by Laura Dower
She looked over at the bed where Lindsay was snoring, fast asleep, with her feet poking out from under the blanket.
She tapped another few keys and opened a file.
Heading Home
I want to come to New York for MY birthday party. Of course it would be great to rent Aunt Mimi for it, too, but I don’t know if she’s available. LOL.
Mom called this morning. She wanted to know when our train was getting back to Far Hills today. Aimee’s mom is coming to pick up me and her. Fiona’s dad is picking her up at the station with Chet b/c they have to go to church or something. I asked Lindsay if she wanted to sleep over @ my house tonight and she can’t. But she’s coming next weekend. I want to be here for her as much as possible so she doesn’t get all sad and stressed out too much. I realize that I had Aimee and Lindsay around when MY parents went through the Big D, but no one was going through exactly what I was. That would have made a diff.
“Oh, no!”
Madison jumped. Lindsay had awakened with a shout. She turned to the side of the bed and scrambled onto the floor.
“Oh, no, Maddie! Oh, no! Oh, no!”
“What’s the matter?” Madison was worried. She had expected Lindsay to wake up happy that morning. But instead, she seemed more freaked out than before.
“The test!” Lindsay cried. “With all my birthday-party stuff and worrying about my dad and watching movies, I forgot all about the standardized test at school!”
Madison clicked her laptop shut. Lindsay was right; Madison had forgotten about the test, too.
“We still have time to study,” Madison said, “don’t we?”
Aimee and Fiona stumbled into the bedroom, rubbing their eyes.
“Who screamed?” Aimee said. “I can’t believe I slept this late.”
Fiona yawned. “What happened?”
“The test,” Lindsay said quickly. “We forgot to study.” By now she was fishing in her bag for the books she’d brought along to study. “These books were right here the whole weekend. How could I have forgotten to even take them out and look at them once? Oh, no, what are we going to do?”
“Calm down, Lindsay,” Aimee said, rushing over to her friend. “We can study today. And it doesn’t matter, anyway. It’s only a practice test.”
“How are we supposed to study today?” Lindsay said, still sounding panicked. “We have to get ready and take the train back to Far Hills and…” She dissolved into tears.
“What’s going on in here?” Aunt Mimi appeared at the doorway to the bedroom. In her hand was a large cake with lit candles.
“Look at that!” Fiona screeched.
Lindsay sniffled and looked at the cake. She wiped her eyes as everyone began to sing.
“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you…”
“Make a wish, sweetheart,” Mrs. Frost said, stepping into the room and taking Lindsay’s hands in hers.
“You already did this last night,” Lindsay said.
“But you never made a wish,” Fiona said.
Lindsay leaned over the cake, blinked, and blew out the candles.
“Happy Birthday to our BFF!” Aimee shouted, clapping loudly.
“What was your wish?” Fiona asked.
“She can’t tell!” Madison cried. Ultrasuperstitious, Madison was certain that if a person revealed a wish out loud, then it would not happen. “Lindsay, you have to keep your wish a secret until some time passes and it has an opportunity to come true.”
Lindsay, who had stopped crying completely by then, took a deep breath. “Maddie,” she said. “It’s not like my wish is really any big secret. I just wished that we all got a good grade on the standardized test.”
“You wasted a perfectly good wish on that?” Aimee said.
Fiona laughed. “I thought you’d wish that Dan would like you back.”
Lindsay’s eyes bugged out.
“Dan?” Mrs. Frost asked. “Who’s Dan?”
Lindsay froze. She didn’t know what to say. No one did.
“Lindsay, is there some boy you’re not telling me about?” Mrs. Frost asked sternly.
“Aw, it’s probably just some movie star,” Aunt Mimi said quickly, winking at Lindsay and her friends. “You know how it is with these gals…”
“Oh?” Mrs. Frost said.
Madison reached over to squeeze Lindsay’s hand. “Dan is this guy on TV…” Madison started to say.
“Yeah, Mom,” Lindsay said. “He’s on this cable show I like. Remember?”
“He is? You told me?” Mrs. Frost asked, a bit flustered. “I see.”
“Well, time to cut the cake,” Aunt Mimi said, carting it back toward the door. “Meet me in the kitchen, everyone, so we can have cake for breakfast—just like I promised.”
Mrs. Frost grabbed her daughter and gave her a warm embrace. “I love you, Lindsay,” she said. “I’m sorry about last night. If I seemed angry, I apologize. I was just mad at your father for…”
“Mom, it’s okay,” Lindsay said. “Dad said he was sorry, too. I know things are weird right now. I understand.”
Madison was happy to hear Lindsay say that. She was also happy to know that in exactly five minutes she would be taking a big, moist bite of white cake with purple icing. Birthday cake was a great way to start the new day.
Of course, Madison had to chuckle when she saw Lindsay grab the test-review book before heading toward the kitchen. Her friend was determined to study that morning—birthday celebration or not.
At Grand Central Station, everyone lugged their bags down the ramp toward the train. Aunt Mimi and Mrs. Frost had come along to help—and to say their good-byes. Mrs. Frost was going to drive back, but Lindsay wanted to take the train with her friends. She was going to hang out with Madison for a little while until her mom got back to Far Hills.
“Thank you so much for a fab weekend,” Fiona said as she stepped aboard the train, blowing Aunt Mimi and Mrs. Frost a giant kiss.
“From me, too,” Aimee said, leaning in for her own kiss.
“Don’t forget to let me know if you want to bring your mom, and we can get a group together for the ballet,” Aunt Mimi said.
Aimee smiled. “Sure thing,” she said.
Madison hobbled over with her bags to say good-bye.
“Thanks, Mrs. Frost,” she said, her voice practically a whisper. “And Aunt Mimi, thank you, too. I’ve never enjoyed New York City so much as I did this weekend.”
“I know how much Lindsay values your friendship,” Mrs. Frost said. “She always has.”
Madison nodded. “Me, too. I like being sort-of sisters.”
“Sisters are de-lish,” Aunt Mimi said, taking Mrs. Frost by the arm. “Just look at us. Girlfriends till the end!”
Mrs. Frost laughed. “When I can keep up with her, that is.”
“Bye!” Madison called out.
Madison, Aimee, and Fiona found seats very close to the door. They watched through the window as Lindsay said a more private good-bye to her mother and Aunt Mimi. Outside the train, more and more people began to gather. It was getting closer to departure time.
The air inside the train car had a coffee aroma. Madison loved that smell. It made her think of rainy Sundays at Dad’s apartment, waking up late to eat Dad’s famous breakfast of scrambled eggs and raisin toast and then go for a long, wet walk with Phinnie. She was glad that Dad had agreed to pick her up at the train station when they got back to Far Hills. Madison had told him on the telephone that she wanted to sleep over at his house that night.
The train lights flashed. A loud ping meant the doors were about to shut.
“Lindsay! Lindsay!” Madison, Aimee, and Fiona banged on the window at the same time. She couldn’t hear them, but she was coming. Of course, Lindsay had heard the ping, too.
The friends watched as Lindsay kissed and hugged her mom and aunt once each. Then she hugged them again. She grabbed her one small bag (Mrs. Frost had taken the rest, including the birthday gifts, to bring by car
). Then she hopped on, in the nick of time.
As the train pulled out of the station, Madison gazed out at Lindsay’s mother and at Aunt Mimi, whose arms were linked as they waved back at the girls. Although the station was murky and dirty, the two sisters seemed to sparkle, standing there on the platform. Maybe it was the buttons on their coats. Maybe it was their hair clips. Madison wasn’t sure what it was. But in that moment, Aunt Mimi and Mrs. Frost glittered as brightly as anything in all of New York City.
“So,” Lindsay said as soon as they’d settled into their seats and given the conductor their tickets. “Let’s study.”
Aimee was sleepy. “I’m too tired to work,” she said. “Let’s just space out or play MASH or Truth or Dare.”
“I think maybe we should study a little bit,” Fiona said. “Just in case.”
“I think so, too,” Madison said.
“Fine,” Aimee said. “So what are we supposed to do?”
Lindsay opened a book called All You Need to Know About Standardized Tests. It was stamped SEVENTH-GRADE EDITION.
“This is the best book for us to use,” Lindsay said.
“You’re way too organized,” Aimee said. “That’s at least a hundred pages long.”
“It’s three hundred pages. But I’ve only read it through a few times,” Lindsay said.
“Are you kidding me?” Aimee asked. “You’ve already read it a few times? What are you freaking out about, then?”
Fiona giggled. So did Madison.
“Lindsay, you really are such a worrywart,” Madison said. “It’s just a practice test.”
“I know, I know!” Lindsay said. “But at least I’m a prepared worrywart.”
They quizzed each other on a variety of subjects: rational and real numbers; geometry; cell biology; geology; the Renaissance; U.S. history; sentence structure; and even the vocabulary of technology. Madison was especially good at the last part. She hadn’t realized that learning HTML would actually help her on a school test one day.
“I hope there isn’t too much reading comprehension,” Fiona grumbled. “I always make mistakes on those questions. I don’t know why.”
“I hope they don’t ask a lot of questions about history,” Madison said. “I get confused between the Age of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment.”
“Oh, I hope they do ask a lot of history questions,” Lindsay said. “I’m way better at that than I am at remembering math.”
“Wait! What’s the Pythagorean theorem again?” Aimee asked.
Fiona knew that answer. “For a right triangle with legs a and b and hypotenuse c, the formula is a-squared plus b-squared equals c-squared. Right?”
Lindsay made a face. “Yeah, you’re right. Ugh. I hope I pass this…”
“I think we’ll all do great,” Madison said to cheer everyone up. “We’ll do better than Poison Ivy. She never studies for real for anything…”
“And don’t forget Lance,” Aimee said.
“Or my brother Chet,” Fiona said with a giggle. “Even if he studies, he probably will mess up.”
“Well, at least we tried,” Madison said. It was the kind of thing her Gramma Helen would have said.
All the practicing and quizzing made the time pass very quickly. The train pulled into the station at Far Hills around two o’clock.
As they exited the train, Madison saw the parents clustered together: Mrs. Gillespie, Mr. Waters, and Madison’s dad, too. Dad had brought Phinnie along, and the dog started tugging at his leash the moment he saw Madison appear.
The girls said their various good-byes and headed for home. Aimee and Fiona promised to e-mail Madison later. They were curious to know if Hart had sent any notes or left any messages at Madison’s house.
“I’m so glad you called me yesterday,” Dad told Madison in the car as he pulled away.
“Me, too,” Madison said.
She and Lindsay huddled together in the backseat with Phinnie, who couldn’t stop licking Madison’s hands and face. His little pug tail was wagging nonstop.
“It sounds like you had yourselves quite a terrific weekend,” Dad said, looking at them in the rearview mirror.
“It was the best,” Lindsay said, squeezing Madison’s hand. “But it’s always the best when your best friends are there.”
Chapter 13
Wonder
It is now so early in the morning that the sun hasn’t even totally come out yet. I can see it through the window here @ Dad’s place. It’s coming in like slivers of light through the blinds. I keep thinking about the sun and all the planets out there somewhere, so far away, like our moon and the moons of Jupiter. It makes me wonder.
Rude Awakening: This weekend we saw a thousand lights glittering in the planetarium. But somehow, I still feel like I’m in the dark.
There is SO much I don’t know—about all those stars up in the sky, about the test coming up, and even about whether or not Hart Jones really likes me enough to ask me out again.
“Maddie?” a voice croaked from the dark hallway outside Madison’s room. It was Madison’s stepmother, Stephanie. She’d just gotten up to prepare for work. She had an appointment in another county—and a long drive ahead of her that morning. Her hair was pulled up in a barrette and she was wearing only a long T-shirt and her slippers.
“Hey, Stephanie,” Madison said in a low voice. Phinnie was still asleep, on top of Madison’s bed.
“What are you doing up this early?” Stephanie asked. “You’re always on the computer, aren’t you?”
“Not always,” Madison said. “Is Dad up?”
“Not yet. He’s out cold,” Stephanie said. “The alarm will be going off in about a half hour.”
“I couldn’t sleep anymore. And then I saw the sunrise,” Madison explained, pointing to the window.
Stephanie walked into Madison’s room and pulled open one of the blinds. Beautiful morning light poured into the room, and everything was bathed in Madison’s favorite color, orange.
“Mmmm,” Stephanie cooed. “That’s a nice way to greet the day.”
Madison grinned. “I’m glad I slept over,” she said.
“So are we,” Stephanie said. “Your dad, especially. He really misses you when plans change and he can’t do the regular dinners. It was all he talked about on Saturday night.”
“Really?” Madison said.
“Well, I’d better get into the shower,” Stephanie said. She kissed Madison on the top of the head. “There’s fresh OJ in the fridge if you want to pour yourself a glass.”
“Thanks,” Madison said, turning back to her laptop. She realized, after she saved the file in which she had been writing, that she hadn’t checked her e-mailbox since the other night at Aunt Mimi’s apartment. Madison quickly surfed into TweenBlurt.com and opened it up.
FROM SUBJECT
XMENALOT Special Offer
GoGramma Miss You
Bigwheels RE: What If
Wetwinz Egg Says…
LuvNstuff Thank you!!!
HartUR4E Try This FREE
She couldn’t believe that she’d received so much mail in only a day. The first one was an easy delete. It was clearly spam. The message from Gramma Helen was short and sweet. Madison would write her back later, maybe in the media lab at school, after the dreaded test. Then Madison opened the note from Bigwheels.
From: Bigwheels
To: MadFinn
Subject: RE: What If
Date: Sun 13 Dec 8:10 PM
My brother said a few words today. Not just one--but three--MAMA, DADDO, and ME-ME. We were all amazed. Madison, you don’t know how cool this is for my mom & dad. Mom says I can keep my blog going, BTW, so check back for more news--and more words YEAH!
On top of everything else, I found out that we don’t have to take any more tests @ school this week. I’m sorry you do. You will ACE THEM ALL! I know it. :-l
Write back SOON.
Yours till the hot chocolates (your frozen kind sounds so y
ummy!)
Vicki aka Bigwheels
Madison hit SAVE so she would remember to write Bigwheels later that day. She clicked on Fiona’s e-mail next, hoping for some good news about the whole Hart situation.
From: Wetwinz
To: MadFinn, BalletGrl, LuvNstuff
Subject: Egg Says…
Date: Mon 1 Dec 12:08 AM
I can’t believe I’m online right now OMG! But earlier tonite Egg called me & I had 2 share w/u. He says that the test is supposed to be super EZ. His sister Mariah took it 2 yrs ago and she didn’t have any probs. Aim--what about yr bros? Did u ask them? We should have thought of that on Friday! Ok so CUL8R.
xoxo
F.
Madison hit DELETE. She had hoped for a different kind of news, but apparently, Hart had not told Egg anything. Or at least, Fiona wasn’t saying.
The next e-mail was from Lindsay. Madison opened it up: the attachment was an E-card from one of those cool free greeting-card sites. It played music and had an animation of a frog leaping across lily pads. A shower of virtual confetti sprinkled across the screen once the card was read. Madison couldn’t believe that Lindsay had sent a thank-you card already.
The last e-mail in Madison’s e-mailbox looked like spam, too. She didn’t recognize the address or the subject matter. But then she looked a little bit closer at the sender’s name.
HartUR4E Try This FREE
She couldn’t believe the coincidence. How had Hart’s name—of all names—ended up in her e-mailbox? She thought back to something Aunt Mimi had said that weekend, about not believing in coincidences. Aunt Mimi believed in destiny. Madison wanted to believe in destiny, too—as in, her destiny with Hart. So she didn’t open the message, just in case there was a virus contained in it, but she also didn’t delete it, just in case it meant something.