by Laura Dower
Drew came strolling over to Madison. “I just wanted to say good-bye,” he said. “So, good-bye.” Just like that, he walked away, before Madison had a chance to say anything. He and Egg and a bunch of other guys left, too.
Where was Hart?
Madison, Fiona, and Aimee grabbed their coats and bags and walked toward the front door. Just when she thought she’d missed seeing her crush, Madison spotted him. He was standing in the living room—and she saw him but knew he hadn’t seen her yet because he didn’t yell, “Finnster!”
There was another reason he didn’t say anything.
Ivy Daly.
She was hunched over, leaning on a desk right next to him. She was scribbling something on a pad of paper.
Was Ivy giving Hart her number?
Madison turned right around and ran straight through the front door, scuttling out of the Daly house so fast that Aimee and Fiona could barely catch her.
Once they were inside Roger’s van, Madison didn’t say one word about what she’d seen, even though Aimee and Fiona suspected that something had suddenly gone very wrong.
Madison wouldn’t tell. It was a secret secret—next to the files, next to Bigwheels.
How could Ivy have given Hart her number?
Madison asked herself that question at least ten times. She wondered why she liked the real-life Wizard so much that it made her sides ache. She couldn’t list reasons. It wasn’t about lists. She just FELT it.
That’s what The Wiz was all about, anyway, wasn’t it? You had to hold on to your dreams. Especially the dreamy ones like Hart.
Madison gave Mom an enormous hug when she walked in the door at home. Mom and Phin had been up watching TV and waiting for Madison’s return. Phinnie waddled over, half asleep, too. He yawned.
“Well?” Mom asked curiously. “Talk! How was the party? How’s that cute boy?” She wanted the whole scoop—and nothing but the scoop.
Madison filled Mom in on the food stations, the magic tricks, and the rest. Then she yawned, just like Phinnie had. No talk about cute boys tonight, Madison explained.
“I have to go to bed, Mom.”
Phin followed Madison up to her messy room. He made himself comfortable on her bed pillows as she opened her laptop. Madison hoped that maybe this was one of those late nights when Bigwheels would be online when she wasn’t supposed to be. She logged on to TweenBlurt.com.
It was a busy Friday online.
Even Bigwheels was there!
Before she closed down her computer, Madison had to get into her files. So much had happened tonight, and she couldn’t risk forgetting any of it.
The Wiz
So it’s over. The sky didn’t fall in on my head, the stage didn’t collapse, and no lives were lost during the making of this show. I would say the only thing that was lost during The Wiz was my nervousness.
Rude Awakening: Just when you feel like you’re on a yellow brick road to nowhere … something great happens.
I’m not quite sure what I expected from Oz. Sometimes I do things because everyone else is, or I like people (or DON’T like people) because everyone else does. I want to be liked, too. But meeting Lindsay changed my feelings. I don’t even know if I will stay friends with Lindsay after this, but I will try.
I think that I am a combo of every character in the play right now. I’ve gotten smarter, I felt more stuff in my heart, and I also got braver. I hate to admit that parents are right, but they are—sometimes. Dad would be glad to know that I learned all these things from doing the play. His pep talks worked lots. So did Mom’s.
The characters in The Wiz couldn’t get through Oz without friends and the same is totally true for me. My list includes old friends like Aimee, new friends like Fiona, and even friends that I didn’t expect like Lindsay Frost. And online friends. I can’t forget Bigwheels!
Madison signed off and shut down her computer. If she didn’t get some sleep soon, she’d be destroyed tomorrow. She wanted to be in good spirits for dinner with Dad and Stephanie and for hanging out with her friends. Plus, she had so much homework to catch up on. Luckily, Mr. Danehy had agreed to move the big science test a week later.
Phin was just as pooped as Madison. He jumped up into bed with her.
“I can’t go through Oz without my friends,” Madison cooed into her pug’s ear. “Not even my animal friends, right, Phinnie?”
He snuzzled close, looked up at her with his wet brown eyes, and snorted.
It was a doggie “yes.”
Madison closed her own eyes.
Dorothy was right when she said there was no place like home. There was no place like Madison’s house right now.
Especially under the covers—the safest place in the whole world.
Mad Chat Words:
%-(
Sad and confused
:-c
Bummed out
:-Z
Sleeping
QT
Cutie
CUL8R
See you later
A/S/L
Age/sex/location
ASAP
As soon as possible
IDGI
I don’t get it
Anger
PAW
Parents are watching!
(((Bigwheels)))
Cyberhug to …
Kewl
Cool
@ —) — (—
Rose (flower)
Madison’s Computer Tip
Sometimes when I’m on the computer, a whole hour can go by and I don’t even realize it. Time flies when you’re online. Keep an eye on the clock and don’t forget your friends. I try to make special times (like during study hall or after dinner) for answering e-mail, chatting, writing in my files, surfing the Net, homework, messing around with apps, posting pics, and other stuff. I don’t usually do all those things at once. I try to remember to spend real time with friends and not just online time.
Visit Madison online at the author’s page: www.lauradower.com
Turn the page to continue reading from Laura Dower’s From the Files of Madison Finn series
Chapter 1
“SO EVEN THOUGH THIS guy was dead, his heart was still beating under the floor?” Hart J
ones cried. “For real?”
“Well,” Mr. Gibbons said. “Not exactly, Hart. But your imagination’s working. That’s good.”
Madison Finn shifted in her chair. English class was giving her the creeps today.
Mr. Gibbons continued to pace in front of the class as he explained more meaning behind “The Tell-Tale Heart.” He replayed a recording of the classic short story by Edgar Allan Poe.
… The beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. …
This narrator’s voice was weirder than weird.
… Until, at length, I found that noise was not within my ears …
“So his mind was playing tricks on him,” Hart said aloud.
Mr. Gibbons clapped, excited. He liked it when his students gave good answers.
Hart always said things in class that made teachers smile. He was smarter than smart. This was probably why Madison had been crushing on him since seventh grade started. Plus, he was cute.
Way back in elementary school Hart had chased her around the school yard, but Madison always ignored him. Back then, Hart had been nothing more than a big geek. But something had changed over the years. His family moved away from their neighborhood in Far Hills. They moved back again when Hart was suddenly popular. Even Madison’s enemy, Ivy Daly, appeared to have both eyes on him.
Fiona Waters leaned over to Madison. The beads on her braids clinked against the desk.
“Was Hart Jones just looking over here!” Fiona asked. “I swear I saw him. I swear.”
“No way,” Madison said firmly, turning in her chair. She shrugged off Fiona with a casual “Whatever.” For a friend who was usually pretty spaced out, Fiona was paying an awful lot of attention to people Madison “liked” and “didn’t like.”
Hart had absolutely not glanced over in Madison’s direction.
Had he? Now Madison wasn’t sure.
Madison’s lips were Ziploc-sealed shut when it came to boys. Only her secret computer files and her secret online friend Bigwheels knew the whole truth about her feelings for Hart and everything else.
Across the classroom, Ivy’s hand shot into the air. She looked like a boa constrictor ready to strike. She had her elbows up on her desk and her red hair was all fluffed out around her head.
“Mr. Gibbons?” Poison Ivy hissed. “Can’t you just tell us why the man killed the other man again?”
A kid from the back row laughed out loud. “Duh, weren’t you listening?”
“Duh, yourself.” Ivy turned around and glared. “I was so listening!”
“Excuse me.” Mr. Gibbons clapped again because he wanted everyone to be quiet. He handed a spiky-haired girl in the front row a stack of papers. “I think we’ve talked about ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ for long enough, class. Now, take one of these sheets and pass the rest along. …”
Madison saw the word Boo! in giant black letters on the page. A cluster of black bats winged across the top. Underneath, Mr. Gibbons had printed random facts about the origins of the upcoming holiday.
Much to Madison’s surprise, the Halloween described on this paper had very little to do with the holiday she’d understood all her life. Centuries ago in Europe, Halloween was named “Samhain.” Mr. Gibbons pronounced it “son-wen.” Samhain started out as a Celtic holiday.
“Wait! Wait! Who are the Celtics again?” Ivy asked aloud.
“Just one of the best basketball teams ever,” Fiona’s brother, Chet Waters, snapped.
Mr. Gibbons laughed. “You’re right, Chet. But the real Celtics, or Celts, mentioned here were people from ancient Ireland. At the time we’re talking about, in the fifth century B.C., Samhain, or Halloween, was the day their summer ended. On your sheet there’s more information—and I added a crossword on the other side. …”
Madison loved word games. She flipped the page over instantly. This crossword was shaped like a witch’s hat.
“Pssst! Maddie?” Fiona asked, leaning over toward Madison’s desk. “Can you sleep over on Saturday? I’m going to ask Aimee too. My mom said it was okay.”
“Cool!” Madison smiled. She loved sleepovers.
Madison timed herself filling in all the crossword puzzle blanks. Three minutes later, she’d scribbled the answer to each clue, finishing up just before the class bell. It was a personal record.
Fiona grabbed Madison’s arm as they walked out.
“My mother says she’ll make minipizzas and Cherry Garcia sundaes in honor of your favorite ice cream flavor,” Fiona bubbled. “At the sleepover I mean. And my dorky brother, Chet, won’t be there, so we can get any old movie we want on demand. I am soooo excited!”
Madison stopped short in front of a display case as they walked down the hall together. “Look,” she said, motioning to Fiona. She pointed to a bright orange sign inside the cabinet:
Something to Scream About!
Halloween Dance
Friday, October 27, from 6 to 9 P.M.
“Yeah! Aren’t you excited?” Fiona asked when she read the sign. “Seventh-grade dance committee meeting’s tomorrow. We have to do the decorating and food and stuff like that.”
Madison acted happy, but deep down, the dance had her a little worried. School dances usually meant a girl needed to be able to do three things: get boys to like her, pick out a cooler-than-cool outfit, and dance. Madison wasn’t sure she could do any of those things.
She considered the possibility that maybe her luck was changing, however. Seventh grade was a new start, Madison told herself, so maybe all the tricks of the past would now turn into treats?
Madison headed over to Mrs. Wing’s classroom to help upload some documents onto the school Web site. She’d been helping with the site since school started, usually after school and during free periods.
Staying after school could be a very good thing. Especially today. Madison knew Mom would be home late because of a meeting. Aimee had dance troupe. Fiona had soccer. If she stayed after school, Madison could avoid being alone so much. She’d get to walk home with her friends, after all.
On the way home, Aimee started chattering about the Halloween dance, but Fiona wanted to talk about sleepover plans exclusively. Madison asked Aimee if she could bring her mother’s Ouija board.
“What’s a wee-jee?” Fiona looked confused.
“You know, Fiona,” Madison said. “You sit around in the dark and move this little pointer on the game and ask the ghosts to come and play. Like ooooooh, I’m so scared!”
“You shouldn’t mock ghosts, Maddie,” Aimee said. “Seriously.”
“Aimee!” Madison groaned.
“There are ghosts everywhere,” Aimee said with a straight face, pointing to an old building they passed on the route home. “Everywhere. You saw Poltergeist.”
“That movie was freaky! And there are no ghosts in Far Hills.” Fiona shuddered. “Not like that anyway. Would you quit saying spooky stuff?”
“Yeah, Aim. I’ve had the jeebies all day,” Madison said, thinking back to the story from English class.
“See? That’s because you do believe me!” Aimee smirked.
As the sunlight faded, all the houses seemed soaked in an eerie, orange glow. While clouds and night sky gathered overhead, light played tricks on the sidewalk.
“You never know when there are ghosts around. They could be at school or anywhere. That’s all I’m saying,” Aimee said, hustling ahead of her friends.
Madison and Fiona looked at each other and then rushed to catch up. All Aimee’s ghost talk had changed their minds a little. Suddenly every bush along the side of a dreary road was hiding a monster, every shadow on a deserted street was a beast on the loose, and every noise was the sound of heavy, plodding footsteps. …
Madison was so relieved to finally reach her front porch. She pulled her house key out of her bag. Phineas T. Finn, Madison’s pug, greeted her with a big, wet, doggie smooch when s
he walked in the door. She couldn’t hear anything at first except the dog’s heavy breathing and snorting in her ears.
… Until, at length, I found that noise was not within my ears. …
Her mind wandered back to “The Tell-Tale Heart” again. Ghost stories at school and on the way home were definitely not a good idea. Especially when she was home alone.
Madison called Mom’s cell phone to check in. After getting the automatic voice mail system and not a real live Mom, she left a long message. Nerves made her ramble on a little bit longer than usual.
As she entered her bedroom, Madison flicked on the light and knelt down to look under the bed. But the only things Madison saw were a sock covered in dust, a notepad with Phin’s chew marks, and one very dirty nickel.
Madison checked every closet and corner and crevice.
She even peeked behind the shower curtain in the hall bathroom.
What if there were ghosts in Far Hills?
Relieved when she found nothing resembling a ghost, Madison shook off her jeebies, slipped out of her sneakers, and sat down at her desk. She speed-dialed her mom once again and got a busy signal this time. Mom was probably getting her messages. She’d be home soon, anyway.
Madison hadn’t checked her laptop computer for e-mails yet today, so she powered it up. It was still sitting open on her bedroom desk exactly where she’d left it plugged in that morning. One click and the motor hummed. As the home screen illuminated, Madison’s e-mailbox popped up.
FROM
SUBJECT
Bob1A1239
Invest NOW $$$
Who was Bob1A1239? His name looked like a real name, like a person from school. It annoyed Madison to think that someone was e-mailing her while pretending to be a regular guy. He wasn’t real! She knew it must be an advertisement and immediately deleted the message. Dad always said to do that when she didn’t know the sender.
“That spam is the bane of my existence,” Dad always complained. “Don’t ever open up a link on any email you don’t know.”