by Laura Dower
“I’m Leyli,” the girl said in a bright, bouncy voice.
“Leyli, where are you from?”
“Manhattan,” she said to the whole class, flipping her braid from one side to the other.
“Tell us something unique about you.”
“Umm … I’m a gymnast, and I’ve competed all over the world.”
“Seriously?” Egg cried out.
“Seriously.” Leyli giggled. Madison couldn’t help but stare. She noticed all the boys in class were staring, too, not just Egg.
“Well, Leyli, welcome to Far Hills Middle School.”
“Thanks,” she told Ms. Cottet and the rest of the class. “Glad to be here, I think.”
“There’s an empty desk over there,” said Ms. Cottet, pointing to the seat next to Madison.
Fiona coughed and then kicked a crunched-up wad of paper toward Madison, who quickly grabbed at her feet and opened the note.
Okay, so now 8th grade just got soooo much better right? New blood! We have to get her before Ivy does.
Madison smiled at Fiona, nodding.
“Hello, Leyli,” Madison said to the new girl as she sat down. “You’ll like it here,” she promised.
Ms. Cottet tapped a ruler on a desk at the front of the room and called out, “Madison, I just realized something. With Leyli’s arrival, now you two can partner up!”
Madison wasn’t so sure she could deal with a new girl asking too many questions. Being partner-free had its advantages. Then again, a new girl was a chance for a new friendship.
Leyli tapped her pencil on the desk and flipped her braid again. “You seem like a pretty cool partner,” Leyli told Madison.
“Yeah,” Madison said. “That’s me: Miss Cool. Not.”
Leyli laughed. “Well, it’s definitely not me, either.” Leyli moved her seat closer to Madison. “Can you help me out and tell me what you’re doing? I hate being lost.”
“Of course,” Madison said. She opened her notebook and explained where they were in the lesson. Together she and Leyli went over the pro-and-con list Madison had made for the loyalists and patriots. Leyli just sat there with her head in her hands, not saying a word. Was she even listening? Madison couldn’t tell. She seemed super smart, but then her eyes would wander all over.
“Does this make sense?” Madison asked. “Do you agree with what I put? Have you done this at your other school?”
Leyli sighed. “Sort of. I miss a lot of school for gymnastics, so I’m all over the place. I have a tutor when I travel, but I still get behind.”
“Where do you go?”
“Everywhere really.” Leyli rolled her eyes. “We had a gymnastics invitational in Hong Kong first and then Norway and back to the US again. I think it was Texas and then Tennessee …”
“Wow.” Madison was dumbfounded. Leyli traveled around as much as Mom did.
Ms. Cottet glared from the other side of the room.
“We better work and not talk,” she whispered to Leyli.
But class was already over. Classical music started up, signaling the end of this period and time for the next. For Leyli, this was unusual. Her eyes grew wide.
“What’s that?” she asked.
Madison shrugged. “It’s how we do things at Far Hills Middle School.”
“Fabulous!” she said. “Total butterflies!”
“Butterflies?” Madison giggled.
“Total,” Leyli said, hopping out of her seat with a little twist like a … well, like a gymnast would do. “So we have to find time to finish,” Madison said, but before she could get all the words out, Leyli was halfway to the classroom door, propelled by happy feet.
“Leyli?” Madison called out.
Leyli nearly cartwheeled back for a quick minute. She scribbled her email on top of Madison’s notebook. “E-me later, and we can meet up to finish.”
“You can come to my house,” Madison said. “Or we can meet at the library maybe, or we have this chat room online—”
“Chat room?” Leyli made a face. “Wait. They still have those?”
“Of course!” Madison said. “We’ve been doing it forever. It’s still the best way to chat.”
“If you say so.” Leyli giggled. “I’d rather text, but … whatever. Sounds retro. Okay, bye. Gotta fly!”
As kids flooded into the hall, Leyli vanished with them, into a sea of colorful backpacks and slamming lockers.
Chapter Five
Madison stood in front of school on Wednesday waiting for Stephanie to pick her up, hoping everything about this sure-to-be-long week would go well and that she wouldn’t have one of her emotional meltdowns. Lately, Madison would feel this surge of emotion about life and parents and boys and … well, everything. She couldn’t stop thinking about Hart, either, and how he’d written her out of the blue after so many weeks of not writing.
Why did Madison feel so uncomfortable in her own skin?
Dr. Pete, Madison’s pediatrician, said it was hormones.
Hormones. That word stunk. Dr. Pete obviously meant the lovely array of really big zits on Madison’s hairline and achy muscles and random armpit hair. Ewwww. No one talked about these things if they could help it.
Madison hated even saying the word.
Ziiiiiiiiiit!
Stephanie pulled up in front of school and rolled down the window. “What’s with the sad face?”
“Hey, Steph.” Madison hopped inside and slammed the door.
“Let’s go get your stuff at the house and then pick up Phinnie!” Stephanie stepped on the gas and pulled out of the school parking lot.
Phin! When Mom left, they’d put Phin into the clinic for a short visit, but now Dad insisted the pug come over to his place. That was something to celebrate.
Out the window, Madison caught a glimpse of Dan at the corner of the parking lot. He was riding a skateboard. That was new. Madison instantly thought of Hart, aka Sk8ingboy.
Since when did Dan ride a skateboard? Or had he always done it and she just never noticed?
Dan had a wool hat pulled down over his head and a messenger bag slung across his back. Madison wondered if he was heading to the animal clinic.
She wondered a lot of things about him.
The ride to Blueberry Hill didn’t take long. The house looked lonely without anyone staying there, Madison thought as she hopped out of the car. Mom hid the extra house key under a green pot. She and Mom switched its hiding place from week to week, as if they were being so clever.
“I’ll be fast!” Madison called back to Stephanie, who was checking something on her phone. Madison paused to eye the phone. She’d bring that up later.
Then Madison raced inside and up the stairs to her room. She already had a bunch of stuff stored at Dad’s. That morning she’d packed up a small bag with some pajamas, a toothbrush, lotion, and whatever else she used every morning. She needed to find a few outfits and pack those, too. All this back and forth was becoming exhausting. Maybe she should leave more clothes at Dad’s place permanently. Maybe she needed to declare dual residency once and for all. Packing and shuttling all over was such a pain.
Madison grabbed a piece of notepaper from the cube on her end table. She’d scribbled a quick list this morning to help her gather things quickly.
Corduroys and butterfly crochet sweater
GRRLY crop top and stretch pants with oversized black sweater
Ripped jeans and pink jeans
5 T-shirts or tops
Purple ALL STAR sweatshirt
Robot slippers!!!
“MAAAAADDIE!” Madison heard Stephanie calling her name. “We better hurry up. The vet is expecting us, and I have to get home to make a business call.”
Madison shoved whatever she’d had on the bed into the bag and pulled the zipper closed. Sometimes she wish
ed that all the moms in her life didn’t have to work quite so hard.
“Coming, Steph!”
A few moments later, the house was locked up, the key was hidden under the orange pot, and they were en route to the clinic.
“I’ve missed Phinnie so much,” Madison confessed as they drove along.
Stephanie grinned. “Me too. That dog is Mr. Charm.”
They laughed and imagined what he’d do in the loft. Hopefully he wouldn’t chew on Dad’s favorite leather chairs. Hopefully he wouldn’t get sick again, either.
There wasn’t much traffic in downtown Far Hills, and the clinic wasn’t very busy, either, so Dan’s mom, Eileen, came right out when they walked through the door.
“Hello, Miss Finn!” She had on one of her crazy T-shirts. This one read MEOW’S IT GOING? It had a picture of a little kitty wearing a Halloween costume, which was totally perfect for October.
“That’s dahhhling,” Stephanie said, her Texas drawl coming to life. She did that sometimes for show. Most of the time, though, Stephanie used an ordinary accent.
Eileen broke into a wide smile. “Well, as Maddie knows, T-shirts are my thing. I got a new one, Maddie, that’s just right for you. It says DON’T PUG ME.”
Madison grinned, too. She would have to get a shirt like that.
Across the room, a door opened, and Phin appeared on his leash, led by Dan.
“Whoa, boy,” Dan said as he came in. Phin was pulling hard on the leash. “He missed you!”
“Of course he did!” Madison crouched down.
Phinnie raced across the waiting room, little nails clicking on the floor, ears pushed back, tail (and bottom) wiggle-waggling all the way to Madison.
“Phinnie, I missed you!” Madison cried out, petting his ears.
“He’s a lot better now, right?” Dan asked. “He looked so sad when he came in.”
“Thanks for taking care of Phin,” Madison said. She noticed he was also wearing a T-shirt that read Boys Are Animals with the word Are crossed out and replaced with a handwritten Like.
“My mom gave me the shirt,” Dan mumbled.
“It’s cute,” Madison said. She immediately bit her tongue. Did she just imply that Dan was cute?
“Thanks,” he said back. “It was between this and my Purple Pony Palace T-shirt. Cute I can definitely do.”
Madison ducked down to lay some more kisses onto Phin. She was trying really hard not to look Dan in the eye.
Awkward.
Stephanie was over in the corner whispering with Dr. Wing. Madison tried eavesdropping, but she was too far away.
“So, uh … what else is going on?” Dan asked. “I mean, besides Phinnie.”
Madison stood up quickly. “Um, nothing much. Did you meet the new girl, Leyli?”
“There’s a new girl?” Dan shrugged. “At lunch someone said there was a new girl, but I don’t really notice that stuff.”
“You mean girls?” Madison smiled.
Dan threw his arms in the air. “I mean, I notice you, but—”
“What?” Madison said.
Thankfully, at that precise moment, Phin started chasing his tail in a circle, a hyper-whirly, panting circle.
Dr. Wing and Stephanie wandered over, too.
“So, I need your stepmom to sign some release papers,” Dr. Wing explained. “And I have something for you to do, Madison. I need you to keep an eye on Phin’s eating habits and his mood.”
“His mood?” Madison asked.
Dr. Wing nodded. “Quiet, hyper—like now—grouchy, tired, that sort of thing. Just standard operating procedure.”
“Operating procedure?” Madison panicked a little. “Phin needs an operation?”
“No, no, not an operation.” Dr. Wing leaned down and patted the top of Phinnie’s head. “No, Mr. Phineas T. Finn is just fine for now. We simply want to make sure he stays healthy. It’s always good to pay attention to how your pet feels. Watch him closely. You know him best, Maddie, and you’re tops when it comes to animal care. Right, Dan?”
“Totally,” Dan said. “Madison Finn is the best.”
Madison rolled her eyes. “Really, Dan?” she said, giggling nervously.
“We all know Maddie is a total dog whisperer!” Stephanie chimed in.
Madison loved that Dr. Wing had remembered Phin’s full name. He always paid attention to important details. And he’d paid her a compliment, which was nice, too.
“I’m glad you’ll be volunteering for us on Thursdays, Maddie,” Dr. Wing said. “I know you’ve been gone for a bit. And Dan misses you, right, Dan?”
Dan made a goofy face. “Uhhh … what?”
“Of course! He’s always talking about you, Madison.”
Dan bit his lip. “Uhhh … I think maybe I should finish feeding the … birds.”
Madison squirmed. Dan talked about her when she wasn’t around? Hmmmm. Super awkward.
Stephanie wrapped her arm around Madison’s shoulder and squeezed. “This young lady is in high demand, isn’t she? Our kids are too talented, aren’t they, Eileen?”
“They sure are!” Eileen piped up. “Dan is the man! Madison Finn is fierce! I should put those slogans on some T-shirts.”
Madison swallowed hard. She didn’t have to respond to that, did she?
Thankfully, Dan disappeared into the back without saying a real good-bye. Then the paperwork needed to be sorted out, so Madison made her escape to the car with Phin.
In the parking lot, Madison could hardly keep control of Phinnie. Every time she took a few steps, Phinnie jumped in her way.
“Good boy,” Madison told him over and over. “Down! Down!” She wanted to be mad and frustrated with him for not calming down, but she was just too happy to see her pup.
During the drive to Dad’s loft, which wasn’t far at all, Madison and Phinnie sat in the back. That pug didn’t like being held tightly on anyone’s lap, but Madison did so anyway—tight enough to feel his little pitter-pattering heartbeat. This meant, of course, that by the time they arrived at the loft, Madison had a lap full of hair and spittle. When overly excited, Phin tended to drool like crazy.
The doorman at the Far Hills Lofts wasn’t too happy to see drooly Phin come into the lobby with Madison. He hid behind his concierge desk and waved them through.
“Afraid of dogs,” Stephanie whispered to Madison. “A Great Dane jumped him and the UPS guy one afternoon. It was not a pretty scene. Ever since then …”
Phin scampered over to the elevator, turning in tail-chasing circles all the way up to the top floor. When the large doors opened, Phin took off out of the elevator like a bullet shot out of a rifle. Nothing could slow down this pug! Zoop! He ran around the main living room, ears pushed far back and tongue flapping.
Stephanie carried Madison’s overnight bag upstairs and dumped it on the floor outside Maddie’s room. “Wanna get started on your homework, then we can think about dinner?” Stephanie asked.
“Sure,” Madison said.
Madison and Phinnie took a crack at the English assignment and the science-lab draft, which were both due this week. Madison also had a mega–math test to study for and some reading. Well, lots of reading.
Phin played for a while and then got cozy at Madison’s feet. She took out her orange laptop and logged online, heading immediately to tweenblurt.com to see if anyone else was around to chat. Was Leyli right? Were chat rooms totally over? Madison knew chatting wasn’t nearly as cool as smartphones, but still. Besides, not everyone had a phone.
Fiona said it best. “Being retro is cool. Chat rooms are retro. Thus, chat rooms are still cool.”
Madison clicked over to the tweenblurt.com home page first. She entered her username, MadFinn, and her password. Oh, dear. It was certainly time to change this password.
hartATTack
Madison and her pals met up in a room that Aimee named a long time ago: DANCEPALS. Aimee was the only one in their group who was an actual dancer, but everyone liked the name because it was easy to remember.
Entering Chat Room DANCEPALS
PurpleLey has entered the chat room.
BalletGrl has left the chat room.