Off the Wall Read online

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  Posted by: *-Lashida-*

  Date: 5 Nov

  Message: my bf Rob I am trippin 4 him

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  Posted by: KraZeeCat

  Date: 5 Nov

  Message: I forgot to say mine: josh, josh, josh, josh, josh, and oh yeah, josh!!!!!!!!!!

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  Posted by: WhassupOO

  Date: 5 Nov

  Message: 1. H.! 2. Geoff S. (@ the high school) 3. Craig B. (@ a different school) 4. Zach (from camp) 5. TJ (my friend’s bro) 7. Luis (neighbor) 8. Tommy (sometimes) 9. this guy J & R & I saw walking his dog on the street—I wish I knew HIS name! :)

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  Posted by: Jamie-12

  Date: 5 Nov

  Message: no offense to any guys out there but the guys in my class are GROSS and so immature

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  Posted by: BalletGrl

  Date: 5 Nov

  Message: actually I like this guy Ben but no one really knows so shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I should not have written that

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  Posted by: Wetwinz

  Date: 5 Nov

  Message: of course someone who has been flirting w/me a lot wink wink can u guess who? *G*

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  Posted by: BBCool

  Date: 5 Nov

  Message: I have a big crush on my friend’s brothr but she doesn’t know it yet b/c I think ths other guy likes ME so weird what should I do? I’m at Kennedy Jr Hi in case u were wondring

  Madison laughed out loud.

  BalletGrl? Wetwinz? That had to be Aimee and Fiona! Those were their screen names from TweenBlurt.com. Of course, Madison was in the middle of being mad at Aimee, so she couldn’t exactly call her up to confirm the identity. But she knew it had to be her friends.

  How could Aimee have written about liking Ben, the smartest guy in their class? Aimee must have figured that no one would see it or guess that she’d written it down, Madison thought. And Fiona hadn’t revealed the name of her crush, because, of course, that would have been a dead giveaway. Madison didn’t know too many other kids anywhere who could possibly be named Egg.

  Unfortunately, Fairyprincess was nowhere to be found on “Hotties.” And when Madison scanned “Big newz” and “Shut Up” and “Random thoughts,” she came up empty then, too.

  By now the sky outside Madison’s window had turned blacker than black. There weren’t a lot of stars out tonight, because of cloud cover. Madison picked up Phin and sat by the window, watching the red and white lights of cars on the street.

  She imagined Aimee sitting in her room at home, too, typing online and surfing the pages of The Wall. Or maybe Aimee and Fiona were chatting. Madison felt a pang. In a matter of moments, she decided to stop being angry and start talking again. It was hard to be mad at BFFs for longer than two days.

  Phin yelped as Madison dumped him onto the floor and dashed downstairs. She grabbed the portable phone and dialed the Gillespie house.

  “Hello, Mrs. Gillespie?” Madison said sweetly. “Is Aimee there?”

  Mrs. Gillespie called out to her daughter and then proceeded to quiz Madison about home, school, and the other details of her life: “How’s your mom? How’s your dad? How’s Phin?”

  Finally Aimee picked up the extension. “Hello?” she said.

  “Aim?” Madison said tentatively as Mrs. Gillespie got off the line. “It’s me. I was just calling to see what you were doing.”

  “Nothing,” Aimee said, her voice seemingly a little distant. “What are you doing?”

  “I was just on The Wall,” Madison admitted.

  Aimee’s end of the line was silent. Madison wondered if maybe Aimee were now mad at her.

  “I saw what you posted,” Madison said, trying to break the silence. “That’s pretty funny. … ”

  “Don’t laugh!” Aimee cried into the phone almost immediately. “Fiona dared me to write that, and we were just goofing around. And once you send a message, you can’t retrieve it or change it. It’s there forever. So I couldn’t take it back. Oh, my gosh, I am so embarrassed—”

  “Aim, it’s okay. I’m sure I’m the only person on the planet who could guess that you wrote what you wrote.”

  Aimee’s end of the phone was silent again.

  “Aim?” Madison asked gently. “Are you there?”

  “I’m a little confused, Maddie,” Aimee said. “Fiona thinks you were mad about something, and I didn’t know you were mad. You could have told me before you just stopped talking to me.”

  “Huh?” Madison said, trying to play dumb. But then she confessed everything. “I was mad about Blossom, that’s all. I was mad about the puppy thing.”

  “The puppy thing?” Aimee asked.

  “I thought you always said Phin would be the one to have pups with Blossom. Not some strange basset hound in a kennel somewhere,” Madison admitted.

  “That’s why you weren’t talking to me?” Aimee said.

  Madison grumbled, “Uh-huh. That’s why I didn’t call or e-mail or anything.”

  Suddenly Aimee seemed to be holding back the giggles.

  “Why are you laughing?” Madison asked, a little offended.

  “Maddie!” Aimee gasped. “I told you that about the puppies when we were in, like, fourth grade! And besides, my mom and dad are the ones who decide who Blossom will have puppies with, not me. And they want basset hounds, not some mix of pug and … Maddie, can you imagine what Blossom and Phin’s babies would really look like?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Madison mumbled. “I never really thought about that part. Smushed faces and floppy ears. That would be weird. … ”

  “Oh, Maddie …” Aimee said.

  “Oh, Aimee …” Madison said.

  Both friends breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I’m sorry you were upset,” Aimee said. “I hate it when you get mad at me. I never know what to say.”

  “I’m sorry, too,” Madison said. “Hey, Aimee. You know what? I found out something really secret today. I’ve been dying to tell you.”

  “You mean about Mrs. Wing?” Aimee said.

  “You know?” Madison cried. “About her adopting a baby?”

  “Yeah, I just found out tonight. My brother Roger knows some guy who works down at the animal clinic, too. Remember?” Aimee said.

  Madison sighed into the phone.

  “Are you okay?” Aimee asked, picking up a lingering distress signal.

  “I just—I just—” Madison stammered. “I just wish I had found out before everyone else, that’s all.”

  “Maybe she’ll bring the baby into the tech lab and you can play with her,” Aimee suggested.

  “Maybe,” Madison said. “Hey, do you want to walk to school together tomorrow?”

  “Sure,” Aimee said. “I’m gonna wear this new sweater my grandmother knit for me. It is so beautiful—you are totally going to want to borrow it.”

  “I’ll meet you out in front of my house at the usual time,” Madison said.

  “Thanks for calling, Maddie,” Aimee said. “I’m glad you’re not mad anymore.”

  Madison hung up the phone gently, trying not to think too much about the fact that she had been so far out of the loop once again.

  Brrrrrrring!

  Madison stared at the ringing phone before picking it up. “Hello?” she asked tentatively, expecting it to be a call from one of Mom’s Budge Films coworkers or one of her latest dates.

  “Maddie?” a voice on the other end whispered. “Hey! It’s Fiona.” Her voice sounded low and serious.

  “What’s up?” Madison asked, plopping back down onto the couch.

  “I was just calling to see if you were okay. You seemed so out of it at school. I meant to call earlier, but I had to help my dad with this—”

  “I’m fine,” Madison said, cutting her off. Fiona was playing peacemaker. “And you’ll be happy to know that I just got off the phone with Aim, too.”
>
  “You did?” Fiona said. “Really?”

  “Yeah, we made up. So you don’t have to worry anymore.”

  “You guys talked!” Fiona squealed. “I’m so glad! I was so worried that you guys would be in this feud for the rest of the week or even longer, and I didn’t know what to think. I miss it when it’s not the three of us BFFs together, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” Madison said. She was relieved, too.

  “By the way, I heard some big news,” Fiona said.

  Madison sighed. Everyone had known about Mrs. Wing except for her.

  “Yeah, yeah, big news, I know,” Madison said. “Mrs. Wing had a baby.”

  “Huh? What are you talking about?” Fiona gasped. “A baby? She did?”

  Madison stopped. “Wait. You didn’t know?”

  “MRS. WING HAD A BABY?” Fiona cried again. “Oh, wow! That is, like, HUGE news. My news is so little and puny compared to yours. I just found out that the soccer team is moving their practice space. Wow! How did you find out about Mrs. Wing?”

  “You really didn’t know about the baby thing until I just told you?” Madison asked. “Really?”

  “How would I know?” Fiona said. “Did Mrs. Wing call you or something? I know she’s, like, your favorite teacher.”

  “No, Dan found out at the clinic,” Madison explained. “Since Dr. Wing works there … and he told me. They adopted a baby girl from Korea.”

  “Adopted a baby! That is so cool!” Fiona said. “Oh, wait Maddie—my mom just came into my room. I have to get off the phone and finish the reading homework. I’ll see you tomorrow at school, okay?”

  “Okay,” Madison said. “See you.”

  As Madison hung up the phone this time, she smiled so wide her face hurt.

  Fiona had not heard the news. What a relief! Madison wasn’t the very last of the last to know. She looked over at the clock on the wall.

  As of that very moment, Madison was definitely back in the loop.

  Chapter 6

  “MADDIE!” FIONA CALLED TO Madison in the hallway at school on Tuesday morning. “You have to come quick! Do you have your laptop?”

  “Yeah,” Madison replied. “I have it right here—”

  “Well, bring it!” Fiona said. “I’ll be just outside the school yard doors. Hurry.”

  Fiona shuffled away. Madison hurried to dump her science books into her locker and retrieve her laptop. It was a free period at school. Madison didn’t understand why Fiona was spending hers in the school yard. The only kids who spent recess out there played ball.

  “Fiona?” Madison said as she stepped outside the doors. It wasn’t very cold out, which was strange for November. Some days could be blustery, but today it was almost warmish with the sun shining.

  A group of guys were playing kickball in the corner of the yard. Other kids were sitting around, too—more kids than Madison had expected to see. She guessed it was mostly eighth- and ninth-graders, because she didn’t recognize many from her class.

  “Maddie! Over here,” Fiona cried. She was sitting a few feet away, leaning against a brick wall.

  Lindsay was with her. She was crying.

  “Lindsay? What’s wrong?” Madison asked, looking worried. “What happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  “Sort of.” Lindsay sniffled. “But I don’t want anyone to see me like this.”

  “What happened?” Madison asked.

  “Open your laptop, Maddie,” Fiona requested. “Lindsay has to show you something.”

  “You can go online?” Lindsay asked. “Is there wireless out here?”

  “Yup,” Madison said, booting up her laptop. Soon she was opening up a web browser. Fiona asked her to open the home page for The Wall.

  Then Lindsay leaned in and hit a few keys.

  A screen appeared that showed postings for one of the subtopics under Gossip. Madison had never visited this board before. It was called “Friends-n-enemies.” She scrolled down to one particular posting.

  Lindsay pointed to the screen. “Read it,” she said.

  Posted by: LoVeBuG

  Date: 6 Nov

  Message: there is ms. fatty in my class and she is S0000 fat that she cant even go 2 regular camp LOL she has to go to FAT CAMP and she walks around with a dumb black haircut & purple backpack that looks like she should be in first grade LOSER!!! I feel bad 4 her yah right NOT FHJH would be better w/o her :)

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  “Wow,” Madison said, rereading the message. “That’s so harsh.”

  “That’s so ME,” Lindsay said.

  “Get out!” Madison said. “How do you know that? It is not—”

  “Maddie!” Fiona chimed in. “Read it again! Black hair? Purple backpack? FHJH?”

  Madison sat there, stunned. “But, Lindsay, why would anyone write this about you?”

  Lindsay sniffled again. “I guess I’m just ugly or something.”

  Fiona leaned in and gave Lindsay a big hug. “You are not,” she said, comforting her. “You’re beautiful.”

  Madison scrolled down to see if “LoVeBuG” had written any other messages. The writer hadn’t.

  “It has to be someone in our class who’s writing this,” Lindsay said. “I mean, it could be someone in the upper grades, I guess. I didn’t know anyone hated me this much.”

  “Oh, Lindsay,” Madison said. She closed her laptop. “We should report this to the Webmaster or something. They can remove the posting.”

  “I tried that already,” Lindsay said. “They said they would look into it. But it hasn’t been removed yet. So, obviously … they … don’t … care. … ”

  She started to sob again.

  “I am totally boycotting that website now,” Fiona said. “I thought those bulletin boards were supposed to be for fun. They have that announcement at the front about not swearing and keeping it real and keeping it fun.”

  “But who listens to rules, right?” Madison said.

  She surveyed the group in the school yard and wondered who else outside had visited The Wall. How many people from FHJH had seen that particular message? How many postings said such hurtful things about people who didn’t deserve it?

  “Fiona’s right. We should all stop logging on to the site,” Lindsay said. She wiped her nose. She kept starting to cry and stopping again.

  Fiona rubbed Lindsay’s back, and they walked back into the school. The bell would be ringing to announce the next class, and they didn’t want to be late.

  “I’m not going to class. I’m going to the nurse,” Lindsay said.

  “The nurse?” Madison asked.

  “I want to go home,” Lindsay said. “Every time I see someone, I’ll think that they’re the one who posted that message. I bet it was the guys. I know they make fun of me because I’m overweight. I heard them once.”

  Madison’s mouth opened. “You did?”

  “Yeah,” Lindsay said. “I heard Hart and Chet talking once about who was the prettiest in our class.”

  “Hart and Chet?” Madison said.

  “What did they say, exactly?” Fiona said with a grimace. “My brother is such a geek. Don’t listen to him!”

  “I don’t remember everyone they were talking about, but I do know they said Ivy was the hottest girl and that some other girls were okay but some were too fat, like me and Beth Sanders.”

  “Well, Lindsay,” Fiona said softly. “Beth Sanders is fat. She’s huge. She takes up two seats at lunch. You’re not fat like that.”

  “That’s not the point, guys,” Madison said. She didn’t like calling anyone names, not even Beth Sanders.

  “Look, I’m just repeating what I heard,” Lindsay said. “And it hurt.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us before?” Fiona asked.

  “I was too embarrassed,” Lindsay said.

  “I can’t believe it. … Hart said those things?” Madison said. “Are you absolutely sure?” She couldn’t imagine the love of her life being that cruel.

&nb
sp; “Boys can be sooooo mean,” Fiona said. “And I bet it is totally a boy who wrote that post, too. Some guy is going on the gossip page pretending to be a girl. They don’t think we’ll figure it out.”

  That sounded right. It was sneaky, just like some of the guys Madison knew … or thought she knew. She spent the remainder of the afternoon thinking about which guys might have written the message. Every class became an exercise in elimination, based on what the guys were wearing, what they said, and what they did. Egg and Drew became prime candidates, because they were so smart about computers. But it was hard to imagine Madison’s best guy friends saying anything mean about Lindsay. They liked Lindsay.

  Then again, Egg had been one of the main people who kept telling Madison to log on to The Wall. …

  In the world of gossip, anyone was fair game.

  By the time school was through, Madison was no closer to finding her suspect. She had named and eliminated almost every guy she knew—and a bunch she didn’t know, too. Meanwhile, Lindsay’s mother picked her up and took her home.

  Aimee lost it when she heard about what had happened. “I hate that stupid Wall!” she cried. “I’m never going on it again, and you shouldn’t go, either!”

  Madison knew the truth. They would all huff and puff and complain about how terrible it was to post gossip. And then they’d each go home that very night and check the next postings on the gossip page—just in case something interesting came up. At least, Madison would check the site. These days, she was finding it harder and harder to resist.

  As Madison left the school building, a car appeared out front, honking at her. It was Dad.

  “Hop in! I’m making you dinner at the apartment,” Dad said, pulling over to the curb.

  Madison walked over alongside the car and yelled into the rolled-down window. “But this isn’t our regular dinner night,” she said.

  “I know,” Dad said. “The plan’s changed.” He came to a complete stop.

  Madison was always happy to see Dad, but she groaned at this sudden change of plan. She had been ready to head home, log on to The Wall, and spend the afternoon reading about other people’s problems—alone. With Dad in the picture, she couldn’t surf the site as she had hoped to.