Double Dare Read online

  “What is that supposed to be?” Madison asked.

  “What do you mean?” Aimee said, licking a little frosting off her pinky.

  “It says ‘Happy Birthday, Fion,’” Madison said.

  “It does? Oh-em-gee! I ran out of room! Maddie, I didn’t even—” Aimee pulled at her hair. “I am so sorry. I ruined it.”

  “Aimee, calm down,” Mrs. Gillespie said. “It’s only frosting.”

  Mom came down the stairs to see what the commotion was all about. She’d given Phin a sponge bath instead of a full dunking.

  “Melanie!” Mom said, greeting Mrs. Gillespie. “So they got you in on the cake baking, too, I see.”

  “Look!” Madison said. “I solved the problem. We can squish in the missing ‘A’ and it looks fine.”

  Phin wriggled out of Mom’s arms and ran happy circles around Blossom. Blossom, who was about three times Phin’s size, expressed her joy at seeing him by lying down in the middle of the kitchen and yawning. Everyone stopped to laugh at the odd couple.

  Mom offered Mrs. Gillespie some tea while Madison pulled the second cake out of the oven.

  “We need to wait for this to cool down before we frost it,” Madison explained. “Is it okay if Aimee and I go up to my room for a little while?”

  “Sure, we’ll hold down the fort … er, kitchen,” Mom said.

  “Take your time,” Mrs. Gillespie agreed, blowing on her tea.

  “Let’s see if anyone else has replied to the e-vite,” Aimee said as she followed Madison upstairs.

  “Great idea.” Madison logged onto TweenBlurt.com and checked her e-mail account. There were two new e-mails in her inbox.

  FROM

  SUBJECT

  L8RG8R

  Re: Fw: Shhh! Top Secret Party!

  Flowr99

  Re: Fw: Shhh! Top Secret Party!

  “Who’s that?” Aimee asked, twirling a piece of hair around her index finger.

  “Not sure,” Madison said. “These are some of the people Egg forwarded the invite to.”

  From: L8RG8R

  To: MadFinn

  Subject: Re: Fw: Shhh! Top Secret Party!

  Date: Thurs 28 Sept 1:14 PM

  Hey, I’m definitely coming to Chet’s party. Thanks for inviting me!

  Lance

  “Lance is that guy who always acts like a dork?” Aimee asked. She could be hypercritical of boys sometimes, Madison noticed. But all the boys liked Aimee, no matter what she said.

  “Lance is really okay,” Madison said, defending him.

  “I’ll bet the other e-mail is from Rose,” Aimee said, eyeing the screen name Flowr99. “Open it.”

  The note was not from a drone, however.

  It came from the Queen Bee herself.

  From: Flowr99

  To: MadFinn

  Subject: Re: Fw: Shhh! Top Secret Party!

  Date: Thurs 28 Sept 2:34 PM

  Nice invitation, Madison. I didn’t know you knew how to make an e-vite. Impressive.

  Of course I’m coming to the party—I know it won’t be any fun for you without your seventh-grade Class President. Besides, someone has to be there to make sure Fiona has a good time.

  TTFN!

  Ivy

  “Ivy!” Madison and Aimee exclaimed.

  “So it’s really true,” Aimee said with a groan. “She’s actually coming.”

  “I’ll bet that means that Phony Joanie and Rose Thorn are coming, too, even if they haven’t bothered to RSVP,” Madison said. Scanning Ivy’s message again, she added, “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

  “Maybe?” Aimee repeated, wide eyed. “Don’t look at me—I tried to warn you. Remember what she did at your third-grade birthday party?”

  Madison shook her head. “Please don’t remind me—”

  “I gave you that poster book,” Aimee prompted, “and she grabbed it and totally hogged it.”

  “Oh, right!” Madison said, remembering. “She was kissing that singer’s photo all night. She kept saying that he was her boyfriend and wouldn’t let anyone else look at it. I remember!”

  “Why were we ever friends with her?” Aimee asked, staring at the ceiling.

  “I have no idea,” Madison said.

  But she did remember. Ivy had been different then. Back in third grade, Ivy’s obnoxiousness had been more of a streak, and less of a stain. Back then, Ivy hadn’t needed to be the star of everything.

  “I can’t believe she’s actually coming,” Aimee went on. “And there’s no way we can get out of it now … the party is only two days away!”

  “I know,” Madison agreed, shaking her head. The week had flown by quicker than quick—and now everything was here. The deadline for her webpage was tomorrow!

  Madison and Aimee went back downstairs and finished up the second cake. Then Aimee, Blossom, and Mrs. Gillespie said their good-byes. Mom decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for dinner. Madison went back up to her room and tested out the links for her webpage after they ate.

  “Are you getting ready for bed, honey bear?” Mom asked from the hallway.

  “In a few minutes,” Madison promised. “I’m just finishing this up.”

  “Okay. Don’t stay up too late,” Mom said. “You have a big weekend coming up.”

  “I won’t,” Madison promised. Phin came in and curled up at her feet.

  When she was finally satisfied that all of her links were working, Madison logged into TweenBlurt once more and typed a quick e-mail to her webpage partner, Fiona.

  From: MadFinn

  To: Wetwinz

  Subject: We Did It!

  Date: Thurs 28 Sept 10:27 PM

  Hey, U—just wanted to say good luck tomorrow! (To both of us!) :o)

  I think the page looks great. UR a great partner!!!!!

  Good night, sleep tight … DLTBBB!!!!

  xoxoxo

  Maddie

  Madison logged off and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Then she turned out the lights and crawled under her comforter. Today had been a baking success. And she hadn’t really thought of Egg, or Dad, or even Ivy all day.

  But lying there in the dark, familiar thoughts and worries churned through her brain. She could deny it all she wanted, but Madison needed to apologize.

  But when?

  Through her window, Madison watched the round, white moon. Below it was a bright star. Pulling her comforter up to her chin the way she used to when she was a little girl, she closed her eyes.

  And Madison made a wish that everything would turn out all right.

  Chapter 10

  “ARE YOU READY?” MADISON asked Fiona as she slid into a chair beside her friend.

  “Are you kidding?” Fiona replied. “This webpage contest is ours.” She flashed Madison a confident smile, and Madison smiled back.

  “All right, everyone,” Mrs. Wing said. “Let’s see your webpages. Anyone who still needs my help, this is your last chance.”

  A chorus of “Mrs. Wing!”s went up, and at least ten hands shot into the air. Madison typed her and Fiona’s web address into the computer, and the webpage appeared on the screen.

  In front of Madison, Egg and Chet were laughing their heads off at something. Madison tried to ignore them—until Fiona leaned over and whispered in her ear, “There he is.”

  Madison scowled at the computer monitor. “I know,” she said.

  “So, go tell him you’re sorry,” Fiona urged. “You said you were looking for the right time to do it….”

  Madison knew that her friend had a point, but she didn’t want to tell Egg she was sorry in front of Chet and everyone else in their computer class.

  Egg pointed to something on the screen in front of him, and Chet started laughing so hard that his shoulders were shaking.

  Madison looked over. “What’s so funny?” she asked in her friendliest voice.

  “Fiona’s face!” Chet howled. Egg laughed even louder.

&
nbsp; Madison stood there with her arms crossed until the boys stopped laughing. Egg turned and looked at Madison coldly.

  “Just our webpage,” he said.

  “Um … Can I see it?” Madison asked, trying to be nicer again.

  Egg shrugged. “Whatever.”

  The boys’ page was up on their screen, and Madison scanned the images and text. At the top was a picture of two Jedi warriors from the latest Star Wars movie—only Chet and Egg had put their own heads on top of the bodies. Their light sabers clashed every couple of seconds, letting out an electronic pzzzap sound. Chet scrolled down the page to reveal a message:

  A short, short time ago

  in a galaxy not too far from here

  lived two heroes who struggled with

  homework so boring that it put them to sleep.

  Our heroes decided that there had to be a better way.

  And so they created the Science Stunner—a webpage

  packed with cool science and games

  for when they needed a break.

  Now they could work for hours—or at least make their

  parents think they were working.

  This is their website….

  Music bleated from the computer speakers as Chet continued to scroll down. The two had packed the page with links to many different science and gaming sites. They even had little video clips of themselves, dressed as Jedi knights, giving reviews of each site. Madison pressed her lips together. She had to admit it—Chet and Egg’s page looked great. The page she and Fiona had been working on, which had looked so cute with its simple graphics and fun, rhyming text, was boring by comparison.

  Way boring.

  Mrs. Wing appeared at Egg’s elbow. “How’s it coming along, boys?”

  “It’s coming along very well, Mrs. Wing,” Egg said, blushing a little.

  “Take a look,” Chet said.

  “Hmmmm,” Mrs. Wing peered at the webpage. “You boys really put a lot of effort into this.”

  Chet and Egg grinned at each other. “Yessssss!” they both said at the same time.

  Mrs. Wing took the mouse and clicked on one of their links. She waited a moment, but nothing happened. “Hmm …” she said, clicking the link again.

  Madison tried not to smile, even though she was secretly happy about Chet and Egg’s misfortune.

  Mrs. Wing hit the REFRESH button.

  “I think the computer is frozen,” she said. “I’m not getting anything. Try refreshing the page a few times more, please. Otherwise, you guys had better reboot. We don’t want our classroom systems crashing.”

  Egg frowned. “This always happens,” he moaned.

  “Well,” Mrs. Wing said, “sometimes that happens when you’re dealing with a lot of graphics. A few other people are having that problem.”

  Madison gulped. Other people were having that problem? Did that mean that everyone else in the class had used more graphics than she and Fiona had? Would their links work?

  “I’ll come back around to see you boys once you get that page up again,” Mrs. Wing promised. She moved along to Madison and Fiona’s station.

  Madison felt her heart start to beat. What would Mrs. Wing think of their site—especially now that she’d seen Egg and Chet’s superdeluxe page?

  “Let’s see what you girls have done,” Mrs. Wing said. Her bracelets rattled against the keyboard as she viewed the page. Madison held her breath as Mrs. Wing punched a few of the links. Thankfully, they had each tested them all the night before.

  Mrs. Wing stood up. “Class, may I have your attention? Everyone, please come here for a minute.”

  “Is everything okay?” Madison asked, suddenly worried that her favorite teacher was going to point out everything that was wrong with their page in front of the entire class. She suspected the worst.

  “Yes,” Mrs. Wing said. “You and Fiona have done a wonderful job. This is a really useful page. I would like everyone in the class to see it.”

  Fiona turned to Madison and squeezed her forearm. “Did you hear that?” she said softly. Madison sat up straight in her chair, smiling, while Mrs. Wing pointed out the finer points of MADISON AND FIONA’S HOMEWORK CENTER.

  Mrs. Wing said their page followed the rules exactly and was just the kind of practical site the contest judges would be expecting. Madison made a silent mental note to thank Dad for his help. He’d been right all along.

  “Now, class, I want everyone to download and print your pages. I want to put them on display on the bulletin board.” Mrs. Wing pointed to a blank board at the back of the room. Madison hadn’t noticed it when she walked in, but now she saw that at the top was a large banner that read: HOW A WEBPAGE IS MADE.

  Fiona and Madison couldn’t stop grinning, which must have annoyed Chet and Egg. They stood across the room, moping. Their webpage screen froze again right after they rebooted the computer.

  Madison glanced over, hoping to catch Egg’s eye. He looked straight at her as she mouthed the word.

  “Sorry,” Madison said silently.

  Unfortunately, Egg didn’t take that as an apology. He thought Madison was rubbing it in.

  “Hey, Maddie,” Aimee said, leaning against the locker next to Madison’s. The last bell had just rung and they were out for the weekend, but Aimee could tell that Madison wasn’t in a great mood. “What’s wrong? Fail locker inspection again?”

  “Ha-ha,” Madison said as two spiral-bound notebooks fell from her locker, a pile of papers fluttering after them.

  Madison shoved everything back into her own messy locker and slammed it closed.

  “Seriously,” Aimee pressed, “you’re looking a little down.”

  “I know. I had this terrible fight with Egg … and I feel like even though Fiona and I got some compliments on our webpage, we could have done a better job,” Madison admitted.

  “Egg, shmeg … your page was the best.” Aimee gave Madison a little poke in the shoulder. “You should be happy!” She did a little twirl. “Besides, the You Know What for You Know Who is this weekend—and we’re going to the You Know Where, which will be a blast!”

  Madison laughed. Aimee was practically leaping down the hall. Once again, her BFF cheered her up. It was too late to worry about the contest. Madison needed to be thinking about the party instead.

  “Hey, wait up!” Fiona shouted behind them. Madison and Aimee stopped to wait for their friend. “You are the best, partner!” Fiona said happily to Madison as she jogged up. “I think we have a chance of winning the contest, don’t you?”

  “Your teacher saw the webpage?” Aimee asked.

  “Mrs. Wing totally loved it,” Fiona explained. “She made everyone in the whole class look at it!”

  Aimee stared at Madison. “That is so excellent. So why are you moping around like a sourpuss?”

  “I just said that I thought it could be better….” Madison said lamely.

  Aimee blew her bangs out of her eyes with an impatient burst of air. “Okay, no more talking about this. You definitely don’t get any sympathy from me now that I know everyone loved it.”

  Madison grinned sheepishly. “Okay,” she said. “You’re right.”

  “So, Fiona,” Aimee said slyly as she pushed open the heavy school doors, “want to get together tomorrow? We could go to Freeze Palace or something for your birthday.”

  Outside, the late September sun was warm on Madison’s face, and she smiled up at it. Aimee was trying secretly to get Madison’s head in a different place. If she thought about the birthday party, she wouldn’t think about the webpage anymore.

  “Sorry, I can’t really do anything on Saturday,” Fiona said. “My dad is taking us to see these old college friends of his—we’ll be gone all day.”

  “He what?” Madison asked, as if she didn’t understand English. She gaped at Aimee, who was staring at Fiona, openmouthed.

  “Your—your dad?” Aimee stammered.

  “Yeah,” Fiona said, rolling her eyes. “Since we moved,
our aunt and uncle can’t come over this year. So he’s taking us to see these old friends of his. They have kids our age, and I guess we met them once about five hundred years ago and had a good time playing in the sandbox, or whatever. I don’t even remember them, but Dad’s all excited about it, even though Chet and I both said we’d rather stay here.”

  “Does your mom know about this?” Madison asked.

  “Of course,” Fiona said. “But it was just a last-minute thing—that’s why I didn’t tell you about it before.”

  “Wow,” Aimee said hoarsely, “that’s—that’s great.” Madison could tell by her voice that Aimee thought the plan was anything but great. What about the surprise? Had Mrs. Waters forgotten? It didn’t make sense.

  “But we can get together on Sunday,” Fiona said. “If that’s okay. I do want to do something fun for my birthday.”

  Madison bit back a groan. Sunday? She wondered briefly whether she would now have to call all the guests and tell them to come the next day. There was no way everyone would be able to make a new date on such short notice. What a mess! Not even Aimee could cheer her up after this. Fiona’s dad had really thrown a King Kong–size wrench into things. After all the work they’d done, now Madison and Aimee were going to be sitting at a bowling alley with a ton of guests, twin chocolate cakes—and no guests of honor!

  Madison could already hear what Poison Ivy Daly would have to say about that.

  Chapter 11

  Party Time

  I can’t believe it—the day of the party is finally HERE!!

  Yesterday, I thought Fiona’s surprise party was toast, as in flambé. So I sent Fiona’s mom a way frantic e-mail, asking her whether we should tell everyone that the plans were off. But it turns out that Mrs. Waters was just being a supersneak! She and Mr. Waters totally handed Fiona and Chet this fake story about going to visit these college friends of his. The only place they’re going is for a long drive around Far Hills … and then to the bowling alley! It’s perfect, because this way, Mrs. Waters, Aimee, and I will have plenty of time to set up.