Hit the Beach

by Laura Dower

“You’re not doing the revue, are you?” Ivy asked, rolling her eyes.

  Madison turned and glared. “Why shouldn’t I?”

  Ivy pretended to stifle a laugh. “You know…hey…you’re not exactly a performer now, are you? I mean, you practically fall apart onstage…”

  “What are you talking about?” Madison asked. “I can do the revue if I want. I can do anything—and everything—I want.”

  “Wow, school’s almost over, and you still don’t get it, do you?” Ivy sighed, slinging her pink metallic bag over her shoulder.

  “Don’t get what?” Madison asked, genuinely baffled.

  Ivy fluttered her lashes. “You keep trying and trying, but you’ll never, ever be the class star,” Ivy said smugly. “Um…that position’s already been filled.”

  And with that, Ivy turned on her heel and smoothly walked into Mr. Danehy’s room.

  At that moment, with other kids elbowing past and the poster still asking Are You Musical?, Madison knew what she had to do. Not only would she sign up to be a part of the revue, but she would do everything in her power to show Ivy Daly—once and for all—who the better of the two of them was.

  The problem? She only had until the end of seventh grade to do it.

  Chapter 2

  “THERE ARE GOING to be a few changes around here,” Mr. Danehy announced boldly at the start of class. His eyes twinkled when he said it, too, which made it seem all the more genuine. “First of all, there will be no more long, tedious reading assignments.”

  “Cool!” someone said. The rest of the class let out a collective sigh of relief.

  “Second, you can come to class late if you want. I understand,” Mr. Danehy said.

  Madison did a double take. She thought she must have heard her teacher wrong. He never understood, especially when it came to lateness.

  “Finally, there will be no more pop quizzes for the remainder of the year,” Mr. Danehy said, looking around. No one knew how to respond.

  Of course, there was a catch. Just seconds later, Mr. Danehy let out a rough little laugh. “Just kidding!” he crooned. “A little springtime humor for my favorite students!”

  The class sat in silence, semistunned by their teacher’s prank.

  Of course, Madison should have known better. There was no way Mr. Danehy would give up on his crusade against students’ being late, his mission to conquer the textbook reading assignment, or his best booby-trap device of all: the pop quiz.

  “I…can’t…believe…it…” Ivy flipped her red hair and sighed. “I thought he was serious,” she whined. “How can he possibly play a joke on us like that? That is just so …so…unfair.”

  “Now that everyone’s awake,” Mr. Danehy continued, “let’s get to the heart of the matter: our latest assignment. Well, it’s more of a project, really.”

  “Another project?” Chet Waters cried from across the science room. Chet was the twin brother of Madison’s BFF Fiona, and he always had something to say.

  “Problem, Mr. Waters?” Mr. Danehy replied. “How can you object when you don’t even know what the project is yet?”

  Chet gulped. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “I just figured, since the year was almost over, that maybe…”

  “Almost is the key word in your sentence,” Mr. Danehy said. “Almost. Not yet. Not now. We still have a few good work weeks left in us. Don’t we, students?”

  Half of the class nodded in silent agreement. The other half stared down at their notebooks, wondering how they could possibly face another science project. It felt as if they’d done about ten of them already that year.

  But Madison knew that the boom had not even been lowered yet. She knew that the worst news about this latest science project was still to come.

  She was right.

  “One more thing,” Mr. Danehy went on. “Many of you have requested an alternate science partner. But I have decided that you will be doing these end-of-year projects with your usual science partners. It gives you one last chance to prove your mettle. Show me your best teamwork.”

  Madison groaned. It looked like she’d be working with Ivy…again.

  “What’s mettle?” someone asked from a seat near Madison.

  “Dumbo,” Ivy muttered under her breath. “Who doesn’t know what ‘metal’ means? Silver, gold—duh!”

  “I think Mr. Danehy means another kind of mettle,” Madison piped up. “It’s a different word.”

  “Whatever you say, Miss Brainiac,” Ivy said. “Why do you always have to be such a show-off?”

  Madison rolled her eyes. Class had only just begun, and she and Ivy had already been at each other’s throats for several minutes: first in the hallway and now here.

  Mr. Danehy handed out a stack of papers and circled the room. On the top page, Madison saw a boldfaced list of science-project topics, covering a range of subjects that had been discussed throughout seventh grade.

  “I can’t believe he really expects us to write a paper on this stuff…” Ivy said.

  “And do experiments…” Madison added. “Don’t forget.”

  “How can I forget? He’s completely unfair and unrealistic and…”

  Ivy would have kept listing negatives for hours. Madison was sure of that.

  But Mr. Danehy noticed Ivy’s grumbling.

  “Excuse me, Ms. Daly…” he called out from the front of the classroom. “Is there something you would like to share with the rest of us?”

  Although science class had been torturous all year, there had been high points, and this was sure to be another one. This was one of the moments when Mr. Danehy saw right through Ivy’s facade and called attention to her shenanigans in class. Madison was gladder than glad that despite her science teacher’s many, many flaws and annoying little habits, like telling nonjokes that he thought were just hysterical, he still managed to see through the enemy as if she were made of plastic wrap.

  “I don’t care what he says,” Ivy muttered to Madison when Mr. Danehy finished embarrassing her.

  “You wouldn’t,” Madison mumbled. She turned back to the page of instructions in front of her and began reading through them.

  Solve a problem using the scientific method. State your problem, do research, make an educated guess about your problem, and then prove your hypothesis is correct. Describe what you do. Then, create a display to show your results. Use pie charts and graphs if you need to. Pictures and detailed notes are good, too.

  The suggested list of project ideas looked complicated. Madison wasn’t sure about any of the choices. How could she and her partner—especially this partner—possibly narrow it down?

  What would happen to weather if the earth were a cube?

  How does mouthwash work as a germ-killer?

  Why is the sky blue?

  How do you make salt water potable?

  Does your eye color affect your vision?

  Can you make frogs jump with static electricity?

  Is there a link between the movement of the Earth and the damage caused by a tsunami?

  On which food does fungus grow best?

  Can you make six different kinds of slime and determine the slimiest?

  Madison’s eyes locked on to the slime idea. That was perfect for Poison Ivy, wasn’t it? This enemy was the slimiest of them all.

  Unfortunately, slime or no slime, Ivy wouldn’t even talk about the project, opting instead to examine her cell phone and pick at some pale polish on her fingernails.

  “I’m so revolting,” Ivy said after a while.

  “Huh?” Madison’s eyes widened. You said it, not me, she thought. And yes, you certainly are revolting. Of course, Madison knew Ivy had just gotten the words mixed up—again.

  “You mean you want to stage a revolt?” Madison asked, clarifying and trying very hard not to laugh too loud at Ivy’s linguistic mistake.

  “Yes, revolt, that’s what I said,” Ivy barked.

  “I understand that you’re upset, but we can’t revolt, Ivy. We have to g
et this project done,” Madison said. “It’s the last one of the year. We can do this if we work together.”

  Madison sounded like a cheerleader.

  “Get real, Madison. No one cares about this dumb project,” Ivy replied. She pursed her lips and spit out each word as if it pained her to even say it. “Mr. Danehy can fail us if he wants.”

  Madison’s eyes widened again. She wanted to blurt out some kind of nasty retort or shout, “Well, I care!” but she said nothing. Right now her brain hurt from arguing. She’d have to find the right words, not necessarily the quickest ones.

  When the class bell rang for lunch, Madison scooted out of her lab seat. Hart met her over by the door, and they left and walked to the cafeteria together.

  “So, you and Poison Ivy are partners again?” Hart teased. “Party time.”

  “Funny,” Madison said.

  “Not as funny as Mr. Danehy’s joke at the start of class, though, right?”

  “Right,” Madison smiled. “Here’s my problem: Ivy won’t do the project.”

  “She has to do it,” Hart said. “She’ll fail if she doesn’t.”

  “Ivy says she doesn’t care,” Madison said.

  “What a liar,” Hart said. “You know Ivy. She always has to be the big shot. She cares—big-time.”

  “And she says I’m the one who needs all the attention,” Madison said.

  “Well, that’s true…” Hart smiled.

  Madison punched him in the arm. They laughed their way down the hall.

  Once they reached the cafeteria, Hart wandered off to meet up with the rest of the guys: Dan, Egg, Chet, and Drew. Madison looked for her girlfriends and found four of them clustered together around the salad bar: Aimee, Fiona, Lindsay, and Madhur. Thankfully, Ivy was nowhere in sight.

  The five friends got their food and went to sit at their usual orange table in the back of the lunchroom. Madison picked at the food on her tray, but she seemed to have lost her appetite. She’d ordered a plate with steamed vegetables and lasagna, but it jiggled a little too much. Aimee didn’t seem to mind. She picked at Madison’s broccoli, popping little florets into her mouth one by one.

  “So, my family decided what we’re doing this summer, and it is just amazing,” Madhur announced to everyone. Her eyes grew bright. “We’re going to Pakistan and India!”

  “Wow,” Madison said. “You’re visiting Punjab?”

  “You bet,” Madhur said. “My family’s homeland.”

  “My brother will be so bummed out,” Fiona blurted. “I know he was hoping to see more of you this summer.”

  “Really?” Madhur asked innocently.

  Madison, Aimee, Fiona, and Lindsay all shot Madhur one of those “Oh, come on!” looks.

  Madhur grinned. “I swear, Chet does not like me like that,” she insisted.

  “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 ev
er,” 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.

  Chapter 3

  “WHAT 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!”