Play It Again (11 page)

It was embarrassing.

Madison didn’t remember if Dad ever looked at Mom that way. She tried to search her memory banks like she searched on the Internet, thinking of specific “search” words to see if they’d trigger any memories:
love, dinner, kiss.

But she came up empty.
No matches found.

That night before bed, Madison fished through her piles of files, pictures, and words about theater, acting, taking charge. She thought maybe she could make Stephanie a collage, too?

She’d do one for Bigwheels first … then one for Stephanie.

Madison shut her eyes tight. What she really needed was sleep.

The play was only days away.

The Wiz


I learned how to sew a cape. Actually, I sewed part of Hart’s cape. Mrs. Perez really sewed most of it. But still, it’s like a part of me will be with him during the show. How cool is
that?


Tuesday. Boring. I am so busy, I barely have time to write. I have like two hours of homework and it’s ten o’clock already. We had another dress rehearsal today. It was forty-eight minutes exactly. Didn’t stop for anyone. One funny part was when Ivy forgot her line in one of the songs and I had to cue her. She was MAD about that.


Thursday. Wow. Final run-through. We cleaned the stage afterward. Aimee’s dances are so great. It’s better that Rose is in the dance numbers because when they dance side by side, Aimee blows her away. Aimee has been so busy practicing, we haven’t really talked. Fiona has a cold, but it actually makes the bad-witch voice better. Egg is good, too. We’re all GREAT!
The Wiz
is GREAT!!!!


On Friday, Madison logged online before breakfast. With
The Wiz
on the horizon, she was feeling ultrasuperstitious. She decided to go to TweenBlurt com for a little help. Just before every major life event Madison would visit “Ask the Blowfish” on her favorite Web site.

Right now was no exception.

In the lower corner of the homepage was a teeny blinking fishbowl with a question mark in the middle. Once the fish was clicked, a small window opened. There were simple instructions:

Ask the Blowfish Yes or No

And then the fish will say Hello

Madison had to type a simple yes or no question into the little box on-screen. At first, she hadn’t been impressed. She’d thought the blowfish looked like nothing more than a puffy gum-ball with fins.

When Madison had typed her question and hit
ENTER,
however, a bubble popped up with an answer and she’d gotten so excited! The answers weren’t all that specific, but Madison loved reading them, like wacko fortune cookie fortunes. Madison knew the way the answers appeared was random, but she wanted to believe them, anyway.

She wanted to believe.

Madison typed:
Will the play be good tonight?

The fish blew a bubble with its answer. “Things will go swimmingly.”

Madison was very encouraged.

Will everyone like the show?

The fish said, “The tide is high.”

Madison was still encouraged. She had to ask the next question.

Will Hart talk to me tonight?

The fish said, “Beware of sharks.”

No way! Madison couldn’t believe a blowfish could possibly be SO right. It was like the computer knew about Poison Ivy.
She
was the shark, after all.

Madison asked one more question.

Does Hart like me?

The fish said, “The tide is high.”

Madison was thrilled to hear that … but then she realized that the blowfish already gave that answer once.

“But it’s still a positive,” she told herself.

She checked her mailbox, too, while she was online and found an electronic card waiting there. It was better news than what the blowfish delivered. On it was a picture of some kind of cartoon wizard.

Make a Wish

You’re a “wiz” at whatever you do! Thought this was funny! Hope everything goes well backstage. Write soon.

Yours till the leg breaks,

Bigwheels

Madison closed her laptop and went down to the kitchen. She’d hang with Phinnie while she ate her cereal. When she’d finished eating, Madison got down on the floor beside him and rubbed his belly. Phin was snoring, curled up by the dishwasher. His shallow little breaths were so peaceful.

Dogs have a way of telling a person everything will be okay just by lying there. Madison read somewhere that dogs never forget. Even if someone is gone for a year, once he or she comes back, that dog will sniff and love and be a friend just like before. When a dog does that, people know they’re home.

“I have to go, Maddie! Do you want a lift to school?” Mom said, walking into the kitchen.

Madison couldn’t pass up a ride this morning. It was raining.

Was rain a good omen or a bad one?

“We’re off to see
The Wizard,”
Mom joked as they pulled out of the driveway.

When Mom said, “Wizard,” all Madison could think of was Hart.

Everyone in homeroom cheered when Mr. Bernard made his morning announcements about the show.

“To all the students at Far Hills who are participating in the revues from classes seven through nine, thanks for all your hard work. You have made this a very special week, especially for Mrs. Goode, who has devoted much of her teaching career to helping Far Hills students. I ask that all teachers and counselors please take into consideration that students who are participating in the show be given special …”

Listening, Madison felt better instantly. She wouldn’t stress about her work right now. She couldn’t. She had to concentrate on the play.

It would have been nice if Madison’s science teacher, Mr. Danehy, had been in agreement with Principal Bernard. While the majority of the seventh-graders could think of nothing else except
The Wiz,
Mr. Danehy thought it was important for the seventh graders to be thinking about tsunamis and sound waves.

During last period, he announced a science test out of the blue—on waves of all kinds.

“Test Monday. No exceptions,” he said, stepping into the science storage closet for a moment. No one, not even Hart, was ready for a test.

When Mr. Danehy was out of sight, Chet stood at the front of the room and suggested that they go into his desk to steal the test so everyone could get an A and make Mr. Danehy bonkers. Egg thought that was a great idea, too. But Madison reminded them both that they probably didn’t want to get caught and be expelled, right?

“Expelled?” Egg said.

“Hey, I was only kidding,” Chet said.

When Mr. Danehy reentered the class, the students pleaded for mercy in rounds like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

“Please, please, change the date?”

“Mr. Danehy, we have play practice.”

“The Wiz
is over soon.”

“Well,” Mr. Danehy said, standing in the back of the class with his arms folded against his chest. “I see.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of hope when he said he would
think
about changing the test date. Thinking about it was better than nothing.

Two hours before the show was supposed to go on, before anyone had on costume or makeup,
The Wiz
cast and crew gathered together backstage. Mariah and Wayne were there, too. It was pep talk time. Mr. Gibbons had something very important to tell everyone.

“So here it is, kids,” he started out. “The moment we’ve all be waiting for, right?
The Wiz
is here.”

“Yes, I am, Mr. Gibbons,” Hart called out. “I’m right over here.”

That got a big, nervous laugh.

“We had only a short time to pull together and do this, cast—”

Drew interrupted. “And crew, Mr. Gibbons. Don’t forget.”

“Yes, Drew, cast
and
crew. And I am wowed by how well you all worked together as a group.”

Madison looked over at Aimee, who was sitting to her left, across the room at Ivy, and then over by the door at Lindsay.

Fiona leaned over to the right and whispered in Madison’s ear, “Are you nervous?”

“Big time,” Madison whispered back. “Are you?”

“Big time.” Fiona stuck her arm inside Madison’s. “Remember when you told me not to be nervous? That day when the cast was posted?”

They looked over at Aimee together and she pointed to Mr. Gibbons, who wasn’t looking in their direction at the time. He was talking too much tonight. He must be nervous, too.

Aimee made a goofy face like she was pretending to scream silently. “Help me!” she mouthed the words. Madison and Fiona almost lost it when she did that.

“So, kids.” Mr. Gibbons turned back toward them. “When you get inside the auditorium, there will be lots of activity. We’re the class leading off the program, and that’s a big responsibility. I want you to be careful, pay attention … and HAVE FUN.”

He turned to Mrs. Montefiore, who had a few words to say. “I will lead vocal warm-ups backstage. After which everyone can get dressed and ready to go. Understood?”

Everyone nodded.

Ivy raised her hand and talked at the same time. “Do we come out for standing ovations? How do we line up for our curtain call?”

“That’s assuming people are clapping.” Mr. Gibbons laughed.

Good one, Mr. Gibbons.

“Actually that’s a good question, Ivy. You’ll get applause after each of your songs. And for the final number, you’ll all stay in place and take one last bow.”

Lindsay had her hand raised, too. “Mr. Gibbons?” she asked.

“Lindsay!” he said. “One more question?”

“What do I do with Chocolate in between scenes again? Did you say something yesterday about cookies?”

“I almost forgot!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out some Liver Snaps. “Chocolate loves these. One after each scene should keep her happy.”

Everyone was twittering … chittering … more nervous than ever by now.

“So go on out there and break a leg, everyone!” he shouted.

The cast and crew burst into big whoops and claps.

Madison heard Ivy whisper to Rose as they walked out of the room, “Gee, I hope fatso doesn’t eat all the Liver Snaps for herself.” She couldn’t believe Ivy could say something so cruel after all the hard work Lindsay had done.

“Hey, Finnster!” Hart called across the room. “Wait up!”

Madison felt her stomach flip-flop.

“Hey, Finnster, have you seen my Wiz cape? Mariah told me you guys did something to it.”

Madison grinned. “We sewed on silver stars.”

“Whoa, that sounds cool,” Hart said. He ran his fingers through his brown hair. Madison could almost smell his shampoo.

“Um, excuse me … Hart?” someone interrupted.

It was Poison Ivy. Madison thought she had already left the room, but here she was.

“Hey, Ivy,” Hart said with a sweet smile.

Madison loved watching Hart smile, but only when it was directed at her—not her enemy.

“I just wanted to make sure I told you again about getting to the cast party,” Ivy told him. She was speaking directly to Hart and ignoring Madison completely. “At my house. I can give you a ride if you don’t have one. I know you said your parents had to go straight home.”

“I’m grabbing a ride with Drew’s parents,” he said, still smiling.

Ivy flipped her red hair and touched his arm. “Okay, see you later, then.”

She touched his arm.

The cast shuffled into the practice room with Mrs. Montefiore. Time was flying by. Madison was just going through the motions while visions of Ivy reaching out to Hart filled her head.

Vocal warm-ups lasted ten minutes, and then Egg led the group in a round of tongue twisters. Mr. Gibbons said those made you limber all over and think fast on your feet. Aimee, Rose, and some other dancers were off in a corner, stretching their arms and legs, too.

“Señor Hart?” Mrs. Perez was standing across the room, holding his purple cape. “Come put on your costume.”

It was time for
everyone
to get into the auditorium and get on their costumes. Madison realized she’d better head backstage to help the singers get into their Tin Man, Lion, and other suits—fast. The Munchkins had to be covered in green face and hand makeup, too.

On her way backstage, Madison heard one of the techies say something about there being a lot of people in the audience.

Madison went to look for Aimee and found her applying lipstick in a back room. Aimee was so happy to see her, she couldn’t stop talking to take a breath.

“I just called my house to tell everyone I saved seats down near the front for them and my mother told me that your mom is riding with them—can you believe that?” Aimee blabbed.

“Really?” Madison was glad to know her mom would sit with the Gillespies instead of Dad. That took some of her worrying away.

“How are you doing, Maddie? You look funny.”

“Hey, I’m not the one dressed up like a witch,” Madison said.

“Is your dad bringing his new girlfriend tonight?” Aimee asked.

Madison shook her head. She didn’t think Stephanie would be there. But like Gramma Helen said, “Never say never.”
Oh boy.
It would be hard enough handling Mom versus Dad without another person there.