by Laura Dower
English paper on Harper Lee?
Webpage contest?
Party invitations to ________?
Word by word, her doodles turned into a to-doodle list.
Madison scratched her head.
The weekend hadn’t even begun and already she was busier than busy.
Chapter 5
Madison leaned back in her chair and stared at the cursor as it blinked on her computer screen. She was glad that Aimee had logged onto TweenBlurt.com so early on a Saturday. Hopefully, Fiona wasn’t up and surfing the net yet.
Biting her lip, Madison looked down at the list she had scribbled on her notebook the night before. On it were the names of a few of the people she knew Fiona and Chet were friendly with.
Madison hoped that Hart’s name looked casual there, right next to Dan’s. She held her breath as she waited for Aimee’s reply.
Madison let out the breath and smiled. She glanced at the other names on her list.
Madison’s hands paused over the keyboard. She typed in the one person’s name she really wasn’t sure about.
Madison laughed, relieved that she and Aimee had agreed on the guest list so quickly. She had expected more disagreements from her BFF. As Madison started to type in another question for Aimee, her computer bleeped.
Insta-Message.
Madison nearly toppled out of her chair. Fiona was online? Madison had to get out of the chat room with Aimee right away! If Fiona joined, the surprise party would be ruined.
Madison breathed a sigh of relief, then replied to Fiona’s message.
Phin lifted his head sleepily as Madison slipped her feet into a pair of comfortable black suede clogs.
“Go back to your nap, Phinnie,” Madison whispered, as she shoved her notebook into her orange book bag. She ran a quick hand over his fur and walked out the door.
“Where are you headed?” Mom asked as Madison walked into the kitchen.
“Over to Fiona’s,” Madison said swiping an apple from the bowl on the table. “I’ll be home by three.”
“Okay,” Mom said absently. She sipped her coffee and looked back at her paper. It always took Mom a long time to wake up on weekends.
Madison walked the one block to Fiona’s house quickly, her mind consumed by the webpage and party planning.
The minute she rang Fiona’s doorbell, Madison heard footsteps running down the stairs. Fiona pulled open the door, breathless.
“Maddie!” Fiona said as she pulled Madison inside. “I’m so glad you’re here! Mom and Dad are out playing tennis, and Chet is over at Egg’s. We’ve got the whole house to ourselves!”
“Wow!” Madison said, relieved that she wouldn’t have to see Chet. It was going to be hard enough to keep the party secret from Fiona, without having to worry about her brother, too.
“The computer is in here,” Fiona said as she led the way through the first floor of her immaculate house toward her Dad’s study. Madison was always amazed at how neat everything was at Fiona’s place. Madison’s mom always said that their own house looked “lived in,” which was a nice way of saying that she, Madison, and Phinnie weren’t exactly the world’s greatest housekeepers.
Madison had written down the names of a few more free graphics sites in her small wire-bound notebook. She pulled the notebook out of her backpack and put it on the desk while Fiona booted up the computer.
Madison bent over and reached into her bag for a pen.
“What’s this?” Fiona asked.
Madison’s heart stopped. She lifted her head to see what Fiona was looking at. The notebook was open to the page with the list of people to invite to Fiona and Chet’s party.
Fiona read the list aloud. “Chet, Egg, Daisy …” She looked up at Madison. “What is this? A list of our competition for the webpage contest?”
Madison gasped for breath. “Uh, yeah,” she lied. “I was trying to think of anyone who might have a better shot at winning the contest than we do. How did you guess?”
“I think you can scratch Hart Jones’s name off the list,” Fiona replied. “I don’t even think he’s entered the contest.”
“Good point,” Madison said. She leaned over and scratched his name off the list. Fiona wasn’t even suspicious?
“Okay, work time!” Fiona turned back to the computer. “We’ll size up the competition later.”
Madison laughed to herself. Fiona really didn’t have a clue! She watched as Fiona typed in a web address of a graphics site. Its home page appeared.
“Out of the chair,” Chet said, barging into the room. “Egg and I need the computer.”
“What are YOU doing here?” Fiona barked. Then she turned to Egg and changed her tone completely. “Hello, Walter,” she said sweetly.
“Hi,” Egg said to the room.
“Out of the chair,” Chet repeated, shaking the back of the chair Fiona was sitting in. “You’ve had your turn. Move it.”
“We just started!” Fiona protested. “Besides, I thought that you were going to work at Egg’s place.”
“My mom needed the computer,” Egg explained.
“Our connection is faster, anyway,” Chet said.
Fiona glared at her brother. “Connect this!” she said, holding up her fist.
Chet grabbed her forearm and wrestled her out of the chair. Egg and Madison stood back.
“Chet!” Fiona squealed. “STOP IT!”
“It’s not like you guys are doing anything useful,” Chet went on. “No one is going to want to read your History of Hair Clips webpage.”
Madison stepped in. “We are not doing a page on the history of hair clips,” she said.
“What are you doing, Maddie?” Egg asked. It was the first words he’d said directly to her. Was he teasing or just being annoying? Madison couldn’t tell from the half-smile on his face.
“Uh—” Madison started to respond. She looked at Fiona, who shook her head. “Our webpage is none of
your business, Egg,” Madison said.
“Sor-ry,” Egg huffed. “Can’t you take a joke?”
“You’re the JOKE,” Madison said.
Chet let out a loud laugh, but Madison felt a pang of guilt. She sounded so harsh. Where had those words come from?
“Nice ’tude, Maddie,” Egg said.
“Well, what are you guys doing?” Madison asked, trying to act nicer.
“Like I’m going to tell you,” Egg said.
“They’re probably making a program that shows you how to pick out nail polish colors,” Chet joked.
“We wouldn’t want to steal your idea,” Fiona said dryly.
Chet glared at her. “Come on, Egg,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“That’s the best idea you’ve had all day!” Fiona shouted as her brother and Egg walked out of the room. She ran behind them to shut the door.
“Way to go, Fiona!” Madison cheered. “You sure told him.”
“Was I too harsh?” Fiona asked.
Madison chuckled. “I’m sure Chet will get over it.”
“Chet? Who cares about Chet?” Fiona said. “I’m talking about Walter. Was I too rude? What does he think of me now?”
“Walter?” Madison said. “Fiona, you need to chill. Egg doesn’t care—”
“Really?” Fiona asked. “Maddie, do you think there’s a chance that Walter might like me?”
Madison raised her eyebrows. “Um … maybe if you stop calling him Walter.”
Fiona stuck out her tongue and they both started to giggle.
“Do you really feel like working on the webpage anymore?” Fiona asked.
“Not really,” Madison said.
“Me, neither.” Fiona stood up. “Let’s go up to my room and read some magazines.” She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled into the hall, “CHET! You can have the computer now! CHE-E-E-E-T!”
Madison held back a laugh.
“What’s so funny now?” Fiona asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Madison said. “It’s just that—maybe life isn’t so bad without brothers and sisters. I know I couldn’t deal with a Chet in my house.”
“Right, Maddie! Rub it in,” Fiona said, joking around. She yelled out for her brother again, louder this time.
Madison covered her mouth to keep from laughing, again.
“Hi, Mom!” Madison said as she raced into her house later that afternoon.
“Madison, you’re late,” Mom said. “And you—”
“I know, Mom, I’m sorry,” Madison said, zipping up the stairs. “But I lost track of time at Fiona’s, and now I have to call Aimee right away!” She grabbed the cordless phone and took it upstairs.
Madison shrugged off her backpack and punched in Aimee’s number.
“Hello, may I please speak to Aimee?” Madison asked as soon as she heard a voice at the other end of the line.
“Yo! I’m on the other line.” It was Aimee’s brother, Dean. “Is this Madison? I’ll have Aimee call you when I’m done.”
The phone clicked off.
Madison sighed with frustration. Dean was a notorious phone hog—she knew he wouldn’t be off for hours. Besides, it was unlikely that he’d even give Aimee the message. Madison had to find another way to contact her friend.
Quickly, she booted up the computer and went to her e-mail box. There were three messages waiting.
FROM
SUBJECT
Bigwheels
Re: Fw: Need Your HELP!
Boop-Dee-Doop
Mega-Mambo-Sale
JeffFinn
Surf City
Even though Madison was dying to hear what Bigwheels and Dad had to say, she forced herself to write to Aimee first, even adding an urgent exclamation point to the message.
From: MadFinn
To: Balletgrl
Subject: Gotta Party!
Date: Sat 23 Sept 4:13 PM
Aim, we HAVE to get working on Fiona’s party!!!!! Mrs. Waters was walking up the sidewalk as I was leaving Fiona’s this afternoon, and she asked me all of these questions about what we should do. Should we have games? What kind of decorations do we want? Do we just want to order pizza, or should we have something more special???
I had NOOOOO idea, so I said I’d ask u. So I’m asking. But we have to decide *soon* b/c the party is only a week away. Oh—and I almost told Mrs. W that we’d bake the cake but I wanted to wait & talk 2 u first.
This is going to be funner than fun!!!! Wait—is funner a word? (:-)
BTW—you’ll never believe what happened at Fiona’s. Don’t scream but she saw the guest list!! Only for a second—and she had no clue what it was. Whew, right? I know what ur thinking again, that I can’t work for the CIA. LOL.
How was ballet practice? WBS!!
Maddie
Madison clicked SEND and eagerly returned to her inbox, where messages from Bigwheels and Dad were waiting.
From: Bigwheels
To: MadFinn
Subject: Re: Fw: Need Your HELP!
Date: Sat 23 Sept 2:10 PM
I’ve been thinking about your webpage, and I’m wondering whether you’ll be using any sound files on your page? I found this cool site—animalbytes—that has a sound file for practically every animal on the planet—you know, like a lion’s roar, an elephant’s trumpet, a giraffe’s … well, whatever. You can download the file onto your computer, and upload it onto your page. I thought it would be good for science projects, stuff like that.
Sorry this is so short. I’ll write L8R.
Yours till the rain forests,
Bigwheels
Madison was glad that Bigwheels was trying to be helpful, but wasn’t sure how to add sound files to a webpage. Was adding sound too complicated for a school project?
I’ll check out the site but stay simple, Madison told herself as she filed the e-mail into her file called THE CONTEST. At least for now.
She deleted the advertisement from Boop-Dee-Doop; and then opened up the last e-mail … from Dad.
From: JeffFinn
To: MadFinn
Subject: Surf City
Date: Sat 23 Sept 4:57 PM
Hi Maddie! I found another site that might be good for your contest page. Check out bighomeworkfun. You’ll find a lot of great links.
BTW, What do you get when you cross a duck with a beach bum?
A Webbed surfer!
;-D
Dad
Madison typed the bighomeworkfun web address into her browser and waited for the page to load. She couldn’t believe all of the great help she was getting! This webpage was practically building itself … sort of. She clicked on an icon of a blackboard and waited for the next page to open. It was a slow site.
“Maddie,” Mom said from behind her. “You were late. And now you’re playing around on the computer? It’s time to take Phinnie for a walk.”
“Okay, Mom,” Madison replied without turning around. “In just a minute—”
“No.” Mom’s voice was firm. “Now.”
Madison turned around and saw her mother frowning and holding Phin’s leash. Phin looked up at Madison with his big puppy eyes.
“Rowrroooo,” he wailed.
Madison grabbed the leash from Mom. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just lost track of time.”
“You’re forgiven, Honey Bear,” Mom said with a smile. “But dinner is in half an hour, so get moving.”
“Back in a flash,” Madison promised as she hurried through the house with Phin. She grabbed a jacket from the peg in the front hallway and threw it on as they stepped onto the porch.
Phin strained at his leash, eager for his walk. “Okay, okay,” Madison said. “I’m hurrying.” She loped along, sucking in the fall air—still warm, but with just a hint of fall crispness to it. As she looked around, Madison saw that the neighborhood foliage was just starting to turn gold, orange, and red. The multicolored trees looked like monsters against a sky that was deepe
ning from afternoon pink to evening purple. The sun was going down earlier now.
Madison thought about how quickly the seasons changed….
Like a lot of things.
Egg popped into Madison’s mind. He’d been one of her best friends forever. They’d always told each other everything since they were small. But in the last few days, things had definitely changed between them.
Along the sidewalk, someone had raked up a small pile of fallen leaves. Phin plunged in, scattering them everywhere. Madison tugged hard on his leash.
“No, Phinnie,” she said. “We’d better leave those alone or else we’ll be in trouble with the neighbors.”
As they cruised along Fiona’s block, Madison still couldn’t get her friends out of her mind. Why did Egg and Chet assume that Fiona and Madison’s page would be bad? It hurt to hear them tease. Hair clips and pop stars? HA! The boys were probably working on a page about shooting hoops and fart jokes.
Phin started chasing a runaway leaf down the street. Madison ran after him, pulled along by the leash, back toward home.
Madison was more determined than ever. She and Fiona would do everything in their power to make those boys eat their words. So what if Egg and Chet’s double dare meant double the work? It could also mean double the fun!
Let the games begin.
Chapter 6
BY THE TIME MADISON slid into her seat in Mrs. Wing’s classroom on Monday afternoon, her head was spinning. She’d spent most of the weekend studying for Señora Diaz’s Spanish vocabulary quiz and for a math test. Now that both were over, Madison finally had some downtime in the computer lab.
Madison found a terminal away from everyone else and connected to the Internet. Fiona wasn’t alongside her, but the two had agreed to divide the work on their webpage. While Fiona was busy with the English, foreign language, and social studies part of their homework-helper page, Madison would work on science and math.
The search engine chugged and Madison awaited the results to her question: What science and nature sites are the best? Interesting sites popped up—like one called deepdeepblueseas—with pages of information on different marine animals, including sharks. Madison found pictures of sharks in their natural habitats that she copied onto a disk. Even if I don’t win the webpage contest, Madison thought as she surfed through the site, I definitely will kick butt on my next science paper.