Double Dare (From the Files of Madison Finn, 14) (5 page)

“Maddie?” Mom said as she walked out of her office. The minute she saw Madison, her eyes lit up with a bright smile and she held out her arms. “Hey, honey bear. I missed you!”

Madison rushed into them and gave Mom an enormous squeeze. “I’m so glad you’re home!” she said.

“Me, too,” Mom said. “Paris was nice, but I missed you so much. Did you have fun at Aimee’s and with Dad?”

“Tons,” Madison said. “Mrs. Gillespie was super nice, as always. And Dad helped me with the webpage Fiona and I are building.”

“Oh, Fiona’s your partner?” Mom said. “See? I’m glad that worked out.” Madison had filled her in on all the details the night before.

“Yeah,” Madison agreed. “And guess what? Next weekend is Fiona’s birthday, and Mrs. Waters asked me and Aimee to help her plan the party.”

“I know!” Mom said. “Fiona’s mom just called. Have you and Aimee made up the guest list yet? She wanted to know. The invitations need to go out as soon as possible.”

“We started,” Madison said. “We’re going to finish working on it this weekend.”

“What ideas do you have for the invitations?” Mom asked. “I bet you two could do some really neat things on the computer—you could scan in photos of the twins, or maybe cut some pictures out of magazines and make a collage. That’s your specialty.”

Madison’s eyes got wide. “I have an even better idea!” she said. “We’ll send an e-vite! We can make a virtual collage!”

Mom smiled. “Now,
that’s
a great idea.”

“I just wish we could figure out who to ask,” Madison said. “Aimee wants to keep it small—just us, Drew, and Egg. But I think we should invite a few more people.”

“Just remember that it’s a party for Fiona and Chet—not for you and Aimee. You should be inviting
their
friends, not just yours.”

Madison sighed. “You’re right, Mom,” she said. “I’ll talk to Aimee about it.”

Mom kissed the top of Madison’s head and disappeared back into her office. She came out with a take-out menu from Little China.

“I would love to order in tonight,” Mom said. “Is that okay with you?”

Madison smiled. “Cold noodles with sesame sauce, please,” she said. They tasted just like peanut butter, one of Madison’s favorite treats.

“Chinese food it is!” Mom said, heading to the phone to call in the order.

Madison sat herself down at the table and picked up a pen. She scribbled around the edges of the Chinese menu.

English paper on Harper Lee?

Webpage contest?

Party invitations to ________?

Word by word, her doodles turned into a to-doodle list.

Madison scratched her head.

The weekend hadn’t even begun and already she was busier than busy.

: Maddie?


: YRU up so early?


: early dance class. U?


: thinking about Fiona’s party. Mrs. Waters needs the guest list ASAP


: OK—you, me, Fiona


: Chet, Egg, Drew who else?


Madison leaned back in her chair and stared at the cursor as it blinked on her computer screen. She was glad that Aimee had logged onto TweenBlurt.com so early on a Saturday. Hopefully, Fiona wasn’t up and surfing the net yet.

: no clue. Sarah mileikis?


: X-S


: girl in my ballet class. I know F would like her


: hmm—this is F’s birthday party, tho. SB for HER friends


: true. OK. yesterday U said Lindsay Frost. NE1 else?


Biting her lip, Madison looked down at the list she had scribbled on her notebook the night before. On it were the names of a few of the people she knew Fiona and Chet were friendly with.

: Dan, Hart


Madison hoped that Hart’s name looked casual there, right next to Dan’s. She held her breath as she waited for Aimee’s reply.

: OK


Madison let out the breath and smiled. She glanced at the other names on her list.

: Suresh, Ben Buckley


: yes, no


: Y not Ben?


: he’s ok looking but WAY 2 obnoxious! NE way, now we have too many boys. How about Beth?


: Dunfey? Does she really talk to Fiona?


: Hmm. Does she really talk at all?


: OK she’s a no. Daisy?


: good 1


Madison’s hands paused over the keyboard. She typed in the one person’s name she
really
wasn’t sure about.

: Ivy?


: 1-)


: I’m serious


: NEVER!


: Fiona is sort of friends with her, and Chet too


: So that means we have to suffer?


: this is for them, not us


: Ugh. Y do U always have to DTRT?


: So she’s on the list then?


: Fine


: What about Joan and Rose?


: THE DRONES? Do we have a choice? But if they act like snobs, YOYO


Madison laughed, relieved that she and Aimee had agreed on the guest list so quickly. She had expected more disagreements from her BFF. As Madison started to type in another question for Aimee, her computer bleeped.

Insta-Message.

: RU there?


Madison nearly toppled out of her chair. Fiona was online? Madison had to get out of the chat room with Aimee right away! If Fiona joined, the surprise party would be ruined.

: GTG! Fiona’s online!


: TTYL! *poof*


Madison breathed a sigh of relief, then replied to Fiona’s message.

: hey Fiona im here


: RU coming over? When?


: ASAP. found some cool new graphics for our page.


: great. The computer is ready & waiting. CUL8R!


Phin lifted his head sleepily as Madison slipped her feet into a pair of comfortable black suede clogs.

“Go back to your nap, Phinnie,” Madison whispered, as she shoved her notebook into her orange book bag. She ran a quick hand over his fur and walked out the door.

“Where are you headed?” Mom asked as Madison walked into the kitchen.

“Over to Fiona’s,” Madison said swiping an apple from the bowl on the table. “I’ll be home by three.”

“Okay,” Mom said absently. She sipped her coffee and looked back at her paper. It always took Mom a long time to wake up on weekends.

Madison walked the one block to Fiona’s house quickly, her mind consumed by the webpage and party planning.

The minute she rang Fiona’s doorbell, Madison heard footsteps running down the stairs. Fiona pulled open the door, breathless.

“Maddie!” Fiona said as she pulled Madison inside. “I’m so glad you’re here! Mom and Dad are out playing tennis, and Chet is over at Egg’s. We’ve got the whole house to ourselves!”

“Wow!” Madison said, relieved that she wouldn’t have to see Chet. It was going to be hard enough to keep the party secret from Fiona, without having to worry about her brother, too.

“The computer is in here,” Fiona said as she led the way through the first floor of her immaculate house toward her Dad’s study. Madison was always amazed at how neat everything was at Fiona’s place. Madison’s mom always said that their own house looked “lived in,” which was a nice way of saying that she, Madison, and Phinnie weren’t exactly the world’s greatest housekeepers.

Madison had written down the names of a few more free graphics sites in her small wire-bound notebook. She pulled the notebook out of her backpack and put it on the desk while Fiona booted up the computer.

Madison bent over and reached into her bag for a pen.

“What’s this?” Fiona asked.

Madison’s heart stopped. She lifted her head to see what Fiona was looking at. The notebook was open to the page with the list of people to invite to Fiona and Chet’s party.

Fiona read the list aloud. “Chet, Egg, Daisy …” She looked up at Madison. “What is this? A list of our competition for the webpage contest?”

Madison gasped for breath. “Uh, yeah,” she lied. “I was trying to think of anyone who might have a better shot at winning the contest than we do. How did you guess?”

“I think you can scratch Hart Jones’s name off the list,” Fiona replied. “I don’t even think he’s entered the contest.”

“Good point,” Madison said. She leaned over and scratched his name off the list. Fiona wasn’t even suspicious?

“Okay, work time!” Fiona turned back to the computer. “We’ll size up the competition later.”

Madison laughed to herself. Fiona really didn’t have a clue! She watched as Fiona typed in a web address of a graphics site. Its home page appeared.

“Out of the chair,” Chet said, barging into the room. “Egg and I need the computer.”

“What are YOU doing here?” Fiona barked. Then she turned to Egg and changed her tone completely. “Hello, Walter,” she said sweetly.

“Hi,” Egg said to the room.

“Out of the chair,” Chet repeated, shaking the back of the chair Fiona was sitting in. “You’ve had your turn. Move it.”

“We just started!” Fiona protested. “Besides, I thought that you were going to work at Egg’s place.”

“My mom needed the computer,” Egg explained.

“Our connection is faster, anyway,” Chet said.

Fiona glared at her brother. “Connect this!” she said, holding up her fist.

Chet grabbed her forearm and wrestled her out of the chair. Egg and Madison stood back.

“Chet!” Fiona squealed. “STOP IT!”

“It’s not like you guys are doing anything useful,” Chet went on. “No one is going to want to read your History of Hair Clips webpage.”

Madison stepped in. “We are
not
doing a page on the history of hair clips,” she said.

“What
are
you doing, Maddie?” Egg asked. It was the first words he’d said directly to her. Was he teasing or just being annoying? Madison couldn’t tell from the half-smile on his face.

“Uh—” Madison started to respond. She looked at Fiona, who shook her head. “Our webpage is none of your business, Egg,” Madison said.

“Sor-
ry,
” Egg huffed. “Can’t you take a joke?”

“You’re the JOKE,” Madison said.

Chet let out a loud laugh, but Madison felt a pang of guilt. She sounded so harsh. Where had those words come from?

“Nice ’tude, Maddie,” Egg said.

“Well, what are
you
guys doing?” Madison asked, trying to act nicer.

“Like I’m going to tell you,” Egg said.

“They’re probably making a program that shows you how to pick out nail polish colors,” Chet joked.

“We wouldn’t want to steal
your
idea,” Fiona said dryly.

Chet glared at her. “Come on, Egg,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“That’s the best idea you’ve had all day!” Fiona shouted as her brother and Egg walked out of the room. She ran behind them to shut the door.

“Way to go, Fiona!” Madison cheered. “You sure told him.”

“Was I too harsh?” Fiona asked.

Madison chuckled. “I’m sure Chet will get over it.”

“Chet? Who cares about Chet?” Fiona said. “I’m talking about
Walter.
Was I too rude? What does he think of me now?”

“Walter?” Madison said. “Fiona, you need to chill. Egg doesn’t care—”

“Really?” Fiona asked. “Maddie, do you think there’s a chance that Walter might like me?”

Madison raised her eyebrows. “Um … maybe if you stop calling him Walter.”

Fiona stuck out her tongue and they both started to giggle.

“Do you really feel like working on the webpage anymore?” Fiona asked.

“Not really,” Madison said.

“Me, neither.” Fiona stood up. “Let’s go up to my room and read some magazines.” She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled into the hall, “CHET! You can have the computer now! CHE-E-E-E-T!”

Madison held back a laugh.

“What’s so funny now?” Fiona asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Madison said. “It’s just that—maybe life isn’t so bad without brothers and sisters. I know I couldn’t deal with a Chet in my house.”

“Right, Maddie! Rub it in,” Fiona said, joking around. She yelled out for her brother again, louder this time.

Madison covered her mouth to keep from laughing, again.

“Hi, Mom!” Madison said as she raced into her house later that afternoon.

“Madison, you’re late,” Mom said. “And you—”

“I know, Mom, I’m sorry,” Madison said, zipping up the stairs. “But I lost track of time at Fiona’s, and now I have to call Aimee right away!” She grabbed the cordless phone and took it upstairs.

Madison shrugged off her backpack and punched in Aimee’s number.

“Hello, may I please speak to Aimee?” Madison asked as soon as she heard a voice at the other end of the line.

“Yo! I’m on the other line.” It was Aimee’s brother, Dean. “Is this Madison? I’ll have Aimee call you when I’m done.”

The phone clicked off.

Madison sighed with frustration. Dean was a notorious phone hog—she knew he wouldn’t be off for hours. Besides, it was unlikely that he’d even give Aimee the message. Madison had to find another way to contact her friend.

Quickly, she booted up the computer and went to her e-mail box. There were three messages waiting.

FROM	SUBJECT
Bigwheels	Re: Fw: Need Your HELP!
Boop-Dee-Doop	Mega-Mambo-Sale
JeffFinn	Surf City