Breaking Up Is Really, Really Hard to Do (16 page)

It was turning out to be a great day. Not only did Sean not hate her portrait—he loved it! And he'd invited her to a party, and her party would be cool now. And she'd won a blue ribbon. True love and artistic integrity at the same time. Who said you couldn't have both?

The fair traffic finally slowed down. Mads left her booth and headed for Stephen's installation. Everyone at the fair was buzzing about how cool it was. She was dying to see it, but she dreaded facing Stephen. She'd have to break it to him that he wouldn't be going on a date with Holly anytime soon, if ever.

The installation was big, almost the size of a real room, with three walls, a window, a bed, a closet, a rug—everything. Near the bed a TV monitor flashed videos. A sign next to the installation read T
HE
B
OY
M
AKES THE
M
AN BY
S
TEPHEN
C
OSTELLO
. And next to it was a blue ribbon—First Prize for Best in Show.

“Hey! I won a blue ribbon too!” Mads said.

“Congratulations,” Stephen said. “Let me give you the tour.” Mads stepped inside the “room” and looked around. It was crammed with stuff to look at, but Mads’ eye was drawn to a poster on the wall. It was a pinup style poster of a girl, a teen princess posing in a cute blue dress under the heading T
HE
D
REAM
G
IRL
. It almost looked like a movie ad, except the girl in the poster was no movie star—she was Mads!

“Aah!” Mads gasped. “That's me!”

“I know,” Stephen said. “You were my model for the ideal girl.”

“Me? I was your model?” Mads was stunned. What did this mean? Was it a joke? Was he teasing her? Did she look ridiculous, like Sean in his picture? Mads studied the poster carefully. She didn't think she looked ridiculous. She thought she looked kind of pretty. But then, that's what Sean thought about his picture, too. “You're making fun of me, right?”

“No,” Stephen said. “I wanted to show the perfect girl, the kind of girl boys dream about.”

“Okay, now I know you're kidding,” Mads said. “I'm not the perfect girl. Nobody dreams about me.”

“Are you sure?” Stephen asked.

“Well, there is this kid named Gilbert, but he's not normal.”

“Do you think I'm normal?” Stephen asked.

What was he trying to say? “Urn, I guess so,” she said, not sure what he wanted to hear. “I mean, you're not like most boys. But I don't think you're weird or abnormal or anything.”

“That's good to know.”

Mads felt confused. She was all ready to tell him that Holly didn't want to go out with him, but now she wondered if Holly was the one he liked after all.

“So how about that date?” Stephen asked. “Is it still on?”

“Not exactly,” Mads said. “Stephen, I have to tell you something. I hope you won't be too disappointed, but Holly—well, she's still hung up on Rob, and—”

“Holly?” Stephen said. “What does she have to do with it?”

“Isn't she the one you wanted to go out with?” Mads said. “I promised you I'd fix you up with her.”

“With Holly? I thought we were talking about you!”

“Me?” Mads was stunned. “But—Holly's picture—”

“It's beautiful,” Stephen said. “You did such a good job on it”

“I—?”

“I was admiring the picture, not the subject. I mean, of course Holly's a pretty girl. But what really got me was they way you saw her. Your artistic vision of her.”

“My artistic—” Mads’ head was reeling.

Stephen led Mads to one of his cardboard chairs and let her sit. It was surprisingly sturdy. “Mads,” he said. “You're the one I like. I thought you knew that.”

“No,” Mads said. “I thought you liked Holly: Most guys like Holly.”

“But I like you.”

This is too much,
Mads thought, first
I win a blue ribbon, then Sean says he'll bring all his friends to cool up my party, then he invites me to Alex's, and then Stephen calls me the ideal girl!. And he wants to go out with me!

“So will you go out with me? Tomorrow night, maybe?” Stephen asked.

Mads wanted to say yes. She pictured herself on a date with Stephen. She hadn't allowed herself to think of him that way before. But now…her—and Stephen. Stephen kissing her! She tilted her face toward him. She wished she could kiss him now.

But something stopped her. Sean. Sean had just asked her to Alex's party. Was it a date? What if Sean wanted to go out with her now? What should she do?

She tried to speak, but no words came out. Torn between two lovers! She'd never understood before why that would be a problem, but now she got it.

“You weren't expecting this, were you?” Stephen said. “I caught you off guard. It's okay, Mads, you don't have to answer me right now. Think about it.”

“Thanks, Stephen.” God, he was so nice. And he liked her! It was going to take a little time to sink in. She never thought a boy like Stephen—a serious, philosophical, artistic boy—would like her. Not in a million years. But he did.

And why not? she thought. She was an artist herself. A blue ribbon artist.

She liked him, too. She'd always liked him. But now all the crushy feelings she'd had for him began to bubble up to the surface. In her mind she repeated the same thrilling sentence,
Stephen likes me! Stephen likes me!

Still, Sean was there first. And she couldn't pass up a chance with Sean—not after all this time.

23

The Fabulous Party

To: hollygolitely

From: your daily horoscope

HERE IS TODAY'S HOROSCOPE: CAPRICORN: Don't go overboard. You want to attack your enemy with an atomic bomb when the flick of a finger is all you need to win. Chill!

W
elcome to my fabulous party!” Audrey had staked out the front door dressed in a pink terrycloth minidress and platform sandals, a big blue flower in her strawberry-blond hair.

“Hey there, Malibu Stacy,” Holly said. She was one of the first to arrive at Mads’ party, and she'd brought a tall girl with small, silver wire-rimmed glasses and lots of curly brown hair. Britta Fowler.

“Audrey, it's not your party!” Mads snapped. “Go out back and help Adam subdue Boris.” Boris, the Markowitzes’ boxer puppy, kept jumping all over the guests, leaving them covered with muddy paw prints. So far, luckily, only Aunt Georgia and M.C. had been hit, but Mads wasn't about to let Boris destroy her party, so she begged Adam to tie him up.

“I don't want to get all muddy!” Audrey whined.

“Just go away then,” Mads said.

“Mads, this is Britta,” Holly said, nodding at her friend.

Mads tried to put on a calm hostess smile, even though she was frazzled. “Nice to meet you, Britta. Come on out back—that's where the party is.”

Lina, Ramona, Walker, and Sebastiano were already there, sipping drinks out of plastic cups and making polite chitchat with the Overlord and Uncle Skip. It was terrible. Nobody ever had fun at a party where they had to talk to parents all night.

“Turn up the music,” Holly advised. “Then your parents can't hear what anyone's saying.”

“Brilliant,” Mads said. She hurried inside and cranked up the volume. When she returned to the backyard, she found Stephen waiting for her.

“Hi,” he said. “Funky house.” Mads’ house had been built out of cedar in the seventies, and most of the rooms had several different levels. It was hard to tell how many floors the house had.

“Thanks.” Mads wanted to take his hand, but she stopped herself. She felt awkward. Sean hadn't arrived yet. But when he did…well, she wasn't sure how much time she'd have to talk to Stephen. And he wasn't really friends with anyone else at the party. She led him to the picnic table where Holly, Britta, Lina, Ramona, and Sebastiano sat and listened to Adam holding forth on photosynthesis.

Autumn, Rebecca, and company arrived, and Mads spotted some juniors and seniors she didn't really know. Sean must have spread the word. Soon the backyard was crowded with kids munching on quesadillas, sipping virgin mojitos, and yammering over, the music.

Sean arrived with his usual entourage of Mo, Barton, Jen, and Alex. Audrey rushed over to him.

“You're Sean, right? I heard all about you.”

Mads raced to her side for damage control. “Hi, Sean. Audrey, M.C. wants you.”

“Who's the little chick?” Sean asked, nodding at Audrey. Audrey beamed.

“That's my sister,” Mads said. “She was just leaving.”

“I'm not going anywhere,” Audrey said. She looked Alex up and down. “What's your name?”

“The Boogie Man.” Alex made a monster face.

Audrey pouted. “Don't talk down to me just because I'm eleven.”

“Whoa. Sor-ry.”

“Audrey—” Mads said. “Why don't you all get something to drink?”

Mo, Alex, and Jen filed past her. Pulling up the rear was a tall, leggy blonde in jeans. Jane—the girl Sean had been hanging with for weeks now. It wasn't clear what their relationship was. But Sean grabbed her by the hand, pulled her toward him, and wrapped his arm around her.

Oh. Maybe Mads had misunderstood. Maybe Sean hadn't asked her to Alex's party as a date, but just as part of the group.

A wave of disappointment washed through her. For a few seconds she couldn't move. Sean didn't want her, not yet.

But as the disappointment melted away, she realized she never really believed it was a date. She'd only wished for it.

It's all right,
she told herself.
It's still a step in the right direction.
Being part of Sean's group was very cool, and Mads decided that for now, she'd take it.

She glanced across the yard at Stephen, who was talking to Sebastiano. Now she was free to go out with him, and who knew where it would lead? That helped blunt the disappointment, too.

“Jane, you know Madison, right?” Sean said. It was the first time he'd ever bothered to introduce Mads to Jane—or even call her Madison instead of “kid.” “She's the girl who drew my prize-winning portrait.”

“Hi,” Jane said. “Congratulations.
She's
the one who won the prize, you know,” she said to Sean. “Not you.”

“I'm her model,” Sean said. “I deserve a little credit, don't I?”

“You inspired me to new creative heights,” Mads said.

“See?” Sean said to Jane. She kissed him. Well. It wasn't the evening Mads was expecting. But now Sean knew her name. And he had come to her house. She was moving ever closer to her goal. In the meantime, she had someone else to keep her busy.

Stephen and Sebastiano were leaning against the lemon tree, laughing over something. Stephen caught her eye and watched her weave toward him through the crowd. The closer she got, the happier Mads felt. She had something good to tell him.

“Hi,” she said to Stephen and Sebastiano.

“Great party, Mads,” Sebastiano said. “Your little sister's a riot. Do you think she'll sing ‘Oops I Did It Again’ if I pay her?”

“She'll probably do it for free,” Mads said.

“Far out. But I've got gum, just in case she requires a bribe. Does she like Dentyne Ice?” Mads nodded and Sebastiano set out to find Audrey.

“I forgot to ask you,” Stephen said. “What did Sean say when he saw the portrait?”

“He said, ‘I've got a great body,’” Mads told him.

“Really?” Stephen laughed.

“Um, Stephen?” Mads said. She felt nervous all of a sudden. What if he'd changed his mind? Three hours had passed since he said he liked her. Anything could change in three hours.

“Stephen, would you like to go out tomorrow night?”

“Are you sure?” Stephen said. He looked at the knot of people gathered at the food table. Mads knew he was wondering about Sean.

“Yes, I'm sure,” Mads said. “I'm glad you like me, because I like you, too.”

“We'll celebrate our blue ribbons,” Stephen said. “And our likability.”

“I liked you from the beginning, even though you thought my drawing of a cat was a monkey,” Mads said.

“You promised to answer a question for me that day, remember?” Stephen said.

Mads remembered. His mother called him St. Stephen the Serious, and Stephen wanted to know if the name fit.

“I wouldn't call you St. Stephen,” she said. “You are serious, but you're funny, too. You're good, but I bet you're no saint.”

She found herself drawing closer to him without knowing how it happened. She wasn't aware of moving her feet. She was pulled as if by tractor beam.

“You're right,” he said. “I'm not a saint. And I'll prove it to you right now.”

He bent down to her beaming face and kissed her. Mads got lost in that kiss. She forgot that she was standing in her backyard in plain sight her parents, Aunt Georgia, Uncle Skip, and all her friends.

Stephen straightened up and looked at the crowd behind her. “Whoops. Is that your mother?”

Mads turned around and flushed bright red. M.C. stared at her, a carrot stick frozen halfway to her open mouth. Uncle Skip snapped his fingers in front of M.C.’s face.

“Is she going to be okay?” Stephen asked.

“She'll get over it,” Mads said.

Stephen took her hand. “Come on,” he said. “Introduce me to her. Mothers usually like me.”

Mads caught people glancing at them as they walked hand-in-hand through the party. Lina and Holly looked surprised but happy. Even Sean cast a look her way. He nodded at Stephen and said, “Way to go, dude.”

Lina thought she'd better rescue Ramona, who'd been cornered by Aunt Georgia. Georgia was grilling Ramona on her makeup techniques. She wasn't wearing any makeup herself, but now that she was approaching fifty she was thinking she should start. “I always liked that crazy-lady look for old ladies,” Georgia said.

“Me, too.” Ramona nodded vigorously. “Lots of white powder, till the face is like a blank sheet of paper. Then draw your features on anyway you want. Those pointy black eyebrows and lots of lip liner. Like a silent film star, or a clown. And blue hair—really blue hair.”

“Exactly,” Georgia said. “I figure, if I'm going to get old, I might as well make a statement.”

“Totally,” Ramona agreed. “Like those aging Hollywood actresses. They're the coolest.”

Lina stood listening in bewilderment. This was a conversation she could not contribute to.