Friends till the End (8 page)

“Who wrote the e-mail?” Mom asked finally. She wasn’t in the mood to guess anymore.

“Remember that guy Will I met at Camp Sunshine in Florida, when I was down there with Dad and Stephanie?”

“Will? Yes, I do remember. You e-mailed me about him. What did he say?”

“Hello. Good-bye. You know. He lives in Manhattan and wants to see me, or at least that’s what he said,” Madison replied.

“See you? My goodness!” Mom cried. “We’ll have to see about that, young lady. Of course I should come along as chaperone…”

Drrrinnngg!

Madison and Mom looked toward the doorway at the same moment. From somewhere in the house, Phinnie started to bark. He’d heard the doorbell, too.

“I wonder which one of your many admirers has come to see you this early?” Mom asked.

“Mom, quit teasing me!” Madison said. “I nearly forgot. It’s Aimee. It’s time for school.”

Madison scrambled to toss her laptop, notebook, and the other things she needed for school into her orange bag. Then she slung the bag over her shoulder and headed for the kitchen door.

“One second. About that Will boy…” Mom said. “Did you answer his e-mail yet?”

Madison shook her head. “Not yet. But I want to.”

“Before you do…let’s discuss it…
seriously,”
Mom said. “You know how I feel about online safety. And
boy
safety…”

“Okay, I know,” Madison said as she kissed Mom on the cheek.

Madison turned and raced to the front door. Phin raced, too, panting as he went.

When she opened the door, Aimee and Fiona were standing on the porch.

“Good morning!” Aimee chirped. She sounded way more cheery than she usually did. Madison guessed that she’d had one of Mrs. Gillespie’s veggie-protein shakes for breakfast.

“Hey, Aim, hey, Fiona,” Madison said. She motioned them both to come inside for a moment while she kissed the dog good-bye. Then she yelled to her mom again.

“See you later, Mom!” Madison cried.

“Later!” Mom called.

The girls had taken only a few steps outside when Madison found herself unable to hold in her big, big news any longer.

“I have a secret!” Madison gushed.

“I already told Fiona about the Japan trip,” Aimee said.

“You did?” Madison said, a little disappointed.

“I am wicked jealous. A trip to Asia sounds excellent,” Fiona said. “Now you’ll be a globe-trekker, just like Lindsay and Madhur.”

“Can you believe it?” Madison cried. “But that’s not the biggest secret.”

“It’s not?” Aimee asked.

Madison paused dramatically. “I got a mysterious e-mail from a boy,” she admitted.

“What boy?” Fiona asked.

“It’s not Hart?” Aimee asked.

Madison shook her head. “Nope.”

“Is it from that guy you met out at your grandmother’s house?” Fiona asked.

“No way! You haven’t talked about him in forever. What was his name again?” Aimee asked.

Madison could hardly get a word in edgewise. “No, it wasn’t Mark. It was another boy I met, at Camp Sunshine in Florida.”

“Turtle boy!” Aimee teased.

“His name was Will, right?” Fiona asked.

“Hold on. Didn’t you fix him up with another girl when you were at camp?” Aimee said.

“Yeah! And didn’t they hit it off?” Fiona added.

“I thought they liked each other,” Madison said, “but now…”

“He likes
you!”
Fiona said. “Whoa. Complications!”

“He doesn’t like you…he lo-o-o-o-oves you!” Aimee teased, gently slapping Madison on the back. The three friends tripped down the sidewalk laughing.

“So where does this leave Hart?” Fiona asked.

“What do you mean?” Madison asked in turn.

“Well, do you like Hart or this other guy Will more?” Fiona asked. “You have to decide.”

“I like Hart. Totally,” Madison said. “Duh, you know the answer to that.”

“Of course that’s what you’d say to us,” Aimee quipped, “but you like this other guy, too, don’t you? I can tell. Even if it is just a little. Your cheeks got all pink when you said his name.”

“My cheeks are not pink! And I do not like Will more,” Madison said.

“Maddie, it’s nice that some guy likes you,” Aimee said. “But…”

“But you can’t ditch Hart for some turtle camp dude!” Fiona declared.

“You can’t ditch the one guy who was so cool to you all throughout seventh grade…” Aimee added.

“Ditch Hart?” Madison cried. “You guys are kidding, right? I’m not ditching anyone, especially not him”

“I think Hart is the nicest boy in our class,” Fiona raved. “He’d be crushed if you blew him off…”

“Fiona, stop saying that stuff!” Madison wailed. “I am not blowing him off.”

Aimee rolled her eyes.
“Yet,”
she said bluntly. “You’re not blowing him off
yet
.”

There was silence on the sidewalk. Madison didn’t know what to make of her friends’ comments. Did they really think Madison was going to break up with Hart and ruin their perfect little group of pals?

Aimee pinched Madison on the shoulder. “Maddie, don’t look so serious. We’re just kidding,” she said.

“Yeah, Maddie, don’t worry. We know your true-blue feelings.”

Madison laughed along with them, even though she didn’t find any of their jokes very funny. How ridiculous of them to think that she’d throw Hart Jones over! Even if they were kidding. It had taken Madison an entire seventh-grade year to gain Hart’s affections, and she wasn’t about to jeopardize that for some random kid from Camp Sunshine.

Or was she?

A
S MADISON, AIMEE AND
Fiona approached the last block before school, talk of boys ceased, and talk of science and English homework commenced.

But Madison was still thinking about Will.

She would never admit it to her BFFs, but Madison
had
had a bit of a crush on Will at camp—and she knew that feelings like that didn’t evaporate, no matter who was involved. Maybe there still was something between her and him…

Guilt, guilt. Twinge, twinge.

It was hard not to wonder about the possibility…

After getting her books out of her locker, Madison headed off to Mr. Danehy’s room. Almost immediately, she ran into Hart.

Guilt, guilt. Twinge, twinge.

“I saw you walking,” Hart said.

“What’s up?” Madison asked, biting her lip.

Hart gave her a funny look. “Nothing much.”

Madison bit her lip again. One of her occasional weaknesses was that of showing utterly transparent facial expressions. What if Hart saw right through the forced smile, all the way to the guilty twinge that lurked beneath?

“I’m so-o-o-o great,” Madison said. “Really.”

I am such a bad liar, she thought.

Hart shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, hands in pockets, backpack on his shoulder. Why was
he
acting so strange?

Madison was about to say something positive and upbeat about Hart’s T-shirt when she was bumped from behind.

“Excuse
me,”
Poison Ivy Daly huffed, pushing past them.

“Now
that
was uncool,” Hart said disdainfully.

“We’d better get seated or Mr. Danehy will freak,” Madison said, nudging Hart with her elbow.

Hart took his seat over by Chet, who was scribbling something into his notebook. Madison veered toward the stool next to Poison Ivy.

“So, Mr. Danehy knows how you’ve been acting toward me,” Ivy growled.

Madison wanted to jump up on the lab counter and scream, “Oh, yeah? Well what would that be, Miss Stinky-pants Traitor-girl?”

But she said nothing.

“Did you hear me?” Ivy growled again. “I said that I—”

“Yes, I heard you,” Madison said softly. “The whole planet can hear when you talk. You don’t have to bark.”

Madison sat back, satisfied with her retort. Lately, she’d been rich in sassy comebacks. She felt pleased knowing that Ivy’s feathers would be permanently ruffled for the entire length of the class.

As if on cue, Ivy leaned back, away from Madison’s stool, and let out an enormous squawk. Everyone heard it, including the teacher.

“Is there a problem, Ms. Daly?” Mr. Danehy asked from the front of the room. It was his usual question.

“No,” Ivy said, glaring right at Madison.

“Oh, yeah, everything’s just hunky-dory-doo,” Madison quipped under her breath.

“Excuse me?” Ivy asked.

Madison looked Ivy straight in the eye. “Would you just chill out?” she said. “We have to get this project done somehow. There’s no escape, and you’re not helping.”

For some reason, Ivy didn’t have a comeback this time. She just stared at Madison.

Madison took advantage of the silence. “Just take a look at the notes, will you?” she asked, shoving her notebook back at Ivy. “According to you, this notebook is part yours, anyhow, right?”

Ivy nodded. “Fine.”

Madison flipped through the pages where she’d drawn diagrams and scribbled ideas. Although she expected continued enemy resistance, Ivy seemed okay with the “Why Is the Sky Blue?” topic. She looked and listened and…who says miracles can’t happen in science classrooms? She started acting like a partner.

Shocking.

Actually, the pair didn’t have much of a choice as to whether or not to agree. Mr. Danehy made their minds up for them. He roamed the classroom like a lion on the prowl, asking for topics
or
offering ultimatums. If the students didn’t choose a subject on their own, he chose one for them with a loud, king-of-the-jungle roar, naturally. Madison knew there was no fate worse than letting a teacher pick your project topic. If it were up to Mr. Danehy, Madison figured that she and Ivy would end up doing some complex physics equation that was impossible to decipher. They’d both be sunk.

Of course, agreeing on the topic as partners didn’t keep Ivy from making dumb, obnoxious comments throughout the class.

“This is the stupidest plan I’ve ever planned.”

“Is the sky the only thing that’s considered sky blue?”

“Come on! I can see gamma rays. Can’t you?”

Madison tried to ignore most of Ivy’s lame remarks. She huddled close to the enemy, sketching the electromagnetic spectrum and angles of refracted light—all things that helped to explain the question at hand.

“According to Mr. Danehy’s directions, we need to use the scientific method to answer our question,” Madison explained.

“What’s the scientific method? Wait a minute, we totally did
not
cover this in class,” Ivy groaned.

“Chapter twelve,” Madison insisted. “We just talked about it last week.”

“Well, I must have been absent,” Ivy said, making one of her typical excuses. “I would have remembered this.”

Yeah, right.

“How are we doing over here?” Mr. Danehy asked, coming up behind Madison and Ivy.

“Greater than great,” Madison said with a sigh. “We’re working together in perfect harmony.”

“Harmony, huh?” Mr. Danehy repeated. He didn’t look convinced, so Madison added, “We were just covering some hot topics.”

“Yes, I was just telling Madison about the electromagnetic spectrum and visible light,” Ivy said.

Madison’s jaw dropped. She wanted to kick Ivy.

“Visible light? That sounds quite good,” Mr. Danehy said, sounding semi-impressed by Ivy’s comments.

“And that’s not all. We have this major experiment planned to prove how the color blue appears and how light is refracted.”

Madison felt the tips of her ears turn scarlet with anger. What a sucker punch. Ivy had totally read her notes and then recited them like they were her own. The nerve!

For the remainder of class, Ivy and Madison “shared” more ideas and notes. Ivy, of course, continued to gloat. At one point, she even passed a note over to her drones. Madison guessed that it said something unkind about Madison.

When the end-of-class bell rang, Hart ambled over. Ivy spoke to him as she got up from her stool. “Hello, Hart,” she said.

“Hello,” Hart replied, trying to move out of her path.

“Did you get my invitation?” Ivy asked.

Hart shrugged. “No. What invitation?”

Ivy rolled her eyes and leaned toward him. “My mother is throwing this mega event at the end of school. Everyone will be there.”

She shot a look at Madison.

“Well,” Ivy said softly, “almost everyone.”

“I have plans,” Hart said without missing a beat.

“But…you don’t even know the time or place. Look, just read my invitation and let me know,” Ivy said, as if she hadn’t even heard him say no.

As soon as Ivy had strutted out of the room, Madison mimed throwing up.

“She makes me so,
so
sick,” Madison said, rubbing her tummy.

“Me, too,” Hart said.

“Are you going to the soccer game today?” Madison asked.

Hart shook his head. “No can do. I have to meet my dad after school. Wish Fiona luck for me, okay? And E me or text me later.”

“Okay,” Madison said, watching him disappear into the throng of kids flooding the hall between classes.

The soccer match was set to begin right after the final school bell. Madison knew she wanted to get to the field quickly, not only because of the large crowd, but also because Far Hills was playing against its bitter rival, Dunn Manor. Madison was in the mood for rivalry. After all, she’d been living it throughout her classes all day long. Why should after-school events be any different?

After dumping a few books back in her locker, Madison searched the hallway for someone with whom to walk over to the soccer field. Madhur and Aimee were talking near the girls’ bathroom.

The three of them headed over together.

“Give me an M-A-L-L-A-R-D!”
cried the opposing team’s cheering section.

Madison and her friends clapped loudly to drown out the cheer, and clapped even more loudly when Fiona and her teammates took to the field.

Normally, a soccer game would not have been so well attended. But the scores had been close all year long. These last games of the season were the deciding ones: who would walk away as the soccer champs? Everyone at Far Hills wanted to be a part of the girls’-soccer-team triumph.

Madison scanned the bleachers for a sign of Hart. Although he had said he wouldn’t be at the game, there was always the off chance he’d changed his mind. But he wasn’t out there. She did see Dan, however; he came right over to where she and the other girls sat.