Keep It Real (From the Files of Madison Finn, 19) (16 page)

The walk home from the dog run seemed to take forever. When Madison and Phin finally reached the front porch of their home on Blueberry Street, Phin was panting from all of his afternoon activity. Madison was panting a little, too, in expectation. A get-together at Drew’s was about to turn her boring Saturday into something extraordinary.

Mom said it was fine to go over to Drew’s house for movies and dinner. She would drop Madison off and pick her up afterward.

“Who else is going?” Mom asked. “What about Fiona and Chet?”

Fiona Waters and her twin brother, Chet, were other friends of Madison’s from school and the neighborhood. They lived only a few streets away. Mom wanted to offer everyone a ride.

Madison shrugged at Mom’s questions. “Drew said everyone was going. I mean, I guess Aimee won’t be there, because of Dance. But let me call Fiona and see what’s up.”

Fiona’s phone rang and rang. Her answering machine wasn’t working, and no one picked up.

I wonder where she is, Madison thought. She guessed that maybe Chet, Fiona, and Egg, Madison’s best guy friend and Fiona’s “boyfriend,” were already on their way to Drew’s house. That meant she needed to hurry up.

Madison raced up to her bedroom to change out of the sweatpants into a more festive outfit. She pulled on three different T-shirts before deciding upon a pink one with little rhinestones on it in the shape of a heart. She tucked the shirt into a pair of jeans with a thick belt and topped it off with a snug pink sweater. It looked like a short cardigan from the pages of some fashion magazine, but it was actually a sweater that Madison’s Gramma Helen had knitted for her that fall. Each button was in the shape of a flower, carved out of mother-of-pearl. Madison finished the outfit with a pair of dark pink stretch cable socks and some clogs. Then she applied her favorite strawberry-kiwi lip gloss.

“Don’t you look gorgeous!” Mom said as Madison pulled her jacket on over the sweater and shirt.

Madison grinned. “I’d better,” she said.

“Oh, I see,” Mom said. She understood. “Hart’s going to be there, isn’t he?”

Madison blushed. “Yes.”

“At least all your friends will be there, too, so you won’t have to get too nervous or embarrassed,” Mom said, stroking Madison’s now-pink cheek. “I know that one of these days he’ll pop the question.”

“Mom!” Madison cried.

“You know what I mean,” Mom said.

Phin let out another snort and sneeze as they walked through the back door and headed for the car. Mom had been right about Madison’s nerves. When Madison bent down to lift Phin into the backseat for the drive over to Drew’s house, she nearly dropped him. It was a talking-about-Hart aftershock. Lately, that topic of conversation had been making Madison extra twitchy.

After the drive across town to Drew’s megamansion, however, Madison tried to get her twitches in check. She rang the doorbell and took a deep, deep breath, just in case Hart answered the door.

“You’re here!” Drew cried in a very loud voice. Music blared in the background.

“Wow, some party,” Madison said. “Is everyone here?”

“You bet,” Drew said. “Mom’s making cheddar-cheese popcorn and milk shakes for us.”

“Sounds good,” Madison said. She knew Fiona would be into that menu. Fiona ate anything. Aimee, on the other hand, ate like a rabbit. She wouldn’t pig out on anything but tofu, salad, or granola. The Gillespies were health nuts.

Madison followed Drew inside and down a set of stairs to the screening room.

“Everyone’s waiting,” he said as he opened the door. The music sounded even louder from there.

Madison adjusted the waistband of her jeans. Even though she liked the low-rider style, sometimes the pants slipped a little too far down. She wriggled around in an attempt to get comfortable. It would be
so
nice to grab Fiona’s hand and let go of all of her nervousness.

“Howdy, you!” a voice chirped as soon as the door flew open. It was Elaine, a friend (actually, a girlfriend) of Drew’s from down the street. She didn’t attend FHJH, but sometimes she came to Drew’s parties or met Madison and her friends at the town pool or at Freeze Palace, one of their favorite hangouts.

Madison said hello to Elaine and then glanced around the room, looking for other guests.

But there were none.

“Drew…wait…” Madison stammered. “I thought…I thought you said this was a party…”

“It is a party!” a new voice said.

Madison turned to see Hart standing there. Her stomach flip-flopped. Was this some kind of setup? What
was
this?

“Good thing we ran into you in the park,” Hart said.

“Good thing,” Madison replied, still unsure about what was going on. Where was the “everyone” that Drew had mentioned? Had they all conveniently canceled at the last minute? Had anyone else ever even been invited?

“You have to come inside and see something,” Hart said. He reached out and touched Madison’s shoulder when he spoke. She thought her legs would turn to jelly.

“Look!” Hart cried. “Just look at Drew’s Room of Things. It’s amazing!”

“He’s a collector,” Elaine said. She was now standing next to them. “Drew’s mother just bought him an entire set of figurines for
Star Wars
and
The Hobbit
.”

“Really?” Madison said, still unsteady and now very unsure about what was going on. She wanted to run. Or call Mom. Or scream?

All of a sudden the tinkling sound of classical music filled the air
.

“What is
that
?” Hart asked Drew.

“New doorbell,” Drew replied.

“What happened to the old doorbell?” Madison asked.

“Mom wanted one that played Mozart. You know how she is,” Drew explained.

“Drew! Darling!” Drew’s mother’s voice called out from upstairs. “Your company has arrived!”

Madison felt a great sense of relief. Everyone really was there now. She wasn’t trapped in the middle of some secret double date.

Whew.

She heard Egg’s voice; he was making an obnoxious crack. Walter “Egg” Diaz often went out of his way to be obnoxious. Madison hoped that Egg’s arrival meant that Fiona had arrived, too. Sure enough, a few moments later, Fiona bounded down the stairs and into the screening room.

The two BFFs embraced.

Moments later, Dan Ginsburg, another friend from both school and the animal clinic, arrived. He’d made a new playlist with a few top-ten tunes, and Drew synched Dan’s iPod up to his megamansion’s digital sound system immediately.

Everyone started goofing around, moving their hips and clapping to the music. Hart stood across from Madison, a wide smile on his face.

Madison felt as if they were at a fifth-grade school dance. She leaned back against the wall.

Where was Fiona?

She could feel the drumbeat of Drew’s speakers.

Boom, boom, boom.

Inside her chest, Madison’s heart was making the exact same noise.

From: MadFinn


To: Bigwheels


Subject: Trouble with Hart?


Date: Sat 5 Dec 9:12
PM


OK. I just spent Sat. afternoon w/Hart--the supposed crush of my life (yeah, well, in my dreams)--and here’s the deal: he was paying attention to me the ENTIRE time--and everyone witnessed it--and he even held my hand at one point--and I still have NO idea what’s really going on between us. Did today really happen?


I should get it--well, him--by now. I mean I went over to my friend Drew’s place expecting a zillion people and then the only person there other than Drew and his gf Elaine was Hart. Duh. And then Drew was falling all over Elaine with this incredibly doofy laugh and grabbing for her hands, while Hart and I just stood there LA LA LA. And when all the other people finally arrived, the only place to sit was practically on Hart’s lap. They fixed it that way, I could tell. And then we all ate pizza and Hart asked me if he could try a bite of mine, which was kind of gross but kind of romantic in a sharing way. And then Drew’s mom put in one of his new DVDs and turned the lights down in their screening room (my mom would never have approved of that) but there I was again sitting with the one and only Hart practically knee to knee--I swear--my knee touching his knee. Touching!


But in spite of all this, he didn’t ask me out. He didn’t say anything specific about dating or whatever. Grrrrr. Why, after all this time, are Hart and I still not a WE?


Am I cursed around guys or what?


You know my lame-o history. I had that first real kiss (OMG it was soooo fun) with that kid Mark from my gramma’s place in Chicago. But a first kiss is supposed to be one of those over-the-moon, can’t-sleep, last-forever kind of things, but mine only lasted like a week for me. A week? Huh? Then I double-crushed on that Josh guy who lives next door (until I found out he was already dating another ninth grader--hello!) And then I went skiing with Aim and decided to blow off liking Hart AGAIN. But no matter what I think or do or say, I still come back to this place, this crush. Why is it so hard to stop liking someone once you start? Liking Hart is like diving into a mudslide or maybe quicksand. Glug, glug, GLUG.


Maybe all of this waiting means something. Like Hart is THE ONE, as in, the guy I’m destined to be with. Got any advice 4 me?


Oh, and BTW how r u?


Yours till the boy friends,*
Maddie


*note that this is not yours till the break ups or yours till the kiss offs or yours till the c u laters--I still DO I DO I DO have hope LOL


Madison hit
SEND
and waited for her screen to flash. After a split second it beeped, which meant that the message had gone through. Then Madison hit a few more keys on her laptop and exited her e-mailbox. She wanted to visit her favorite website, TweenBlurt.com. The headline on this webpage flashed in neon letters:
ASK THE BLOWFISH
.

Madison clicked on a teeny, yellow-striped fish swimming on-screen. A cursor popped up, and Madison stared at the row of blank spaces where she was meant to write an important question. Slowly, she typed her question into the space and waited for the Blowfish to reply.

What is going on with me and Hart?


Madison sighed. She tapped her fingers on the desk and impatiently watched the tiny clock on the computer screen. Time was passing slower than slowly. Where was her answer? A restless Phin, who had been curled up by her feet, scrambled across the carpet and hopped onto Madison’s window seat. He stared across the room at her as she waited until the answer finally appeared.

You are swimming in a flood.


“No way! A flood?” Madison cried. “What is that supposed to mean, Phinnie? This website is so messed up sometimes…”

She leaned back away from her laptop and let out a big sigh. Phin jumped from the window seat and then scurried over to the doorjamb and then made a beeline for the top of Madison’s bed. He was restless.

Madison reworded her question and retyped it into the blank space.

Will Hart and I ever go on a real date?


The Blowfish hummed, or at least Madison’s computer did. It hummed and sizzled and chugged. She waited another minute for another answer. At last it popped up.

The tide has turned.


“Huh?”

That answer wasn’t good enough for Madison, either, so she tried one last question. Now she was as direct as possible.

Tell me if Hart wants to be my boyfriend—RIGHT NOW.


The Blowfish took its time again. But its answer finally appeared on the screen in glowing yellow letters.

Most decidedly yes when the water is rising.


Madison buried her head in her hands. Yes? Rising water? She was good at English but she was no code breaker. Then again, how could she actually believe that a computer could tell her whether or not the crush of her life would come through in the clutch?

Obviously it couldn’t. Duh.

Just then, Phin woofed and flopped onto his back atop Madison’s bed. He rubbed and rolled and then took one of the throw pillows that had been on top of Madison’s comforter in his teeth and shook it.

“Rarrrrrrrrgrrrrr!”

“Phinnie! No-o-o-o-o!” Madison cried.

It was too late. The bed was completely unmade. Everything that had been on top now lay in a messy pile on the floor: a notebook, her latest copy of
Star Beat
magazine, her math textbook, and a small pile of new mail. Madison bent over to pick the things up.

That was when she saw something shimmer. On the front of a bright, glittery, oversized pink envelope, written in dark purple cursive letters was Madison’s name and address. In the upper left corner was a doodle of a heart with the letters
NYC
inside it.

Madison grabbed the pink envelope and tore it open.

You’re Invited

to a Last-Minute Party

Lindsay Frost’s 13th Birthday Weekend

What? Two overnights in the city with Lindsay and a few friends

(We will be shopping, sight-seeing, and other stuff!)

When? Friday & Saturday, December 11 & 12

Where? New York City

Lindsay’s aunt Mimi Frost’s pad

The Manhattan Towers, East 82nd Street, PH B

RSVP to Lindsay ASAP

A party! Madison’s pulse revved up. She couldn’t believe how perfect this invitation was. It was the perfect thing to take her mind off
(way
off) Hart Jones.

Clutching the invitation in one hand, Madison raced out of her bedroom and downstairs to find Mom, who was curled up in a ball in front of the television set. Phin trotted right behind, panting and wondering about all the fuss.

“Mo-o-o-o-om!” Madison called out, breathless. “Did you see this in my mail?”

Mom glanced up at the pink-glitter invitation and smiled. “Yes, I wondered about that. I didn’t see a return address. Who sent it?”