Sink or Swim (2 page)

“How was your afternoon?” Dad asked.

“Good. The same,” Madison said, her teeth chattering a little. “We sat in the sun. Talked. You know. Just like we did yesterday.”

“Uh-huh,” Dad said, nodding. “Any new ideas about what you want to do for the rest of the summer now that school testing is over?”

Madison gazed out of the car window and sighed.
What to do?
First her friends pestered her and now Dad wanted to know, too?

“I was thinking of joining the circus, Dad,” Madison said.

Dad made a droll face. “Very funny,” he said. “I’m laughing,
inside.
I just want you to keep yourself active. Is there a sport you can participate in? Some girl group?”

Madison leaned back into the seat and let him fire away with the questions. She had no answers—yet.

They drove on toward his apartment, where he’d prepared a spaghetti dinner for the two of them. Dad loved to cook, which made staying at his place all the better. He served the pasta with sauce onto plates, and the two of them sat down in front of the television. That was another bonus about being at Dad’s. Here Madison could watch TV and eat at the same time.

After dinner Dad disappeared into his study while Madison disappeared into her room to go online and check her e-mail. She hooked up her orange laptop so she had immediate access to all the same files and mailbox functions she normally had at home with Mom.

The first e-mail was a surprise. The sheets and curtains she’d ordered for Dad’s place were being shipped out via Priority Mail. She could redecorate over the weekend—something to do!

The second e-mail was from Bigwheels.

From: Bigwheels

To: MadFinn

Subject: Whassup??

Date: Tues 17 June 4:16 PM

:-V Is testing over yet? Ours is!! I am SO glad. We leave for horse camp soon. My mom is driving me to this mountain cabin with other kids and we all ride horses all day long. It’s supposed to be good for us. Mom always says that about everything. U should be here 2 since u like animals sooo much. We could horseback ride together. Have u ever been on a horse? Well, write back soon and tell me what ur doing for summer. I know it was between hanging at the lake and getting a “real” job. I bet I know what you’ll pick—ha ha.

Yours till the Popsicle sticks,

Bigwheels, aka Vicki

p.s. My cat Sparkles says hello. Well, actually she says meow. LOL.

Madison clicked
SAVE
. Then she opened the e-mail from Egg.

From: TheEggMan

To: MadFinn, BalletGrl, Wetwinz, Wetwins, W_Wonka7, Sk8ingboy, Dantheman

Subject: THE POOL

Date: Tues 17 June 5:01 PM

just saw the wether chanel & it is like 50% chance of rain that is so totally BAD. Ok. everyone who was coming 2 meet me & Drew & Hart @ the pool—if it rains we should now meet l8r @ the cafe instead. Ok? Call me if u can’t meet at 2. we have swim lessons in the morning rain or shine.

Bye, Egg

Madison clicked
DELETE
. Rain? What was he talking about? It wasn’t even cloudy.

After logging off the computer, Madison checked the clock. Mom would be making her nightly long-distance phone call to Madison—and she’d know all the right things to say at a moment like this. Madison got ready for bed and waited patiently for the telephone to ring.

Dad handed her the receiver. “Guess who?” he said, winking.

Outside the bedroom window, a yellow moon hung in the sky over Far Hills. When Madison heard Mom say, “I miss you, honey bear!” into the receiver, everything seemed all right with the world—even just for a split second.

It didn’t matter that Madison hadn’t yet decided on her summer plans. Something would come along soon—wouldn’t it?

P
HIN’S WIGGLING WOKE MADISON
up from a deep summer sleep. For some reason, whenever they slept over at Dad’s, Phin couldn’t be awake in the room unless Madison was awake, too. So he parked himself on top of her head and started to wiggle.

Madison opened her eyes and pushed him off. The air conditioner in her room hummed louder than loud, but Madison just lay in bed. Her talk with Mom the night before had been a disappointment—cut short when Mom’s film crew interrupted. Thus Madison had gotten no advice on summer plans. She hadn’t even gotten a good-bye “hug by phone.”

“Maddie!”

Dad marched into her room and opened the shades.

“Goodness! This place is a sty, Maddie!” Dad said.

He was right. Madison was living half out of her suitcase and duffel bag and half out of the permanent closet. She had books she hoped to read piled high in one corner and a mess of CDs piled near a small boom box.

Phin bounded off the bed when he heard Dad’s voice. Madison snuggled deeper under the covers.

“Mmmmm…go away, Dad,” she mumbled. “I’m asleep.”

“Ha-ha. Nice try,” Dad said. He stood at the foot of the bed, arms crossed. “Your friend Fiona called. Since it’s raining, everyone’s meeting over at the cyber café. Do you need a ride, or can you walk?”

“It’s raining?”

Madison looked out the window. Egg’s prediction had come true. The Weather Channel was right. Big, fat raindrops plinked against the glass. There would be no pool today.

“I’ll walk to the café,” Madison said, knowing it would frizz her hair. But she liked that. Most people hated what humidity did to hair. Not Madison. She liked the additional volume a few degrees—and a little moisture—could add to her hair.

Madison crawled out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen, where she poured herself a bowl of Toasty-Os with dried cranberries instead of plain old raisins. Dad usually had extraordinary kitchen ingredients. Dad’s girlfriend, Stephanie, was seated at the kitchen counter, sipping coffee and eating his homemade almond biscotti. She had stopped off at Dad’s after an early-morning doctor’s appointment.

“Maddie!” Stephanie said when Madison walked into the room. “How are you?”

Madison made a face and leaned over to scratch Phin’s back. She still had trouble getting used to the idea that Dad’s girlfriend appeared unannounced in the apartment. It had only been a little over a year since the big D, divorce. Did Stephanie always have to drop by?

“I’m okay. Tired. Good morning, Steph,” Madison said aloud in a monotone.

“So what’s your big plan for the summer?” Stephanie asked, chomping on her biscotti.

What’s your plan for the summer? That question
again
! Madison groaned and chewed extra loudly on her cereal.

“We don’t have a plan yet for the summer, Steph,” Dad said, walking into the kitchen at that exact moment. “But we’re finding one this week.”

“I could find a plan today if you would both just quit pestering me!” Madison said, her voice sounding an awful lot like Oscar the Grouch. She dumped her breakfast bowl into the sink and scrambled out of the kitchen to pick out clothes. If everyone was meeting at the café, Madison would be seeing Hart and the other boys. She needed an outfit that would say “cute friend with possibilities” loud and clear.

Madison rushed back into the bedroom and threw open the closet.

Moments later, after flinging T-shirts and shorts far and wide, Madison realized that Stephanie was standing in the doorway. Madison knew what Stephanie was doing. Whenever Mom traveled on business, Stephanie liked to act all buddy-buddy. Like she was some kind of robo-Mom replacement Madison never,
ever
requested.

But as annoying as Stephanie could be, Madison had to admit that Stephanie did give great advice—especially about fashion. And she always acted super-nice. And she always took Madison’s side….

“That shirt looks very cute,” Stephanie commented when Madison pulled on a little baby tee with a camouflage print. “And I’d wear your hair up, since it’s raining.”

“You think so?” Madison said. She turned around to Stephanie and sighed. “Hey, I’m sorry for being such a—”

“Don’t even think about it. I’m not a morning person, either,” Stephanie said with a wink. She and her coffee cup disappeared back into the apartment.

Madison decided to go with Stephanie’s choice and wear the army shirt with a pair of dark denim shorts she’d purchased at a thrift shop. She laced her high-top sneakers and combed her hair into pigtails.

“Hey, Maddie,” Dad said. “Come into the living room for a second. I want to show you something online.”

Dad had powered up his high-tech laptop so he could show Madison a Flash Plug-in that he’d installed. Dad was working on a short film for a website that had hired him as a consultant. He’d been doing all kinds of different jobs related to the Internet, including starting up his own web business.

Madison liked watching Dad work at the computer. It inspired her and made her want to learn everything about creating websites.

After watching Dad for a while, Madison glanced at the bottom corner of the computer screen. “Oh no! Is that the right time?” she asked aloud.

Dad nodded. “Yes, it is. Why? Do you have to go?” He looked disappointed.

Madison leaped up and grabbed her bag. “I’m supposed to meet everyone ten minutes ago!”

“It’s pouring rain outside, young lady,” Dad cautioned.

“I know, I know, I’ll be fine,” Madison said, trying to reassure him.

Dad handed her an umbrella at the door. “You’re absolutely sure you’re okay walking to the café in this weather?” he asked. “I can give you a lift.”

Madison giggled. She gave Dad a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re absolutely sure you’re okay watching Phinnie?” she said.

“Aren’t you the comedian?” Dad said. “Hey—don’t forget to call me later. And you need to be back by five o’clock, okay? Stephanie’s cooking dinner tonight. I want to spend some time with you! We want to talk to you about your summer plans. You need to make some!”

“Okay, okay!” Madison nodded, walking out quickly.

The streets were wet, but the air smelled warm and sticky like summer. Madison hurried along, umbrella overhead. Staying in downtown Far Hills was so much fun, she thought as she crossed a busy street. She was right here in the middle of everything.

Since it was raining, the cyber café and bookstore was packed with senior citizens, moms, dads, babies, and high-school kids. Aimee jumped out from behind the register the moment she saw Madison enter the store.

“You’re here!” Aimee squealed, dashing over to the door.

Mr. Gillespie let out a loud, “Shhh!” He didn’t want Aimee or her friends disturbing other customers.

“Hey,” Madison said meekly. She shoved her umbrella into a stand by the store’s front door and skipped over to a table in the back. Fiona was sitting there reading a copy of
Teen Scene
with a picture of pop star Nikki on the cover.

“What’s up?” Fiona asked when she saw Madison.

“I have to get back to the front to help Dad, but you guys wait here. I get a break in ten minutes,” Aimee said.

Madison watched Aimee go back to the front of the store. “Are you the only one here?” Madison asked Fiona.

Fiona shrugged. “No,” she said, pointing into the “cyber” part of the store. “My brother’s here, and so is Egg.” She smiled. “And the other guys, too.”

Fiona’s twin brother, Chet, was seated around a computer monitor with Egg, Hart, and Drew Maxwell, all friends from school. They were laughing at something on the screen. Madison’s eye caught Hart’s, and he nudged the other guys. They started to walk over.

“Hey, Maddie!” Egg called out, slapping her on the back the way he always did. Sometimes Madison was sure that Egg forgot she was a girl. He treated her like one of the guys half the time.

“Hey, Finnster,” Hart said, sitting down.

Madison sat between him and Drew. Egg and Chet took seats on the other side of the table next to Fiona.

“This stinks.” Egg groaned. “We had swim lessons in the rain this morning, but I wanted it to be sunny. I need to get a tan. I need to keep my glow,” he complained.

Madison snickered. “Yeah, getting a tan is a good reason to be a lifeguard.”

“At least I’m doing something for the summer,” Egg teased.

Madison pursed her lips like she was about to say something nasty in response, but she said nothing.

“How’s the house painting going?” Hart asked Chet.

“Dad is bugging me because it’s a Victorian, so it needs all these different colors. At least he’s paying me to do it,” Chet said. “Until I go to camp.”

“That’s so cool,” Hart said.

“You never said your dad was paying you,” Egg wailed.

Chet nodded. “At least I’m not living in the library like my sister.”

Fiona punched him. “Shut up!” she said. “What’s wrong with the book-a-thon? Reading is good for you. And the prize is two hundred dollars. That’s like getting paid. Besides, you don’t even read books!”

“I do so read books!” Chet yelled. He broke up. “I read the manual for my Robo-Bug computer game.”

All the guys laughed.

“So all three of you started lifeguarding?” Madison spontaneously asked Egg, Drew, and Hart at the same time. “How is it?”

Drew answered first. “Yeah, we’re learning how to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and all that,” he explained. “The American Red Cross teaches it. We practice on rubber people. Started today. It’s funny.”

“Nah. It’s dumb,” Egg said.

“It saves lives,” Hart said seriously.

Egg made a face. “Are you kidding me?”

Madison wondered what it would be like to practice mouth-to-mouth on a real person—like Hart. Was it like real kissing? She turned away so she wouldn’t stare at Hart’s lips.