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Dan was right there with a handful of blankets. As soon as he saw Madison, he started to run in the other direction.

Madison groaned.
Really? He was running away from her?

“Maddie! What are you waiting for?” Dan yelled. “Come on!”

Dan led her to the back to meet one of the newest residents of the clinic that week: an ancient tortoise.

“Isn't he the coolest?” Dan said. “I couldn't wait to show you.”

“Why?”

“Remember when you went to that camp in Florida a couple summers ago and you watched sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach? Remember?”

“Of course.” Madison smiled. “But how did
you
remember that?”

“I remember stuff, especially the stuff you tell me,” Dan said. “We've missed you around here.”

“I know,” Madison said. “I'm supposed to start volunteering again, but not until the end of the month, remember?

“You're pretty good pals with Leyli, right?” Dan said.

“Oh, yeah,” Madison said. “Why?”

“She's really nice,” Dan said.

“Um …” Madison still wasn't sure why Dan was asking about Leyli. It had her a little worried. “She's nice, yeah.”

“I wanted to sit with her at lunch, but I thought that would have been kind of weird.”

“Weird?” Madison asked, thinking about that word again. “No, you should have lunch with her. I mean, I think she might like to sit with you at lunch, too.”

As soon as the words spilled out, Madison regretted it.

“All right,” Dan said. “Then I'll ask her to sit with me at lunch tomorrow.”

“No problem,” Madison mumbled. “Except that she's in Texas for a week or more. Gymnastics.”

“Oh, next week then,” Dan said. “Hey, here's the surprise I wanted to show you, other than the tortoise.” Dan slipped on a white lab coat. On the pocket was the silhouette of a dog and the embroidered name
Daniel
. “Dr. Wing got these for us.”

Madison grabbed a Twizzler from the oversized cup on one of the back desks and chomped down. “I miss this,” she said.

“I miss it, too,” Dan said. “Mom always talks about you. It's so annoying.”

Madison laughed. “Sorry, Dan. I know I'm missable.”

“Yeah,” Dan stammered a little. “Remember when I told you once that I sort of liked you?”

Madison bit her lip. “Um … yeah,” she said.

“Mom never forgot that, either. She reminds me all the time. She's so ridiculous. She loves you.”

“I'm glad somebody does,” Madison quipped.

Dan got a serious look on his face. “A
lot
of boys like you, Maddie. You know that.”

“Right,” Madison snorted. And then, without even thinking about what she was saying, Madison blurted out, “Well, you don't like me anymore.”

Dan smirked. “It's not that I don't like you. I just
try
not to.”

“What if one day I decided I liked you back?” Madison asked.

Dan shrugged. “What are you talking about? Don't you like me now?”

“No!” Madison said quickly. “I mean
like-
like …”

“What are you talking about?”

Madison felt her heart start to thump a little as she was saying all this out loud.

A wide-eyed Dan was definitely staring at her again, too. “This whole conversation is a little intense, Maddie. Don't you think?”

“Intense good?” Madison said.

“You think too much,” Dan said, laughing.

“It's not weird talking to me, is it?” Madison asked, grabbing another Twizzler.

“Sure it is,” Dan said, shuffling back and forth on his feet. “Right now. This. Definitely weird.”

“Oh.” Madison took a breath. “Sorry.”

“Maddie, I've liked you since I met you. I even like your lame jokes, which is saying a lot. Because they are
so
lame.”

Madison gasped. It was word for word what Ivy had said to her.

“KIIIIIIIDS!” Eileen howled, walking into the back of the clinic.

“Love the shirt,” Madison said. And a teeny little part of her wanted to say, “And I like your son, too, only I was too dumb to know it before now. And now he might like someone else.”

Phin scampered out of the back, his sharp little nails scratching the floor. He couldn't get to Madison fast enough. She scooped up her pug and covered his head in kisses. It was the best kind of reunion.

In that moment, in the lobby of the Far Hills Animal Clinic, holding Phin, standing near Dan, knowing Ivy was her friend again, everything felt sort of right with the world.

Madison hoped it would stay that way.

Mad Chat Words

 

Madison's Computer Tip

 

Social media is the BEST way to connect with my friends. After all, without email or chat rooms or online search engines, I'd be totally lost, right? I've been giving this a lot of thought lately because sometimes the e-world I love soooo much lets me down. Like when I go into chat rooms and weird invaders show up and start bothering my friends and me (thank goodness for site monitors!). Like when someone spilled one of my secrets online and then everyone found out about it before I realized what was happening. I used to think that writing in my files was great because there wasn't anything I couldn't or wouldn't share with the world. But now I know: Social media is a
sometimes
kind of thing. Whenever I go back online, I think twice about what I want to say—and what I want the world to know. Because you never know who'll trip over your secret posts or messages online. Be in control of yourself in social media. Don't post inappropriate photographs. Don't say negative things. And definitely don't ever think that social media is a real social life. Nothing can replace friends up close, not even the best websites or apps. Not ever.

Visit Madison online at the author's page:
www.lauradower.com
.

About the Author

 

Laura Dower has a lot in common with Madison Finn: They're both only children and they both love dogs, the color orange, and books! Laura has written more than ninety kids' books to date, including twenty-five in the series From the Files of Madison Finn. Her other books include the Palace Puppies series and
For Girls Only
, a guide to girl stuff. When she's not writing, Laura loves to garden, sing (loudly), and volunteer as a scout leader for her daughter and two sons. She and her family live in New York. Want to be keypals? Drop her a note at
www.lauradower.com
.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

“Propaganda.”
Merriam-Webster.com.
Merriam-Webster, 2011. 12 February 2016.

Copyright © 2016 by Laura Dower

Cover design by Connie Gabbert

978-1-4976-2013-1

Published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

www.openroadmedia.com