by Laura Dower
“They are cool,” Madison said. With or without glasses, Fiona always looked like a model to her.
“So do you think I look any smarter, Maddie?” Fiona giggled.
Madison giggled right back. “Total genius.”
“Whassup?” Egg said. He came over as soon as he saw Fiona standing there. “Nice glasses, Fiona.”
Fiona grinned. “Yeah. Do you really like them?”
“Sure,” Egg said, acting doofier than doofy.
After he walked away, Madison turned to Aimee and Aimee turned to Madison. They were thinking the same thing.
“What happened to Egg?” Aimee asked.
“Yeah,” Madison said. “Normally if he saw one of us wearing glasses, he’d call us four eyes or something. But not you, Fiona….”
Fiona blushed, and Aimee gave her a squeeze.
One of the teachers blew a whistle and asked the kids to line up in three lines for the three buses to the nature center. Fiona and Lindsay paired up behind Madison and Aimee. Just behind them, all the boys in their group lined up. Hart was three feet from Madison, but she barely looked his way.
From nowhere Poison Ivy Daly appeared with her drones following right behind. They cut to the front of the line. Madison noticed what Ivy was wearing. She couldn’t believe her enemy had on the same angel T-shirt that Madison had almost worn this morning. That was a closer-than-close call.
Kids piled into the trio of buses with their groups of friends. Everyone squished in two to a seat. Egg thought he was being funny when he sat on top of Hart and Chet in their row. They just kicked him off.
“What’s going on back there?” Mr. Danehy’s voice boomed.
Egg scrambled to sit in his real seat near Drew. Aimee could barely contain her laughter. Bus chaos had started, and they’d only just boarded. Madison turned around to see that Ivy had an entire seat all to herself in the back of the bus.
Of course, Ivy never played by the rules.
The bus driver was a round, short man with red hair and a mustache. He growled at the kids, “Keep it down!” and everyone hushed up.
It didn’t last long, though. The moment the bus gassed up and got going, everyone began murmuring. The noise rose slowly as the buses pulled out of the Far Hills Junior High parking lot and onto the main road.
And they’re off!
Since Mr. Danehy had taken his seat way up at the front of the bus, Chet took the opportunity to do one of his Danehy imitations. Everyone was laughing, even Ivy. Egg stood up again and wobbled as if he’d fall over into Hart again, too. It seemed fine until the bus jerked onto an on-ramp on its way to the highway.
Egg went flying and landed on someone else’s lap for real.
Madison.
“Get off me!” Madison yelled.
Fiona was laughing so hard, her glasses almost fell off her face. Aimee had her hands covering her mouth. Even Lindsay laughed.
Egg was stuck.
“I SAID, GET OFF ME!” Madison screamed.
Mr. Danehy turned around right away when he heard that. He stood up and marched to the back, yanking Egg from Madison’s lap and placing him back in his own seat.
“Young man,” Mr. Danehy grumbled. He didn’t know Egg’s full name. “Keep it calm back here or you’ll be sitting next to me.”
Hart smacked Egg on the back from the seat behind. “Nice going, Walt.” Sometimes kids would use Egg’s real name to irritate or make fun of him.
Egg shot a look toward Madison. “Nice going, Finnster,” he said.
Madison stuck out her tongue at him.
“QUIT IT!” someone else yelled from the back of the bus.
A bunch of kids whipped around to see Joanie, one of Ivy’s drones, kneeling on her seat with her hands in the air. She was leaning forward, trying to grab something one of the boys had stolen from her.
Chet tossed something to Drew. He held it over his head. Madison could see that it was a small bottle of nail polish. It looked a lot like the color Aimee had painted onto her nails.
“GIVE IT!” Joanie yelled.
Mr. Danehy didn’t hear them, though—yet.
“Don’t be a loser,” Ivy said. “Give it back. Drew.”
But Drew tossed it into the row in front of him. It landed in Hart’s lap.
“GIVE IT!” Joanie yelled again.
Hart quickly passed the bottle to Egg.
Before Egg could pass it along to anyone else, Mr. Danehy turned around. Luckily he didn’t see anything wrong.
Ivy got up and stood in front of Egg’s seat. “Hand it over,” she said.
Egg crossed his arms and made a face. “I don’t think so.” He held the bottle to the side where she couldn’t reach.
Unfortunately for him, he reached out directly in front of Madison. She leaned over and grabbed the bottle. Then she handed it to Ivy.
“Traitor!” Egg said to Madison, standing up. “What did you do that for?”
“Do what?” Madison said, acting like she didn’t know what was going on.
Meanwhile Mr. Danehy had turned around again. This time he heard and saw everything. He rushed over and grabbed Egg by the collar.
“Get your things, young man,” Mr. Danehy said. Egg would have a brand-new, front-row seat for the remainder of the bus ride—right next to Mr. Danehy. While he was standing there, Mr. Danehy confiscated the bottle of nail polish, too.
“I’m going to get you for this, Maddie,” Egg said.
Madison looked the other way.
Ivy glanced at Hart before returning to her own seat. “I didn’t know you played stupid games,” she said, acting all huffy.
Score one for Ivy.
Sometimes it seemed like Madison’s best enemy had an answer for everything.
Hart didn’t seem to care one bit about Ivy’s comment, as obnoxious as it was. He turned backward and gave Chet a high five. But boys always stuck together like that.
After ten more minutes of loud talk and commotion, their bus pulled onto a dirt road. A large sign read FAR HILLS NATURE TRAIL AHEAD. Another sign, a few feet beyond that, read SLOW DOWN.
As the bus slowed, it bumped along more, and everyone held on to the seats in front of them. Lindsay said she felt like throwing up. But strangely, Madison felt calmer than calm.
It was so quiet and green.
Once the bus stopped, everyone pushed and shoved to get out. Although they were sitting all the way in the back, Ivy and her drones acted like they deserved to get off the bus first. Fiona stepped in front of Ivy before she could go any farther.
Ivy tapped her foot and sighed loudly so everyone could hear. “Nice glasses,” she said under her breath.
Fiona smiled. “Thanks, Ivy. I like them, too.” Then she took an extra-long time getting her backpack and even let Lindsay go ahead. Ivy would have to wait. And wait. And wait some more.
Fiona was so good at getting revenge quietly.
“Way to go,” Madison whispered as they got off the bus.
“That was inspired,” Lindsay said.
Mr. Danehy blew a loud whistle, and a bunch of birds flew out of one tree. Everyone milling around outside the three buses shut up fast. They piled up their backpacks and lunch sacks by the nature center’s main lodge. These would be retrieved later.
Egg wandered over to Hart, Chet, Drew, and Dan, who were standing next to Aimee and the other girls. He pointed his finger directly at Madison and said, “I’m going to get you!” Then he pinched Madison’s arm.
Madison flinched. “Ouch,” she cried.
Dan chuckled out loud. “Pinch him back, Maddie,” he said.
But Hart stepped in between the two. “Give it a rest, Egg,” he said. Then he turned around toward Madison so close, they were nose to nose.
And he smiled.
It wasn’t a big deal. Just an ordinary smile. But Madison thought she felt her cheeks blush pink. Did anyone notice? She couldn’t believe that suddenly an annoying Hart had turned crushable again. Like that.
A little part of her insides felt like they were melting.
Hart was still smiling.
Madison wasn’t quite sure what she was really feeling in that moment, but she knew one thing for sure.
The boys versus girls field trip at the science center was going to be way more surprising than she—or anyone else—ever expected.
Chapter 7
“WHO IS THAT!” AIMEE said, grabbing Madison’s arm. They were staring at a tall, dark-haired guy dressed in green pants and a shirt with a Far Hills Nature Trails logo on the front.
“Whoa,” Lindsay said, smirking. “Cuteness.”
Even Fiona was interested. “He is cute.”
He wore a badge that said MY NAME IS RANGER JIMMY, and Madison couldn’t take her eyes off him, either. None of the girls could.
As luck would have it, he stood next to Ivy, who was doing her hair-flipping, look-at-me thing. But Jimmy directed his warm greeting to everyone in the group.
“Welcome to the park,” he said in a sweet voice.
“I’ll be your field guide.”
The boys made a hissing noise when Jimmy started to speak. They were already kicking into goofball gear. One kid pumped his fist up into the air. “Wooo! Wooo!”
“Older guys are so much more mature,” Ivy whispered. Her drones nodded. Madison and Aimee and the rest of the girls standing there heard it, too.
Score two for Ivy.
Everyone was flirting with the field guide. Madison knew that Jimmy could tell, but he didn’t act weird or flirty at all. He explained that he was a college sophomore volunteering at the center during his days off from classes. He was a biology major because he loved animals. And he had a pet iguana.
Madison hung on his every word. They had so much in common, except for the college and iguana part.
“OKAY, KIDS,” a booming voice interrupted Jimmy’s talk.
Mr. Danehy came waddling over, barking in the same, loud, oddly unidentifiable accent he always spoke in class. “Girls, now you’ll get together in one group. You’ll be going around with Jimmy here. Boys, you gather over by that tree. Ranger Lester and I will escort you. Ah! Here he comes now.”
Lester appeared through a door at the main gatehouse. He was dressed in safari clothes with stuff attached all over his belt. He had a long, grizzled beard that looked a little like a bird’s nest. He clapped before he ever said anything.
Clap, clap.
“Well, hello there, young men,” he said.
Clap, clap.
“Nature awaits us!” he said. “Are you prepared?”
“What’s with this guy?” Madison heard Chet whisper to his friends. “How come we don’t get some cute girl to lead our group?”
Madison was relieved to see that Aimee’s science teacher, Ms. Ripple, would be walking around with them.
The boys split off toward one path; the girls headed to another.
“I’d like everyone to please treat this area carefully,” Jimmy said as they started to hike. “The creatures and plant life need your special consideration. If you look over here, we have some rules to follow along the trail.”
Madison saw a sign engraved on a giant log:
BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHERS ALONG THE TRAIL
DO NOT CLIMB ON FENCES OR RAILS
NO LITTERING
NO SMOKING
DO NOT DISTURB THE HABITATS
FIELD GUIDES MUST ACCOMPANY ALL LARGE GROUPS
A few feet farther along, Madison saw a larger sign with animal tracks painted all over it.
TAKE NOTHING BUT MEMORIES
LEAVE NOTHING BUT FOOTPRINTS
Jimmy pointed to the path. “We’ll be traveling through some wooded areas, so please be sure to stay on the trails and beware of poison ivy.”
Madison yelled out, “Ha!”
Aimee and Fiona snorted.
Luckily no one else knew what the laughter was all about.
“As I was saying,” Jimmy continued. “We are guests in the home of the environment. So watch your steps and leave no traces.”
Madison pulled her science-class checklist out of her bag. Ivy scurried over to see it.
“I left mine at home,” Ivy said as she leaned over Madison’s shoulder.
“Uh.” Madison tried to say something else, but nothing came out.
“Take your own notes,” Aimee snapped.
Ivy shot her a look. “Why don’t you just butt out?”
“It’s okay, Aim,” Madison said. “We can share.”
“Thanks,” Ivy said, walking a little bit ahead of Madison. The drones had forgotten their checklists, so Madison would be sharing everything with them, too.
“Maddie,” Aimee said, grabbing Madison’s arm. “Who made Ivy queen?”
“We are on the same side,” Madison said, defending her actions. “We’re all girls, right? And she and I are partners, so …”
“So what!” Aimee said.
Beating the boys at this contest had become the most important goal for Madison—even more important than getting even with Ivy.
The girl group followed Jimmy along the wooded path toward a clearing. Right away, Madison saw three of the items on the list. She checked them off.
Deer or raccoon tracks
Spider’s web
Worm
Jimmy pointed out that the woodland habitat was filled with creatures the class might not see at first glance. He showed everyone the underside of a green leaf and revealed a fuzzy caterpillar.
Madison checked that off her list.
“Look over there!” a girl from Ms. Ripple’s science class shrieked. “SKUNK!”
Everyone squished closer together and let out a little whoop.
Jimmy chuckled. “I don’t think you saw a skunk,” he said. He wandered over to the spot where the girl had seen the black-and-white movement. A whirligig was sticking up out of the ground there. It was a wooden woodpecker whirling around in the wind.
“Give me a break,” Ivy said. She raised her hand to ask a question. “What is that doing there?”
Jimmy smiled. “We have numerous whirligigs of birds placed throughout the center. They serve as markers along the trail in case visitors lose their way. You can follow the path toward the woodpecker, the cardinal, or the blue jay.”
“Sort of like ski trails or something,” Lindsay said.
“Exactly,” Jimmy said, still smiling.
Lindsay quietly nudged Fiona. “Did you see that? He smiled at me.”
“He smiles at everyone,” Ivy said roughly. She pushed her way toward the front.
Madison wondered how the boys were doing on their walk through the woods. She imagined Chet and Hart getting into trouble—and Mr. Danehy chasing after them with a big stick. Other than a few snipes from Poison Ivy Daly, the girl group was mellower than mellow.
“Look at all the new flowers,” Fiona said. There were purple and yellow flowers poking themselves up through the wet earth.
“Those are wild irises,” Jimmy told Fiona and the rest of the group.
The group marched on together through fields of wildflowers, most of which were just starting to get very green after a long winter. Very few had any color because it was so early in the springtime.
Ms. Ripple gasped when she nearly stepped on a slug. Someone else got overexcited when two lady-bugs landed on her at the same time.
Jimmy kept the group moving right along. “We’re leaving the field habitat now,” he announced, walking down a small hill. “Heading toward the duck pond habitat now. Everyone please stay together.”
“Isn’t he so cute?” Fiona whispered to Aimee and Madison.
“Look over there,” Aimee said. She saw a mama duck and some ducklings nestled together in some high grass. “Now, that is even cuter!”
Lindsay laughed. “Quick, everyone! DUCK!”
Everyone in the group chuckled.
“We have swans around the pond, too,” Jimmy explained. “I just don’t see any in the w
ater right now.”
Madison had fallen to the back of the group. She was quickly scanning the area in all directions, checking off more items on her list. Ivy hurried over to make sure “their” list was coming along all right. She leaned over Madison’s shoulder to see.
Duckling(s)
Pond weed
Lily pad(s)
Snail
Jimmy asked everyone in the group to take seats on a series of benches around the duck pond. He passed out crumbs for feeding the ducks. By the time Madison and Ivy arrived, they were able to grab a handful of crumbs, but unfortunately all the seats were filled.
Madison wandered over to a grassy slope and sat down. Ivy was following right behind her. She wanted to take a look at Madison’s notebook.
“Oh!” Jimmy exclaimed. “I wouldn’t sit down there, girls!”
But it was too late.
Madison stood up and examined the back of her pants.
Duck poop.
Ivy stood up slowly and spun around, too. “What? What is it?” she cried.
“Oh, gross.” Joanie moaned. “It’s all over your pants, too, Ivy—”
“DON’T say it!” Ivy snapped. She twisted around some more to assess the damage.
More duck poop.
Instead of getting grumpy about it, Madison got a case of the giggles. Then the whole girl group started to laugh hysterically.
Except Ivy.
“Stop laughing right now!” Ivy said, still trying to wipe the stuff off her pants. Unfortunately, she had a more stubborn stain than Madison’s. It took three Handi Wipes and some pond water to get Ivy’s pants looking presentable. Even then, they still had a faint green smudge across the backside.
“Girls,” Ms. Ripple said. “We shouldn’t laugh at Ivy or Madison’s misfortunes.”
But Aimee laughed even harder.
After the poop incident had died down, the group trudged through mud down another short path. They seemed to be heading back into the woods.
“I’m glad I wore my yuckiest sneakers,” Fiona said. They had mud splatters all over them.
Aimee groaned, looking down at her own shoes, which were brand-new. “Well, mine are yucky now,” she said dejectedly.
The woods came to a stop in the middle of the path, and the group found itself in an enormous clearing. Across another field, Madison saw boys playing Frisbee. Mr. Danehy was standing over by some picnic tables. Everyone seemed to be lounging around.