Sink or Swim (16 page)

As Madison climbed the stairs and walked into the tech lab, she spied Egg sitting at a desk alongside his other good friend, Drew Maxwell. Egg and Drew glanced over, but without saying a word, Madison took a seat as far away as she could. Luckily, she thought, Hart and Chet weren’t there.

The lab was a brightly lit, open space with yellow walls. Every computer had its own private “station,” with a divider that moved back and forth so kids could work alone or with partners. Mrs. Wing had decorated the classroom bulletin boards with colorful charts and a giant black-and-white poster of Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue. On one wall, she’d posted a list of lab regulations.

1. STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE RESPECT FOR ALL EQUIPMENT, TABLES, AND COUNTERS.
   
2. STUDENTS SHOULD NOT HAVE GUM, FOOD, OR LIQUIDS NEAR ANY TERMINAL.
   
3. STUDENTS SHOULD SAVE ALL WORK ON A FLASH DRIVE.
   

And on and on … Despite Mrs. Wing’s long list of more than twenty boring rules, Madison knew that this teacher was one of the coolest in all of seventh grade. In the weeks since school had begun, Madison had felt more comfortable in this class than in any other on her schedule. Mrs. Wing hardly ever raised her voice and she wore interesting jewelry and clothes. Madison always noticed those. Today Mrs. Wing had on an electric-blue scarf and gold bangles that jangled every time she waved her hands in the air.

It wasn’t only the teacher that made Madison love computer class—it was the lab itself. The room was filled with all
new
laptop computers. The year before Madison and her friends arrived, Far Hills Junior High had received a special grant allowing them to purchase equipment, printers, and scanners. They’d even hooked up a high-speed Internet connection and web TV.

Brrrrrrrrring.

As soon as the second bell rang, a kid in the back row named Lance raised his hand.

“We covered keyboarding skills and all that, Mrs. Wing. When do we get to play games?” Lance asked, pointing to his monitor. “Is there a controller?”

Everyone in the room laughed.

“Computer games? Get real!” Egg exclaimed. “We’re in
school.
In case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Now, Walter, there is no need for that,” Mrs. Wing interrupted. “The truth is, Lance, that we
are
going to be playing quite a few games here in class. They’re just a little different from games you’re used to playing. But before we start class, I want to call your attention to something else….”

She walked over to a large bulletin board near the classroom exit and pointed to a large sign. Above a photo of a diagrammed computer keyboard, the sign read
COMPUTER CONTEST! DESIGN YOUR OWN WEBPAGE! WIN GREAT PRIZES!

“Now, I realize this is very last minute,” Mrs. Wing said. “But I stumbled across the contest in the newspaper and I just had to tell you about it. I can already see that we have some very talented students who could do very well—even in a rush. I didn’t want you to miss this opportunity.”

The deadline was only two weeks away.

“Design a webpage by the end of September?” a kid in the front row said. “That’s like … totally impossible.”

Egg sat back in his chair and grinned. Madison knew exactly what he was thinking. It was not impossible. Not for him.

“I think some of you could do it!” Mrs. Wing cheered. She read the poster aloud. “‘Web-tastic Media Partners invites junior high school students to enter the seventh annual “I Can Do That!” Computer Contest. Create webpages for prizes! Open to pairs of students in seventh, eighth, and ninth grades.’”

The most exciting part of the contest was the prize list. Madison could read it from where she was sitting.

GRAND PRIZE: HIGH-TECH LAPTOP WITH BUILT-IN CAMERA, AND COLOR PRINTER!

FIRST PRIZE: $500, DOWNLOADABLE COMPUTER SOFTWARE, AND TECH ACCESSORIES!

SECOND PRIZE: $100 AND TECH ACCESSORIES!

THIRD PRIZE: $50 AND ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO
VIRTUAL UNIVERSE

“Is anyone interested?” Mrs. Wing asked. “It’s a great opportunity for some of you to show off your computer skills. I’d like to see that myself!”

Madison turned her chair around to catch Egg’s eye, but he wasn’t looking in her direction. Drew didn’t see her either, so she turned back to her desk, feet tapping impatiently. Class had only begun, but now Madison could hardly wait for it to be over. She had to speak to Egg—now. She had to get him to enter the contest with her.

Egg had been the first person to show Madison how to use a computer. He was the smarter-than-smart guy who went to computer camp every single summer—and bragged about everything new that he’d learned. With Egg on her side, Madison couldn’t lose—not even with such a tight deadline.

The moment the first bell rang for the next class, Madison leaped out of her seat and stopped Egg before he left the computer lab.

“Hey!” Madison shouted. “Wait up!”

“What for?” Egg groaned. “You were dissing me at the lockers this morning.”

Drew laughed.

“I was NOT dissing anyone,” Madison said, trying to sound convincing. She moved around the two boys to block their exit route. “I was just goofing around.”

“Look,” Egg continued. “I have to get to science class. Could you move?”

“That contest Mrs. Wing was talking about sure sounds like a lot of fun,” Madison said. “Don’t you think?”

“Yeah. So?” Egg said.

“Well, I thought I’d ask you to be my partner,” Madison said. “It makes sense, right? We’re friends. We always play computers together. We can—”

“Sorry. I already have a partner,” said Egg matter-of-factly.

“Oh,” Madison replied, surprised. She glanced over at Drew.

“Don’t look at me,” Drew said, shaking his head.

“I’m doing the contest with Chet,” Egg announced.

“But—” Madison started to say, but she cut herself off. Her insides were squirming.

“So what? It’s not like this contest is a big deal or anything,” Egg said. “Now, would you MOVE?”

“Yeah. No biggie,” Madison said. She stepped out of Egg’s path and let him pass.

“Chill out, Maddie,” Egg added, hurrying out of the lab. “You’ll find another partner.”

Madison sighed.

“Are you okay?” Drew whispered. “You look a little … weird.”

“I can’t believe he did that,” Madison said.

“Yeah, well …” Drew shrugged.

They stood there in silence for a few moments. Then Madison got an idea.

“Drew?” Madison asked. “I know I just asked Egg to be my partner and you were standing right here … and it’s probably not too cool to be asking you second and not first … but do
you
have a partner for the contest?”

“Me?” Drew cleared his throat. “Well … yeah, actually I do.”

“You do?” Madison gasped. She wanted to take back the question immediately.

“The thing is … we saw the contest posted up there yesterday,” Drew admitted. “Me, Egg, and Chet. And those guys paired up right away, so I went ahead and asked this guy from my English class if he wanted—”

“Whatever,” Madison said, picking up her orange bag. “I don’t care.”

“I’m really sorry, Maddie,” Drew said.

“Whatever,” Madison said again. His responses sounded like Egg’s. Boys were all the same: LAME. Madison slunk out of the lab. She wondered if Egg and Drew’s actions had given
her
bad karma for the contest?

She’d been rejected twice—and it wasn’t even lunch yet.

“Well, Egg is just being a wiener,” Aimee said when Madison spoke with her that night. Madison was sleeping over at Aimee’s house for the week while her mom was away on a business trip in Paris, France. She produced documentaries for her company, Budge Films, and was always busier than busy.

“A wiener?” Madison laughed out loud. It was a funny comment coming from someone whose entire family were vegetarians.

“Yeah, a wiener, not a winner. A real DOG!” Aimee added.

Madison was happy for the comic relief, but she needed more than Aimee’s cheering up to get through this. She needed
real
advice on what to do next. How could she enter the computer contest without Egg? Who would she find as a partner with only two weeks to go? And how could she possibly win?

Madison distracted herself from thinking too much by rummaging through Aimee’s closet. She needed to borrow an outfit for dinner, since her dad and his girlfriend, Stephanie, would be picking her up in an hour or so. Aimee lent Madison a peasant skirt (which looked great with Madison’s yellow top) and ylang-ylang perfume (which made Phinnie sneeze when he smelled it).

After Madison got dressed, she went in search of the best advice she could find. She had some time to kill before Dad’s arrival. Aimee was busy practicing some ballet moves in the basement, so with Mrs. Gillespie’s permission, Madison hooked up her laptop to go online upstairs. She hoped to find her keypal, Bigwheels, hiding out in a chat room on TweenBlurt.com.

Madison had met Bigwheels on the website during the summer, and they’d connected right away. Even though her family lived all the way across the country in Washington State, Bigwheels had a lot in common with Madison. They met in chat rooms regularly—and e-mailed even more often than that. Madison even knew her real name—Victoria. They were both in seventh grade now, and Bigwheels always had great advice.

Madison clicked on
NEW MAIL
and started to type.

From: MadFinn


To: Bigwheels


Subject: Need Your HELP!


Date: Wed 13 Sept 4:36
PM


What’s gnu? I have a few school dilemmas.


I was counting on my pal Egg to do this computer contest with me, but he bailed out. What do I say to him? I want to enter and win all this stuff, but I have no one to do it with. And not only that but I’m working on the school website as the elections coordinator, and I have way 2 much 2 do!!!


Mom is away again. I miss her sooo much. Do ur parents ever go anywhere? Mine are always super busy with work.


Send me some valuable advice like u always do, pleeez?


Yours till the water falls,


MadFinn


Before sending the e-mail, Madison marked it “priority” with a little red exclamation point. Everything was happening so fast—and Madison needed advice
faster
than fast.

After sending the e-mail, she opened a brand-new file.

The Contest


Rude Awakening:
Just when I think I can be a real winner, all my hopes byte the dust.


Why do I always over-think life? I can find another contest partner, can’t I? With my luck, I’ll probably end up with Lance the loser from the back row. Well, he’s not exactly a loser, but I don’t want to be part of his pair and that’s that. Ugh.


Madison hit
SAVE
and contemplated her contest fate. Phin pounced onto the edge of Aimee’s trundle bed where Madison was sitting.

“What’s happening, Phinnie?” Madison thought to herself, nuzzling his head. “It’ll all work out, won’t it?”

When Phin barked “Rowroooo!” on cue, Madison knew it would.

M
ADISON GAZED UP AT
the wipe-off board announcing Thursday’s school lunch menu.

Meatball Loaf

Vegetable Lasagna Deluxe

Chicken-Fried Chicken

Salad Bar

Peas and Carrots

Mashed Potatoes

Lime Jell-O

“What’s chicken-fried chicken?” Madison asked Fiona.

“I have
no
idea. Is chicken-fried chicken different from regular fried chicken?” Fiona replied.

“Forget that,” Aimee said. “Have you ever heard of meatball loaf?”

Fiona giggled. “I’m getting a salad.” She moved down the line with her cafeteria tray.

Gilda Z the Lunchroom Lady grinned at the girls as they passed by. “Try the lasagna, it’s delish,” she said, scooping some onto a plate.

Aimee grabbed the dish and kept moving. She hoped the vegetables would taste okay, even though what was on her plate looked more like rainbow mush. The three friends walked toward the back of the room where they’d scoped out “their” table since the start of school. It was bright orange—Madison’s favorite color in the world.

The lunchroom was packed with seventh graders, including Madison’s mortal enemy, “Poison” Ivy Daly. Since third grade, Madison had been shooting glares and swapping barbs with Ivy. Junior high had been even worse.

Ivy sat in the middle of the room at a yellow table with her drones, Rose and Joanie, a pair of girls who followed Ivy wherever she went. As they passed by, Aimee and Madison purposely looked away. But Fiona said a cheery hello.

Ivy smiled back. “Why don’t you sit with us, Fiona?”

Aimee grabbed Fiona’s elbow gently—and shot Ivy a look.

“Uh …” Fiona stammered, glancing over at Madison, who shook her head.

“What’s your problem?” Madison asked Ivy.