Only the Lonely Read online

  “Mom, why would we get into a fight? I haven’t seen Egg in forever!”

  Egg hurriedly unzipped his backpack. Phin was sniffing around the varnished wood floor where he’d put it down.

  “Is that some kind of calculator?” Madison asked when he pulled out his latest toy.

  “No, no, it’s not a calculator, it’s one of those mini tablets. Here, look, look at how cool this is.” He showed it to Madison, who oohed and aahed.

  “This is way cool,” she said.

  Egg patted Phin’s head a little too hard. “Yeah, yeah, get lost doggy.”

  “Hey! Don’t talk to Phinnie that way! Come here, Phin.”

  Egg teased, “He is still fat! Ha-ha-ha! Ugly pugly!”

  “Cut it out.” Madison bonked the top of Egg’s head. Then she punched a few buttons on his tablet. “This really is very cool, Walter.”

  Madison was glad to have Egg back home, even if he teased her. She could, after all, tease him right back. That’s what friends were for.

  He showed Madison how he’d downloaded an entire copy of some kids’ science encyclopedia off the Internet.

  “Why would you do that?” she asked.

  “Uh, I dunno. Because I could?”

  Madison wanted to tell Egg about her new laptop too, but at that moment Mom walked back into the room with a tray of toasted blueberry Pop-Tarts.

  Egg’s eyes got as big as saucers. He was easily distracted by TV, computers, and any kind of food.

  “Pop-Tarts! Mrs. Finn, you are like the best cook ever!” Egg exclaimed.

  Madison couldn’t believe anyone would call her mother the best cook ever.

  Egg had eaten two tarts before he noticed what time it was. “It’s 11:34! Hey Maddie, you still have cable? Wrestling is on now! I missed wrestling so much when I was at camp. Madison, can we put it on?”

  How predictable. Egg wanted to watch wrestling every time he came over. Despite the fact that their kids were computer whizzes, the Diaz family didn’t believe in all the cable add-on-channels. Everything at the Diaz casa was basic.

  Madison flicked on the tube. Egg beamed.

  “I’m going upstairs to change, okay?” Madison said.

  “Huh? Yeah. Mmmm.” Egg’s eyes were fixed on the screen. He hadn’t heard a word she’d said.

  A whole summer had gone by, and Egg was still a wrestling freak! Madison thought shows like RAW were so dumb, but she couldn’t exactly tell Egg that. What was the point to wrestling? It was so fake. She pulled on a pair of shorts and an orange halter top and went back downstairs.

  Egg was still in a TV coma. Madison seriously began to question her motives in ditching Fiona and keeping plans with Egg.

  “King Slam is so cool! And MaggotMan—WOW! Look at them. This is AWESOME,” Egg cried out, engrossed by the action. “Check that OUT, Madison!”

  Madison squirmed into her seat. MaggotMan? That was just gross.

  She and Egg hadn’t seen each other in over a month, and already things were back to the way they had been before. Why was that? They were doing that hanging-out-but-not-really-hanging-out thing that they’d been doing since Miss Jeremiah’s kindergarten class.

  Spending an afternoon with Egg almost always meant doing what Egg wanted. Boy stuff.

  Madison picked up Phin and put him onto her lap. “Good dog,” she cooed into his ear. It twitched. Pugs have sensitive ears.

  “Look at that! Look at that!” Egg shrieked. He was shouting nonstop, sitting on the edge of Madison’s sofa, eyes glazed over. “Go, go, body slam him! Awwww!”

  Phin jumped off Madison’s lap and scurried into the other room.

  Even Phin didn’t want to put up with this.

  Madison had one of her over-thoughts.

  Here she was, having spent the past few days believing she’d developed an allergy to change, believing that her entire universe was in a state of constant flux, but right here and now she realized that she was experiencing a hundred-percent “allergy-free” moment.

  I guess there really are some things that never change, Madison thought.

  Here she was, sitting in her living room with one of her oldest, best-est pals, watching the exact same show as always, saying the exact same things she and he always said, eating the exact same icky snack foods she and he always ate.

  “Hey, Egg, I’m going up to my room for a minute,” Madison interrupted his wrestling show. “Just come up when MaggotMan pummels the other guy, ’kay?”

  Madison walked upstairs.

  It was better this way.

  Egg

  Wrestling is the stupidest thing on the planet and I am so glad that Fiona is not a wrestling fan. At least, there were no wrestling posters hanging in her room anywhere. I wonder if Chet is a wrestling fan?

  Rude Awakening: Be careful what you wish for. I wished for Egg and now I’m just not sure I feel like hanging around to do this. I don’t feel like watching RAW, Egg! Ha ha. Very funny.

  Why is it when people go away for the summer that you remember friends differently than they really and truly are? Like Egg, for example. Why are things always better when

  “You got a new computer!” Egg sneaked up behind Madison. “It’s orange. Whoa. Sweet. How much memory you got?”

  “I remember everything,” she quipped.

  “Ha, ha—very funny,” Egg made a face and sat down next to her. “Let me see.”

  “Hey!” she covered up the computer. “Egg, this is private.”

  “Private?” Egg made a face. “I don’t want to read your stupid files. Let’s go online and play a game. At computer camp we found this site with classic arcade games like Space Invaders and Frogger. You’ll love those. Easy and no blood.”

  “But I’m in the middle of something, Egg.”

  “Come on, wrestling’s over. MaggotMan got pinned. Let’s go online,” he said, leaning over to type in a Web address. “We could play this wrestling game that is so cool.”

  “Wrestling? I don’t think so.”

  “Come on,” Egg begged.

  “No way.”

  “Oh, Maddie, pretty please with sugar and cherries and a bucket of whipped cream on top … please?”

  “You’re so annoying,” Madison sighed.

  He’d only been over for an hour, and already Madison wondered what it was that she had missed about Egg. He was rude and he was obsessed with stupid wrestling! A game site with a wrestling game? Madison rolled her eyes. Hadn’t Egg had enough takedowns for one day?

  Egg found the site. “Yeah! Okay, I’m gonna be Killer. Who do you want to be? Lemme just download this and enter my password…”

  Egg wanted to be Killer?

  Madison wanted to be … anywhere but here!

  She used to think Egg’s computer games were fun. Now, they seemed stupider than stupid.

  “Egg, let me ask you something,” Madison whispered. “Do you think you’re ready to start seventh grade? I mean really ready?”

  Egg was punching away at the keyboard. “Wha— What did you say?”

  What had happened to the Egg who played night tag until the mosquitoes got too hungry and the streets got too dark? Where was the Egg who dressed up as a kangaroo three years in a row for Halloween and who thought wrestling was too violent?

  “Get ready to … RUMMMBLE!” Egg was laughing hysterically at the announcer’s voice and the mayhem on the computer. He’d also turned up the volume so Madison had to talk louder in order to be heard a little bit.

  “Egg! I asked what you were thinking about starting at Far Hills. Have you even thought about junior high?”

  “WHOOOOO!” he screeched without even flinching. Madison could not tell if he was answering her question or smacking some other wrestler down with a metal folding chair.

  Madison crossed her arms. “Egg, did I tell you that I’m blasting off for Mars and that planet Earth is about to explode and that little aliens are coming to take you apart piece by piece …?

  “YESSSSS!” he s
creeched.

  Egg was hopeless.

  After four more rounds of Smack Down! and one more Pop-Tart (for the road), Egg finally left. As happy as she had been to see him, Madison was even happier to see him leave, at least for now.

  Once Egg was gone, Madison called Fiona’s house. No one was there. The machine picked up.

  “Please leave a message for the Waters.” Beeeeeeeep.

  “Hey, Fiona, it’s Maddie and I’m sorry about today. I wasn’t sure if—well, call me and we can talk. I just wanted to make sure you were—”

  Beeeeeeeep.

  The machine clicked off.

  Madison opened her computer.

  Only the Lonely

  I think everyone in my life took a pest pill. For whatever reason, Egg is just the most irritating boy I have ever met in my entire life. He’s different since he came back from camp. Okay, maybe he’s not different at all, maybe he just is exactly the same and I just forgot how ANNOYING he was!

  Walter Egg Diaz is a BIG GEEK. And I feel bad even thinking (let alone writing that down) because I don’t want to be the kind of person who puts people into boxes and judges them for stupid stuff like what they wear or who they hang with or what they watch on television like WRESTLING. Well, I say I don’t want to but somehow I always end up doing just that.

  I guess when it comes right down to it, people could stereotype me, too. I mean I am a little bit of a computer geek myself. But the truth is I am NOT the Nutty Professor or some kind of genius or anything with a label on it. I am just Madison Francesca Finn who happens to like computers and happens to like science and math and who happens to be good at remembering things. I like animals, too but that doesn’t mean I want to live in a zoo.

  Am I being unfair? I know. Egg just happens to be a regular guy who happens to like computers and (groan) wrestling. And I need to stop being so harsh. He’s my best guy friend.

  Sometimes when everything around me is changing, it feels like the world is so different and I wonder when and how did this all happen to me? Why did everyone go and change like this?

  Then I realize that it’s really not Egg or Aimee or Mom or Dad or even Phin that is doing all the changing.

  It’s just me.

  Chapter 7

  “YO, WHO’S THIS?” CHET was the one growling into the phone.

  “Is Fiona there?” Madison asked. “Uh, is this Chet? Is your sister there? This is Madison.”

  She heard him grunt another “yo,” and then scream for his sister, who picked up a second phone.

  “Madison?” Fiona chirped.

  “Hey, Fiona, I called to say hi. And … well, I thought you were going to call me back yesterday. I left a message—”

  “Oh really?” Fiona paused. “I did? You did?”

  Fiona was a little spacey, which bugged Madison more than she thought. How could she have forgotten?

  Fiona glossed right over any questions Madison was asking. She was on to the next thing already.

  “Hey, Madison, wanna hang today? Mom and Dad have to go do something in the city and I would do anything to get away from evil Chet and his stupid new friends—they are so GROSS. Can I come over to your house for a change?”

  Madison invited her over. For some reason, Fiona hadn’t hung out at the Finns’ yet.

  When she arrived, Fiona was wearing another cool outfit, just as nice as the pretty yellow sundress from the mall. She had on a flowered top and capri pants, and her braids were pulled back with a purple ribbon.

  “Rowrroooo!” Phin greeted her at the door, his tail wagging a mile a minute. Madison saw this as the best sign yet that in spite of her spacey self, Fiona was a BFTB (best-friend-to-be). Phin was an excellent judge of character.

  “Why did you ask me to bring a picture of myself?” Fiona blurted as soon as she entered Madison Finn’s front hallway.

  “I can’t tell you yet,” Madison answered. “FIRST … I made us smoothies. Hungry?”

  “I’m always starving,” Fiona said as she took a huge slurp of shake. She spit it out right away. “Is this banana?”

  Madison nodded. She had blended together vanilla yogurt with frozen bananas. It was her favorite recipe.

  “Oh, bananas make me puke,” Fiona said, sticking her tongue out and looking for a glass of water. “Sorry. I’m not really into fruit.”

  Madison apologized and made a plain vanilla smoothie. She made a mental note, too, for the Fiona file: no fruit—EVER.

  “Wow, you have such a nice place, can I see your room?” Fiona asked.

  Madison took her upstairs.

  “Is that her?” Fiona pointed to a photo of Aimee tacked to Madison’s door. “That’s Annie, right?”

  “Annie who?” Madison looked. “You mean Aimee?”

  “Your friend, the one who’s at camp?” Fiona queried again. “She looks so nice. Is she nice? Duh. Of course she’s nice—she’s your friend. That was a stupid question.”

  Madison nodded, but it didn’t really matter. She noticed how sometimes Fiona started and finished a conversation all by herself.

  “Who’s that?” Fiona asked, pointing to a second photo with Egg in it.

  “Oh, that’s Egg—well his real name is Walter. Walter Diaz. He’ll go to Far Hills too. He’s a nice guy even if he does like wrestling more than life itself sometimes. Well, you’ll probably meet him soon.”

  “Yeah,” Fiona snickered. “He’s pretty cute, isn’t he?”

  Madison stopped the tour. Had Fiona actually used the words Egg and cute in the same sentence?

  “Fiona, did you just say Egg was cute?”

  “He is, Madison. He’s like totally my type. You said his name was Walter?” Fiona was actually staring at his picture.

  In that brief moment, Madison realized that she had SO much to learn about Fiona if they were going to be friends. She had to learn about bananas and other foods that made Fiona puke. She had to learn when Fiona was being a space case and when she was really ignoring Madison. She even had to learn that sometimes Fiona might just see someone like Egg as a cutie. Being a friend with someone new suddenly meant learning lots of new stuff.

  From the moment Madison had said “Make yourself at home” inside her room, Fiona had started snooping around like a kid in a toy shop. First she picked up Madison’s stuffed Beary, an oversized Teddy Bear with bald patches from where he’d been loved a little too much.

  “Is his eye missing?” Fiona asked.

  Madison grinned. “I chewed it off when I was two, I think.”

  Fiona examined Madison’s glitter nail polish, picked over a basket of junk on her dresser, and read every CD case and book spine on the bookshelf. Meanwhile, Madison just stood by and let herself be inspected. She had been nervous about sharing her house and her stuff, but now Madison wanted Fiona to know everything.

  “Oh, do you like Calvin and Hobbes too?”

  Madison nodded.

  “Is orange your favorite color or what?”

  Madison grinned.

  “Who’s this guy? Is he your boyfriend or something?”

  Madison grimaced. “NO WAY!”

  Fiona was looking at a framed photograph of Madison with Hart Jones, a boy from her class. It had been taken on a second-grade field trip to Lake Wannalotta upstate. The only reason Madison had it on her shelf was because she and Hart were holding up this humongous sunfish between them. It was funny, so she’d kept it. Now she realized she’d better replace it. She didn’t want people to get the wrong idea, especially people like Fiona.

  “Lucky thing this Hart guy left at the end of second grade. He was like a walking zombie, always tagging along with me and Aimee and Egg, and pestering me. Ugh. His family moved.” Madison said quickly.

  “Hey, what’s this?” Fiona asked when she saw a framed collage over Madison’s bed.

  Madison explained that she liked cutting out words and images from magazines and pasting them all together to make a picture. The collage hanging over her bed was the
med around the subject of “family.” She’d glued pictures of babies next to words like Need You and Comfort. There was a border of lace around the edges.

  “You are a wicked good artist, Madison,” Fiona smiled when she said that. “I mean it. You should take art in school. Have you ever? I can’t draw to save my life. I’m so jealous!”

  “Gee, thanks.” Madison shrugged again. She figured Fiona was just trying to be nice since they were only starting out as friends. “I don’t really consider myself to be any kind of real artist, but I like it. I mean it’s not drawing, exactly …”

  “Maybe we should take an art elective or something together this year?” Fiona suggested. “You can help me make art!”

  “What are your hobbies, Fiona?” Madison asked.

  “Hmmm. I know I’m gonna try out for soccer this year. Does sports count as a hobby? Chet plays basketball and everyone usually tries to get me to do that too because I’m tall, but I think I’m going for seventh-grade soccer.”

  “You’re into sports?” Madison plopped down on her bed.

  Fiona smirked, “Oh yeah, I am totally into sports. Big time.” She sat down next to Madison.

  They decided to sign up for art class and try out for soccer together when school started the following week. Maybe soccer could help Madison get rid of her klutziness? She hoped so.

  Madison clicked her laptop on. She wanted to show Fiona all the stuff it could do. She clicked on the icon to load the web site funkyfotostudio.com. There was a button with a smiley face that led to the Makeover Magic page. The site promised it could give anyone a whole new look—virtually. “So … this is why I wanted you to bring a photo,” Madison admitted. “We can make us both over. I have a photo of me already uploaded. Wanna try?”

  Fiona nodded and Madison transferred her photo to the computer. Then they started to play around with the images.

  First, they tested a blond wig on Fiona’s head. She looked like she was wearing a really lame Halloween costume.

  “I look like a clown!” Fiona cried. “Can you imagine if I dyed my hair blond for real? My parents would KILL ME!”