by Laura Dower
Egg mocked Hart. “Finnster has a Phin?” he said in a singsong voice.
“Hey, what about Blossom? She’s a great doggy, too,” Aimee boasted. She had a girl basset hound that loved to play with Phin. Madison and Aimee always joked if you put their two dogs together, they would make the ugliest, smushed-faced, floppy-eared pups.
“Are we staying or going … ?” Chet asked. “Or talking about dogs? Hello?”
Aimee shrugged. “I’d like to keep doing The Wiz. You guys have other places to be, obviously.”
“People to see, places to go …” Egg cracked.
“Aimee,” Fiona said, “I can stay a little longer if you want. We can still go over lines, just you and me.”
Madison felt funny about leaving when she heard that. For some reason she didn’t want to leave Aimee and Fiona alone. If she walked away, would Madison miss something important? She’d already missed the cast lineup and the singing rehearsal. She didn’t want to miss anything else.
Egg was walking away. “Later, Aim.” He nodded in Fiona’s direction.
“Later, Egg.” Fiona grinned right at him.
“Yo, Wicked Witch of the West.” Chet waved his hand in front of his sister’s face like he was waving her out of some kind of trance. “See you home.”
“Text me, Maddie!” Fiona said, ignoring her brother.
“Call me later, ’kay?” Aimee called to Madison.
Madison waved to the pair. She was still reluctant to leave, but Bigwheels would be waiting.
The walk home went by slowly without Aimee and Fiona there to gossip. The streets were empty, the air was chilly, and the sun was beginning to sink in the western sky. Her bag weighed a ton and pulled heavily on her shoulder. She’d brought home her math textbook. She had the same test Hart did.
Since she was alone, Madison took a shortcut through the backyards of the houses just behind Blueberry Street, snagging her purple sweater as she tripped through a neighbor’s garden and slid over a rock wall. It was still quite light out, but soon the sky would get darker and darker until all the pink disappeared.
With each stride, Madison secretly wished she were back at Book Web with Aimee and Fiona, even though she didn’t have lines to memorize. Was being picked as stage manager less like being cast in the show and more like being cast aside?
“Stop over-thinking,” Madison told herself.
Phin welcomed her home with a loud bark as soon as Madison walked in the door. She gave Phin a big hug, and the dog responded with a snort. Sometimes it was hard for pugs to breathe when they got overexcited.
Mom had left a note on the counter, explaining how she ducked out to do grocery shopping, so Madison grabbed a root beer and ran up to her room. The clock by her bed said almost half past five. She had to log on to TweenBlurt.com—fast. She went into the main fishbowl to find her keypal.
SHARK (Moderator)
MnMrox411
TellMeAStORY
Wohl_Consol
ChuckD4Ever
PrtyGrrl88
12345Slim
Brbiedoll
MadFinn has entered the room.
Madison didn’t like it when kids in the chat room waiting room asked for her A/S/L, which meant age, sex, and location. It made her uncomfortable, even with SHARK in the room. What if some creep-o was in the room, pretending to be some kid? Mom once told Madison some horror stories just so she’d stay safe.
The stories worked.
RULES
PrtyGrrl88 has left the room.
Bigwheels has entered the room.
Madison followed Bigwheels into GOFISHY. She was dying to hear what Bigwheels had to say.
Bigwheels signed off without even saying a real good-bye. Madison didn’t know what to think.
She couldn’t believe it.
Bigwheels’s parents were splitting up just like Madison’s parents had?
It was one of those moments when having an online friend didn’t feel quite right. Madison couldn’t reach out to give Bigwheels a hug. Her keypal was miles away.
But far away or not, Bigwheels was in trouble. The distance and the online separation didn’t take away from that. Now Bigwheels needed Madison, not the other way around.
And Madison wanted to help.
Chapter 6
Bad News
I should have expected Tuesday would be bad news before I even got to rehearsal. Like when Bigwheels told me online last night about her parents. I should have known then. I figured seeing Fiona, Aimee, and everyone else at rehearsal would fix it. NOT.
Rude Awakening: It’s hard to look at the bright side of life when you’re sitting in the middle of a dark auditorium.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Bigwheels all day.
Thankfully, things got way better after rehearsal ended. Aimee surprised me tonight around six when she came over with a new CD she bought. We danced around my room a little. I am the worst dancer on the planet, but that’s ok. She got a letter from one of her summer camp friends, too, so we read it together while she French braided my hair.
I guess her glad erased my sad.
I hope I stay this way.
We have SUCH a busy week.
AT WEDNESDAY’S REHEARSAL, LINDSAY Frost walked into the auditorium and tripped over someone’s backpack. She went flying into a row of seats and landed on her stomach.
She said she was fine, but Mr. Gibbons rushed her off to Nurse Shim.
It really wasn’t a big deal. But after Lindsay left the auditorium, a few of the other cast members started buzzing about the whole thing. Ivy was plotting how she would become Dorothy once Lindsay had to drop out.
The Wiz seemed to be bringing out the worst in some of Mad
ison’s enemies and even her friends.
Lindsay came back a little while later with nothing more than a bump on her arm, an achy tummy, and a bruised ego. Mr. Gibbons was relieved.
So was Madison.
The idea of Ivy becoming the new Dorothy gave her the jeebies. The enemy would have more time to flirt with Hart if that were true.
“I am so embarrassed about tripping,” Lindsay confided in Madison during a break. “Was everyone laughing at me?”
Madison didn’t know what to tell her. She shrugged. “I don’t think so.”
“I get so, so, SO nervous,” Lindsay said. “The nurse told me I should go home and rest since my arm was hurt, but I didn’t want to leave. This is too exciting, being in this show and all. Everyone is so nice.”
“Yeah.” Madison didn’t know what to say.
Doesn’t she get it? Everyone is NOT so nice.
Lindsay’s arm looked like it had a dent in it. Madison kept nodding.
At the very end of rehearsal, Mr. Gibbons and Mrs. Montefiore asked Lindsay if she felt well enough to come onstage and practice “Ease on Down the Road,” the song for Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion.
There was a lot of commotion in the room, and no one was paying attention at first to the singers and dancers except for Madison. She might not have known what to say to Lindsay, but she knew she liked to listen to her.
Up on the stage, the cast in the other parts of the song goofed on Lindsay every time she moved. She did look a little off balance, but they were making way too big a production out of her being awkward.
Who cared how she moved? Lindsay sounded better than anyone in the auditorium.
“Look,” Aimee said to Madison and Fiona. “I feel so bad for her. Does she know how dumb she looks?”
Fiona giggled. “It’s her pants.”
Being a mediocre dancer was no reason to be made a laughingstock, was it? Madison couldn’t do a pirouette or a jazz turn, either.
“Her clothes are so lame,” Aimee said. “And she’s kinda klutzy. She should not be in a dance number. Definitely not.”
Fiona nodded in agreement. “I see what you mean about the way she dresses. I wonder if that’s why she’s always alone….”
“What are you guys talking about?” Madison asked. “She has a great voice. Why do you have to say stuff like—”
“It’s not like we think she’s a bad person or anything, Maddie,” Aimee said. “She can sing, I admit it. It’s just that she’s different, right, Fiona?”
Madison knew what Aimee really meant. And it made her just a little sad.
The next afternoon, during Thursday’s practice, Mr. Gibbons split the cast into smaller groups so characters could rehearse different scenes simultaneously. He sent the chorus members to the music room with Mr. Montefiore, other main characters stayed in the auditorium, and the crew stayed behind to tape the stage, label props, and do other backstage tasks.
Real-life cousins Hart and Drew joined members of the ninth-grade tech club to organize lighting and sound effects. They tested different-colored gels over the spotlights during Hart’s solo “So You Wanted to Meet The Wizard.” Green was the coolest-looking gel because when light shone through it, the green gel made the whole stage look like a rain forest. It reflected an eerie glow off Hart’s face.
Madison thought he made a perfect wizard. Perfect.
One of Madison’s key responsibilities for the day was to prompt lines for kids who forgot. Egg missed all his cues, but no one said anything. Even drama king Kwong spaced on a few bars of his song. Not one peep.
But when Lindsay forgot a few of her lines, everyone ribbed her. During the “Ease on Down the Road” number, Dan the Lion called her “Blimpie.”
Madison was uncomfortable when she heard that, but Lindsay wasn’t fazed. She didn’t seem to care about anything people said behind her back or to her face. She sang her solo as beautifully as ever. Other people looked right through Lindsay like she was plastic wrap, but Madison was starting to see all of the things Lindsay had inside. She might be a different kind of friend, but something about her was special.
Mariah arrived in the auditorium at four o’clock. She and Madison went into a room together backstage to work with the home and careers teacher, Mrs. Perez. A group of kids was assembling some of the costumes.
“Excuse me.” Mrs. Montefiore poked her head into the room where they were working. She needed to use the old practice piano in the corner so the three witches could run through their solo numbers.
Mrs. Perez moved her fabric, sequins, and other assorted garments into the corner. “Okay, we’ll finish over here.”
With everything that was going on in practice, it became difficult for Madison to focus on clothes. How can you help glue sequins on shirts when your best friend and worst enemy are singing scales ten feet away from you?
The only clothes Madison could seem to pay attention to were the ones on Ivy and Aimee. They were both wearing platform sneakers, canvas pants, and multicolored power bead bracelets. Aimee’s blond ponytail perfectly matched Ivy’s red one.
“Maddie!” Aimee called from the piano. “You’re gonna love this. Listen up.”
Madison waved over as if to say, “Yeah, sure, whatever.”
“Maddie?” Aimee was raising her voice like she always did when she talked way too fast. “Didn’t you hear what I—”
“Aimee, we ALL heard what you said,” Ivy quipped. “Uh … could you talk a little louder?” They were semi-snotty words, but she didn’t say them in an obnoxious way. Ivy actually sounded like she was kidding around.
Ivy never kidded around like that.
“Oops! Bigmouth alert!” Aimee joked. “But is it me or … YOU?”
She made a funny face and Ivy laughed—one of those deep belly laughs. Their ponytails shook from side to side.
“Takes one to know one!” Ivy spit out, laughing.
Ivy never laughed like that.
Madison didn’t see what was so funny.
“Now, remember how we did it last time, Addaperle….” Ivy said.
“You bet, Glinda,” Aimee said back.
Was this really happening? This trio should be sparring, not singing. And definitely not smiling.
Fiona leaned on the piano the whole time, laughing as hard and as long as Aimee and Ivy. Listening to their laughter was like coming down with chicken pox.
Please go away, Madison told herself. She itched all over.
“Tut, tut. Let’s start, girls.” Mrs. Montefiore hit a few piano keys.
Mariah also tapped Madison on the shoulder and reminded her they had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. She handed her a bag of big blue beads and asked Madison to string them on a long piece of cord. Madison sat down with her legs crossed and pulled the cord with both fingers. She could bead and keep her eye on the singing witches at the same time.
Mrs. Montefiore played Ivy’s solo number from the end of the show next. But halfway through the introductory melody, she stopped abruptly.
“I just got a wonderful idea,” she said. “Aimee, I want you and Ivy to sing this one as a duet. You’re together in the scene. I think it makes sense. And your voices do sound lovely together.”
“But it’s my solo,” Ivy barked.
Aimee rolled her eyes. “Solo, polo, rolo …”
They were kidding around again.
“Miss Daly,” Mrs. Montefiore said. “Most solos have been turned into group numbers. This is about working together. To-geth-er.”
“Can’t Fiona sing, too?” Aimee asked.
Mrs. Montefiore shook her head. “Just do it the way I am asking, please. And Miss Waters is not in this scene, Miss Gillespie. She’s the bad witch Evillene. At this point, she’s dead.”
Fiona giggled. “Oh yeah, I forgot.”
Ivy tilted her head to one side like she had her head in an imaginary noose.
“Yeah.” Fiona laughed even though it was a creepy gest
ure.
Mrs. Montefiore banged her fist on the side of the piano for attention. She plinked out a few more piano chords that sounded a little out of tune, but Ivy and Aimee’s voices trilled right along into the first stanza.
“‘Believe what you fe-eeeee-el,’” they started to sing again. “‘Because the time will come aroooooooound …’”
As they got louder, Madison had to admit that they did sound good together. Not as good as Lindsay, but better than Egg. By the second verse Aimee and Ivy were standing so close together at the piano, they looked practically attached.
“‘Believe in the magic that’s inside your heart,’” the pair harmonized. “‘Believe what you seeeeee …’”
Madison couldn’t believe what she was seeing at all.
“Pssst!” Mariah leaned down to speak. “Señorita Finn, how are those beads coming along?”
There were only seven blue beads on the cord. Whoops.
“Madison!” Mariah said. “Mrs. Perez is gonna throw a fit. What’s your problem?”
Madison wanted to point at Ivy and Aimee and yell, “THEM!”
Instead she slid another bead onto the string.
For the rest of the day, Madison couldn’t get the faces of Aimee and Ivy singing and smiling out of her head. And when Aimee didn’t return Madison’s phone call that night, it only made her feel worse.
Friday, Madison was feeling more of the same.
She didn’t see Aimee all morning, which wasn’t unusual since they didn’t really have that many classes together, but her imagination started doing back flips.
What if Aimee was being nice to Ivy outside of rehearsal, too?
What if they were all laughing together right now?
What if they decided to become best friends and the joke was on Madison?
When Madison didn’t see Aimee or Fiona at lunch, either, she got more upset. And although she ate with Egg and Drew that afternoon, Madison barely said a word the whole meal.
Mr. Gibbons took time to go over the master prop list with Madison during the day’s rehearsal, and by then Madison was really bummed out. Luckily, his compliments temporarily put her in a better mood.
“What a great job you’re doing,” he praised. “The Wiz wouldn’t be the same without you.”