Double Dare (From the Files of Madison Finn, 14) (14 page)

Madison closed the file and went into TweenBlurt.com, hoping that Bigwheels would be logged on. But she was nowhere to be found.

From: MadFinn


To: Bigwheels


Subject: LTNW!


Date: Sun 1 Oct 10:36
AM


Hey! Haven’t had an e-msg from you in a while. How’s school? Life? Everything? Do u go in TweenBlurt chat rooms n e more?


The webpage and Fiona’s surprise party worked out great. Whew!


And remember Hart? When he saw the birthday gift I gave Fiona, he said it was cool … and then he told me that I was a good bowler, too. What does
that
mean? Is that one for the Random Compliment Dept., or what? (Especially because, hel-lo, my bowling is lame-o). But that’s another story, LOL.


Write back because I MISS U!!!


Yours till the gutter balls,


MadFinn


BTW, a big, fat THANK YOU for your help with the webpage!! My teacher loved it! Your homework links were the best ones.


“Honey bear?”

Mom’s voice behind her made Madison jump.

“Mom!” she cried. “I hate it when you sneak up on me like that!” Madison was still sleepy.

Mom grinned and shook her head. “I’ve been calling you for the last five minutes,” Mom said. “It looks like you were just too lost in cyberspace to hear me.”

“Sorry,” Madison said, yawning again.

“Your dad is on the phone,” Mom said. “Pick up, okay?”

Madison dove for the cordless and flopped onto her bed. “Thanks, Mom!” She clicked the talk button. “Dad?”

“Hi, Maddie,” Dad said.

“Where are you?” Madison asked breathlessly. “When are you coming home?” There was so much she wanted to say—including,
I’m sorry,
for the other night at Bombay Palace.

“I’m at home,” Dad said. “Actually, I was wondering if I could come over. I have an idea about something we can do together, just the two of us.”

“What is it?” Madison was practically squealing. “Oh, come over, Dad. Come over right away. What’s your idea?”

“I was thinking we could go back and see the puppies again.”

Madison grinned. “The puppies! Oh, yes!”

“I’ll come by in twenty minutes,” Dad said. “Okay?”

“I love you, Dad,” she said.

“I love you more,” Dad said.

Madison jumped into a pair of jeans and pulled on a thin sweater. The temperature had dropped ten degrees from the day before. “Mom!” she called, hurrying into Mom’s office, where Mom was flipping through some notes on a yellow legal pad. “I’m going to hang out with Dad today, okay?”

“Of course, honey bear,” Mom said. “I’ll be working, anyway.”

“Great!” Madison headed downstairs and dashed into the kitchen for some juice and toast. She tossed a dog chew toy at Phinnie, since he was following her around. As she was rinsing her plate in the sink, the doorbell rang.

“Bye, Mom!” Madison cried. “Bye, Phinnie,” she added, giving him a smooch on the top of his head.

“Have fun!” Mom yelled back.

Madison ran to the door and pulled it open.

“Hi, sweetie,” Dad said. Phin barked and wiggled at Dad’s feet. “Hey to you, too, Phinnie. Sorry I’m taking Maddie away for the afternoon.”

“Rowrooo!” Phin howled.

“Oh, Phin,” Madison said, giving him a pat. “We’re just going to see some puppies—that’s all. Don’t be jealous. No puppy compares to you. I’ll be back soon.”

Phin started to chase his tail as Madison and Dad closed the door. Madison looked back twice on the walk down to the car and saw Phin perched in the window, watching them.

“I guess little Phin is a bit jealous of the puppies, huh? Maybe we should bring him a little treat, so he knows he’s still number one.”

Madison smiled. That was just like Dad. Even though he didn’t live with them anymore, he hadn’t forgotten about the important stuff. He still worried about feelings—even Phin’s.

On the way to the clinic, Madison edged over in the seat, closer to Dad. “Listen,” she said, “there’s something I need to tell you, Dad.”

Dad gripped the steering wheel and slowed the car down a little.

“There’s something I need to tell you, too, Maddie,” he said.

Madison took a deep breath. Should she say what she had to say—or let Dad speak?

“Okay, you first,” Madison said.

Dad cleared his throat and stared straight ahead while he spoke. He had to keep his eyes on the road.

“Sometimes it’s hard for a parent to realize that their child is growing up,” Dad said slowly. “It’s just that I remember what you were like when you were a little girl. I took care of you—did everything for you. And sometimes I forget that you don’t need me to solve all of your problems for you anymore. You’re growing up, Maddie. And since the divorce, I just—”

Dad pulled the car over. They sat there in silence for a moment.

“Maddie, I’m sorry that I pressured you about Egg the other night. I know that’s why you got upset with me. I also know you’ll work out your problems with him on your own. You don’t need my help.”

Madison’s vision blurred, and she had to blink hard to clear the tears from her eyes. “Oh, Dad.” She leaned over and gave him a huge hug. Her throat was tight, but she knew that she had to go on. “I do need your help … even if I sometimes act like I don’t. I am so sorry, too.”

Dad’s sad smile brightened. “Well, how about this? The next time you want advice on something, you can just ask, and I’ll help. Then we won’t get our signals crossed.”

“It’s a deal,” Madison said. She felt as though a huge weight had just been lifted off her chest. Even though she’d always known that Dad wouldn’t be mad at her forever, it was nice to know that he wasn’t mad at her right now.

“So,” Dad said as he started the car again and eased it into the street. “How did the webpage go? Did you win the contest?”

“The results aren’t in yet,” Madison said. “Although Mrs. Wing says they turn around the judging over the weekend. It’s sponsored by this big company called Web-tastic Media Partners, and they have a team of judges, so … who knows?”

She stared out the window as the trees and sidewalk whizzed by.

“I don’t think we really have a chance of winning, Dad. You know that, right?” Madison said.

“Maddie!” Dad said. “I think you should just wait and see. How did you like building the page? Do you think you’re interested in a career with computers? It can be a lot of fun,” he added, waggling his eyebrows. “
Tech
it from me.”

Madison laughed at the bad pun. “Oh, Dad,” she said. “Yeah, I had fun, but I don’t know if I want that to be my job. I think I might like to be a vet.”

Madison thought again about Fleet’s puppies. She was excited to see how much they’d grown.

Dad nodded. “Being a veterinarian is a lot of work,” he said.

“Yeah,” Madison agreed as she looked out the windshield at the ribbon of road unwinding before her. “I know.”

“But I know you can do it, Maddie,” Dad went on. “You can do whatever you put your mind to, Madison Finn.”

Madison put her hand gently on her father’s arm. He looked over and smiled.

“Thanks, Dad,” she said warmly. She didn’t say “Thanks for everything,” but that was what she meant.

Dad patted her hand. “You’re welcome,” he said. And Madison knew by the sound of his voice that he meant
for everything,
too.

“H
EY, MADDIE!” FIONA WAS
standing with Aimee at her locker, waving frantically.

“Hey, guys!” Madison called. “Listen, I’ve got to ask Mrs. Wing something, I’ll be back in a minute, okay?”

“We’ll be here,” Aimee promised, pulling her heavy Spanish book from her locker. “Until the first bell rings, anyway.”

Madison scurried to the computer lab, eager to learn the webpage contest results. Dad had made Madison promise she would find out and e-mail him about it first thing Monday morning. But when Madison pushed open the door to the computer lab, she saw that Mrs. Wing’s big blue desk chair was empty.

“Hello?” Madison called softly.

Madison took a tentative step into the room, and saw that someone was standing at the back, looking up at Mrs. Wing’s How to Make a Webpage bulletin board display. Madison knew exactly who it was, with his shirt untucked, his head tilted at a familiar angle.

Egg.

She hesitated only a moment before walking over and standing beside him. For a moment, neither one of them spoke.

“The pages look good, right?” Egg said.

“Yeah.” Madison noticed that the printout of her and Fiona’s page was at the center of the display, right beside Egg and Chet’s page. “Your page is very cool, with that
Star Wars
theme and all.”

Egg dug his hands into his pockets. “Thanks,” he said. “Actually, Maddie, I think yours is better. I think I’m going to copy down a couple of your links,” he admitted, giving Madison a lopsided grin. “I’ve got to work on that science project for Mr. Danehy.”

“Oh, right,” Madison said. “I’ve got to get started on that, too.”

They stared up at the display a moment longer. Was this the right time to tell Egg how sorry she was that they had been fighting all week?

“It’s hard, isn’t it?” Egg said.

Madison stared at him. “Hard?”

Was he talking about making a webpage—or apologizing? The answer was the same, either way.

“Yeah,” Madison said.

“It’s so much work,” Egg went on. “Sometimes you think it isn’t worth it—that you should just give up….” His voice trailed off.

“But you don’t,” Madison finished for him.

“Yeah.” Egg looked at her, his freckles standing out against his tan skin. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, how you were mad because I didn’t pick you as my partner.”

“You have?” Madison said.

“I’m really sorry about that, Maddie,” Egg said.

Madison winced. “Egg—I’m so sorry about that, too,” she said. “It just … hurt my feelings, and then I started yelling and … I’m sorrier than sorry.”

Egg raised his eyebrows. “Well, don’t get all carried away.”

Madison looked down at the floor.

“The thing is …” Egg said. “You were right.”

Madison gaped at him. “I was?”

“Yeah.” Egg ran a hand nervously through his hair. “Don’t tell Chet this, but—” He glanced nervously over his shoulder. “You would have made a much cooler partner.”

“Really?” Madison smiled.

Egg nodded. “Really. He just wanted to goof off a lot, you know?”

“We would have made a good team,” Madison agreed.

Egg shrugged. “Next time,” he said. “I promise.”

“It’s a deal,” Madison replied.

“You know, Maddie,” Egg went on, staring at the floor. “You’re, like, my best friend who is a girl. But, in a lot of ways, you’re also my best
any
friend.”

Madison felt her chest grow tight. She knew that it hadn’t been easy for Egg to say that. The words made Madison so happy that she wanted to throw her arms around Egg and give him a big hug. But she knew that would only embarrass him. Instead, she just said, “Me, too.”

Just then, the door swung open and Mrs. Wing walked in. “Oh, hi,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t realize anyone was in here.”

“We were just looking at the display, Mrs. Wing,” Egg said formally. “This was a really cool contest.”

“Mrs. Wing,” Madison said, “my dad was wondering when the results would be in.”

“The judges should be notifying the school pretty soon,” Mrs. Wing said. “Could be this morning—could be Friday morning. They’ve been judging all weekend, I think.”

“Do you think any of us have a chance at winning?” Egg wanted to know.

Mrs. Wing sighed. “I really don’t know, Walter,” Mrs. Wing admitted. “When I submitted webpages for our school, the woman told me that they had already received over four thousand other entries.”

Egg let out a low whistle. “Four
thousand
?”

Mrs. Wing nodded and tucked a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear. “But the important thing is that you
tried.
I’m very proud of what your two teams, in particular, did.”

Suddenly, the loudspeaker at the front of the room shrieked, then crackled. “Good morning, everyone,” said the voice of Mrs. Goode, the assistant principal. “This is an announcement to inform everyone that there will be no homeroom this morning for the seventh grade….”

A cheer went up in the hallway.

“Instead,” Mrs. Goode went on, oblivious to the noise, “all seventh-grade students should proceed directly to the auditorium, where there will be a presentation about our new fire-drill procedures.” Groans came from the hall. “Thank you.”

The bell rang.

“I’ll see you in the auditorium,” Mrs. Wing said.

Madison and Egg said good-bye and walked into the hall.

“Can you believe that? Why do teachers always tell you that it’s important to
try
?” Egg griped to Madison as they joined the river of students that rolled toward the auditorium. “When I enter a contest, I want to win.”

Madison hiked her book bag up higher onto her shoulder. She was proud of their webpage, whether it won or not. “Come on, Egg, will you
really
be disappointed if you don’t win?”

“Duh,” Egg said, rolling his eyes. “Yeah!”

Madison laughed.

“Egg! Maddie!”

Madison looked over and saw Aimee leaning by her locker, standing next to Fiona, Chet, and Drew. “I thought you’d never get here,” Aimee said.

“Sorry,” Madison replied. “I had to wait for Mrs. Wing.”

“Come on, you guys,” Chet urged. “Let’s hurry, so we can get seats together.”

The auditorium was already packed by the time the friends walked inside, but they managed to find six seats together toward the back. Madison sat down between Egg and Aimee. Fiona was on the other side of Egg, next to Chet.

The stage was arranged with a podium and two chairs. Mr. Bernard, the principal, sat in one, and Poison Ivy sat in the other. Her legs were crossed primly, and she kept tossing her red hair over her shoulder.

“Hey, Maddie, who am I?” Egg asked, shouting to be heard over the noise of the rapidly filling auditorium. He shook his hair, as though he were in a shampoo commercial, batted his eyelashes, and pouted. “I’m president of the seventh grade!”