TTYL (16 page)

mad maddie:

red-hot! our team is red-hot! our team is R-E-D! H-O-T! and once we start we can't be stopped! goooooooooo team!

SnowAngel:

maddie? um, what r u talking about?

zoegirl:

i think she's doing a cheer. you know, like a cheerleader would do.

mad maddie:

thank u SO MUCH for my surprise party!!!! U R AWESOME!!!!!

zoegirl:

you're so welcome! it was fun!!!

SnowAngel:

were u really and truly surprised?

mad maddie:

i was. it was perfect. and i was so glad that u were back among the living. i was really gonna have to hate u if u were a sourpuss on my big day.

SnowAngel:

thx, i guess. last night was great, but this morning i woke up missing rob again. i still am really sad.

mad maddie:

i know, i know

mad maddie:

but the pops is blaring the horn for me to get my fanny to the car. bday brunch, u know.

SnowAngel:

try to have fun. and have fun at work tonight, bday girl!!!

mad maddie:

i hope yr there, cuz i have big news. big big big.

zoegirl:

i'm here. spill!

mad maddie:

excellent. which do u wanna hear first: maddie and ian get down and dirty OR maddie scores one for the gipper?

zoegirl:

ooo, give me the down and dirty.

mad maddie:

let me first just say that i would have told u this earlier, like at the crack of dawn when i called our dear friend angela.

zoegirl:

the “crack of dawn” being what, around 10:30?

mad maddie:

but noooooo, you didn't answer my call, cuz u were off being holy with mr. h.

zoegirl:

i'm here now, so tell me!

mad maddie:

i dunno. u church types might find what i'm about to say offensive…

zoegirl:

maddie? i swear i'm going to flush your phone down the toilet if u don't tell me now. i'll reach
through space, grab your phone, and flush it down.

mad maddie:

hmm. i suppose i'll take pity on u, since i'm older and wiser and know how foolish u youngsters can be.

zoegirl:

TELL ME!

mad maddie:

well there we were, me and ian. we'd gotten off work at around 11, but instead of going anywhere, we decided to hang out in my car—doesn't that have a nice ring? hang out in my car?—and listen to music.

zoegirl:

grooving in the gremlin. nice.

mad maddie:

ian had some watered-down rum and coke left over from a party he'd gone to on friday, and before u get all freaky on me, NO, i didn't have any.

mad maddie:

well, maybe a sip.

zoegirl:

maddie! you JUST got your license, you cannot drink and drive!!!

mad maddie:

a sip, zoe. i barely got my lips wet. ian drank the rest of it, which wasn't that much, but it was enough to, like, loosen him up a little.

zoegirl:

and???

mad maddie:

and it was fun

mad maddie:

it was funny, actually, cuz even with the rum and coke, he was totally shy. he put his arm around me and shifted so that i was leaning against him, my back to his chest, but all he did was kiss the top of my head over and over.

zoegirl:

that's sweet!

mad maddie:

so we didn't really get down and dirty. we got… smudged. but it's a start, right?

zoegirl:

absolutely

mad maddie:

and u know what's really awesome? the fact that he goes to a different school.

zoegirl:

huh?

mad maddie:

i know, it's weird. but it's like i can be whoever i wanna be around him, cuz i don't know shit about his school and he doesn't know shit about mine. so none of that garbage gets in the way.

zoegirl:

what garbage? like jana, you mean?

mad maddie:

well, yeah, altho i don't mean just jana. and anywayz, she's not as bad as i thought. but ALL that stuff, all the cliques and hierarchies and in-crowds and out-crowds—i don't have to deal with it when i'm with ian.

zoegirl:

sounds nice

mad maddie:

it is

mad maddie:

and now r u ready for maddie scores one for the gipper?

zoegirl:

who the hell is “the gipper”?

mad maddie:

i have no idea. some football coach? but in this case it's you and angela.

zoegirl:

i'm the gipper? all right. how'd you score one for me?

mad maddie:

u AND angela, i said. yr both the gipper. cuz during brunch yesterday i bit the bullet and talked to my parents about letting us go to cumberland island.

zoegirl:

and…?

mad maddie:

i told them how it's only five hours away, and how we wouldn't do any driving once we got there cuz we'd be camping out on the island, which we'd have to take a ferry to get to.

mad maddie:

i told them about all the research i'd done, which made me sound extremely mature and industrious. i even printed up maps to show
them. AND i said we might get to see wild horses, which would be, like, an experience of a lifetime.

zoegirl:

wow. are there really wild horses?

mad maddie:

yeah, isn't that cool?

mad maddie:

so anywayz, i told the rents all of this, nodding very calmly and answering their questions, and when we were done talking, they looked at each other and said they'd think about it!!!

zoegirl:

that's awesome!

mad maddie:

now it's up to u and angela. u've got to get going with your parents!

zoegirl:

email me all of that information, the maps and stuff.

mad maddie:

tell them to at least consider it. don't let them give u an answer right away!

SnowAngel:

hey, mads, don't yell at me, ok?

mad maddie:

what r u talking about?

SnowAngel:

i called rob. i just wanted to hear his voice.

mad maddie:

angela!!!

SnowAngel:

but i hung up when he answered. i just didn't know what to say.

SnowAngel:

aren't u gonna respond?

mad maddie:

and say what? u called rob, which was bad. but u hung up before u actually talked to him, which was good, even tho it makes u kinda like a stalker.

SnowAngel:

except then i got worried that he'd see my name on his calls list, so i called right back.

mad maddie:

ANGELA!

SnowAngel:

i was all, “that was so weird! i just called u, but u never answered. is there something wrong with your phone?”

mad maddie:

u asked if there was something wrong with his phone?!!

SnowAngel:

there could have been! phones go screwy all the time.

SnowAngel:

u don't think he thought i was making it up, do u?

mad maddie:

why no, angela. why on earth would he think that?

SnowAngel:

anyway, i hoped… i dunno. i hoped that when he heard my voice, he'd remember all the fun we'd had and he'd want to get back together.

SnowAngel:

but there was just this really long silence, and then he said, “i'm confused. did u want something?”

SnowAngel:

so don't u have a response?

SnowAngel:

maddie!!!

SnowAngel:

MADDIE, WHERE DID YOU GO?

mad maddie:

i'm here, sorry. just watching an episode of “family guy”

SnowAngel:

while i pour out my heart to you???

mad maddie:

it's called multitasking, and all i can say is, rob's an asshole

SnowAngel:

i know, but i miss him anyway. it just hurts, maddie.

SnowAngel:

why do these things always happen to ME?

mad maddie:

that, dearest angela, is a very good question.