Heart to Heart (From the Files of Madison Finn, 11) (5 page)
Read Heart to Heart (From the Files of Madison Finn, 11) Online
Authors: Laura Dower
Madison was just about to save the file to her hard drive when a message popped up on her screen. Her mouth fell open.
This
was a sign.
Madison’s fingers flew across the keyboard. This was her big chance! She had to find out if Orange Crush was who she thought—hoped—it was.
Madison stared at her keyboard, sighing. “Where did he go?” Madison thought. “I want to know who you are. I
need
to know!”
But the messenger was gone.
Disheartened, Madison reread the chat. Why did he have to leave so suddenly? Was “secret admirer” really just someone playing a joke—or was Orange Crush the real deal?
Madison wondered why she couldn’t trust the signs when they pointed in one, positive direction: someone really
DID
like her.
It was only a matter of time before she found out who it was.
“O
UCH! PHINNIE, STOP!”
Madison said groggily.
Phin ignored her. He marched across Madison’s comforter, paws prodding and poking into Madison’s tummy the entire time. He finally settled on a spot just south of her chin and north of her ribs.
“Don’t get too comfortable there,” Madison grumbled, nudging him off to the side. He yelped as she got out of bed, staring at Madison as she slid her feet into her fuzzy monkey slippers and stood up. A light rain tapped gently against the window glass. It was a perfect mall day.
What else was there to do on a dreary February Saturday but shop—or go online? Madison would do both. She collapsed onto her desk chair and booted up her laptop.
The Dance
I feel like time is just racing by. Thursday and Friday were so busy. I helped out at the animal clinic, Mom had a business dinner, and now it’s the weekend already. I wonder if my secret admirer will send me another message soon? I haven’t gotten anything the last two days.
There’s way too much to do before the Heart to Heart dance—my mind is spinning.
Buy new dress (+ shoes??)
Decide on hairstyle (up, down, or braids?)
Nails? (Or no, cuz I will just bite off the polish?)
Figure out
ID
of Orange Crush—
VERY IMPORTANT
Get Dad to teach me his “cool dance moves” (ha-ha)
I can hardly wait till later to pick out something cool @ the mall. Boop-Dee-Doop just opened up a new outlet store and I am psyched. They e-mailed me a 20% off coupon a couple of days ago, and I’ve been dying to use it ever since I downloaded it. Here’s the deal: Mom and Dad have each given me $30 for a dress, so if I use my coupon, I can probably afford to get some hair clips or tights, too. I need to look perfect. Luckily, Aimee and Fiona are meeting me so they can help me with my look. :-lK-
Rude Awakening: When in doubt, shop.
Can a new outfit make the pre-dance jitters vanish?
It better.
The clock in the corner of Madison’s monitor flashed.
“Yeeps!” Madison said, hitting
SAVE
and closing the file. Time really was flying by. It was 10:15 already. If Madison was meeting Aimee and Fiona at the Far Hill Shoppes at eleven, she had to dash.
“Hey, I’m glad you’re up,” Mom said from the doorway. “I brought you some breakfast.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Madison said, hopping out of her chair. She took the glass and plate from her mom and placed them on the bureau. Then she took a bite of the crisp bagel, smeared with cream cheese. “I can’t believe how late it is already.”
“Yup. You’d better shake a leg,” Mom said.
“Give me twenty minutes,” Madison said, taking a quick gulp of juice.
“I’ll be in my office,” Mom said. “Come and get me when you’re ready.”
Madison nodded and took another bite of bagel as she shut down her computer. She pulled on a pair of faded jeans and her favorite gray cable-knit sweater. This outfit would be easy to take on and off in the stores at the mall—and Madison wanted to do a lot of trying on.
A gorgeous dress for the dance was in Madison’s near future.
At exactly eleven minutes past eleven, Madison was standing where her friends had agreed to meet: the Roundabout. The Roundabout was a rotating sculpture shaped more or less like a tall blob with two heads that was located in the center of a bridge stretching from one side of the second level of the mall to the other. Below was an open atrium space with rows of stores and carts. Above was the food court.
Madison’s mom had left her at the Roundabout while she headed into a linens and bath store. They would meet up again at 2:30, which left Madison a few hours to go shopping with her friends.
“Where are those guys?” Madison thought impatiently as she glanced at her watch again. But only a minute had passed. Madison gazed down at people on the lower level of the mall. She leaned out over the railing and saw three girls who were just about her age …
Ugh.
Madison leaned back and walked around to the other side of the Roundabout. Those weren’t three girls—it was one queen bee and two drones! Of course, Madison expected to see Poison Ivy, Rose Thorn, and Phony Joanie at the mall. With only a week to go before the Valentine’s Day dance, where else would they be?
Avoid lower level at all costs, Madison told herself.
“Hey, Maddie!” Fiona called as she and Aimee hurried up to the Roundabout. “Sorry we’re late.”
“It’s my fault,” Aimee explained. “I had an early ballet practice that ran over.”
“No problem,” Madison said. “I was just people watching. Lucky for me, I saw Poison Ivy down there.”
Aimee rolled her eyes. “If only we had some water balloons,” she said.
“Hey, look who else is at the mall,” Fiona said, pointing to the upper level.
Madison looked up and saw Chet, Dan, Egg, Hart, and Drew walking in single file near the railing.
“Hey, Egg!” Aimee yelled. The boys heard and looked down, pointing.
Chet leaned over the railing like he was going to spit, but he didn’t. Dan pretended like he was going to throw himself over the edge, which made the rest of the guys laugh.
Fiona waved to Egg, who waved right back. She pointed to the food court, then pointed to her watch and held up two fingers. Egg nodded, and Fiona grinned.
“What is that all about?” Aimee asked.
“We’re meeting the guys at the food court at two o’clock,” Fiona explained. “Egg and I planned it yesterday.”
“You could have told us!” Madison said.
“What’s the big deal?” Fiona said with a shrug.
“I guess nothing.” Madison shrugged.
She looked up again in time to see Hart and the rest of the boys disappear toward some upper-level shops.
“What are we waiting for?” Aimee asked. “Let’s start shopping!”
The girls headed straight for Boop-Dee-Doop, which turned out to be a major letdown. They didn’t have any of the cute things that Madison had liked when she’d browsed their online store.
“Do you like these?” Aimee asked as she flipped through a rack of plaid capri pants.
“Nah,” Fiona replied. “Bad colors.”
Madison held up a purple tank top, which was on sale.
“You can’t wear that for like three months!” Aimee yelled. “It’s still cold out, Maddie. Get something you can wear tomorrow!”
Madison scoured the clearance shelf for other clothes, but the best she could come up with was a double-layered shirt with a picture of a yellow baby chick wearing glasses, topped with the words SMART CHICK. That was not really the right outfit for a Valentine’s Day dance.
As they left the store, Madison felt a small wave of disappointment. Boop-Dee-Doop had no dresses, no shirts,
nothing
she liked. She wouldn’t be able to use her discount coupon today! Even worse, Madison wasn’t sure she’d be able to find a dress that she could afford in another store.