Hit the Beach (23 page)

After retrieving Madison’s suitcase, they walked back to Mom’s car arm in arm. There was another surprise waiting there: Phinnie. Mom had left him in the car with a dish of water and the window rolled down.

And that wasn’t the last surprise of the afternoon. Not by a long shot.

They got into the car and started the drive back toward home, but somewhere in Far Hills, Mom made a sharp left turn where she usually made a right. So, instead of going toward Blueberry Street, Mom drove over to the Far Hills pool.

“Are you kidding?” Madison said when she realized where they were going. “We’re going to the pool? Now?”

“Of course!” Aimee snickered. “Someone is waiting for you!”

Fiona smiled. “He was over at our house last night with Chet, and he said your name, like, ten times, Maddie, I swear.
Ten times
.”

Lindsay just smiled. “You are so lucky,” she said.

“I’m lucky?” Madison joked. “You’re the one who got to meet Prince Harry!”

Everyone chuckled. Even Phin wagged his tail.

Madison nuzzled her pug’s head. “I missed you so much,” she whispered in his ear. Naturally, Phin barked once in response. That meant “Me, too!”

“So what happened to that guy Will?” Fiona said with a grin.

Madison shot her a look back.

Mom pricked up her ears. “What guy Will?” she asked.

Madison rolled her eyes. “No one, Mom. Nothing.” She didn’t feel like explaining. Especially not five minutes before she was supposed to see
him
. Mentioning Will right now was like inviting bad karma onto her reunion with Hart.

Mom let it drop, although Madison was pretty sure she wouldn’t let it be forgotten. Sometime that night Madison would get that same question again, only Mom would want a real answer.

“By the way, Maddie, I found out that the dance studio is staying,” Aimee said.

Madison smiled. “That’s great news.”

“Oh, I almost forgot! I got you guys something in Cali,” Fiona said. “I left it at home, though. It’s a CD from one of my old friend’s bands. Isn’t that cool? Their band is called Three-Legged Dog, and they rock out.”

Madison laughed. “That’s a great name.”

Lindsay laughed, too. “Wait until you guys see what I got you in London,” she said. “Well, it’s what Dad got, actually. I got the same T-shirt for all of us, and it has the London Underground map on it. It looks really mod.”

“Wow,” Madison said. “I got you guys something, but they’re just shells.” She pulled the shells out of a pocket in her bag. “You think shells are lame? I didn’t get anyone else
anything
,” she said. “So there.”

Even Mom laughed at that one. She pulled in to the parking lot at the Far Hills pool. The lot looked filled to capacity.

“Do I look okay?” Madison asked her friends.

Everyone nodded at the same time. They were more eager for her to go see Hart than she was.

They jumped out of the car and walked four abreast, like superheroes, as they entered the pool area. Madison didn’t know it, but her friends had actually made plans for
everyone
to meet up there. So when they walked inside, Madison saw Egg, Drew, Dan, and Chet. Then she saw Hart, sitting up on one of the lifeguard seats. He was blowing his whistle.

And he looked cuter than cute. Madison’s heart thumped. She felt as though they were all watching her, which of course they were. It was like being on reality TV, only weirder.

“Hey, Finnster!” Hart yelled from his seat. He got someone to take over for him and came over. He would have run if running had been allowed, Madison guessed, but Hart was a stickler for pool rules.

Everyone hung around as Madison said her hellos to all the guys. She noticed that Lindsay and Dan were standing close together, while Fiona and Egg were not. Madison didn’t want to overthink it, but she wondered if something were going on there.

“Did you ever get any of my e-mails?” Hart asked.

Madison shrugged. “I just got one. Today. Something is really messed up with your account, I think.”

“Yeah,” Hart said.

Aimee stepped in and managed to distract everyone; they all ran over to the side of the pool to say hello to another one of the guys from school.

That left Hart and Madison alone—just for a minute. But it was time enough to say a real hello.

“So, hey …” Hart said a little awkwardly.

Madison stared at the whistle around his neck. He had on red lifeguard shorts. He was definitely tanned—
super
tanned.

“I got you something in Florida,” Madison said.

“You did?” Hart said.

“Yeah,” Madison said. She reached into the side pocket of her orange bag and pulled out the little turtle charm she’d purchased for him.

Hart took it in his hand and closed his fingers in a fist.

“I saw a whole bunch of turtles on the beach, laying eggs, like magic,” Madison said. “So I got the charm to catch some of the magic. Does that make any sense?”

“Wow, thanks,” he said. “That’s cool.”

“I have the same one, you know,” Madison said.

“The same turtle charm?”

Madison nodded.

Hart smiled. He reached out, took Madison’s hand with the hand that wasn’t holding the charm, and swung her arm up and back, pulling her closer to him.

Madison remembered the clouds she had seen outside the plane window. All at once, she felt as though she were up there in the sky again, riding on one of those fluffy clouds.

When Aimee, Lindsay, Fiona, and the rest of the guys walked back over a moment later, Hart was
still
holding Madison’s hand.

He wasn’t afraid to hold it—right there in front of everyone.

For once, Madison wasn’t afraid, either.

In fact, she never wanted to let go.

The Internet can be a real lifeline when you’re away from home. E-mails, messages, and blogs are all great ways to post thoughts and share ideas.
But sometimes there are thoughts and feelings that aren’t meant for public bulletin boards.
I want to make sure that all the things I post online are okay to be seen by
anybody
. Fiona couldn’t post anything about that guy Julio, because she wasn’t sure who might be reading her blog. Egg could have read it—and that would have been a
major
disaster. I think blogs are good for funny anecdotes and rambling thoughts. Messages are good for quick, immediate contact, and e-mails are good for more personal messages. Make sure you’re careful not only about
whom
you send or post information to online—but about
how
you send or post it. Once something is posted online, it’s there
forever
. There is no taking it back.

Visit Madison at the author’s website,
www.lauradower.com

Turn the page to continue reading from Laura Dower’s From the Files of Madison Finn series

Dear Parents,

Congratulations! Your son or daughter has successfully made it through the school year at Far Hills. Whether he or she will be moving up to the next class at Far Hills Junior High or graduating and moving on to high school, this is an exciting time for you to share in his or her achievements. We have planned several activities to mark the occasion.

In addition to the two moving-up ceremonies for students in classes seven and eight, we will be hosting a formal graduation for all ninth graders. A limited number of tickets are available for all of these events. Please contact the school office for further details. Take note of the following important dates:

Wednesday, June 21

• FHJH Annual Musical Revue (all classes), 7 p.m.
  

Thursday, June 22

• Moving-Up Ceremonies for 7th and 8th Grade, 10 a.m.
  
• Academic and Sports Awards (Both Classes), 11 a.m.
  
• School Buffet, 12 p.m.
  

Friday, June 23
(Note: only ninth graders need attend)

• Graduation Day Ceremony with Guest Speaker, 10 a.m.
  
• Barbecue and Games on South Lawn, 11:30 a.m.
  

Thank you for all of your support throughout the school year. We are proud to call each student—and you—a member of the Far Hills family. We wish you and yours a bright future.

Sincerely,

Principal Joe Bernard

Assistant Principal Bonnie Goode

“W
HAT ARE YOU
looking at?” Madison asked, giving Egg the evil eye.

She quickly placed her hands over the screen to block Egg’s view. Did he have to sit
that
close? What was his problem? Madison had opened a browser to check her e-mail on TweenBlurt.com. The last person she wanted to have see her private e-mail was Walter Diaz, otherwise known as Egg.

Making a face, Egg snapped back. “Mrs. Wing would fail you if she knew how much you do that.”

“Do
what?”
Madison asked, glancing toward the front of the technology lab, where Mrs. Wing was talking to another student.

“You know,” Egg said. “Pretend to do real work. I can see under your hand. That’s e-mail, isn’t it?”

“Hmph!” Madison grumbled.

Egg raised his eyebrows. “So it’s okay to be on your own website half the time, when you should be updating the school site,” he said. “The only time you do any real work in here is when
she
stands over your shoulder.”

Madison bit her lip. “Wh—wh—what?” she stammered. Of course, there was a bit of truth in what he said, but she wasn’t about to admit that.

Egg rolled his eyes. “Wh—wh—whatever,” he said, mimicking her. Laughing to himself, he turned back to his computer. He knew how to push all of Madison’s buttons.

Madison knew she took
some
liberties in the tech lab. Egg was right about that. But she only went online to do personal stuff when she had already finished her homework and class assignments.

Egg sat back, still still chuckling.

Was he just pulling her leg? Or was he really threatening to tattle to Mrs. Wing? No fair! Egg was the one who always goofed around and never turned in his computer homework on time. He was actually the smartest kid in the whole class, but he never acted like it.

Squinch!

Madison jumped up and lunged for Egg’s arm. Her fingers pinched his shoulder—hard.

“You stink,” she growled, sounding like her pug, Phineas T. Finn.

“Ouch!” Egg said, pushing his chair back. “Get away from me.”

Madison laughed to herself. She wasn’t trying to be mean, of course. This was just how she and Egg communicated sometimes. They were like brother and sister—with fangs and claws.

Mrs. Wing turned toward their desks. So Madison and Egg put a lid on the quarrel. They knew how to keep quiet when it mattered, and now was definitely one of those times.

When Mrs. Wing seemed satisfied that nothing funny was going on, she glanced away. Egg made a sourpuss face at Madison.

“Nice going, Maddie,” Egg said.

Then he moved his chair away from her desk and closer to the desk of his friend, Drew, on the other side of the computer terminal.

Madison huffed. Could Egg be any more annoying? She poked again at her own computer keys, pretending to get back to real work, but it was no use. After ten seconds, she gave up. She was way too distracted, and class was practically over anyway. Well, halfway over, at least.

The end of the school year was approaching fast, and it was getting harder and harder to focus on anything except the promise of beach days, fireworks, and (fingers crossed) summer crushes. Madison’s mind had gotten very good at wandering. These days, she had the sustained concentration of a gnat.

She wasn’t alone, of course. Ever since the beginning of June, there wasn’t a seventh, eighth, or ninth grader in the building who was able to concentrate on his or her schoolwork. How could anyone? The color of the sky had turned a hypnotic, clear blue. Teeny purple and yellow and orange flowers bloomed at the edges of the Far Hills fields.