Picture-Perfect (From the Files of Madison Finn, 8) (11 page)

“I am wearing those pink jeans I bought at the mall last week, my Nikki T-shirt, and …” Aimee said, taking a deep breath, “this brand-new jean jacket with this big heart patch on it.”

Aimee pulled the jacket out of her locker. “My mom gave it to me before dance this morning. Isn’t it awesome?”

“Hey,” Fiona said. “You’re so … coordinated.”

“You’re always coordinated, Aim,” Madison said.

“I know,” Aimee said, smiling. She was back to her old self again.

The three friends packed up their bags and headed home. They made arrangements to meet up at six o’clock. Dean was going to pick up Madison and Fiona after they ate dinner at home and had a chance to get dressed up for Nikki. The concert arena was located only a short drive from downtown Far Hills. They could get there early enough to buy souvenirs and grab their seats.

Madison bounced inside when she got home. Phinnie knew something was up—he could always tell when Madison was energized about something. Phin would get energized, too. He jumped up onto her lap as soon as she sat down, licking her face all over.

“Phin! Stop! STOP!” Madison pleaded. “I’m going to have doggy slobber all over me.”

Mom, who was working in her home office, came into the hall to say hello.

“Well, someone’s excited,” she said, grabbing Phin’s collar so Madison could get away from his drool.

“Yeah,” Madison sputtered. “Gross me.”

“How are you doing?” Mom asked.

Madison mumbled “Fine” as she wiped her mouth.

“I’m making soup and sandwiches for supper,” Mom said. “So we’ll eat around five-thirty, okay?”

Madison slung her orange bag over her shoulder and headed toward the stairs. “Okay,” she said.

“Hey! What’s going on? Aren’t you excited?” Mom called out. “You’ve only been looking forward to this concert for two weeks now. You’ve barely said two words to me since you walked in the front door.”

“Of course, I’m excited!” Madison said, turning around on the stairs. “Oh, Mom, I just don’t know what to wear, as usual. And I want tonight to be greater than great. I can’t believe I’m actually going to meet Nikki.”

Mom shook her head. “I know, honey bear. It’s a big deal.”

“I’ll be in my room,” Madison said, bounding up the stairs. She didn’t have time to chat with Mom now. There were far more important tasks to accomplish.

Like checking in with her keypal, Bigwheels.

Madison always went to her for advice about school and friends, and now she needed help with fashion.

What would Bigwheels wear to the most important concert of her life?

Unfortunately, it was only four o’clock, and Bigwheels was all the way across the country, which meant that sending a message probably wouldn’t work right now. Bigwheels was still in classes or at lunch, not home on the computer, like Madison.

Madison opened a new file.

Picture-Perfect


Rude Awakening:
Looks are definitely not everything.


What’s the point of fashion crazes when all they do is make me CRAZY! Every time I try to dress cool … I look lukewarm. Where’s Aimee when I need her? Where’s Bigwheels?


I have to look picture-perfect at this concert.


Everyone else will. I don’t want to be left out.


Madison stopped typing and stared into her closet. She still didn’t have a solution to her fashion angst by the time she was through ranting. She still didn’t know what to wear!

Before logging off, she checked her buddy list one last time just to make sure her keypal hadn’t sneaked online since before.

Of course, she hadn’t.

But thankfully, someone else had.

: Maddie!


: Fiona!


: I’m sooo glad ur online


I was gonna call u


: me 2 !!!!!!!!


: I dunno what 2 wear esp. after Aim was so sure of her clothes WHAT r u wearing? I need HELP!


: GMTA I need mega help 2


: LOL


: u should wear that blue belly shirt


: w/my jeans?


: TOTALLY


: well I know this sounds weird but u should wear what u had on @ school 2day u looked cute


: &’‘ ‘ -1


: fine! What about ur gray baseball shirt?


: &’‘ ‘ -1


: ok then wear the orange tee with the kitty on it u know the one I love


: I forgot about that shirt what a great idea!


: and wear ur patchwork jeans since they are way cool


: TX sooo much


: YW!


: BTW how r u wearing ur hair?


: same braids as always in my blue headband


: I think I’ll wear mine down BYE!


: CWYL


: *poof*


Madison had to dig through all her drawers and closet before she located the orange kitty shirt. It had shrunk since it was last washed, so it rode up a little on her stomach, but Madison didn’t mind. She could just wear a white tank underneath. That would look good with her patchwork jeans. Fiona had been right. Plus, the moonstone earrings matched perfectly.

Once dressed, Madison stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror for more than ten minutes before deciding on the perfect ’do. She wore her hair back in little kitty clips that Gramma Helen had bought her last year. Just like Aimee, Madison was (at last!) super-coordinated—or at least she hoped so.

She glanced at the clock.

It was flashing a digital blue 5:12.

Only three more hours until THE CONCERT.

“Maddie,” Mom yelled from downstairs. “I want you to come and eat now. Aren’t your friends coming to get you in half an hour?”

Madison patted body glitter powder onto her arms and neck and cheeks and grabbed her tub of strawberry-kiwi lip gloss. She’d reapply more gloss after eating. Then she shoved those things, tissues, her wallet, and an extra kitty clip into her small purse. The purse was sewn from Indian fabric that shimmered with teeny mirrors all over. She’d only used it once, but never for a special occasion like this. Madison zipped it shut and looked at her reflection in the mirror one last time.

Standing there, Madison realized that she saw something very different in that mirror—different than what she had seen the other night while working on her art class assignment. The “self-portrait” in front of her right now wasn’t as awful as she’d thought before. She even felt a little pretty, shimmering with the glitter powder, her hair framing her face.

And the evil zit had practically disappeared.

She wasn’t sure why, but feeling good made her look good.

Happiness was what was pretty.

“Maddie!” Mom yelled again. “I said get down here and eat and I mean it! Now!”

Madison was jolted from her thoughts. “I’m coming, I’m coming!” she yelled back, turning off her light and heading for the stairs.

Mom had dinner set out. Madison only managed to slurp down a cup of soup and half a sandwich before the doorbell rang.

Mom grinned. “Well, there’s Aimee,” she said.

“Oh, wow! I am psyched,” Madison said, standing up from the dinner table. “This is the best night of my life so far.”

“You look very beautiful,” Mom said. “I’m sure the three of you will have a great time together. Give me a kiss, will you?”

Madison hugged her mom and headed for the door. Phin followed, but Madison didn’t let his little paws or his slobber near this outfit. She petted him on the head instead, and made her clean getaway.

Outside, Aimee was waiting on the front porch, jumping up and down.

“Oh-em-gee I feel like I’m going to explode like a stack of dynamite or something!” Aimee said. “Hurry up and let’s go get Fiona!”

The two friends waved back to Mom, who was now standing on the Finn porch holding Phin in her arms.

Dean honked the horn. “Let’s go!” he said.

Madison and Aimee squealed with anticipation.

They really were headed to their first concert!

M
RS. WATERS WAVED TO
the car as Fiona got inside. She still looked unsure about her decision to let the trio go to the concert, but it was too late.

They were on their way.

Much to everyone’s disappointment, Dean spent the entire ride over to the concert arena talking about Poison Ivy’s sister. Aimee, sitting next to her brother in the front seat, looked ready to slug him every time the words
Janet Daly
came out of his mouth.

Madison and Fiona tried to help make Aimee feel better by changing the subject, but it didn’t do much good. Aimee seemed determined to be mad at her brother, no matter what he said. She pasted on a superpout and stared blankly out the window.

Was the sweetest concert in the world already going sour?

“Aim?” Madison asked from the backseat. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Huh?” Aimee said. “Of course! Why are you asking me that? Don’t I look okay?” Even though she had recovered from her fainting episode, she was still a little touchy about the whole subject of feelings.

“You look great!” Madison said. “I just wanted to make sure.”

“Do you think I look okay, Fiona?” Aimee asked.

Fiona nodded. “Absolutely.”

Dean chuckled. “Yeah, for a toady little sister,” he said under his breath.

Aimee hauled off and punched him in the shoulder. Madison had tried to turn down some of the front-seat heat between them, but instead she’d made Aimee a little angrier at her brother. Dean screamed. Aimee screamed back.

“You’re the toad!” Aimee shouted.

“Why don’t you cool out!” Dean said. “I’m the one doing you a favor here.”

“Toad!” Aimee yelled again.

Their fight got louder … and louder … and louder….

“Look!” Madison said, pointing. She had to find some way to put a chill on the fighting. “Over there!”

Everyone in the car turned to see the neon signs welcoming cars into the Far Hills Concert Arena. There was a long line of traffic pulling into the parking areas. Dean honked his horn a few times, which annoyed Aimee, but she didn’t yell anymore. Madison’s distraction tactic had worked. Now all the girls could focus on was the activity going into the concert. They glanced into other cars to see what other girls were wearing; they searched the parking lot for people they might know; and they looked high and low for the truck and the stand for WKBM Radio. With their radio-won tickets, they were allowed to go collect an exclusive Nikki iron-on patch for each of them.

Dean parked the car about a mile away from the gates, or at least it seemed that far. Aimee looked ready to pounce on him again for doing the “wrong” thing, but Madison distracted her once more with talk of Nikki.

The concert would be starting in just ONE hour.

Dean looked around too. “This is a bunch of little kids,” he groaned. “I can’t believe I let you three talk me into coming here.”

“Do you see Ivy anywhere?” Fiona asked as they walked toward the stadium.

“Yeah, Dean. Don’t forget about Janet,” Aimee joked. “I’m so sure she’s dying to see you.”

“She will be,” Dean bragged. He had the biggest ego of any boy Madison had ever known. According to Aimee, Dean had already dated half his senior class. Finding new girlfriends was like a game for him. Tonight he was on the prowl for Janet.

“Oh, no!” Fiona said a moment later. “There they are.”

Madison, Aimee, and Fiona turned at the exact same time to see Ivy and Janet walking toward the arena, too. Ivy was wearing tight-fitting pants and a teeny little top with spaghetti straps. Janet had on a sweatshirt.

“Isn’t Ivy cold?” Aimee asked. “I mean, she’s wearing practically nothing. And that shirt and pants are so uncoordinated.”

Madison sighed. Coordinated or not, it worked. Ivy looked good in practically nothing. Madison wondered briefly if “practically nothing” was prettier than her orange kitty shirt. Probably. All at once, Madison’s earlier happiness faded a teeny bit.

“You’re so much prettier than her,” Fiona said to Madison, wrapping her arm around Madison’s shoulder.

Madison leaned into Fiona. “Thanks,” she said, hip-checking her BFF.

“So let’s go get ’em,” Dean yelled, making his move diagonally across the parking lot. “What are you three waiting for?”

Aimee moaned. “Dean! Noooo!” But it was no use. He was halfway to Janet already. Madison wondered what Ivy’s older sister would really think about Aimee’s brother once he walked right up to her. Would she laugh in his face? Or maybe she did like him a little bit?

The three BFFs hustled across the parking lot in pursuit of Dean. He made it to the Daly sisters before they could.

“Yo! Janet!” Dean said, nodding his head. “You look great. What are you doing here?”