Three's a Crowd (From the Files of Madison Finn, 16) (6 page)

“You’re
such
a good friend….” Madison said sarcastically.

“Fiona was right.” Egg said. “She said you were the sickest out of the three of you. And you look pretty sick. But then again, you always look sick. Ha!”

“You really know how to cheer me up, don’t you?” Madison said.

Egg snickered. “I’m just kidding. Lighten up.”

Madison leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms. The air outside was warm. She inhaled deeply.

“Okay. I have to go,” Egg said, taking a step backward.

Madison reached out as if she were going to grab him and give his arm a twist, but something caught her eye. She stopped.

The boy next door was there on the sidewalk. He was raking leaves.

Madison ducked back into her doorway. Egg looked over at the boy.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked. “Who’s that?”

“Some guy,” Madison said. “I don’t know.”

“Wait,” Egg said. “I do. He goes to Far Hills Junior High. I’ve seen him around the halls. His name is Joe or John or something. He plays hockey, I think. Drew knows him a little.”

Madison’s stomach lurched. The boy next door went to her school? She had never seen him before.

“You know him?” Madison asked.

“Wait, it’s Josh, I think,” Egg said, thinking out loud. “Yeah, Josh. That’s his name! He’s in ninth grade.”

Madison grinned. “Ninth grade? Really?” she asked.

“Why don’t you just ask him yourself?” Egg said, gesturing toward Josh. “He’s
your
neighbor.”

Madison folded her arms in front of her and stepped to one side. She had to be one hundred percent sure Josh could not see her stained sweatpants and bird’s-nest hairdo.

“What … do you
like
this Josh guy?” Egg teased.

Madison could feel herself blush deeply. “Like him? No, of course not. I was just asking a question. That doesn’t mean anything,” Madison said.

“What about Hart?” Egg asked.

“Hart?” Madison said, almost losing her balance. “What are you talking about?”

“I thought you dug Hart,” Egg said.

“Who told you that?” Madison asked, knowing instantly that of course it had been Fiona, who confided everything in her “boyfriend,” Egg.

Egg rolled his eyes. “Come on, Maddie,” he said dramatically.

“What else do you know?” Madison asked.

“Everything,” Egg cracked.

Madison bristled. “Well … does Hart know?” she asked.

“Know what?”

“Egg! Does Hart know … that I like him?”

“I think so. But so what? He doesn’t care,” Egg said.

“He doesn’t care?” Madison asked. Even though a part of her was moving on to a new crush, her heart sank when she heard
that.

“I don’t know what he thinks. We don’t really talk about it,” Egg said.

Madison tried to read Egg’s expression to see if he was making stuff up or not. She couldn’t tell.

“Maddie!” Gramma called out behind her. Madison jumped.

“I better get going,” Egg said, starting down the porch steps the moment Gramma appeared.

“Thanks a
lot
,” Madison said.

Egg waved quickly at Gramma and dashed off.

“You should be sleeping….” Gramma said, rubbing Madison’s shoulders.

Madison’s head bobbed. The shoulder rub felt good, especially because the bronchitis made her feel a little achy. “Okay, Gramma, I’ll go back to bed,” Madison said.

Instead of getting under the covers when she got upstairs, however, Madison opened the curtains at her window. She looked outside to see if Josh were still there raking.

He was.

The afternoon sunlight shone on Josh’s head as he moved around the yard. Now that she looked at him in the daylight, Madison saw that his hair was actually more brownish than red, but still, she liked the fact that his hair had orange highlights. Orange was her favorite color on the planet, after all.

“I wonder if he knows that I live next door?” Madison wondered aloud. She looked down at Phin. He was nuzzling her ankle. “Do you think a ninth grader would ever notice
me,
Phinnie? Do you think…?”

Blip-blip. Blip-blip.

Madison shot a look at her laptop. It was still on? She’d forgotten to turn it off when Egg arrived. Now it was beeping to tell Madison that she had an e-mail message.

Blip-blip. Blip-blip.

Madison sat on the edge of her bed. She hit a random key on the keyboard and the screen came into view. A small icon flashed in the corner of the screen:
NEW MAIL.

Madison opened her e-mailbox and selected the new message. She smiled when she saw the screen name.

From: Bigwheels


To: MadFinn


Subject: Don’t Be Bored


Date: Wed 24 Sept 3:11 PM


How r u feeling?


I know what u mean about being bored when ur sick. There’s nothing worse. N e way, during a VERY boring American History class I made up a list of 10 things 2 keep u from losing ur mind when ur sick. Ready?


(Sorry if it’s dumb)


Madison giggled. She heard an imaginary drum-roll in her head.

1. Turn on the tube and zone.

2. Eat chocolate. Lots of it.

3. Make something with glitter.

4. Turn up the radio.

5. Laugh at ur Dad’s bad jokes.

6. Read a book about a faraway place.

7. Put on ur snuggly old sweat shirt.

8. Think about Hart. :>)

9. Think about that other cute guy. :>)

10. Send e-mail to ur keypal ASAP.

11. Bonus one for Maddie: HUG PHINNIE!!!!


Yours till the temperature drops,


Vicki aka Bigwheels


“Excuse me?”

Gramma stood at the bedroom door with her hands on her hips.

“Madison Finn,” Gramma shouted. “You said you were coming up here to take your nap! And now I find you on the computer again? Goodness!”

Madison swallowed hard. “Yes, Gramma,” she said. “I left it on … and … then I got this new e-mail and …”

“Show me how that thing works,” Gramma said.

Madison was stunned. That wasn’t the response she’d expected.

“Show you what?” Madison replied. “But, Gramma, you know how it works. It’s like your computer at home.”

“Oh, no,” Gramma insisted. “My computer is a dinosaur that sits on my desk. Yours looks way too fancy for me. It’s orange, for goodness’ sake! Can you send e-mails from that thing?”

“Sure,” Madison said. “That’s what I’ve been doing the last two days, while I’ve been sick. That’s why I wasn’t exactly sleeping when you thought I was. Sorry.”

“I see,” Gramma said thoughtfully. “So could I send e-mails to my friends?”

Madison grinned. “Sure. Do you want to?”

Gramma grinned back. “Oh, my neighbor Mabel just got a computer and I promised her I’d write a note or two while I was away. She checks her e-mail every morning. Always forwarding me these joke e-mails and chain letters. It’s a good way to pass the time.”

“Gramma, you’re way more high-tech than I thought,” Madison said.

“Well, you helped me out with that,” Gramma said with a wink.

“So, let me show you how to send e-mail from my address,” Madison said, moving over on the bed to give Gramma room.

Gramma moved a little closer.

“I’m so glad to be here with you,” Gramma said softly, leaning in to kiss Madison on the forehead.

“Me, too,” Madison said. “Thanks for coming to Far Hills.”

She leaned back on her pillows and pressed a few keys. Before long, Madison was showing Gramma TweenBlurt.com, the FHJH website, and every other online place that mattered to her.

Sitting on the quilt with Gramma’s arm around her shoulders, Madison felt as though she must have been getting better, even though she still felt slightly feverish.

P
HIN HAD CRAWLED UNDER
the table. Even he sensed that something was wrong.

Madison stared straight down at the waffles on her breakfast plate. Thursday mornings at home were not usually this complicated.

“Mother, I’m not sure that you’re listening,” Mom said, leaning against the counter with a cup of hot coffee in one hand and a piece of dry toast in the other. “Or else I’m not explaining myself well enough to you.”

“No, you’ve explained perfectly. And I understand that you have work to do, but … but …” Gramma couldn’t finish her sentence.

“But what?” Mom said, taking a bite of toast.

“But … I wonder if you have your priorities in order,” Gramma finally said. She clapped her hands together. “That’s all.”

“That’s
all
?” Mom answered. “Mother, that is most definitely NOT all. However, I don’t think we should discuss this in front of Madison.”

“It’s okay, Mom, I’m not really listening,” Madison said.

Mom threw back her head. “No, honey bear, this doesn’t concern you….”

Gramma’s face soured. “It absolutely does concern her, Francine!” Gramma never called Mom by her full first name unless she was upset.

“You’re right,” Mom conceded. “But I don’t want to discuss it now. Okay?” Mom placed her empty coffee cup into the kitchen sink and washed her hands. “I’ll see you later, honey bear,” she said.

Gramma sat down with her bowl of pink grapefruit sprinkled with brown sugar and her cup of hot tea. She didn’t say anything more, not even when Mom disappeared into the next room.

“Gramma?” Madison asked after a brief silence.

“Maddie?” Gramma replied, taking a bite of fruit.

“Did you want to do something together today?” Madison asked. “Like play cards? Or maybe send more e-mails to your pals back in Chicago?”

“You still have a terrible cough. I think you should stay in bed,” Gramma said, wagging her finger in Madison’s face. “Besides, I don’t want to catch whatever it is you have, do I?”

“So? We can hang out in my room,” Madison said. “Mom’s going out for her meeting. We can hang out and I can stay in bed at the same time. And later this afternoon we can go to Dr. Pinkerton’s office.”

“I don’t know, Maddie,” Gramma said. “You should rest.”

“I’m not contagious anymore! “Madison insisted. “And I promise I won’t sneeze on you.”

Gramma sighed. “Okay. We’ll play cards. Let me clean up and do a load of wash first. I’ll be up in a few minutes.” She handed Madison a tablespoon of cough medicine.

Madison promptly swallowed the liquid and grabbed Phin. They headed upstairs to Mom’s bedroom. Madison threw herself across the unmade bed. She stretched out and watched Mom dress for her meeting.

“Mom, are you going to be back for dinner?” Madison asked.

“I know it’s bad timing, honey bear,” Mom said, shaking her head no. “But this documentary needs some serious work. We have a lot to do….”

“I understand,” Madison replied, sniffling.

“How’s your headache?” Mom asked. “I hope I don’t catch your bug.”

“It’s more like a full-body ache,” Madison said. “And it’s still here. I feel more awake now, but I have the chills a little.”

Madison buried her face in one of the down pillows. She waited for Mom to come over and feel her forehead again. She always did that compulsively when Madison was ill. Madison wished Mom would drop everything and hug her tightly. Hugs always took a little of the ache away. But Mom was busy putting on her earrings and wrapping a scarf around her neck.

“Isn’t that Gramma’s yellow scarf?” Madison asked when she glanced up from the pillow.

Mom nodded. “She lent it to me. Do you like it?”

“You look like Gramma,” Madison answered.

Mom smiled. “I do?”

“Yeah, Mom,” Madison said. “You look pretty.”

Madison waited for Mom to look over and blow a kiss, as she always had when Madison was younger. But there was no kiss. Mom raced into the bathroom instead.

“So, I won’t be back for dinner—and then I have this trip over the weekend—” Mom shouted. “But after that I’ll be back home, and we can spend some more time together. I promise!”

“Uh-huh,” Madison said.

Mom came out of the bathroom. Madison expected her to bypass the bed again, but this time Mom stopped in front of it and flung her body next to Madison’s so hard that the bed bounced like a trampoline.

“Move over, honey bear,” Mom said.

“Mom!” Madison cried. “What are you doing? You’ll mess up your hair and outfit. You’ll catch all my cooties, remember?”

“I don’t care,” Mom said.

Madison felt a warm sensation inside the center of her chest, as if Mom were finally giving her a hug from the inside out.

“I love you, Mom,” Madison said, sniffling.

“I love you, too,” Mom replied, giving Madison a kiss. She stroked Madison’s head.

Phin jumped onto the bed and started licking Madison’s neck. She squirmed away, giggling.

“Do you want to stay here under my covers?” Mom asked.

“Nah, I’ll go into my room,” Madison said. “But thanks.”

Just as Madison was about to leave Mom’s room, the portable phone rang.

“Aren’t you going to pick that up? I’m sure it’s for you,” Mom said. “I’m not expecting any calls.”

Madison grabbed the phone. It
was
for her. Fiona was on the line.

Fiona had called to let Madison know that she couldn’t work on the website project that day, because the family computer at the Waterses’ house had crashed. She also informed Madison that Aimee couldn’t do much work, either. Her fever spiked,
and
she was throwing up—a lot. Madison winced. She hoped she wouldn’t contract those symptoms.

“Maybe Lindsay can do some work on the page?” Fiona suggested.

Of course, Madison knew that Lindsay might have a conflict of interest. She had
another
important project she was working on: Operation Junior High Spy. Since Madison couldn’t get information firsthand, She had asked if Lindsay wouldn’t mind reporting back on gossip at school. The only trick was that Lindsay had to gather all of the information secretly. No one could know why she was asking questions—especially questions about a mysterious ninth grader named Josh.