Give and Take (11 page)

“I have to check on someone. Nurse Ana should be by in a moment,” the aide said, stepping back into the hallway.

Madison picked up another magazine.

“Annette?” Mrs. Romano said. She came out of the doctor’s suite with her walker looking a little pale. “Annette, is that you?”

Madison twisted around to see the person Mrs. Romano was speaking to.

But there was no one there except Madison.

“Mrs. Romano?” Madison said. She took her by the arm. “I just came to visit. I brought you some cookies.”

She showed Mrs. Romano the blue-and-yellow package.

“Oh, thank you, Annette,” Mrs. Romano said. “I am so happy to see you again.”

Madison smiled. Why had Mrs. Romano called her by the wrong name
three times?

“I’m not Annette,” Madison said softly.

“Oh, dear, I know that,” Mrs. Romano said, nodding. “You look wonderful today. My scarf looks good on you.”

“Um …” Madison stammered. “Should we go back to your room now?”

Mr. Lynch appeared inside the doorway. “Maddie!” he cried. “I looked for you after orientation. I see you met up with Mrs. Romano. Hello, Eleanor.”

“Um … Mr. Lynch,” Madison whispered, pulling him over to the side. “Mrs. Romano thought I was someone else just now.”

Mrs. Romano didn’t hear. She was too busy opening up the cookies.

“Someone else?” Mr. Lynch whispered back. “Who?”

“Annette,” Madison said.

“Ahhh. That’s her daughter,” he said. “Unfortunately, Annette Romano hasn’t come to visit in a few years though, as you know. Sometimes Eleanor calls other people by her daughter’s name by mistake. It’s partly the Alzheimer’s and partly—well, she’s just a little sad at the holidays. She wishes her real daughter were here, I think.”

“Doesn’t she remember me?” Madison asked.

Mr. Lynch nodded. “Of course she does. Why don’t we walk to her room together?”

Madison nodded and they proceeded down the hall.

Halfway there, Mrs. Romano turned around. “Madison?” she said. “I can’t believe you remembered that gingersnaps are my favorites.”

Madison looked up and smiled. “Do you like them?” she asked, happy to hear her real name.

Mr. Lynch smiled, too. “Can I leave you two alone together now?” she asked and turned back down the hall.

Madison nodded again. “Thanks,” she said, waving.

Mrs. Romano huffed. “Leave us alone together? Well, of course you can leave us alone together! What do you think—I bite?”

She squeezed Madison’s shoulder as if they were in on the joke together.

Madison giggled.

“Have I ever told you the story about my snow globe?” Mrs. Romano asked.

Of course, Madison had heard it before.

“I think so,” Madison said. “But I would love to hear it again.”

“I’m so glad you’re my friend,” Mrs. Romano said as they walked inside. “I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday afternoon.”

Holidays


Friday turned out great. Mrs. Romano loved the cookies. She added another bird picture to her wall. We hung it up together.


On Saturday I went to another hockey game with everyone. Our team played the Rockets. We lost. Hart is still sick with the flu but he played anyway. Egg was acting like a moron, as usual. Drew was nice. He said he’d make a goal for me, whatever that means. He always says stuff like that. But he didn’t make any goals. Neither did Hart. Luckily Ivy wasn’t there drooling over him.


Aimee and Fiona sat together at the game, but they weren’t ignoring me. At first. Then we rode home together and even though I was sitting in between them, they laughed the whole time like they were sharing some private joke and I was not invited. What’s that about?


Rude Awakening:
If I’m in the middle, then why do I feel so left out?


On Friday Mom promised—well, half-promised—that she’d go to the Winter Jubilee concert with Dad, but now she didn’t mention it all weekend. I’m worried that she won’t—and I don’t want anyone to tell me to stop worrying. Why did I get my hopes up in the first place? I will probably be the only kid at the concert without both parents there. I know it.


Oh yeah—and I heard
on
the TV that the weather forecast now says NO SNOW AT ALL!


Excuse me, but what good are the holidays without snow?


“Madison, are you going to school today or what?” Mom asked. She rattled a few dishes as she unloaded the dishwasher.

Madison quickly hit
ESCAPE
, which turned on her screen saver. A photograph of a baby snow leopard filled the monitor screen.

“I lost track of time,” Madison explained as she brought her cereal dish over to the sink and shut down her laptop.

Mom tapped her foot. “This is getting to be a habit with you, my dear.” The clock said 7:50
A.M
.

Despite the “no snow” forecast, the wind was blustery outside. Mom offered to give Madison a quick ride to school so she wouldn’t have to walk.

“I can’t believe it’s the holiday season again,” Mom said as they pulled out of the driveway. “Where does the time go?”

“Mom, you’re not going to go to the Winter Jubilee concert with Dad, are you?” Madison asked.

“Whoa,” Mom said. “You’re got a lot on your mind this morning. Where did that question come from? I told you I would think about it.”

“For how long?” Madison asked. She stared out the car window at the other houses in the neighborhood. Everyone had put up decorations by now. Some homes had icicle lights hanging from the roofs while others had plain old pine wreaths hanging on the front doors. As they drove along, Madison counted two plastic reindeer, four golden angels, and fourteen big red bows.

“Madison, you have to be patient about the concert,” Mom mumbled. She pointed to the house on the corner. “Hey, did you see what the Emersons did with their front lawn this year?”

Madison had seen it while walking Phin that week. In the yard, they set up a Santa’s workshop, complete with elves, Santa and Mrs. Claus, and a giant sleigh covered in gifts that lit up.
Everything
lit up.

“They must have to pay a lot for electricity,” Madison said.

“I heard that Jake Emerson hires an electrician to come every year and do special hookups,” Mom said.

Madison wondered why someone would spend so much money on decorations. At their house, Mom had put up a tree, a wreath, and a few candles in the windows. That was the extent of their decorating. They had yet to take the ornaments down from the attic to decorate the tree.

“When are we doing the tree?” Madison asked.

“We’ll decorate on Christmas Eve,” Mom said. “Just like always.”

“But it won’t really be like always, Mom,” Madison said. “Not really.”

Madison gazed out the window silently as Mom pulled up to the school parking lot.

“Well, have a nice day,” Mom said, trying to sound chipper. “You’d better hustle. It’s after eight. We’ll talk more later, okay?”

Madison kissed Mom on the cheek and ran toward the front steps so she would make it on time. She caught up with Fiona and Chet on the way inside.

“Yo, Maddie!” Chet bellowed. “What’s up?”

“Upstairs, upset, uptown …” Madison said.

It was a bad joke, but Fiona giggled.

“Yeah, later for you,” Chet said with a pretend look of disgust. He chuckled and rushed ahead to his homeroom.

Fiona followed him, waving back at Madison. “See you at lunch,” she said.

Madison entered her homeroom to find Ivy parked next to the seat where Madison usually sat.

“Hey,” Ivy said, acting a lot friendlier than the last time they had spoken.

Madison slid into her seat. “Hey, yourself,” she said.

“How was The Estates last Friday?” Ivy asked. “I was so bummed that I missed seeing Mrs. Wood. I called her up and said I had the flu.”

“Oh yeah?” Madison said, not sure whether or not she should believe Ivy. “Are you feeling better now?”

Ivy coughed for effect. “A little bit. I’m still on antibiotics though.”

A voice blared over the loudspeaker. It was Miss Goode, the assistant principal. She always seemed to have trouble making announcements. Egg called her Ol’ Yeller.

“ATTENTION, ATTENTION, MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?”

A kid in the second row yelled back, “YES, YOU CAN!” and everyone burst out laughing. But Mr. Gibbons, Madison’s homeroom teacher, clapped his hands to quiet everyone down.

“ATTENTION! WOULD ALL MEMBERS OF SEVENTH GRADE PLEASE REPORT TO THE ASSEMBLY FOR A SPECIAL TALK FROM PRINCIPAL BERNARD. THANK YOU.”

The loudspeaker’s crackling static sent a shiver down Madison’s spine.

Mr. Gibbons clapped his hands together again. “Okay, everyone, let’s line up. You heard the announcement.”

Everyone filed into the hallway and then headed for the main assembly.

“Long time no see!” Fiona cried out when she spotted Madison. “Like five minutes ago.”

Aimee linked arms with Madison on the other side. “What is this assembly about?” she grumbled.

They sat in a row near Egg, Drew, and Hart. Madison found herself staring at Hart, who was sneezing into a tissue the entire time. Even sick he looked cute.

Principal Bernard took the stage wearing his usual, boring gray suit. He coughed into the microphone. Madison guessed that he had the flu, too.

“Students, I brought you here this morning to talk a little bit about this week’s seventh-grade festivities. As you know, this week is Winter Jubilee.”

Everyone burst into a round of applause, even the kids who were still half asleep.

“Yes, I think it’s a grand time, too,” Principal Bernard continued. “And I wanted to make some formal announcements about the activities and events that Far Hills Junior High has planned, since it’s our first holiday season together like this. First, I’d like to thank each and every one of you for helping to decorate the classrooms and hallways.”

The room applauded again.

“Settle down, settle down,” the principal said, holding his hands up. “I would also like to thank the committees dedicated to our goodwill Winter Jubilee events.”

Madison glanced over in Ivy’s direction and Ivy looked back.

“Now, as I understand it, many of you will be singing in a concert at The Estates tomorrow and at school again on Saturday afternoon. The faculty and administration are so pleased with your participation. Give yourselves a hand for that, boys and girls.”

Egg heaved his fist into the air. “Woo-woo!” he said. The room started clapping once more. Even Madison, Aimee, and Fiona were whooping.

“There is a distinct group of students, however,” Principal Bernard continued, “who deserve our special attention, and I would like to thank those volunteers who have taken extra time out of their busy schedules to meet with residents of The Estates a few times each week. Let’s all give the Adopt-a-Grandparent crew a warm thank-you. I’m talking about…”

He read through the list of names.

Madison wormed around in her seat as she usually did when someone called attention to her in a large room. She loved to be recognized, but in smaller ways than this. Madison liked it when her friends paid attention, when Mom and Dad noticed, or when Bigwheels wrote e-mails. Having her name read out to a million other seventh graders (well, 246 to be exact) wasn’t Madison’s idea of holiday fun.

She glanced over at Ivy again. This time, Ivy shrugged and smiled. The drones didn’t seem to notice.

Lucky for Madison’s self-consciousness, the assembly didn’t last much longer. And the rest of the day flew by just as quickly.

Fiona had to attend a party for the soccer team after school and Aimee had rehearsals for
The Nutcracker,
so Madison walked home alone. When she arrived home from school that afternoon, she raced to check her e-mailbox.

From: Bigwheels


To: MadFinn


Subject: Good Luck


Date: Mon 17 Dec 3:13 PM


Tomorrow is the big day, right? I wanted to send e-mail and wish you LUCK. I know you will sing great (even though you say u can’t sing LOL).


Tonight is the seventh night of Hanukkah. Did I tell you I was Jewish? I guessed ur not b/c u were talking about Christmas. Hey that’s one thing we don’t have in common but that’s ok. So far this week I have gotten the coolest Hanukkah gifts like this sweater I wanted and a leather journal (I know u would love that one) and earrings and other smaller stuff. Have you ever been to a menorah-lighting ceremony? We have this AWESOME menorah that my father made in some pottery class he took. Even though he’s a real estate agent, I think he wishes he made pottery instead. Anyway, it’s painted and pretty and I wish I could invite u over for a ceremony before Hanukkah ends. Y do u live so far?


I was glad to hear that ur Mom will probably go to the concert. U have to let me know what happens!!! Check out the greeting card link on bigfishbowl to read a funny card from me to you. It’s under the password 67672. I sent it for extra good luck.


BTW: Are u getting Hart a Christmas or Hanukkah present? Maybe he’ll give you something?


FC—Fingers crossed.


Write back soon.


Yours till the light bulbs,


Vicki aka Bigwheels