Double Dare (From the Files of Madison Finn, 14) (16 page)
Read Double Dare (From the Files of Madison Finn, 14) Online
Authors: Laura Dower
“Hey, Maddie,” Drew cried. “Did you hear about the new page on TweenBlurt.com?”
TweenBlurt.com was the most popular website with Madison and her friends. It had chat rooms, a fortune-telling blowfish, and all sorts of cool surveys.
Madison nodded. The site had recently added a new section called Trend Talk, where kids could post messages to each other.
“That’s nothing!” Egg said. “I know a way cooler site, called The Wall. My sister told me about it.”
According to Egg, The Wall was a giant bulletin board where kids could post ideas, comments, and gossip of all kinds. It was a little bit like Facebook, but more anonymous and only for younger kids. Madison thought she knew about most of the new websites, but she hadn’t heard anything about The Wall.
“The Wall is way better than TweenBlurt.com,” Egg said. “That has too many moderators. It’s so babyish. The Wall has cooler bulletin boards. You really should check it out.”
“Hmmm,” Madison said, intrigued.
“Don’t do it!” Someone shrieked across the lunchroom. Madison glanced over and saw Ivy Daly seated a few tables away. Poison Ivy had been Madison’s mortal enemy for the past few years. She was laughing out loud—really loud—with her drones “Phony” Joanie and Rose “Thorn.” No matter where she was in school, Madison always seemed to cross paths with Ivy. Today was no exception.
Ivy caught Madison staring. She mouthed the words, “What’s
your
problem?”
Madison looked back down at her food. Ivy had the unique ability to leave Madison speechless.
Meanwhile, Madison’s friends continued to blab about The Wall, soccer, chocolate cake, flying monkeys, and anything else that happened to pop into their heads.
After school, Aimee and Fiona headed toward their after-school activities, while Madison headed home. She had a plan: to check out The Wall. So, as soon as she arrived, Madison said her hellos to Phin, her adorable pug, clicked on her laptop, and went online.
Egg had given Madison the link to get onto The Wall, so she typed it in. The home page came up right away. Madison saw a flashing purple banner that read:
WELCOME TO THE WALL!
POST YOUR DEEP THOUGHTS NOW!
Then, in smaller print (almost unreadable as far as Madison was concerned, since she had to lean so close to the screen to make out the words), were the comments:
For your safety and to keep the bulletin board fun, please DO NOT: swear, flood the message board, give out personal info, exchange photos, post other people’s addresses, or use false screen addresses. Above all, do not be disrespectful to others on The Wall. These boards are reserved for 9- to 14-year-olds only.
Madison scanned the rules and clicked a flashing blue square that said “Let’s Go!” The monitor went dark for a second. Then it started to glow around the edges.
READY TO BREAK IT DOWN?
A sound like shattered glass blared out of Madison’s computer speakers, and even Phinnie jumped. Madison lowered the volume and watched as a multicolored, brick “wall” on the screen broke apart to reveal a long list of bulletin-board topics.
THE WALL
HOT TOPICS
School
Sports
Current Events
Beauty
Games
Parents
Gossip
Madison immediately clicked on
GOSSIP.
It was the one Egg had recommended. Another long list of postings came up on the screen, which showed a general posting, “Name,” and the number of responses it had received.
HOT TOPICS: GOSSIP
What should I do??? 3
Angry grrrl 25
Pet peeve 13
Friends-n-enemies 8
Yoo-hoo 17
Believe THIS 9
Help help help 10
Is this place confusin 15
pretty in pink 5
jokes on u 22
Madison was about to click on one of the subtopics when Mom walked into her room, arms crossed over her chest.
“Are you doing your homework?” Mom asked.
Madison hit a key that made the screen go blue. Her new zebra-and-wildebeest screen saver flashed on. Madison always had wild and endangered animals on her screen savers.
“You look guilty,” Mom said, tapping her foot. “Where are your books? Didn’t we have a conversation about Internet use being allowed only
after
the homework is finished?”
“Yeah,” Madison said. She bent over and grabbed Phinnie, pulling the dog into her lap. She stroked his ears so she wouldn’t have to look up.
“Dinner will be ready in about half an hour. And I want you to get some homework done before then,” Mom said sternly. “None of this staying up late to work on book reports, okay?”
Madison nodded.
As soon as Mom had left the room, however, Madison immediately clicked back on to The Wall. The Gossip screen came into view. Then a separate window appeared up in the corner of the screen. This was fancier than TweenBlurt, for sure.
Aimee was online.
Ever since Aimee and Madison had gotten their family dogs a few years earlier, they’d talked about how much fun it would be to breed them together. Madison always thought that Blossom, Aimee’s basset hound, would be the best match for her pug, Phineas T. Finn.
Madison stopped typing. She stared at the screen.
Breeder? Love connection? Another basset hound? What was Aimee talking about?
Phin wriggled around by Madison’s feet, trying to get comfortable on the rug. Madison patted the top of his head and whispered in his ear.
“Oh, Phinnie, I’m so sorry,” Madison said, as if Phin knew that he’d just been cut from the father-to-be list.
Madison didn’t know what to write to Aimee. So instead of typing a quick response like
I gotta run
or
C u l8r,
Madison abruptly ended her conversation and headed back to investigate The Wall.
It was way better to read someone else’s gossip than to worry about her own feelings—at least for right now.
P
HIN KICKED MADISON IN
his sleep. Hard.
He’d curled up near the top of Madison’s pillows, and his little paws were jerking as if he had been dreaming he was running a race.
Madison’s mind raced, too, as she lay there in the half-dark, waiting for her alarm clock to buzz. She had set it to wake up on the early side, even though it was Saturday. Madison had thought a night’s sleep would make all her icky feelings about Aimee and the puppies-to-be go away. …
But it hadn’t.
The sun shone in through Madison’s bedroom window, but it was still cold in her room, so she snuggled further under the covers.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
She punched off the alarm button and stared up at her ceiling. She saw things she’d never noticed before. Peeling paint, a dusty cobweb in the corner …
Dingdong.
A groggy Madison fell out of bed and pressed her nose up to the window. Was there a delivery truck parked in the driveway? Had Dad come over to visit early today? She saw only Mom’s car parked there. Who could be ringing the—?
“Rowf rowf!”
Madison heard a bark. She caught her breath. It was Aimee at the door—she knew it. That was Blossom’s bark.
Phin knew, too. The moment he recognized his doggy friend’s hello, Phinnie began to prance around the room.
“Maddie!” Mom’s voice called out from the upstairs hallway. “Are you dressed? I just got out of the shower. Can you get the door, please?”
“Oh, Mom.” Madison groaned. “Do I have to? I’m still in bed.” Her heart thumped. She couldn’t face Aimee. Not after what had happened the night before.
Mom came to the doorway of Madison’s room in a bathrobe and slippers, a wet towel wrapped around her head.
“Honestly, Maddie, I don’t know what’s gotten into you these days. I’m dripping wet. I need you to get the door.”
“Mom, please. PLEASE,” Madison pleaded. “I think it’s Aimee.”
“So? All the more reason for you just to answer it. She’s your best friend, Maddie … ”
“Mom, you don’t understand. We had a fight. A big fight.”
“What? When?” Mom looked concerned. “You didn’t tell me anything about—”
Dingdong.
“Madison Finn.” Mom crinkled up her nose. “What’s going on?”
“I just can’t talk to Aimee now,” Madison said. “Mom, please do this one thing for me. I’ll explain later. Please?”
Mom let out a huge sigh.
“Fine! But afterward, you’re telling me
everything
,” Mom said. She whirled around, towel and bathrobe on, and headed downstairs.
Madison crawled toward her bedroom entrance so she could eavesdrop. Phin sniffed around the door.
“Aimee! What a surprise!” Madison heard Mom say as she opened the front door.
“Hi, Mrs. Finn,” Aimee said. “I came to see Maddie. I thought maybe we could walk the dogs together …”
Madison bit her lip. What would Mom say next?
“Walk the dogs? Oh, I’m sorry, Aim,” Mom answered. “Madison isn’t feeling well right now. Can she … can she call you later?”
Madison clutched at her pj’s and listened close. What would Aimee say next?
“Oh, wow, sick?” Aimee said. She sounded disappointed. “But I just talked to her last night … She seemed fine.”
“Yes, but …”Mom stalled.
“Well … um … tell her to call me as soon as she feels better, okay? Fiona and I are hanging out later. We might go ice skating. And if Maddie wants to come, that would be cool.”
“Okay, dear,” Mom said sweetly. “I’ll tell her.”
That was all Madison needed to hear. She scooted back over to her bed and bounced down onto the edge. “What a close one, Phinnie!” she said. “But Mom saved the day.”
“Rowrrrooooo!” Phin howled.
A few moments later, Mom reappeared at Madison’s bedroom door, arms folded tightly. She had a Grinch-like scowl on her face.
“Start talking, young lady,” Mom said.
And Madison did.
From: MadFinn
To: Bigwheels
Subject: When Things Fall Apart
Date: Sat 4 Nov 11:47 AM
Bad things come in threes. It’s cold. My teacher is MIA. My best friend has betrayed me.
Okay, I’m being a little dramatic, I know. But how am I supposed to feel when my BFF in the whole planet goes back on a promise we’ve had forever and ever?
Aimee and I said a long time ago that our puppies would make puppies one day. It was like a dream of mine. And now that she’s ready with her dog, it turns out that my dog isn’t the lucky dad. I know we didn’t make a formal pact or anything, but isn’t a friend’s word supposed to count for something?
Okay. I shouldn’t whine, because there are poor, starving people in the world, but I feel soooo crummy and it’s hard to think about anything but this. Does that make me a bad person? Am I obsessing over nothing?
I wish it would snow or something. I hate winter when nothing happens except lots of cold and more cold and blah, blah, blah.
Help me!
Yours till the head aches,
Maddie
xoxox
P.S. My friend Egg told me about this new bulletin board site, The Wall. It’s cool. Have u seen it?
Madison hit
SEND.
After Mom’s strategic save with Aimee, Madison had been feeling a little better. But it was communication with her keypal Bigwheels, aka Victoria, that made Madison feel best of all. Bigwheels always knew the right things to say to ease Madison’s anxiousness about friends, school, and parent stuff. Hopefully, she’d respond right away to Madison’s e-mail.
After logging off, Madison headed back into the kitchen to grab her jacket. Mom suggested that Madison plan something for Saturday afternoon, to raise her spirits, rather than just moping around the house, avoiding friends like Aimee. A good place to visit was the animal clinic, of course. What better place for Madison to go when she was bummed out about puppies … than a place where she could visit lots of puppies? Mom even agreed to drive her there.
Best of all, while she was at the clinic, Madison could talk to her friend Dan Ginsburg, the one guy who could
always
make Madison laugh out loud. Dan volunteered at the clinic every Saturday and most weekday afternoons. His mom, Eileen Ginsburg, was the primary veterinary nurse there.
“Have fun with the animals, honey bear,” Mom said as she dropped Madison off in front of the clinic. “Phin and I will just be hanging out at home. Call, and we’ll come back to pick you up.”
Mom gave Madison a big kiss good-bye, and Phin gave Madison an even bigger doggy smooch through the rear window.
The entrance to the clinic was decorated with wreaths and brightly colored lights. Eileen sat behind the front desk of the clinic, helping visitors and their pets. On one side of the room, a woman cradled her French bulldog, and a man held on to his black cat in a box. On the other side of the room, an older woman yipped back at her nippy little terrier, and a couple played with a small, gray ferret on a small, gray leash.