by Laura Dower
Madison and Madhur went in and sat down on opposite sides of the room.
“Nice outfit,” Madison said, checking out Madhur’s clothes. Over a long-sleeved yellow T-shirt, Madhur wore a violet-colored sweater and dark jeans that looked as if they had been ironed. Around her shoulders, Madhur had wrapped a long, colorful scarf with dime-size round mirrors woven into the pattern. In some ways, nothing seemed to match; yet it all worked together perfectly. “I really like your scarf, too,” Madison said.
“My grandmamma made it for me,” Madhur said. “She’s a good seamstress.”
“That’s funny,” Madison grinned. “My grandma always knits me a new scarf every year. Usually for winter.”
“That is funny,” Madhur said. “Our grandmothers are alike. Cool.”
Phin trotted over to where Madhur was sitting. He sniffed at her red loafers, and she shifted in the chair.
“Hello, doggy,” Madhur said.
“Phinnie,” Madison interjected. “That’s his name, Phineas T. Finn.”
“Like Phineas T. Barnum the circus guy?” Madhur asked.
Madison grinned. Madhur was the only person who’d ever correctly guessed the origin of Phin’s name.
“Cool,” Madhur said again. It seemed to be her favorite word. “I love the circus.”
A clock on a table in the hall clanged even though it wasn’t five o’clock yet.
“That clock’s fast …” Madison said. “But my dad should be here soon…. I hope …” She eyed the door.
Drrrrring.
Both girls jumped—and laughed at that coincidence, too. Madison raced to answer it.
But it wasn’t Dad—yet.
“Fiona!” Madison cried. “Come inside. We’re still waiting for Lindsay and Aimee.”
“I just saw Lindsay down the driveway. She was in her dad’s fire truck,” Fiona said with a chuckle.
“Lindsay’s father is a fireman?” Madhur asked.
Madison and Fiona cracked up. “No!” they said in unison.
“He just drives this cool red sports car. For some wacky reason, Lindsay calls it the fire truck,” Madison said.
“Oh,” Madhur said meekly. She looked embarrassed at having misunderstood.
When Fiona entered the house, she left the front door open; and Lindsay came right inside a moment later.
“Hello? Anybody home? Hello? I know you’re here….” Lindsay called out.
Madison raced into the entryway and threw her arms around Lindsay. “Ready for Girls’ Night Out?” she cried excitedly.
Lindsay rolled her eyes. “Duh,” she said. “What do you think? Do you think we might see Dan or some of the other guys tonight?”
“Dan, Dan, Dan …” Fiona chuckled. “He’s all you think about lately.”
“Not true!” Lindsay cried. Then she noticed Madhur standing there. “Oh, hey, Madhur. Are you coming tonight, too?”
“The more the merrier, right?” Fiona added cheerily.
Just then, Dad appeared at the threshold with his arms crossed, his car keys dangling precariously from his fingers. He stepped to the side dramatically to reveal Aimee behind him. She waved but didn’t speak right away.
“So, is the whole crew here?” Dad asked.
Madison waited for Aimee to make some crack the way she always did, but Aimee said nothing. She lingered on the porch, lips buttoned as tightly as her denim jacket.
Madison gave Dad an enormous squeeze hello just as Mom came back out to say good-bye. Then everyone headed out to the car. Everything about the scene felt a little forced. Madison secretly hoped that within ten minutes everyone would be buckled into their seats in Dad’s car, gossiping and laughing. How could she help to break the tension?
“Wow, Mr. Finn,” Fiona cried as they raced down the driveway. “New wheels?”
Dad smirked. He and Stephanie, Madison’s stepmother, had just purchased a new SUV that could seat seven people. Dad proudly opened the door, and everyone shuffled in, vying for the cushiest seats.
Lindsay crawled into the back. Aimee followed behind. Fiona sat in the middle with Madhur next to her. Madison rode shotgun, as usual, with Dad at the wheel.
It was torture being up front with her dad rather than in the back with her friends, but Madison accepted the seating arrangements. They’d be at the mall in no time anyway.
Dad talked nonstop. He had the entire evening planned out.
“First, we’ll head over to Cracker Wheel, the new diner at the mall. It’s a real scene,” he explained. “We may have to wait for a table, but there’s plenty to do around the mall.”
“There’s a new accessory place—” Fiona started to say.
“Boogie’s!” Lindsay interrupted. “It’s so amazing. I went there last week with my Aunt Mimi.”
“Can we stop in at the dance shop?” Aimee asked.
“Are you a dancer?” Madhur asked.
Madison turned around in time to catch Aimee’s hard stare. “Um, yeah …” Aimee said. “It’s what I do.”
“She’s one of the stars at Madame Elaine’s ballet school in town,” Madison piped up from the front seat.
“I love dance,” Madhur said. “My mother was a Banghra dancer in India.”
Aimee’s face seemed to brighten a little bit. “What’s that?”
“It’s a Punjabi folk dance,” Madhur said. “My mom was the best. I can’t dance it—or anything else—to save my life,” she added, with a laugh and a toss of her head.
Madison and Lindsay laughed, too. “Neither can we!” they said at the same time.
Dad pulled in to the lower-level parking garage at the Far Hills Shoppes. The GNO group exited the car and paraded through the main doors, into the atrium of the mall, jaws flapping and eyes scanning the crowds for familiar faces—and good stores.
“Our dinner reservation is for five forty-five,” Dad said, checking his watch. “We have a few minutes to spare. You girls want to shop around a bit?”
“Do you even have to ask?” Madison said with a wide grin. She spotted a new kiosk a few yards away. “There’s always something to check out. We’ll meet you at the restaurant in fifteen minutes, okay?”
Dad gave the girls a casual salute and went on his way.
“Look at all of those hats!” Fiona cried, running over to the kiosk. She immediately picked up a captain’s hat with a giant blue feather in the brim and placed it on her head. “Ahoy, mateys,” she said, in her best pirate snarl.
Madison and Madhur couldn’t help laughing.
Aimee grabbed a hat next. It was a pink tiara (of course), with rhinestones in a heart shape on top.
“Your Majesty,” Fiona said.
Meanwhile, Lindsay found an oversize red-and-white-striped Dr. Seuss hat that flopped in her face.
“Try one on, Maddie,” Fiona begged, handing Madison a Sherlock Holmes-type hat. “This one is so you.”
“Well …” Madison hesitated before putting it on her head. “Elementary, my dear Fiona.”
“Madison, do you want to be a detective?” Madhur asked.
“She wishes!” Aimee said.
Madhur topped her own head with a large-brimmed sombrero and began to dance around. “Olé!” she sang. “This is so much fun. Thanks for letting me join you tonight.”
Madison smiled. Fiona and Lindsay nodded. Aimee just said, “Whatever.”
A short, squat man in a woolly sweater came around from behind the kiosk. His eyes got very wide as he spoke.
“Ladies! Ladies! Read the sign, ladies!” the man barked.
Madison looked up and saw the sign he was talking about, with its bold, black letters.
NO TOUCHING OR TRYING ON THE HATS!
YOU TRY—YOU BUY! THIS IS NOT A COSTUME CART!
“Whoopsie,” Aimee said when she read the sign. She quickly removed her tiara.
“You try, you buy?” Lindsay repeated, staring at the man. “But we’re just having—”
“Put the hats back,” the man commande
d.
“But hats are meant to be tried on,” Madhur said softly.
The man shot her a look. “Not my hats,” he said.
“Wow, I guess we won’t be able to buy those ten hats we wanted for the party, then,” Madhur said swiftly, turning back toward the other girls. “We should go away like he says. We’ll have to buy at that other kiosk.”
“Ten hats? Party?” The man was caught off guard. “What other kiosk?”
Madison was about to explode with laughter, and she knew the other girls were ready to burst, too. As Madhur led them away from the kiosk, the BFFs tried their best to keep all their giggles inside.
The man spluttered, trying to get them to turn back.
“Wait!” the man cried. “Come back.”
But the girls were long gone, on their way to meet Madison’s dad.
“That was a good trick,” Fiona said when they were out of earshot of the kiosk. “I hate to say it, but …”
“You rock!” Madison cried, smiling. She hurried to catch up with Madhur and the others.
“Very impressive,” Lindsay said.
Madison stood back a bit, waiting to see how Aimee would respond. Had the tension in the group broken? It felt that way, at least for now. The cluster of BFFs had grown larger by one person for GNO, and everything was shaping up to be just fine.
Dinner flew by. Dad didn’t have to do much talking, because the girls monopolized the conversation, between bites of fried chicken and salad. Madison sensed that Dad was probably a little overwhelmed. He shot her little stares all through dinner, raising his eyebrows and rolling his eyes as if he were speaking in some kind of secret code.
Rather than get dessert at the restaurant, Dad suggested they skip over to the multiplex for a movie and chocolate candy.
The girls didn’t need much convincing. Within moments, the group headed over to the movie theater and stood behind the crowd that had begun to gather outside the ticket window and doors.
Madison ducked away with Dad to get into the ticket line.
When she and Dad rejoined the group after five minutes, tickets in hand, it was no longer just a group of girlfriends.
Egg, Dan, Drew, Chet, and Hart had shown up.
Was this another weird coincidence? Madison thought.
“Isn’t this great?” Fiona said as she sidled up to Egg. There was no doubt about her feelings on the situation.
“Wait. What are you guys doing here. This is supposed to be GNO,” Madison said firmly.
“Are you boys here with a chaperone?” Dad inquired, looking around.
“My mom’s here … somewhere …” Egg said nonchalantly. “But she left us to watch the movie while she shops or whatever.”
“I see, I see,” Dad said. “And she doesn’t know that you were planning to meet the girls here, does she?”
“Well,” Egg stammered. “N—n—not exactly.”
Dad nodded. “I see again. Well, I’m here. I should be chaperone enough.”
“Dad, please,” Madison implored. “You’re embarrassing me in front of my friends.”
Dad shrugged. “Maddie, it’s official. Your GNO just turned into SGNO.”
“What’s SGNO?” Madison asked, looking mortified.
“Seventh grader night out,” Dad said, smiling. “Come on. Let’s go, everyone.”
As they walked inside the theater, Madison noticed Madhur off to the side. Chet was standing with her, talking. They both wore wide grins. What was going on?
Everyone selected their snack of choice and headed in to the dimly lit theater. The choice of seating was critical.
Who would sit where?
Fiona and Egg paired off, naturally. No surprises there. Then Lindsay and Dan sat together. They had only just begun to open up about their feelings of “like” for each other. Then, just as Chet was about to slide into the row, he bumped into Madhur, and the two of them ended up sitting together. Madison parked herself on the other side. Hart grabbed the seat near Madison, followed by Aimee (who still wasn’t saying much), and then Drew. Boy-girl-boy-girl always worked out best. Dad hung back at the end, looking a little concerned. Madison knew why. He was probably thinking about what everyone would do in the darkness of a movie theater. Luckily, he kept his lip zipped.
Madhur and Chet giggled through the first five minutes of previews. Madison couldn’t help hearing—and staring at—them. Hart was trying to get Madison’s attention, but she wasn’t listening. When Chet finally turned in the other direction, Madison seized the moment.
“What’s up with him?” Madison asked Madhur under her breath.
“Who?” Madhur asked sweetly.
“Chet,” Madison whispered.
Madhur shrugged. “Everything. Nothing. I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do,” Madison insisted.
“What are you talking about?” Chet asked.
Madison sank backward in her chair again, embarrassed.
“Nothing,” she said.
As the words Feature Presentation appeared onscreen, questions darted in and out of Madison’s mind. What had happened to Madison’s well-laid plans for GNO? Why was Aimee still giving her the silent treatment? Why did everything have to end up a complete mess?
Then—without warning—Hart grabbed Madison’s hand. That made six times. It took her breath away.
And as she stared down at his fingers and the movie started, all the buzzing inside Madison’s head just … stopped.
Chapter 7
MADISON OPENED UP HER laptop and logged on to TweenBlurt.com. The date flashed up in the corner: HAPPY SUNDAY!
“So you come to this main screen,” Madison explained to Madhur, “and from here we have to assign you a password and all that.”
Madison had decided that she would make it a top priority to get Madhur online, with her own TweenBlurt e-mail address. They sat together at Madhur’s house, on a long, ornate living-room sofa covered with quilts and coverlets decorated with fringes and the same little mirrors Madison had seen on Madhur’s scarf. Once Mom had given the thumbs-up to Madison’s having dinner at the Singh house, Madison knew it would be an ideal time to bring her trusty orange messenger bag and laptop with its wireless chip.
“What password do you want?” Madison asked.
“I don’t know,” Madhur said, thinking very hard.
“My latest password is ‘Files’,” Madison said in a low voice, as if she were trading undercover information. “I change it once a month, for security purposes—not that anyone would really ever try to break into my files or my mailbox …”
“I guess I could make ‘Punjab’ my password, for starters,” Madhur said.
“That’s good,” Madison said.
Within moments of having registered, an e-mail appeared in Madhur’s new e-mailbox. It stated that she was officially registered.
From: [email protected]
To: MadSingh
Subject: CONFIRMATION
Date: Sun 27 Sept 4:09 PM
This is a confirmation e-mail. Do not reply. If you have any questions, contact the Webmaster.
New TweenBlurt member: MADHUR
Age: 12 (permission granted)
Screen name: MADSINGH
Password: Punjab
Please keep this e-mail in a safe place in case you should lose your account information.
Thanks for joining TweenBlurt!
Sincerely,
Webmaster and the Administrative Team
Madhur had now officially acquired her own screen name, password, and access to the world of TweenBlurt. Madison instantly felt more connected than ever to her new friend.
Glancing around, Madison noticed the way the living room was crammed full of large pieces of furniture, all draped in blankets. Atop the fireplace mantel sat two painted figurines. One had the head of an elephant; its front legs were raised. It was dressed in flowing clothes. The other looked more human, only with blue skin. Madhur explained that the elephant figure
was called Sri Ganesha. “My mom and grandmamma always talk to Ganesha before anything important happens. Sometimes I even do it, too, like before a big test,” Madhur said.
“Does it work?” Madison asked.
“Well, Ganesha is the lord of wisdom, I guess, so he knows a lot. And he has all the energy of Shiva. That’s the other figure, by the way, the blue guy. He is the destroyer of evil and the restorer of good.”
“Why is he blue?” Madison asked.
“Because he drank poison to save the world from destruction,” Madhur stated matter-of-factly. “And he turned blue.”
“Oh,” Madison said. “That’s intense.”
“Yeah,” Madhur said. “With a capital I.”
Along one long shelf attached to a wall, Madison spotted rows of framed photographs. Some were pictures of more statues of Ganesha and Shiva—but most were real-people pictures of Madhur and the members of her family. There were old-fashioned, sepia-toned photos alongside Polaroid shots that had been placed in teeny frames.
“What’s that smell?” Madison asked, sniffing at the air. All at once a pungent, sweet aroma filled the living room.
Madhur shrugged her shoulders. “My mother is preparing a tandoori dinner tonight,” she said. “She’s making lamb and chicken. I hope you like meat. Once I had a friend come over and she was a vegetarian. I thought she’d keel over when my mom served her a kebab on rice.”
Madison giggled. “My mom’s a vegetarian; I’m not.”
“Do you like bread? My mother makes the best kulchas. Those are stuffed Indian breads. We have all these dipping sauces for them, too.”
Madison swore she felt her stomach flip-flop—with hunger.
“Okay, girls, I need your help,” Mrs. Singh said, sashaying into the living room in her traditional garb “Maddie, I need you in the kitchen now.” Madison was surprised to hear Mrs. Singh use her nickname. Then she realized Mrs. Singh was speaking to Madhur.
“Your mom calls you Maddie?” Madison asked Madhur. For some reason, Madison had not even considered the possibility that she and Madhur would share not only the same interests—but also the exact same nickname, Maddie.
“For as long as I can remember,” Madhur said.
“Maddie is my nickname, too, you know,” Madison said.