Keep It Real Page 4

  Ivy sniffled a little bit more. Madison had to strain to hear what she and her friends were saying now. She heard a few whispers, but couldn’t make out the exact words.

  “…Be okay…” Joanie mumbled.

  “…Just keep it together…” Rose said.

  “Yeah, I know,” Ivy said, her voice regaining its strength.

  Madison took another deep breath and filled her cheeks with air. She heard Ivy, Rose, and Joanie pick up their stuff and walk out of the bathroom.

  No talking, no sighing, no breathing. Not until they were gone.

  The door squeaked and clicked.

  Madison dropped her legs and opened the stall.

  “Maddie?”

  Madison froze. Ivy was still there, standing at the sink, wiping her nose. The drones had gone, but she had stayed behind, silent.

  The two enemies stared each other down in the mirror.

  “Were you in there the whole time?” Ivy asked, wiping her nose (and tears) some more.

  “It’s a free country,” Madison said.

  Ivy cocked her head to the side. “Um…what did you hear?”

  “Nothing,” Madison said.

  Madison glanced over at Ivy’s bag on the ledge by the windows. She could see Ivy’s black-and-white journal poking up between the zippered sides. As soon as she saw Madison looking, Ivy grabbed the bag and pulled it close to her. The journal fell back inside.

  “You’d better not have heard anything, Madison Finn,” Ivy said menacingly. “And you’d better keep your big trap shut!”

  Ivy wasn’t crying anymore. She was yelling. She pushed the door hard and exited the bathroom.

  Madison’s knees felt a little wobbly. The whole incident had made her uncomfortable. Had she been spying?

  As she went back over to the sink to wash her hands, Lindsay walked in.

  “Hey, Maddie, I just saw Ivy leaving. Boy, did she look upset,” Lindsay said. “She’s got such a major attitude. You know what I mean?”

  “I know,” Madison said. “What else is new?”

  After school, Madison hustled toward home. Dad would be picking her up, and Madison needed to change out of her school clothes and put on something a little dressier for dinner.

  As usual, Dad was late, but only by a few minutes. They sped over to French Toast, their hangout for Tuesday-night dinners. The maître d’ served them an appetizer tray of pecan bread, crackers, herb-butter, cheddar sticks, and more. French Toast was one of those restaurants where some of the best stuff you got was what they served for free before the main course.

  Madison and Dad talked their way through the meal. Even though Dad had remarried, he would still talk about the times with Mom and their days together as a family. Madison played along. Talking about the past meant that she didn’t have to tell Dad what was really going on in her life.

  She didn’t mention Bigwheels’s secret blog.

  She avoided all discussion of Ivy’s “perfect” life.

  And she definitely didn’t talk about Mom’s unusually dressed-up outfits these days, whatever they meant. (Madison was beginning to think they meant something very interesting indeed, but she didn’t want to admit it to herself—let alone to Dad.)

  It was way more tiring not to say certain words or thoughts at dinner than to admit everything right then and there, out in the open. By the time the meal was over, keeping so many topics of discussion out of the conversation had left Madison exhausted. When Dad suggested they share a slice of flourless chocolate cake (usually the best part of the whole evening), Madison just shook her head.

  “Let’s go home now,” Madison said.

  “Maddie doesn’t want dessert? Call the papers! What’s wrong with you?”

  “I don’t know,” Madison said. “Nothing. Everything. Nothing.”

  Dad didn’t make Madison explain any more than that. He paid the check and gave Madison a warm hug, which was way more comforting than words. Then he drove her home.

  As he often did, Dad walked Madison to the door. Mom answered the bell.

  “Hello, Frannie,” Dad said as he squeezed Madison’s shoulder. “Don’t you look nice tonight!”

  Madison nodded. “Yeah, Mom. Where’s the party?”

  Mom’s usual attire of sweatpants and a long shirt had been replaced by a long black dress with a turquoise-and-silver belt. On her feet she wore a polished pair of new black boots.

  “Thanks for taking Maddie tonight, Jeff,” Mom said.

  “You had a good night?” Dad asked Mom.

  Did he know something? Madison wondered.

  Mom grinned. “Splendid.”

  “Well, I’m off,” Dad said with a clap of his hands and a kiss on Madison’s forehead. He leaned over to give Phinnie a smooch, too.

  Before he walked out the door, Dad smiled and patted Mom on the arm, and for a split second, Madison imagined that he was flirting with Mom and she with him again, which meant that maybe, just maybe, they still liked each other a little, which meant that there was a brief, teeny-weeny flicker of reconciliation in the air.

  Of course, there wasn’t. It was all a dream, but dreams like that always popped up, even now—a year after the Big D. Even now that Dad had married Stephanie.

  Mom locked the door behind Dad and kissed Madison again.

  “Gee, Mom, you look so pretty tonight,” Madison said as she tugged off her jacket and shoes.

  “Mmmm,” Mom mumbled. “Thanks. You look pretty, too, Maddie. Did you and your father have a good meal?”

  “Yeah. Sure,” Madison said. “Did you go somewhere for dinner?”

  “Oh, I ate a little,” Mom said, burying her nose in a book.

  “Big date, huh?” Madison joked.

  Mom didn’t answer right away. “I went for a drink with a friend,” she said after a moment. “Nothing special.”

  “Oh,” Madison said. “But didn’t you go and get your hair done at Salon Pink yesterday?”

  Mom looked back down at the book. “Yes,” she said softly. “I did.”

  “How long was Mrs. Gillespie here this morning?” Madison asked.

  “Aren’t you just full of questions tonight? Let’s see…Aimee’s mom was here for just about an hour. We had a nice, long chat. I’ve been working so hard lately. I miss dishing the dirt with my girlfriends.”

  “Dishing dirt?”

  “Oh, you know. It’s just a figure of speech, Maddie. Sharing all the gossip.”

  “Like, what gossip?” Madison asked.

  Mom clucked her tongue. “There are some secrets that aren’t meant to be shared.”

  “You’re no fun. I’m going to bed,” Madison said.

  “Mmmm,” Mom sighed again. “Give me a kiss first.”

  Madison leaned in for a kiss and a hug before heading upstairs. When she stepped into her bedroom, she saw Phin sleeping on top of her many pillows. He stirred a little, waiting for a pat on the head, but then went back to sleep.

  Madison’s laptop was still open on her desk, the power still on from earlier that afternoon. She sat right down in front of it.

  Mom had said that some secrets were not meant to be shared. That got Madison thinking. Was that how Bigwheels felt? Was that why she had kept the news of the blog from Madison?

  Madison hit NEW.

  From: MadFinn

  To: Bigwheels

  Subject: TweenBlurt

  Date: Tues 12 Oct 8:46 PM

  Whassup? LTNE!

  Well, things in my life are the same. I need a new wardrobe, a new haircut, ha-ha. Actually, my stepmom gave me some hand-me-down sweaters that fit me and they are retro which is cooler than cool. My mom loaned me some earrings too. I wish I could get a makeover on one of those TV shows though, don’t you?

  Speaking of makeovers, my mom has been acting mighty odd l8ly. She’s getting all dressed up and going out and I have this sinking feeling about it. Is she dating again?

  BTW: I was just surfing around and wondered if u saw all the new fe
atures on tweenblurt l8ly? I feel like we picked the kewlest site to join. All my friends are on it now 2. What about u? Let me know what u think of all their new features.

  Yours till the polka dots,

  Maddie

  Would that get Bigwheels to admit to something?

  Midway through writing the message, Madison had decided it was smarter not use the word blog or mention BloggerBlurt by name. Madison didn’t want to sound like a snoop or anything. She wanted—she needed—Bigwheels to be the one to tell her what was going on, without any prompting. She wanted to give Bigwheels a chance to be honest first.

  With fingers crossed, Madison pressed SEND.

  Chapter 5

  “IVY DALY IS DATING a college sophomore?” Chet said.

  He was sitting with the gang at the orange lunch table toward the back of the cafeteria. The rumors about Ivy’s relationship with the Dunn Manor guy had become greatly exaggerated.

  “College? What?” Egg cried. “Are you kidding me?”

  Fiona nodded. At one point in the school year, she would have raced to defend even Ivy Daly from the spiraling gossip that could happen at school. But today Fiona was a party to all of it.

  “I heard it from Aimee, who heard it from her brother,” Fiona explained.

  “Right,” Aimee agreed. “But he’s in high school, not college, Chet. Duh.”

  “Whatever,” Chet grumbled. “Who cares about Ivy, anyway?”

  “We do,” Aimee said. “She’s always talking about us.”

  Madison picked at the food on her plate, moving a pea from one side to the other without touching the potatoes in the middle. She didn’t know what to say or think about Ivy anymore. Right now everything seemed different. Madison wasn’t sure what was going on.

  Linsday pulled up to the table with her tray and got in on the conversation. Apparently she had heard even more information about Ivy than Aimee had.

  “I heard that Ivy went to Dunn Manor after school last week,” Lindsay said softly. “I wonder what that means.”

  “Huh?” Madison’s head shot up. “Do you think she went to meet that guy?”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Aimee said. “My brother told me that half the guys in his class saw Ivy making out with him.”

  “Come on…” Madison said. “Making out? At the school?”

  “You guys!” Drew said. “Leave her alone, for goodness’ sake.”

  “Who are you, her boyfriend?” Egg taunted Drew.

  Madison smiled. Drew was sometimes the shy one, sometimes the silly one, but occasionally the voice of reason. A lot of times he got sucked in to Egg’s craziness, but he also knew when to stand up for his own opinions. Madison liked that about him.

  “Hey, everyone! What’s going on?” Hart asked, joining the group.

  “Look, I’m not her boyfriend…” Drew said. “But he is.”

  Drew pointed directly at Hart.

  “Me? Who? What are you jokers talking about? Whose boyfriend?” Hart stammered.

  The table erupted with laughter—except for Madison. She had finally gotten to a place where she was secure in the knowledge that Ivy posed no romantic threat to her crush on Hart. But here was everyone else, still teasing Hart about Ivy’s being his girlfriend, and laughing about it. Laughing!

  Madison wanted to slink under the table and go poof in person—the same way she was able to go poof online.

  The truth was, however, that everyone at the table was laughing at what was behind Madison. Across the lunchroom, Poison Ivy had suddenly stood up from her table when a carton of milk spilled on her shirt. She looked angry.

  “Uh-oh. The enemy’s in trouble,” Aimee quietly joked.

  “Yeah, someone go tell her not to cry over spilled milk,” Egg added.

  Everyone laughed even louder—this time including Madison, now that she knew what was going on.

  From out of his backpack, Chet pulled a plastic container. Mrs. Waters had baked pumpkin cookies for everyone. Among their group of friends, Chet and Fiona’s mother was known as the Cookie Queen.

  Egg grabbed a handful of cookies and started to chomp. The rest of the group grabbed handfuls, too. Madison bit into one with a jagged edge and frosting, and savored the sweet flavors. She liked things that smelled and tasted like fall. It was one of her favorite times of the year.

  “Did you guys work on the new journaling assignment?” Drew asked. Madison was relieved that he’d changed the subject.

  “I did,” Madison answered quickly. “It was a better task than yesterday. I didn’t love writing about a scar.”

  “A scar? Which one was that? In our class, I don’t think Mrs. Quill has been going in the right order of journaling assignments,” Aimee said. “Did everyone have to make a list last night?”

  Fiona opened her backpack, pulled out a black notebook, and pointed to the most recent entry. “Yup,” she said. “Here’s mine.”

  Madison looked around the table. She’d been keeping files and folders forever, but now all of her friends were writing, too. A part of her thought that that was a great thing—and another part of her wondered if it meant that now everyone would be muscling in on the things that she liked to do. It was fun to share interests—but was this too much?

  Everyone’s notebooks looked very much the same. Each student had added a personal touch. The front of Madison’s was colored in parts where she’d doodled with an orange marker over white spaces. Ivy’s had the princess sticker. Fiona had wrapped a blue rubber band around hers to keep the pages pressed tight.

  Fiona plucked the blue band and read her assignment aloud.

  Journaling #3

  Topic: List twenty details about someone you know. Try to include details that are about more than just physical appearance.

  “Yeah, I have the same one. I think we all have the same assignment this time,” Drew said.

  Chet, Egg, and Hart nodded knowingly.

  “So, who wants to read first?” Aimee asked.

  “Maddie’s the best writer,” Egg said. “Let’s hear what she wrote first.”

  “Me? Why me?” Madison wheezed. She felt her stomach flip-flop. “I d—d—don’t know what I wrote…”

  Of course, Madison did remember what she had written down. She just couldn’t say it out loud.

  Hart.

  “Come on, Maddie,” Fiona insisted. “Read us your entry first, and then we’ll all read ours afterward.”

  Madison gritted her teeth. How could she possibly read hers aloud when Hart was sitting right there? They would guess right away whom she was referring to. Even worse, he would guess.

  A crackle came up over the school announcement system. Madison breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone became distracted by a two-minute speech about school organization and discipline.

  “In closing, please be sure to keep your locker combinations and your computer passwords in a safe place,” Principal Bernard said at the end. Unwittingly he’d saved Madison’s skin—or at least saved her from tumbling into a deep, dark hole of embarrassment.

  “Someone tell me. What was that speech about?” Hart asked when Principal Bernard had finished.

  “Yeah. What was that about?” Chet added.

  “Am I crazy, or does our principal make no sense most of the time?” Aimee asked.

  “Okay, here’s what I wrote,” Egg said, cutting the others off. He had pulled his black-and-white notebook out of his bag and opened to the assignment in question. “Who can guess who I’m writing about?” he asked. He showed them a list he’d written.

  1. Blue hair

  2. Nose pierced

  3. Bent ears

  4. Ripped jeans

  5. Takes pictures

  “That’s Mariah!” Fiona piped up. Mariah Diaz was Egg’s older sister and a ninth grader at their school.

  “Of course Fiona knew that,” Chet whined.

  Egg smiled. Obviously, Fiona knew a lot about him and his family. She’d learned all the important stuff since they had started g
oing out.

  Madison could tell that Egg liked that. Lately, the pair didn’t seem to mind showing a little bit of affection in public, either.

  “What did you mean, Mariah has bent ears?” Madison asked.

  “I don’t know,” Egg replied. “She has this one ear that looks bent. It’s dented or something from this time when we went hiking and she fell over…”

  Chet laughed hard. Drew joined in. Soon all the boys were laughing and snorting about bent ears.

  Fiona waved her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Let me read mine next,” she said.

  Twenty Details

  1. Likes to go online

  2. Good with computers

  3. Funny

  4. Bad at keeping secrets

  As she listened to Fiona’s list, Madison’s mind drifted to thoughts of her keypal. Fiona’s list sounded like Bigwheels! Madison’s keypal also liked to go online, was good with computers, and was funny. As far as keeping secrets, however, Bigwheels was great, not bad.

  Madison thought about the e-mail she’d sent the night before asking Bigwheels to talk about the blog. She needed to know how Bigwheels could have left Madison out of such an important secret. How long would Madison have to wait before Bigwheels wrote back to tell her what was going on?

  “Don’t look now, but here comes Poison Ivy,” Chet said.

  Ivy Daly strolled up to the orange table with her drones, Rose and Joanie, who just stood there, staring. Ivy did all the talking, as usual.

  “Excuse me,” Ivy said with a snort.

  No one wanted to respond at first. Then Aimee spoke up.

  “May we help you?” Aimee asked.

  Ivy flipped her red hair. “Not you. I wanted to talk to Madison,” Ivy said.

  “Well, I’m right here,” Madison said gruffly. “So, talk.”

  “I need to talk to you about science class—alone.” Ivy said. She clutched her books to her chest, but Madison could still see the word SUPER on Ivy’s long-sleeved T-shirt.

  “What about class?” Madison asked.

  “Oooh!” Chet hissed. “Here comes a catfight.”

  “Be quiet, Chet!” Fiona said as she whacked him on the head with her notebook. He winced.