“Till the end of summer…” Lindsay said.

“Till the ends of the earth!” Madhur added.

“Thanks,” Madison said, even though she wondered if anyone could really stay friends for
that
long. “I feel much better.”

“Of course, first we have to get through the last weeks of school,” Fiona reminded everyone.

And
the last weeks of Poison Ivy, Madison added silently.

“W
HAT ARE YOU DOING
out here?” Mom asked Madison. “Is your dad coming over soon?”

“Yeah, I figured I’d wait outside for him and Stephanie. It’s still so warm out,” Madison replied.

“Writing in your files?” Mom asked.

Madison nodded. “How did you know?”

“Moms know everything.”

Rowooorrrooooooo!

Phinnie howled and chased Mom’s ankles down the porch steps. The air was sticky and hot for his late-day walk.

“Dad’s late. As usual,” Madison said.

Mom let Phin roam around the front yard, sniffing at flowers and bushes. He didn’t have on his leash, but no one worried. Phin never wandered very far. This was one dog that didn’t get all worked up about other dogs or cats in the neighborhood. The only thing that could possibly send him racing across the street might be a rabbit or a possum, or maybe even a skunk. But there weren’t too many of those around.

“How’s the last month of school shaping up?” Mom asked, taking a seat on a wicker chair next to Madison’s.

“Busy,” Madison replied.

“Busy with what? Tell me.”

“Mr. Danehy gave us this ultracomplicated, super hard project to finish, and I’m stuck with Ivy as a partner
again,”
Madison whined.

“That’s too bad,” Mom said.

She knew the score when it came to Madison and Ivy. Madison had told her all the details of Ivy’s copying and her cheating throughout the school year.

“I still remember when you and Ivy were close,” Mom said, shaking her head. “When did she become such a troublemaker?”

“She’s not all I have to worry about,” Madison confided. “We’re also having this musical revue at school, and I have to participate. I have to
sing!”

“Why don’t you do something behind the scenes, like you did for the school play?” Mom suggested.

Madison’s eyes opened wide. Inside her head there was a click, as if a switch had been turned on and a lightbulb had been lit.

“Fantastic idea, Mom!” Madison cried, instantly energized. “I don’t have to go onstage, do I? Why didn’t I think of that?”

She breathed a deep sigh of relief. Mom leaned over and put her hands on Madison’s knees.

“Maddie…honey bear…” Mom said, “there’s something I need to tell you.”

Madison looked right into Mom’s eyes. “Tell me,” she said, feeling a flip-flopping inside her belly. “What?”

“As you know, I’ve been working a lot,” Mom said, “and I got that big promotion at Budge Films…”

Madison nodded. “Uh-huh.” What was Mom hinting at?

“Well, there’s another executive film producer job coming up…at another company…a bigger company.”

“Uh-huh.” Madison felt as if she were on the edge of her seat. Was Mom about to tell her that they would be packing up and moving to the Yukon, or the Amazon, or somewhere else completely remote?

“So, we’re moving?”

“Not exactly,” Mom said.
“
My
job
may be moving…”

“So…either way…my world is about to implode!” Madison said very dramatically.

“Don’t say that,” Mom said. “I’m not doing anything
yet.”

“Fiona’s dad is thinking about changing his job, too,” Madison said. “There must be something in the air.”

“That’s funny,” Mom said. “Mrs. Waters didn’t mention anything to me.”

“If you get this new, more important job, does it mean I’ll see
less
or
more
of you?” Madison asked.

Mom shook her head. “I just don’t know yet.”

“Okay. I won’t stress until you know for sure,” Madison said.

Mom clapped her hands, summoning Phin back up on to the porch. He had a fat black stick between his teeth, which she promptly removed.

“Let’s talk more later,” Mom said.

“Sure,” Madison said, even though she felt decidedly
unsure.

As soon as Mom took Phin inside the house again, Madison turned back to her laptop to open a new file.

Big Changes


So here’s what I know:


All my BFFs are traveling for the summer. And I’m not. I’m in a science nightmare with Poison Ivy. The musical revue is coming at me like a speeding train. And now Mom is leaving Budge to be some big shot at another film company?


Rude Awakening:
Just when I think I have it all figured out, “it” takes off like a rocket, leaving me
way
in the dust.


Okay, I’m not in the dust exactly. Just this afternoon, Aimee suggested that I sign up for one of her summer dance classes so I wouldn’t feel too out of touch and so I could limber up, not that I’m in major need of limbering. Or maybe I am? If I’m going to survive all these changes, I definitely need to get more flexible.


On top of everything else that’s going on in school and life, we got word 2day that the teachers organized this last-minute field trip (a “reward,” they called it, HA!) to Lake Dora. It’s just a day trip for the seventh grade, but I guess it IS something to look forward to. I don’t know anymore. All these things blur together. I can’t forget to have Mom sign the permission slip before next week.


Madison hit
SAVE
, because it was getting late and she still needed to check her e-mail. The little mailbox icon blinked. That meant, “Come and get it!”

She clicked on the icon, and a larger-than-expected e-mail list appeared.

FROM          SUBJECT


GoGramma      My Itinerary


GoGramma      My Itinerary


GoGramma      My Itinerary


Angelina77    Re: My Itinerary


DR_BigBOB     Re: My Itinerary


Sk8ingboy     Txt trub


Dantheman     Animal Clinic Summer


Bigwheels     W^


Madison scrolled through the different e-mails. Naturally, Gramma Helen had hit the
SEND
button a few times too many.

From: GoGramma


To: MadFinn (Maddie), Angelina77 (Angie), DR_BigBOB (Bob), FF_Budgefilms (Fran)


Subject: My Itinerary


Date: Thurs 8 Jun 11:01 AM


How wonderful to know that I will be seeing all of you in Far Hills in just a few weeks. I think having Maddie’s moving-up ceremony as an excuse to get family together was just perfect. Thanks, Maddie.


I will be flying into LaGuardia Airport this time, direct from O’Hare in Chicago on Monday, June 19—a few days early. Fran and I discussed, so no one has to worry about getting me there, ok? If there’s any problem, let me know.


Oh, and dears—I plan on making a big feast, so everyone come ready to eat. Angie and Bob—don’t forget to bring photos of your beautiful garden. You promised.


All my love
Gramma Helen


After Gramma Helen’s e-mail, there were two responses: one from Madison’s aunt Angie and another from her uncle Bob, Mom’s brother. Both were checking in to see if Mom needed any help with the party.

The family get-together to celebrate Moving Up Day was really, as Gramma Helen said, a great excuse to get the family together in the warm weather. Ever since the Big D, Madison’s extended family had not had much face time together. And it wasn’t just Mom’s side of the family that was coming. Dad’s brother, Rick, and his wife, Violet, were coming from Canada. And of course, Madison’s stepmother, Stephanie, was coming.

So, although the day of moving up to eighth grade wasn’t necessarily a major event (not as big as a high school or college graduation), for the Finns and the Hirsches it would be a major bash. Madison just hoped it wouldn’t make her want to
bash
her head into a wall. After all, as she knew only too well, sometimes mothers and fathers and exes and aunts and uncles just couldn’t mix.