Their run-through went perfectly.
Madison felt very thankful to have Egg as her friend—and social studies partner.
She started a brand-new file when she got home.
Surprises
Surprises can be awful. Like the Dan gossip. How would Ivy have seen me and Dan having an ice cream cone? But surprises can be good.
1. After a week of yucky work, Egg turned up to meet me and was 100 percent prepared. Our presentation is going to be the BEST. He has special effects on the computer. He’s so good at that stuff. He even added MUSIC! We worked on the construction of the paper Mayflower together. I did lots of the work on that—even added glitter glue even if it’s not a real Pilgrim kind of thing.
2. Sugar doesn’t need surgery! Dan called to tell me that she is just going through shock or something after being rescued. I can’t wait to see her this week.
Any day now I’m expecting some kind of a surprise from Mom and Dad. They are mostly acting cool around me, but I don’t know. How do they really feel about me going with Dad? Am I hurting Mom’s feelings by picking him? Are they going to start all that arguing again?
There is still something not right about the whole thing. Life after the big D is one surprise I can never seem to figure out.
Chapter 11
WHEN MADISON’S ALARM WENT off, she stayed under the covers. Her insides felt fluttery, like she was on a ride at the amusement park. She definitely didn’t want to risk eating breakfast.
Today were the extra-credit presentations.
She hoped that Egg wouldn’t be late … or forget. She wondered if Egg was nervous right now, too.
“It’s almost eight!” Mom yelled from downstairs. “You better be out of that bed!”
Madison leaped up. “Drat! Drat!”
Now she was late.
Rushing around wasn’t the way Madison had hoped to spend the morning before her presentation. But here she was, frantically pulling on socks and sneakers and combing her hair. Even more ominous was the rain that started to pour outside. She tied her hair back into a ponytail to avoid a bad case of the frizzies.
“You’re going to do fine,” Mom reassured her. “I’ll drive you over to school today. The rain looks very bad.”
The car ride made Madison a little queasy. The orange juice Mom had made her drink was sloshing inside her empty tummy. Mom told her to take deep breaths and to relax.
Madison arrived at school a little damp, but on time. But Egg wasn’t there.
All through homeroom, Madison watched the door. But no Egg.
Egg still hadn’t appeared at the end of homeroom. Madison thought maybe he would go straight to Mrs. Belden’s classroom.
Madison sat down next to Fiona and Daisy. They looked so funny because they had dressed up in “period” costumes. Daisy wore a ratty-looking black beard and a cardboard top hat she’d obviously stapled together quickly with black construction paper. Fiona wore her hair in two braids on either side of her head.
“So you guys are Abe Lincoln and who?” Aimee asked them.
“You’ll see,” Fiona said, acting mysterious. “I can’t believe you forgot already. I told you last week.”
“What is the soccer ball for?” Ben the brainiac asked.
“Oh,” Daisy said. “The ball is just from morning practice. I forgot to put it into my locker.”
“Ohhhh,” Ben rolled his eyes.
“What’s your report on?” Daisy asked Ben and Aimee.
“We’re doing a report on Native Americans,” Ben said.
“Wampanoog,” Aimee added.
“Wampanoag,” he corrected her. “Sounds like frog. You better get it right in class.”
Aimee laughed. “You better not tell me what to do, Ben.” She tapped his shoulder and tossed her hair a little.
Ben turned pink. “Uh-huh.”
Madison chuckled. Maybe Aimee really did have a crush on Ben.
Once more, Madison searched the halls for Egg, but he was still nowhere to be seen.
Madison’s stomach was doing super-duper loop de loops. In thirty seconds the bell was going to ring.
Where was Egg?
Madison knew that Mrs. Belden always shut the door tight and didn’t approve of latecomers. Her skin felt all clammy with the anticipation. First she had been rushing. Now she was waiting.
“Are you okay?” Poison Ivy said to Madison. “You look a little sick. Is that sweat?”
Madison wiped her brow with one sleeve and pursed her lips. “Did you say something?” she said to Ivy. Madison was in no mood for Ivy’s poisonous comments today.
Ivy turned back to Drew. “What’s her problem?” she asked him. But Drew didn’t say a word.
Madison looked at the clock. “Do you know where Egg is?” she whispered to Drew.
“No, I dunno where he is.”
Brrrrrrring!
“Looks like someone has a problem,” Ivy taunted. Her drones giggled from a few rows back.
Madison shot Ivy a glare. “Looks like you’re the one with a problem, Ivy,” she whispered back to her enemy.
Drew laughed. Ivy was speechless.
Madison watched the classroom door. Mrs. Belden was about to close it. She had her fingers on the knob, even. But then Egg appeared!
Mrs. Belden grinned and motioned Madison over.
“What happened to you?” Madison whispered to Egg. He pulled her aside, and Madison expected to hear a long list of reasons why Egg was later than late. She expected to hear: “The entire project got mangled and I was trying to re-sort it on my computer,” or, “I deleted the Mayflower program by mistake,” or, “I’m sick as a dog and I don’t want to do this.”
But that wasn’t what Egg said at all.
“I’m sorry, Maddie. I was just nervous. I wanted to check the whole program again just to make sure it worked, so I went up to the media center and …”
“Forget about it,” Madison said. “We’re good to go.”
Madison could feel her heart beating. For whatever reason, the simple extra-credit report had become all-important for Madison. This was about more than the Mayflower and grades. This was about her and Egg working together.
“Hey, Maddie,” Egg whispered. “I gotta show you something.”
Egg showed her the giant, color poster of the Mayflower they had made together. Egg had pasted more smaller pictures and labels onto the different areas Madison had laid out. She’d talked about adding more detail, but they hadn’t had enough time.
“What is THAT?” Madison asked.
“I added more stuff, like you wanted.”
“Wow.” Madison was stunned. She hadn’t even known he was paying attention to anything she’d said the whole time they’d been working together on the project. “You did all that last night?”
“I know you wanted this to be really special. Besides, my sister helped me.”
Madison was happier than happy. “It is so cool.”
“I think you were right about having something to pass around and show in class. And I have my laptop inside all ready for the PowerPoint,” Egg said.
Mrs. Belden stuck her head out into the hallway. “Why don’t you two go first so you can pass out your materials and then sit down to watch the others.”
Egg and Madison walked into the class with the homemade and computerized Mayflowers. Ivy was staring. Rose was staring. Drew was staring. Everyone had all eyes on them. Going first was the worst. Madison could feel her heart thump. But this kind of staring was different than in science class. This was the good kind. Egg handed out the fact sheets Madison had typed up.
“Should I start?” she nervously asked.
Mrs. Belden nodded.
Madison’s dad told her she should begin the presentation with a joke. Madison knew the perfect one.
“If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?”
“Pilgrims!” Dan shouted from the back.
“Like we don’t all know tha
t joke already.” Ivy grunted. “Come on.”
“Miss Daly, that is unnecessary,” Mrs. Belden said.
Ivy crossed her legs with a huff. “Sorry.”
Madison continued. “Egg and I have created a model of the Mayflower, a ship that brought the Pilgrims to the New World. We found out some interesting facts about the Mayflower.”
“There were lots of trading ships at the time that were also called the Mayflower,” Egg said.
“And this ship wasn’t meant to carry passengers,” Madison added. “Originally. But people squeezed into the area with livestock and guns in between decks.”
Everyone gathered around the computer while Egg and Madison explained. It took a little longer than five minutes, but Mrs. Belden seemed very impressed.
“That was an excellent example of teamwork,” she told the class. “You two get a gold star for organization.”
Madison and Egg beamed. They had been greater-than-great partners, better than expected. Madison had worried for nothing. Egg had come through! After some polite applause, they sat down on the side of the room. Aimee leaned over and whispered, “Way to go.” Fiona smiled at Madison, too. She was proud.
Fiona and Daisy presented next. Unfortunately, their extra-credit project had a few loose ends—and nothing seemed to work out right. Fiona’s costume ripped, Daisy lost her place six times while reading the Thanksgiving Proclamation, and they sometimes talked so quickly that no one could understand a single word.
But Mrs. Belden was generous with her compliments. “Very creative, girls,” she said when they sat down again. “I like the costumes and the narration of Sarah Hale, Fiona.”
Fiona sank into her seat again, eyes on the floor.
Aimee and Ben gave the most embarrassing presentation of the morning. Aimee looked a little lost, which was very unlike the dancing, showy presenter she could be. Madison wondered if maybe, just maybe, Aimee’s crushing on Ben was the reason. Madison was getting pretty good at crush detecting. She’d never seen Aimee so distracted by someone.
Mrs. Belden had to cut off Ben when he talked for too long about Samoset and Squanto, the Native Americans who had helped the Pilgrims in Plymouth. Aimee stood by, flashing pictures and maps.
“Well done,” Mrs. Belden interrupted. “I think we all agree that was quite a history lesson, Ben and Aimee.”
As soon as they were finished. Poison Ivy and Drew were called up to present their extra credit. Both Drew and Ivy were dressed like Pilgrims. Ivy passed around a basket with corn bread in it and talked about how women Pilgrims had no say but did all the work. She even claimed to be a direct descendant of Pilgrims on the Mayflower.
“You never told me that,” Drew suddenly blurted.
“Shhh,” Ivy hissed, and kept right on talking.
Mrs. Belden interrupted. “Is this true, Ivy? That’s a big thing.”
“Ummm … well … not really. But aren’t we all related? I mean, what’s the big deal?”
The class got very quiet. Ivy shifted from foot to foot. Drew had a blank stare on his face.
Mrs. Belden spoke up. “Please continue, Ivy.”
But she didn’t say a word. Poison Ivy Daly looked like she was about to hyperventilate.
Some kid in the back of the classroom moved, and his chair squeaked. That’s when Drew started to laugh. It wasn’t a teeny giggle, but a big snorting laugh. And it was supercontagious.
Even Mrs. Belden had to cover her mouth so she wouldn’t laugh.
Ivy glanced around the room. “May I please be excused?” she asked, and ran out into the hall.
A few moments later. Ivy returned to class with Mrs. Belden. She looked like she was sniffling, but her lip gloss looked perfect. When Ivy walked past Madison to go back to her seat, Madison couldn’t help but smile a little. It served her right for starting a rumor about her and Dan. Being in the spotlight wasn’t always so great—even for Ivy Daly.
Then Dan and Hart were the next ones up to present.
Once they reached the front of the classroom, both boys slipped trash bags over their bodies with a cutout hole for their heads. The bags had colored paper feathers, and they each wore backward baseball caps with more feathers taped to the brims.
“Today we would like to do our extra-credit project to a song,” Hart joked.
Everyone snickered.
“Yeah,” Dan continued. “Called ‘The Turkey Pokey.’”
Everyone laughed out LOUD.
“You put your right wing in, you put your left wing out, you do the turkey pokey and you turn yourself around.” It was sung to the tune of the regular “Hokey Pokey.” Mrs. Belden was smiling to herself the whole time the boys were singing.
The turkey getup was Dan’s idea. He wanted to celebrate the bird that—in his words—“got wicked gypped every Thanksgiving.” Dan had a true animal-lover side to his personality. Meanwhile Hart decided it would be funny to dress up and “talk turkey,” too. They presented random facts about turkey symbolism and turkeys from other cultures and explained how Native Americans turned turkey feathers into beautiful cloaks.
“This was a highly original presentation, boys,” Mrs. Belden said as the bell rang. Extra credit had been a lot more fun than anyone expected.
That night, Madison sent Egg an e-mail message.
From: MadFinn
To: Eggaway
Subject: MAYFLOWER PRESENTATION
Date: Tues 21 Nov 4:52 PM
We had the best presentation. You are so awesome and I am soooooo sorry for not believing we could do it. Thanks 4 all ur work, Egg. BTW: my mom says she wants to see it sometime, so maybe you can come over? I hope we r still good friends. TTFN. <:>== (p.s. That’s a symbol for a turkey ha ha!!)
Madison noticed she had another e-mail in the box. It was from Dad, and he’d sent it to Stephanie, too. It looked serious.
From: JeffFinn
To: MadFinn
Cc: Stephie8
Subject: Thanksgiving Feast
Date: Tues 21 Nov 5:02 PM
Maddie, I wanted to call to talk to you, but the phone has been busy, so I sent this instead. We need to talk about Thanksgiving again. I want to make sure you know everything because we have some big plans. Things have changed a little. But I know you will love it.
Stephanie’s family has kindly extended an invitation to their home in Texas, and I would like to go with her and bring you along. Isn’t that exciting? You’ve never been to Texas before! What do you think? We would have so much fun. Stephanie has an enormous family with lots of kids your age.
Call me soon so we can talk. I love you!
Madison reread the e-mail and caught her breath. No, she’d never been to Texas before. And she didn’t want to go now.
She didn’t want to go ever.
Chapter 12
“TIME FOR SCHOOL,” MOM said, tugging the comforter off Madison’s bed.
“No,” Madison said, curling back into her pillows.
Mom sat on the edge of the bed. “Would you please talk to me? What is going on?”
Madison hadn’t said anything last night to Mom about Thanksgiving because she figured Dad would. But Dad probably knew Mom wasn’t going to like the arrangement one bit.
Thanksgiving was tomorrow. It was enough to make someone want to stay under the covers forever.
How would Madison break the news to Mom about Texas?
“Mom,” Madison said quietly. “Can we talk?”
Mom frowned. “Is something wrong, honey bear? Are you sick? You haven’t really been yourself for the last—”
“I don’t want to spend Thanksgiving with Dad!” Madison blurted.
Mom leaned backward with a quizzical look on her face. “We’ve been through this already, Maddie. It’s really okay with me. I understand. Being in this house will be hard over the holiday.”
“You don’t get it, Mom,” Madison insisted.
“What don’t I get?”
“Spending Thanksgiving with
Dad doesn’t mean being with him only. It means spending it with Stephanie, too.”
Mom stroked Madison’s forehead. “You like her, Maddie. She’s a nice person.”
“You still don’t get it. It means being with Stephanie and everyone in her family. And I don’t want Thanksgiving with her family, and that’s where Dad’s going. He wants me to fly to Texas to be with him. Ugh.”
This was definitely news to Mom. But she kept her cool.
“I see.” Mom nodded. “Well, Maddie, I think Dad is trying to make you feel included. And I think Stephanie has a big family. Dad probably thought you’d enjoy an adventure. You were very vocal about not wanting to stay in this house or even in Far Hills. Remember?”
Madison nodded. She was the one who had started the Thanksgiving tug-of-war. Madison had made such a big deal, and now here she was going back to the original plan.
“Have you told your father how you feel?” Mom asked.
“Not exactly,” Madison shrugged. “He’ll be mad at me.”
Mom laughed. “Maddie, your dad won’t get mad at you. I think you need to call him. Come on. We have time before school. You need to do this now.”
Madison dialed Dad’s house.
Dad was silent at first, and Madison got worried about what he might say next.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he finally said. “I had no intention of putting you in the middle of this. I guess we just all want to be with you. I think you should stay at home with Mom, and I’ll see you when we get back. How does that sound?”
Madison felt warm all over. Once again, Dad had said exactly the right thing to make her feel better.
When she hung up the phone, Mom leaned in for a giant hug.
“So does this mean it’s just you and me again?” Mom asked.
Madison just smiled.
The day was a lot brighter. And it wasn’t just that the rain had stopped. Madison hadn’t realized just how much the whole Thanksgiving decision-making process had been clouding her days. Now that things were settled, she was feeling much better.
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