Only the Lonely (16 page)

It sounded like a pig farm!

Mrs. Wing didn’t get mad, though. She just sort of snorted right back.

“Well, I can see we’ll be having a lot of fun in here, class. Just let’s make sure it’s not at someone
else’s
expense, okay?”

Madison saw Egg making puppy-dog eyes at the back of Mrs. Wing’s head when she said that. Turning away, Madison plugged in her personal flash drive and booted up her files.

Class Notes


Nothing at Far Hills Junior High is what I expected. I thought it would be way different than middle school. NOT. I figured there was no way the same people from Far Hills Elementary would be geeks or popular but that is just the way it is, like the same thing as last year but in a different building. Dad says I always overthink this kind of stuff but it’s just so hard to hold back a thought sometimes.


Mrs. Wing is sooo smart, so she probably will catch me right now writing personal stuff, and not school stuff but oh well. She’s all the way on the other side of the room.


I like the way her beads look like red jelly beans. I wear a ring on almost every single finger, but I don’t go for necklaces so much. Maybe I should?


Something about seventh grade was inspiring Madison. With a new laptop and the e-reader Dad got for her birthday, maybe she could become a techno-queen.

“Mrs. Wing’s so cool, right?” Egg nudged Madison and stared as Mrs. Wing flew around to the other side of the classroom.

Madison looked down at her desk. Egg was just
embarrassing
.

“Egg,” Madison whispered back. “Aren’t you bored? We know this stuff already.”

“Bored? Nope!” Egg replied, pie-eyed. “What do you want?
More
work?”

Madison sneered. “Don’t you want to learn something new?”

“Learn? Geesh, you sound like a mom,” Egg’s pal Drew butted in.

“Yeah,” Egg said, copying him. “You sound like
my
mom!”

Madison growled.

The two boys pretended to be really scared; then they laughed and high-fived each other.

“Well at least I don’t have a crush on someone who acts like my mom,” Madison blurted—a little too loudly.

“Shhhh!” Drew suddenly warned, yanking Egg’s fleece. “Incoming.”

Mrs. Wing had heard the ruckus. She was headed back toward their computer stations.

“Mr. Diaz. Miss Finn. Mr. Maxwell … Problem here?” Mrs. Wing asked.

Madison and Egg looked at their monitors and grunted at the same time in the same monotone. “No, Mrs. Wing. No problem.”

Then she looked over at Drew.

He tried not to react. But it’s hard to hold back a snort.

“Do I need to separate you three?” Mrs. Wing said, tapping her foot. Madison thought she would stay like that forever, huffing and puffing and looking disappointed, but in less than a minute she gave up. Mrs. Wing had to help Lance, who was lost in Basic again.

Madison glared at Drew and Egg. “Don’t get me in trouble, guys!”

“Maddie, you are a stress puppy,” Egg said. Drew nodded in agreement.

Madison gave them both another nasty look and they all went back to their computer screens.

Of course Madison was overly sensitive these days to begin with. She missed her parents. Both of them were gone for work this week.

Dad was out of town on business, all the way across the country. He was meeting with the design firm that had helped set up his Web site. He was launching a new business
again.
Madison couldn’t remember what exactly it was going to be.

Mom had left yesterday. She’d headed overseas on a business trip for Budge Films, a movie production company that made small nature documentaries. During the summer, Madison had been able to travel along with her mom on another journey—to South America—to film rare tree frogs. But there was no more traveling allowed together now, not during
school days.

Mom always said, “You have more important things to take care of during the school year, Maddie. Like getting your junior high diploma.”

So while Mom was meeting with lots of French people and eating plates of
pommes frites,
Madison stayed put in Far Hills. She and her dog, Phin, were camped out for the duration at Aimee’s house.

Staying at Aimee’s was a treat. Aimee Anne Gillespie wasn’t just Madison Francesca Finn’s best friend. Madison liked to think of her as a sister. They had known each other since birth.

“Um, Mrs. Wing? Could you help me out with this?” Egg was mooning in the teacher’s direction again. Madison wanted to gag. He may have acted all tough and smart, but in computer class Egg was
definitely
soft-boiled.

While the rest of the class continued working on their assignment, Madison tried to sneak online. The system connected, but she couldn’t get on to her favorite site, TweenBlurt.com.

No Access! See your Cybrarian!

On these classroom computers, there were built-in blocks preventing students from online access except at designated times. Madison knew Mrs. Wing had put up all the blocks. She knew how to keep everyone focused on the assignment and only the assignment—didn’t she?

This was going to be a long week.

Madison could feel the low dull ache that burns inside when you really,
really
miss someone.

And it wasn’t just Mom or Dad.

Madison missed her purple blow-up chair, her file cabinet, her miles of files, and all her other
stuff.
Madison missed the way her bare feet felt on Mom’s wood floors and the way the kitchen table rocked on one side when you leaned on it. She missed the way her pug Phinnie liked to curl up in front of the dishwasher during the dry cycle.

Right now, thinking about it too much, Madison missed everything about home. Or at least about the way home had used to be, when Mom and Dad were still together.

“Psssst!” Drew suddenly whispered over to Madison. “Are you having trouble getting online?”

Madison nodded. She was having
all
kinds of trouble. But she was glad to know she wasn’t the only one bored with the assignment.

“I know a secret back entrance,” he said, still whispering so Mrs. Wing couldn’t hear. “I can tell you the secret password that only the teachers are supposed to know.”

“Oh really? Then how do you—?”

Madison dropped her head down a little because Mrs. Wing was slowly making her way over to their desks.

Brrrrrrrrring.

The cybrarian code would have to be cracked later.

“And we are outta here!” Madison’s brain whirred as she zipped up her orange backpack.

“Uh, Madison Finn, could you hold on a moment?” Mrs. Wing held up her hand for Madison to wait around. Everyone else who was still in the room stopped and stared.

“Oooo, you’re in trouble now!” Egg whispered.

“Oh, shut up,” Madison grunted under her breath. She scratched her cheek. It was so hot. Everything was happening in slo-mo.

“Later for you, Maddie.” Egg was ready to walk out.

“Want us to hang outside?” Drew said to Madison. “I mean, we can wait here in the hall.”

Egg was getting impatient. “Come on, Drew-fus. Let’s make like a tree—”

“Don’t leave!” Madison buzzed. “What do you guys think she wants? Do you think she knows I was trying to get online? I mean, I know I shouldn’t have been working on my own disk in class, but do you guys think—”

Madison had never
ever
been asked to stay after class. And she had never ever
ever
been asked to do it in front of a whole bunch of kids either, let alone ones who didn’t know her. It was the worst moment of seventh grade so far. Madison was panicked.

Drew shrugged. “Maddie, it’s probably nothing.”

Egg looked over at Mrs. Wing. “I wish she was keeping
me
after class.”

Oh boy.

M
ADISON SLUMPED INTO A
blue chair near Mrs. Wing’s desk.

She felt blue, too.

“Madison, I noticed you seemed a little distracted in class,” Mrs. Wing began.

“Distracted?” Madison repeated with concern. She gazed over Mrs. Wing’s head so she wouldn’t have to look her in the eye. As usual, she expected the worst kind of news.

“Well, you seem bored,” she said, beads clacking again.

Madison frowned. “I do?”

“And I don’t like seeing that,” Mrs. Wing continued.

Madison sighed.

“Well, why would I? You are obviously good at computers. And I’m your teacher. I want to keep you challenged. Not bored.”

Madison tilted her head to the side. “You do?”

“Of course,” Mrs. Wing chuckled, which broke the tension a little. She sat on the edge of her old metal desk. “I want this to be your favorite class, of course. Isn’t that what all teachers are supposed to say?”

Madison smiled. “But this is my favorite class. And I am not just saying that. Really. Truly.”

“Madison, are you interested in doing something special with the Technology Lab this year? Usually I ask eighth graders to do this, but—”

“Something special?”

“Class elections are coming up and I’m the faculty advisor. I am responsible for getting the elections up and running on the Web. The school wants your classmates to vote online for the very first time this year. Far Hills just got a brand-new proxy server over the summer!”

“Proxy
wha?”
Madison asked.

“Server. It’s a computer that will support our own special network right here in the building. And what I need is someone to help me to maintain the site—download photos, results, and other new information on a regular basis. Then we will have everyone in seventh grade vote online.”

Madison didn’t know what to say.

Mrs. Wing just grinned. “So, Madison, what’s the verdict? Would you be interested in helping out?”

Madison nodded, but no words came out.

“I take that as a yes?” Mrs. Wing joked.

“Yes!” Madison said at last.

“As you know, we have less than two weeks until the election, so I will need you to stay after school to work on the site, answer e-mails, and other work. We can talk specifics tomorrow. Does that sound like something you might be able to do?”

Madison nodded with delight. She felt as if someone had just handed her a winning Lotto ticket. She really could be techno-queen.

“So.” Mrs. Wing held out her hand to shake. “Are we a team then?”

“Yessss!” Madison gushed again. After Mrs. Wing gave her a permission slip for Mom or Dad to sign, Madison grabbed her backpack and started for the door. “I can’t believe this, Mrs. Wing. I can’t. I swear I will be the best, best, best Web-site person ever.”

Mrs. Wing laughed. “I’m sure you will be. See you tomorrow.”

On her way out of the room, Madison’s mind turned to mush. She had never been asked to do something like this by a teacher before.

“What did she say?” Egg said, leaping out from a bank of lockers.

Madison jumped. “Oh, Egg you scared me—”

“We were waiting for you all this time,” Egg said. “Spill it.”

The first bell was ringing. Aimee and Fiona walked up to the lockers.

Fiona Waters was Madison’s newest best friend from over the summer. She and her family, including twin brother Chet, had moved to Far Hills from California. Even though she was a little bit spacey, Madison liked Fiona a lot.

“Hey, Maddie,” Fiona said, “what’s going on? Were you just in computer?”

“Yes, she was,” Egg chimed in. “And Mrs. Wing kept her after class. She was about to tell me.”

Madison scowled at Egg. “What is your problem?”

“Hey, Walter,” Fiona said coyly. Of course Egg was too busy bugging Madison to give Fiona a hello or even a smile.

“Did you say ‘Walter’?” Aimee asked, shaking her head. She laughed. “Fiona, his name is Egg. Nobody calls him Walter except his mother.”

Fiona looked a little embarrassed.

“Maddie, are you gonna tell me or
what?”
Egg asked again.

“Well, gimme a chance, all right?”

Madison was busting to tell Egg and everyone else what Mrs. Wing had said to her after class. But everyone else wouldn’t shut up.

“Hold it!” Aimee said. “Did something happen in class?”

“Did you get into trouble?” asked Drew.

“Just tell us!” Egg yelled.

“I am TRYING!” Madison yelled and then quickly lowered her voice. “I am trying to tell you but you guys keep talking. Okay. What happened is that Mrs. Wing says she wants
me
to help her run all of the online elections for Far Hills Junior High.”

“She
what?”
Egg wasn’t smiling.

“Hey, that’s pretty cool,” Drew said.

Madison continued, “She wants me to be Election Web Manager or something like that for the school Web site.”

“You?” Egg slapped his forehead.

“Yeah,
me.
What’s wrong with that?”

“What about
me?”
Egg said.

“You can’t have everything your way, Egg,” Aimee snapped.

“That is so awesome, Maddie!” Fiona chimed in.

“Yeah, way to go,” Drew added.

Aimee grinned. “Maddie, you will totally be the best person for the job.”