Play It Again (13 page)

“Did you see our note to you in the program?” Mom asked.

Madison made a face. “Note?”

Dad opened the program. “Yeah, I think it’s somewhere here in the middle.” He pointed.

♥ Madison, we love watching you “ease on down the road” to success in everything you do! Great job! Mom, Dad & Phinnie

Madison stared at the page and then at her parents.

“Thanks …” she whispered.

They hadn’t forgotten.

Hart was standing only a few feet away. Madison saw him talking to two women, one who looked like she might be his grandmother.

“Hey, Finnster!” Hart said when he saw Madison looking.

“Hey, Hart.”

“This is my
ya ya,”
he said, introducing the older woman. He seemed sorta embarrassed. “Uh … that means ‘grandmother’ in Greek,” he added.

The old woman had a sweet face with soft wrinkles all over.

“Ya Ya,” Hart said. “This is Madison. Remember I told you, she’s the one who made the cape.”

“Ahhh, yes.” The old woman took Madison’s hand in hers and squeezed. Her hand was covered in smooth lines, too. “Hart tells me you did the costumes. You must be so very proud.”

Hart’s mother was there, too. “Madison Finn? Is that you? I haven’t seen you since before we moved!” She reminded Madison about a time when she slugged Hart in the playground back in first grade. “Things have changed a lot since then, right?” Mrs. Jones laughed. “It’s so nice to see you two together again. Are your mom and dad here?”

Hart and Madison both looked down at the floor. Parents could be so clueless. She reintroduced Mrs. Jones and Ya Ya to her mom and dad.

“Nice to meet you, Hart,” Mom said. When no one was looking. Mom leaned over and whispered to Madison, “He’s cute, Maddie.”

Madison blanched white. “Mom!” she gasped softly, praying that Hart hadn’t heard.

Mom winked and leaned in. “I know, I know. I won’t say any more.”

Dad and Ya Ya were talking about Greece the whole time. He’d lived over there for a year when he was a kid.

Meanwhile Hart disappeared to the other side of the room with Chet and Egg. They were talking to Rose and Joanie.

Madison wanted to gag.

She watched the hordes of people swirling around the room: mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and students from all the grades in Far Hills Junior High. Everyone was buzzing in a figure eight from the brownie table to the auditorium doors to the parking lot.

Except Madison’s parents.

Her mom and dad stood in the same place—next to each other the entire time. If she didn’t know any better, Madison would have thought that her parents were still together. They were standing there like they always did for her whole life, laughing and nodding like nothing would ever come between them.

“Maddie!” Fiona shrieked from a few feet away. She hurried over. “Can you believe it’s over? I am so bummed.”

“Yeah,” Madison said, glancing at Mom and Dad again. Endings
were
sad.

Aimee came over right after that, trailed by Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie and the entire Gillespie brotherhood. Roger, Billy, and Dean congratulated Madison and chatted up her parents. Doug, the Gillespie ninth grader, quickly disappeared, looking for a few of his friends.

“Do you want a ride to the cast party?” Aimee asked, hugging Madison’s shoulder.

Madison pulled away. “The cast party?”

“Yeah!” Aimee said. “Oh my God, it should be great. Everyone is going.”

Madison couldn’t believe it. In the chaos of the crowd and Mom and Dad’s reunion, she had forgotten something so important.

The cast party.

At Poison Ivy’s house.

“Everyone
is going to be there.” Fiona giggled. She was looking around the room. “Including Egg. He’s going, right?”

“Fiona!” Aimee said. She still cringed whenever Fiona brought up his name, which she did at every opportunity.

“Ivy didn’t exactly invite me,” Madison said. “I don’t know if I—”

“You’re invited, Maddie!
Everyone
is gonna be there,” Aimee said.

“But Ivy and I—” Madison started to say.

“Forget Ivy,” Aimee declared. “The cast party is the absolute best part of the show, Madison. It’s the whole point. If you don’t go, I won’t go.”

“It’s just that—”

“Maddie, it’s a cast party, not
her
party! She may be a good witch in the play—”

Fiona interrupted. “But she’s a bad witch in real life.”

They all laughed.

When Madison slipped backstage again to get her orange bag, she bumped into Lindsay. Lindsay was sitting at one of the mirrors in the dressing room, brushing out her hair.

“Oh,” Lindsay said, surprised to see Madison in the mirror’s reflection. “I was just getting ready to go home.”

“Home? What about the cast party? You have to go to the cast party. Everyone’s going to be there,” Madison said.

“Nah, I don’t think so.” Lindsay sighed.

“But you’re Dorothy! You’re the star of the show!”

Lindsay smiled. “Yeah, of the show, maybe, but not the party. I don’t feel like it. In case you didn’t notice, I don’t exactly have a million friends.”

Madison sat in the chair next to Lindsay. “What do you mean? You have friends.”

Lindsay ran the brush through her hair again. “Forget it.”

“You have friends, Lindsay. I’m your friend.”

Lindsay turned to Madison. “That’s nice of you, Madison. But I know we were just friends during the show. It’s okay.”

It was definitely NOT okay.

Madison thought about Aimee and Ivy pretending to get along during
The Wiz.
Was she doing the same thing with Lindsay?

“Lindsay, you have to come to the cast party. Come with us.”

“Us?”

“Me and Aimee and Fiona.”

“That’s okay.
Really.
You go.”

Madison stood up again. “You sure?”

Lindsay nodded. She pulled her hair back on both sides with her heart barrettes.

“You should really wear your hair down,” Madison said. “It looks better that way.”

Lindsay looked into the mirror. “Really?” She took the clips out.

“And you should really go to the party, too,” Madison added.

Lindsay stood up and started to pack her bag. She shook her head. “Maybe another time. I’m just not into it. Not tonight.”

“How are you getting home?” Madison asked.

“I’ll just walk.”

“By yourself?” Madison cried.

Lindsay laughed softly. “I always do.”

“Where are your parents?” Madison asked.

“They don’t come to these things,” Lindsay said simply. “But it’s okay.”

It was definitely NOT okay.

Lindsay started to walk away from the dressing tables. “See you later, Madison. Thanks again for everything.”

Madison waved her arms up. “Hey, wait! I still really think you should come to the party. Won’t you just come for a little while?”

“Maybe.” Lindsay waved and disappeared into the bathroom.

Madison got her own bag and went off to find Aimee, Fiona, and her ride to the cast party. She was disappointed that nothing she’d said seemed to help with Lindsay.

Aimee was standing out in front of the school building, spinning around. Her brother Roger was pulling the van up. Fiona stood nearby, chatting with Mr. Gibbons. He had Chocolate on a leash.

“Fantastic,” the teacher said, clapping Madison on the back. “What fine work, Madison. Just grand.”

Roger pulled up, and they all got into the van.

“Good-bye, Mr. Gibbons,” Aimee yelled out. “See you at the party!”

Madison sank into the backseat and stared out the window as they pulled away.
The Wiz
was over. She felt relief and sadness at the same time.

“Lindsay didn’t want to come?” Fiona asked.

Aimee nodded. “Yeah, where is she?”

Madison shrugged. “She went home.”

“Hey.” Aimee nudged her brother. “What reeks?”

Roger’s van smelled funny, like old socks. Fiona and Madison pinched their noses and Aimee fanned hers.

“I don’t smell anything,” Roger said. He opened the window and a rush of cool, fall wind blew in.

“That’s better, stinky,” Aimee said. Fiona and Madison were laughing in the backseat.

“You guys were dynamite onstage tonight,” Roger said, peering into his rearview mirror to see Madison and Fiona in the backseat. “And offstage, too. Miss Stage Manager.”

Madison felt herself blush a little. Just like Dad, Roger knew how to say the right things. If she had to have a runner-up crush on anyone in the whole world, it would be Roger Gillespie, with his stinky car and all.

When they arrived at the Daly house, Roger could barely get into the driveway. There were too many cars dropping off kids and parking at the side of the road. Everyone really
was
there.

When the three friends walked into Ivy’s front hallway, it was like walking into a magazine spread from
House Beautiful.
Mrs. Daly had little china dishes set out on each table with peanuts and other snacks. The dining room table was decorated with flowers and punch bowls. Everywhere she looked, Madison saw food, people, and more food. Mrs. Daly was floating from room to room, making sure the guests were eating. She had on a witch hat like the ones from
The Wiz.

“Hey, Madison!” Drew came over and said hello to the three girls. “There are these little pizzas inside, and everyone is hanging out in the den.”

Aimee answered for everyone. “Thanks for the info, Drew.”

Chet bounced over with Hart in tow.

Hart.

“Hey, Finnster!” he said. “Hey, Aim and Fiona.”

Madison couldn’t take her eyes off him. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, and he looked cuter than cute. As he walked toward the food, Madison started to follow, but then she heard a familiar voice. A voice she didn’t expect to hear.

Lindsay?

She turned to see Lindsay hanging up her coat in the front hall closet with Mr. Daly’s assistance. Her hair was down like it had been in the dressing room.

“Hey, look who’s here!” Aimee saw her, too.

“She looks different,” Fiona said. “What’s different?”

Madison smiled.
Everything
was different. Lindsay had taken Madison’s advice and turned up for the party.

As Madison rushed over, she noticed people staring at Lindsay. Wearing her hair down had made all the difference.

Lindsay looks
pretty,
Madison thought.

The house was filling up quicker than quick. Kids crammed into the different rooms, while a fleet of teachers made their way to the hors d’oeuvres table. Madison overheard Mr. Gibbons asking Mrs. Wing what she thought of cheese puffs and spinach dip. Mr. and Mrs. Montefiore had already taken a seat at the Daly piano and were playing a jazzy tune.

Aimee came over to Madison and Lindsay. “Let’s go scope out the action in the other room,” she said.

“Okeydokey,” Lindsay replied. She tugged on her black cowl-neck sweater.

They both followed Aimee out the door.

“Maybe the party won’t be so awful after all,” Madison said to Aimee, smiling.

C
HET WAS SHOWING EVERYONE
at the party how he could balance a spoon on the end of his nose. Aimee tried, too, but kept dropping it.

Drew and Egg were busy throwing peanuts into their mouths. Egg flicked one over toward Hart.

“No way, man—I’m allergic to peanuts!” Hart said.

Madison made a mental note. She’d have to add that information into her Hart file—NO PEANUTS.

“Come on, you guys,” Madison said. She wanted some punch.

“Did you hear about Mrs. Wing?” Fiona said.

“What?” Madison said. She couldn’t believe she didn’t know something about her favorite teacher.

“I heard that her husband is a spy,” Fiona said.

“Get OUT!” Aimee laughed.

“Seriously,” Fiona continued. “Or a detective. Anyway, he’s supposedly really cute.”

Madison knew Mrs. Wing’s husband would be cute.

“Didn’t they just get married or something?” Aimee asked.

Madison’s head spun. There were so many things she knew nothing about.

They all walked over to the drink table. Mrs. Daly had food and beverage stations set up all over her house.

Madison looked for Lindsay as Aimee poured her a drink. Lindsay was right there on a sofa, talking to a techie and another teacher, Mr. Lynch. He was the faculty advisor who helped set up the show’s light board.

“Excuse me.” Poison Ivy pushed Madison to the left to get a cup of pineapple punch. “Having a good time?” she asked, smirking.

Madison shrugged. “Sure,” she said.

“Really?” Ivy said, sipping her punch.

“Um … where’s the bathroom?”

“We have three,” Ivy shot back. “You can use the one down there next to the den.”

As Madison wandered out of the bathroom, she made her way into the Dalys’ den. She was attracted to all the books. Shelves had been lined with leather volumes, and an antique spoon collection hung framed on one wall. Silver frames gleamed like they’d been polished this morning.

Everything felt a little untouchable, kind of like Poison Ivy herself.

Madison saw a photograph of Ivy that must have been taken back when they were in second grade. The photo seemed so familiar, and it took Madison a moment to realize why.

She’d been there.

In the picture, Ivy was seated on a log and her head was thrown back, midlaugh. Madison remembered that
she
was the one who made Ivy crack up that day. She had been standing just outside the frame of the photograph when it had been taken. Back then, Ivy and Madison knew how to make each other crack up on command.

Madison remembered everything about that day, from cherry ice cream cones to sitting on the log in the photo, making frog noises.

“Hey!” Aimee burst into the den, talking a mile a minute. “Oh my God, Maddie, what are you doing in here? You have to come into the living room and see what Hart Jones is doing. He knows these magic tricks and it is way cool. Come on!”

Madison followed Aimee back into the bustle of the party. A bunch of kids and teachers had gathered around the coffee table. Hart was kneeling down.