Give and Take (16 page)

Now only one e-mail remained. As Madison clicked on it, she did a double take. Orange Crush? Whose screen name was
this!

From: Orange Crush


To: MadFinn


Subject:


Date: Sun 2 Feb 5:13 PM


I’ve got a crush on u.


Your Secret Admirer.


Madison stared at the screen, reading and rereading the message even though it was so short. Her heart thumped. Her mind raced. She scrolled up and down, looking for hidden clues.

Orange Crush? Was it like the soda? Or did whoever sent this know orange was Madison’s favorite color?

She shifted in her chair, kicking Phinnie in the side by mistake.

“Rowwrooooo!” the dog howled, jumping up to his paws.

Leaning over, Madison picked up Phin and cooed an apology in his ear. “Who sent this, Phinnie?” she asked.

Madison reached for the phone so she could call someone—anyone. She had a secret admirer? This was the kind of news a friend needed to share in person. But then she remembered that her friends were busier than busy.

What horrible timing, Madison thought.

She’d just have to wait to tell Aimee and Fiona about it tomorrow.

“D
O YOU THINK IT WAS
HIM?”
Madison asked, pointing to a supercute ninth grader wearing a leather jacket.

Aimee and Fiona cracked up. The three friends were standing in front of Aimee’s locker. Madison filled them in on the mysterious e-mail from Orange Crush early Monday morning. At lunchtime it was still a great mystery.

“The truth is—it
could
be that guy,” Fiona said.

“Well, the person has to be someone who knows you well enough to get your e-mail address,” Aimee said. “And they must know you like orange.”

Madison glanced down at her orange backpack. “Well, that doesn’t really narrow it down much. Anyone can see what my favorite color is.”

“I bet it’s someone you’re already friends with,” Fiona suggested.

“Yeah … like Egg!” Aimee said, giving a quick little twirl. Aimee took ballet, and she usually did dance moves when she got excited, which was pretty often.

“Egg? No
WAY
!” Madison laughed. Walter “Egg” Diaz had been one of Madison’s best friends since they were younger. He was more like a brother.

“Aimee, you don’t really think the secret e-mail is from Walter, do you?” Fiona said quickly. “I mean—Walter doesn’t like Madison, right? That was just a joke. You’re joking, right?”

“Chill out, Fiona,” Aimee said. “Of course I’m joking.”

“Egg doesn’t have a crush on
me,
Fiona,” Madison said. She smirked. She knew that Egg was crushing on Fiona and vice versa. Fiona liked Egg so much that she called him by his real name.

Fiona bowed her head a little. “Oh,” she said meekly.

Madison and Aimee exchanged looks and smiled.

“Besides,” Aimee said with a laugh. “A secret admirer e-mail isn’t really Egg’s style. He’s not really—the romantic type.”

“Hmm,” Fiona fiddled with one of her braids. “Maybe it was Chet.”

“Chet?” Madison shrieked. Chet was Fiona’s twin brother. “Oh, please!”

“Fiona!” Aimee yelled. “Chet is the only guy in this school who is
less
romantic than Egg!”

“I know, I know,” Fiona laughed.

Aimee shook her head. “Come on, we have to get serious. Now, think. Who are the prime suspects?”

The girls stared at one another.

“Hart Jones?” Aimee suggested.

Madison felt her heart stop. Literally stop. When it started pumping again, it was chugging at twice its normal rate. “H-H-Hart?” she stammered.

“It
could
be him,” Fiona said. “He has your e-mail address—right, Maddie?”

Madison let out a nervous giggle. “Yeah, along with practically everyone else in the seventh grade. Why would it be him? It could be Drew or Dan or Suresh, too.”

“Yeah, but didn’t Hart like you in second grade, or something?” Aimee asked.

Madison snorted. “I think he’s probably gotten over that by now.” She tried to sound like she didn’t care, but secretly she was wondering if Aimee could be right. Was Hart Orange Crush?

Brrrrring!

When the bell rang, the three friends started toward the cafeteria.

“Hey—Maddie! Aimee! Wait up!”

Madison turned and saw Egg jogging toward them, followed by his friends Drew Maxwell, Dan Ginsburg, Chet Waters, and Hart Jones.

Hart!

Madison wanted to hide.

“Hey, Finnster,” Hart said, raking his brown hair out of his eyes.

“Hi,” Madison said. It came out like a whisper. She looked away, unsure about what to do or say.

“You going to the cafeteria?” Egg asked. He was staring right at Fiona.

“Yeah, we’re being lured there by the smell,” Fiona said sarcastically.

Egg laughed.

“Mmmmm—mystery lasagna.” Chet made a retching noise.

“Suspiciously, lasagna is what they served us last Friday,” Dan pointed out. “Coincidence? Or ancient leftovers?”

Madison chuckled. She’d gotten to know Dan better this year because they both volunteered at the Far Hills Animal Clinic. Dan’s mom worked there as a nurse, and Dan was an animal lover, just like Madison.

“Indestructible, cardboard lasagna,” Aimee said.

“The same batch that’s been around all year!” Drew added.

Everyone cracked up.

“What’s so funny?” asked a voice behind Madison.

Madison turned around and came face-to-face with “Poison” Ivy Daly—her least favorite person in the seventh grade. Once upon a time (in third grade), Ivy and Madison had been good friends. But then Ivy transformed into Miss Obnoxious and started hanging out with her two drones, “Phony” Joanie Kenyon and Rose “Thorn” Snyder. When she was elected president of the seventh grade, tensions mounted even more.

Ivy stood there holding a stack of hot-pink flyers. She was wearing a fuzzy pink cardigan sweater that matched.

“I hope I’ll see you all at the Valentine’s Day dance next Friday,” Ivy said, passing a flyer to Hart first. “It’s going to be a lot of fun … and we’re raising money for a good cause.”

Madison grabbed a flyer.

Have fun and help fight heart disease at the

HEART TO HEART DANCE!

Who?
Everyone! All Far Hills Junior High students, grades 7-9

When?
8 P.M.–10 P.M. Friday, February 14

Why?
All proceeds to benefit the

International Heart Society

Where?
Far Hills Junior High Gymnasium

How much?
$5 single ticket in advance

$8 for two tickets in advance

$6 at the door, single tickets only

Buy your tickets early and save!

“We’re also having a carnation sale next week,” Ivy said.

“Carnations? For me?” Chet cracked.

“No, we’re having a competition to see who can sell the most. All proceeds from that are going to the Heart Society, too,” Ivy said.

Sell
the most? Madison thought. She rolled her eyes. She means who will
get
the most. And Ivy will be sure that the winner is herself.

Egg took a few more flyers from the pile.

“Ta-ta!” Ivy chirped. “I hope I’ll see you all there!” She gave Hart a flirtatious look and flounced off.

“Ta-ta!” Egg repeated mockingly when Ivy had walked away. He waved the pink pages in the air.

The group giggled.

“Here’s what I think,” Egg said, folding his flyers into a paper airplane. He held them up and the boys laughed.

“What are you doing that for?” Aimee squealed, prancing in place. “Don’t you think this dance looks like fun?”

“Are we supposed to buy carnations for all the girls or something?” Drew asked, looking squarely at Madison.

Chet cracked up. “Yeah, right.”

“Do we get dates for the dance?” Fiona asked.

Egg tossed his pink plane into the air. “I like doing
this
better,” he said, aiming a plane at Dan’s head.

“It says here that it’s eight dollars for two tickets in advance,” Madison said, looking down at her flyer again.

“I guess we all
DO
have to find dates!” Drew crowed. “I want to save the money!”

Hart laughed. “Well, I already know who I want to go with,” he said.

Everyone got quiet. Madison felt her cheeks get hot. Was Orange Crush about to reveal himself? Was his date pick … Madison? She held her breath.

“
I WANNA GO WITH EGG
!” Hart screeched, reaching over to give Egg a fake embrace.

The boys all laughed again. Madison sighed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Fiona give Egg a sly smile. He smiled back, awkwardly looking down at his shoes.

Madison wished Hart would smile at her, but he was still goofing around with the other guys.

The group started walking toward the cafeteria again, everyone talking excitedly about the dance and the carnation sale. Madison moved down the lunch line slowly. All Madison could think about was Hart. Will he ask her to the dance?

“I know you’re a
chip
off the old block, Maddie,” Dad joked later that night, “but maybe you’d better take it easy on the chips. You act like you haven’t eaten anything all day.”

Dad, Madison, and Stephanie were sitting in Tamales, waiting for their food to arrive. The waiter had brought out salsa and a basket of tortilla chips, and Madison was having trouble resisting.

“I kind of skipped lunch,” Madison said as she dipped another chip into the salsa. “It was lasagna day at school.”

“Oh, yuck,” Stephanie said. “Whenever they served lasagna at my school, it used to make the whole hallway smell disgusting.”

Madison laughed. “That happens at my school, too,” she said.

Stephanie grinned, tucking a strand of curly dark hair behind her ear. “It’s nice to know that some things haven’t changed since the Stone Age,” she said.

Dad put his arm around Stephanie and squeezed. “I’d hardly call a few years the Stone Age,” he said warmly.

Madison’s smile faltered, and she looked away from them. Even though she really liked Stephanie, sometimes she felt awkward when her dad and Stephanie acted all lovey-dovey.

Really
awkward.

“You look beautiful tonight,” Dad said, gazing at Stephanie.

Madison shoved another chip into her mouth. Why was her dad being so extra-gooey tonight? She glanced around the brightly colored restaurant. Cut paper decorations hung from the ceiling, and there was even a live mariachi band.

“I’m going to get the band to serenade us,” Dad said suddenly, grabbing Stephanie’s hand.

“No, Jeff—” Stephanie protested.

But it was too late. The band had seen Dad wave and was headed for their table.

Madison twitched in her seat.
Serenade?
She wasn’t sure she could deal with sitting through an entire song, watching Dad and his girlfriend stare at each other.

“Dad!” she blurted. “I think I’m sick.”

It was as though the words had sprung from her mouth by themselves. Madison put her hand to her forehead. She spit a chewed-up chip into her napkin and groaned a little.

“Are you okay?” Stephanie asked, giving Madison a concerned frown. “She looks a little pale, Jeff.”

Dad waved away the mariachi band.

“It’s my stomach,” Madison explained, clutching at her middle. “I think I ate too many chips. Wow, I feel really bad.”

It wasn’t a total lie, of course. Madison really was nauseated—but from watching Dad and Stephanie.

“The chips? Aha!” Dad said. “See?” He dropped Stephanie’s hand and reached for Madison. “Will you be okay?”

Madison mumbled, “I don’t think so.”

“Should we cancel dinner?” Dad asked.

Stephanie leaned over to Madison. “Do you want to go?” she asked.

Madison shrugged and covered her mouth.

“Why don’t we go back to my apartment,” Dad suggested. “You can lie down there awhile.” He motioned for the waiter and asked to have their food to go.

“Maybe I should just go back home instead to my own bed,” Madison said. “I feel really, really bad. I am so sorry.”

Stephanie put her hand on the back of Madison’s neck. “I’m sorry, too, sweetie. I was really looking forward to our dinner tonight.”

Madison felt a pang of guilt mixed in with the nausea. As they got up to leave, she said nothing more. The ride back home was quiet, too, except for a few moans and groans. Madison used those for effect.

When they pulled up in front of Mom’s house. Dad helped Madison out of the car.

“Feel better,” Stephanie called as Madison hurried up the front walk.

“Yeah, and no more chips for you,” Dad joked.

“Thanks,” Madison called back. “I’m sorry!”

She waved with a limp wrist and blew a kiss to her dad, who stood by the car, waiting to see that she got inside all right.

“Maddie?” Mom looked up from her book as Madison walked into the living room. “What are you doing home so early? Did you have dinner already?”

“Not exactly. I didn’t feel well,” Madison said.

Mom frowned and got up from her chair. She put her hand on Madison’s forehead. “You don’t feel hot. What are your symptoms?”

“My stomach was hurting,” Madison fibbed. “But it’s better now.”

Madison and Mom walked into the kitchen together. Madison grabbed a few cookies.

“Hey! What are those?” Mom asked. “Dinner?”

Madison stuffed one into her mouth and put the others back into the jar on the counter. “Oh. Maybe I’d better just go to bed.”

“Hmmmm. Be sure to wake me up if you feel sick in the middle of the night,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

Madison gave her a wry smile. “I don’t think I’ll need to, but thanks.” She didn’t feel like talking about Dad and Stephanie right now.

Mom understood. “I love you, honey bear,” she said, not forcing the discussion.

Madison gave her a kiss and trudged up the stairs. Phin followed right behind as usual. It was only 8:30 and Madison wasn’t tired at all. She closed her bedroom door so Mom wouldn’t discover that she wasn’t really sick (even though she probably already knew that). Then she logged on to her computer, watching as the cursor flashed yellow and the pages loaded. Phin looked up at her curiously for a moment in the half-darkness and then snuggled into a pillow.