Caught in the Web (17 page)

The answer came a moment later.

“Aimee Gillespie, I’d like you to work with Ben Buckley.”

Aimee tried not to look appalled. Madison knew she was. Ben was
way
obnoxious. With his super-snobby attitude, he would have been a much better partner for Poison Ivy.

“I’m so bummed,” Madison moaned as soon as class had ended. She and Fiona and Aimee went to their lockers. “I’m bummed that we won’t be partners. Aim.”

“Well, Ben may be superstrange, but at least he’s supersmart, too,” Aimee said. “That’ll make up for his personality, won’t it?”

“All that really and truly matters is that we didn’t get the Princess of Evil,” Madison whispered, motioning to Ivy, who just happened to be walking past at that very moment. The three friends stared.

“Uh, can I help you?” Ivy snarled, nose in the air. She made a face and walked on by with Rose Thorn and Phony Joanie.

“Maddie!” Egg yelled. He ran up to the girls. “How cool is this? We got matched. I have a great idea already. You are gonna be so glad you got me.”

Madison wasn’t surprised that Egg acted a little full of himself. She knew he would want to be the one in charge. “I have things totally under control,” he said.

“You do?” Madison asked. “But we haven’t even decided what we’re doing.”

Aimee rolled her eyes. “You’re like … a total turkey. Egg.”

“But turkey’s okay, since it is Thanksgiving,” Madison said, grinning.

Egg laughed. “Very funny, Maddie. Just hilarious,” he said.

As they packed up their bags to head home, Madison tried to adjust her outlook on the entire situation. “I think we’ll be great,” Madison said.

Egg pushed her shoulder. “Hey, I’ll e-mail you later, okay?” He ran off to find Chet.

Madison noticed Fiona staring at Egg when he disappeared around the corner. Everyone knew Fiona had a mega-crush on him. Madison wondered if maybe Egg liked Fiona more than he admitted, too.

Later that afternoon, Madison went online to find ideas for her extra-credit project with Egg. She checked her e-mailbox and was surprised to find it full of messages.

Boop-Dee-Doop announced 10 percent off all merchandise, which was great news, since Madison was saving up her allowance for a pair of flared jeans with a low waist and patches on the back.

TweenBlurt.com was announcing the results of their Sandwich Day poll. They always celebrated obscure holidays that no one ever really heard of. Sandwich Day was November 3. The yummiest sandwich according to the TweenBlurt.com poll takers was peanut butter and jelly. Hamburgers came in a close second.

Next Madison read the e-mail from JeffFinn, aka Dad. Madison knew that he would probably send her at least one joke a day until Thanksgiving.

From: JeffFinn


To: MadFinn


Subject: ANOTHER JOKE!!


Date: Mon 13 Nov 4:23 PM


If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?


Guess this and I’ll take you to dinner.


I love you.


Dad


Madison groaned. Didn’t Dad realize he’d been telling her that same joke since she was four years old? The answer was “Pilgrims,” of course.

Duh!

She was about to click DELETE but stopped herself. Dad hadn’t mentioned anything in his note about Thanksgiving dinner. She reread it.

Madison secretly wished that Dad would protest all the divorce rules so they could all have a big old turkey dinner together. But Dad never protested much of anything.

The only e-mail remaining took Madison by surprise. The Far Hills Clinic (FHC) had sent Madison a welcome letter.

From: FHC


To: MadFinn


Subject: Welcome!


Date: Mon 13 Nov 4:08 PM


Woof! We’re so happy to welcome you, Madison Finn, to our Far Hills family of volunteers. Thanks to people like you, we can provide care and help for animals in our community. That’s something to bark about! We look forward to seeing you on your first day. If you have not signed up yet, please call Eileen Ginsburg at the clinic—she’ll be pleased to put you on our schedule.


Thank you.


Dr. Bryan Wing


and all the animals at FHC


Although the family parts of Thanksgiving between Mom and Dad still needed a little sorting out, the school parts seemed to be working out well—and this e-mail indicated that the volunteering would be good fun, too. Gramma Helen would say, “Don’t count your turkeys before they’re hatched.”

But these days, Madison Finn wanted to count on
everything.

Buy
Thanks for Nothing
Now!

Author Laura Dower has a lot in common with Madison Finn: They’re both only children and they both love dogs, the color orange, and books! Laura has written more than ninety kids’ books to date, including twenty-five in the series From the Files of Madison Finn. Her other books include the new Palace Puppies series and
For Girls Only
, a guide to girl stuff. When she’s not writing, Laura loves to garden, sing (loudly), and volunteer as a scout leader for her daughter and two sons. She and her family live in New York. Want to be keypals? Drop her a note at
www.lauradower.com.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2001 by Laura Dower

Cover design by Connie Gabbert

978-1-4804-2255-1

This edition published in 2013 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com