Save the Date (7 page)

“Welcome to the park,” he said in a sweet voice.

“I’ll be your field guide.”

The boys made a hissing noise when Jimmy started to speak. They were already kicking into goofball gear. One kid pumped his fist up into the air. “Wooo! Wooo!”

“Older guys are so much more mature,” Ivy whispered. Her drones nodded. Madison and Aimee and the rest of the girls standing there heard it, too.

Score two for Ivy.

Everyone was flirting with the field guide. Madison knew that Jimmy could tell, but he didn’t act weird or flirty at all. He explained that he was a college sophomore volunteering at the center during his days off from classes. He was a biology major because he loved animals. And he had a pet iguana.

Madison hung on his every word. They had so much in common, except for the college and iguana part.

“OKAY, KIDS,” a booming voice interrupted Jimmy’s talk.

Mr. Danehy came waddling over, barking in the same, loud, oddly unidentifiable accent he always spoke in class. “Girls, now you’ll get together in one group. You’ll be going around with Jimmy here. Boys, you gather over by that tree. Ranger Lester and I will escort you. Ah! Here he comes now.”

Lester appeared through a door at the main gatehouse. He was dressed in safari clothes with stuff attached all over his belt. He had a long, grizzled beard that looked a little like a bird’s nest. He clapped before he ever said anything.

Clap, clap.

“Well, hello there, young men,” he said.

Clap, clap.

“Nature awaits us!” he said. “Are you prepared?”

“What’s with this guy?” Madison heard Chet whisper to his friends. “How come we don’t get some cute
girl
to lead our group?”

Madison was relieved to see that Aimee’s science teacher, Ms. Ripple, would be walking around with them.

The boys split off toward one path; the girls headed to another.

“I’d like everyone to please treat this area carefully,” Jimmy said as they started to hike. “The creatures and plant life need your special consideration. If you look over here, we have some rules to follow along the trail.”

Madison saw a sign engraved on a giant log:

BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHERS ALONG THE TRAIL

DO NOT CLIMB ON FENCES OR RAILS

NO LITTERING

NO SMOKING

DO NOT DISTURB THE HABITATS

FIELD GUIDES MUST ACCOMPANY ALL LARGE GROUPS

A few feet farther along, Madison saw a larger sign with animal tracks painted all over it.

TAKE NOTHING BUT MEMORIES

LEAVE NOTHING BUT FOOTPRINTS

Jimmy pointed to the path. “We’ll be traveling through some wooded areas, so please be sure to stay on the trails and beware of poison ivy.”

Madison yelled out, “Ha!”

Aimee and Fiona snorted.

Luckily no one else knew what the laughter was all about.

“As I was saying,” Jimmy continued. “We are guests in the home of the environment. So watch your steps and leave no traces.”

Madison pulled her science-class checklist out of her bag. Ivy scurried over to see it.

“I left mine at home,” Ivy said as she leaned over Madison’s shoulder.

“Uh.” Madison tried to say something else, but nothing came out.

“Take your own notes,” Aimee snapped.

Ivy shot her a look. “Why don’t you just butt out?”

“It’s okay, Aim,” Madison said. “We can share.”

“Thanks,” Ivy said, walking a little bit ahead of Madison. The drones had forgotten their checklists, so Madison would be sharing everything with them, too.

“Maddie,” Aimee said, grabbing Madison’s arm. “Who made Ivy queen?”

“We
are
on the same side,” Madison said, defending her actions. “We’re all girls, right? And she and I are partners, so …”

“So
what!
” Aimee said.

Beating the boys at this contest had become the most important goal for Madison—even more important than getting even with Ivy.

The girl group followed Jimmy along the wooded path toward a clearing. Right away, Madison saw three of the items on the list. She checked them off.

Deer or raccoon tracks

Spider’s web

Worm

Jimmy pointed out that the woodland habitat was filled with creatures the class might not see at first glance. He showed everyone the underside of a green leaf and revealed a fuzzy caterpillar.

Madison checked that off her list.

“Look over there!” a girl from Ms. Ripple’s science class shrieked. “SKUNK!”

Everyone squished closer together and let out a little whoop.

Jimmy chuckled. “I don’t think you saw a skunk,” he said. He wandered over to the spot where the girl had seen the black-and-white movement. A whirligig was sticking up out of the ground there. It was a wooden woodpecker whirling around in the wind.

“Give me a break,” Ivy said. She raised her hand to ask a question. “What is
that
doing there?”

Jimmy smiled. “We have numerous whirligigs of birds placed throughout the center. They serve as markers along the trail in case visitors lose their way. You can follow the path toward the woodpecker, the cardinal, or the blue jay.”

“Sort of like ski trails or something,” Lindsay said.

“Exactly,” Jimmy said, still smiling.

Lindsay quietly nudged Fiona. “Did you see that? He smiled at me.”

“He smiles at
everyone,
” Ivy said roughly. She pushed her way toward the front.

Madison wondered how the boys were doing on their walk through the woods. She imagined Chet and Hart getting into trouble—and Mr. Danehy chasing after them with a big stick. Other than a few snipes from Poison Ivy Daly, the girl group was mellower than mellow.

“Look at all the new flowers,” Fiona said. There were purple and yellow flowers poking themselves up through the wet earth.

“Those are wild irises,” Jimmy told Fiona and the rest of the group.

The group marched on together through fields of wildflowers, most of which were just starting to get very green after a long winter. Very few had any color because it was so early in the springtime.

Ms. Ripple gasped when she nearly stepped on a slug. Someone else got overexcited when
two
lady-bugs landed on her at the same time.

Jimmy kept the group moving right along. “We’re leaving the field habitat now,” he announced, walking down a small hill. “Heading toward the duck pond habitat now. Everyone please stay together.”

“Isn’t he so cute?” Fiona whispered to Aimee and Madison.

“Look over there,” Aimee said. She saw a mama duck and some ducklings nestled together in some high grass. “Now,
that
is even cuter!”

Lindsay laughed. “Quick, everyone! DUCK!”

Everyone in the group chuckled.

“We have swans around the pond, too,” Jimmy explained. “I just don’t see any in the water right now.”

Madison had fallen to the back of the group. She was quickly scanning the area in all directions, checking off more items on her list. Ivy hurried over to make sure “their” list was coming along all right. She leaned over Madison’s shoulder to see.

Duckling(s)

Pond weed

Lily pad(s)

Snail

Jimmy asked everyone in the group to take seats on a series of benches around the duck pond. He passed out crumbs for feeding the ducks. By the time Madison and Ivy arrived, they were able to grab a handful of crumbs, but unfortunately all the seats were filled.

Madison wandered over to a grassy slope and sat down. Ivy was following right behind her. She wanted to take a look at Madison’s notebook.

“Oh!” Jimmy exclaimed. “I wouldn’t sit down there, girls!”

But it was too late.

Madison stood up and examined the back of her pants.

Duck poop.

Ivy stood up slowly and spun around, too. “What? What is it?” she cried.

“Oh, gross.” Joanie moaned. “It’s all over your pants, too, Ivy—”

“DON’T say it!” Ivy snapped. She twisted around some more to assess the damage.

More duck poop.

Instead of getting grumpy about it, Madison got a case of the giggles. Then the whole girl group started to laugh hysterically.

Except Ivy.

“Stop laughing right now!” Ivy said, still trying to wipe the stuff off her pants. Unfortunately, she had a more stubborn stain than Madison’s. It took three Handi Wipes and some pond water to get Ivy’s pants looking presentable. Even then, they still had a faint green smudge across the backside.

“Girls,” Ms. Ripple said. “We shouldn’t laugh at Ivy or Madison’s misfortunes.”

But Aimee laughed even harder.

After the poop incident had died down, the group trudged through mud down another short path. They seemed to be heading back into the woods.

“I’m glad I wore my yuckiest sneakers,” Fiona said. They had mud splatters all over them.

Aimee groaned, looking down at her own shoes, which were brand-new. “Well, mine are yucky
now,
” she said dejectedly.

The woods came to a stop in the middle of the path, and the group found itself in an enormous clearing. Across another field, Madison saw boys playing Frisbee. Mr. Danehy was standing over by some picnic tables. Everyone seemed to be lounging around.

“Hey!” Aimee cried, running across the field. She ran over to Egg. “What have you guys been doing all morning? Playing games?”

“No way,” Egg said. “We’ve been looking at plants and birds. Same as you.”

“Did you go to the duck pond?” Lindsay asked.

Hart tossed his head. “Nope. Where’s that?”

“We skipped that part of the tour,” Drew said.

“How can you skip part of the tour?” Madison asked. “We all have to answer the same questions. Where was Mr. Danehy?”

“He doesn’t know we skipped out,” Egg said.

“How will you do your project now?” Aimee asked.

Drew shrugged. “How hard can it be?”

Wonk.

Madison was about to speak again when out of nowhere a flying disk crash-landed on her shoulder.

“Hey!” she cried. “That hurt.”

Aimee quickly looked to see who had sent the Frisbee flying. A few yards away another group of boys was laughing.

“Those guys hit you on
purpose,
” Fiona said. “Look at them.”

Aimee put her hand on Madison’s arm. “Are you okay, Maddie?”

Egg, Drew, Dan, Hart, and Chet started to snicker.

“Nice aim!” Egg called back to the boys.

Madison put her hands on her hips. “You’re toast, Egg,” she said. “I mean it. That goes for all boys everywhere!”

The rest of the girls nodded enthusiastically.

“What did
we
do?” Hart asked.

“Like you have to ask!” Aimee shouted.

“Maddie, those
other
guys are the ones who threw it,” Dan said.

Madison rubbed her arm and frowned. “Ouch.”

“Is everything okay over here?” Ms. Ripple asked.

“Maddie got hit with a Frisbee,” Egg said. “But it was an accident.”

“Are you hurt?” Ms. Ripple asked Madison.

“No.” Madison shrugged, not wanting to get Egg or anyone else in trouble. “It’s okay.”

“It was the boys!” Lindsay said.

“Totally! The boys!” Aimee said.

The rest of the girls cheered. “YEAH! THE BOYS!”

Madison sighed.

The Far Hills Junior High war of the sexes had officially begun.

As usual, Madison felt like she was in the middle of
everything.

A
T LUNCH TIME, MADISON,
Aimee, and Fiona sat down at a picnic table to eat with Egg, Drew, and Chet—just the way they did at their usual orange table in the cafeteria.

Normally Madison would be thrilled to sit near her friends and her crush, but today she felt the exact opposite. She looked up, down, everywhere to avoid making eye contact with the boys, especially Hart.

“Hey, let’s see where the Frisbee smashed you, Maddie. Do you have a bruise yet?” Chet asked her. “Come on, pull up your sleeve.”

“Stop being such a pest,” Fiona said to her twin brother.

“How
is
your arm, Finnster?” Hart asked.

Even though Hart sounded 100 percent earnest, Madison ignored him and the other boys, too. This infuriated Egg. He tried everything he could do to grab Madison’s attention, including opening his mouth when he’d chewed up some of his cheese sandwich. He went, “Ahhhhh,” in her face. Dan stuffed two brownies into his mouth at once and looked over at Madison, too. “Uuuuuuuuh,” he grunted, as though he were speaking in some secret boy code.

Fiona stood up with her hands on her hips. “Are you guys being supergross today or is it me?”

“It’s
you,
Fiona!” Chet said.

Drew started laughing until he snorted milk out of his nose. He gave Chet a high five. Egg couldn’t stop laughing, either. He shoved the rest of his cheese sandwich into his mouth all at once.

“Ewwwwwww!” Aimee yelled. “You’re all DISGUSTING!”

She jumped backward away from the picnic table, which sent her plastic bag of carrots flying everywhere. One soaring carrot pinged Madison on the head. She’d become a target for flying objects of all kinds today.

Some kids were sure that a food fight would break out, but it didn’t. Aimee leaned over to pick up the carrot missiles one by one.

“What are you doing?” Egg yelled. “Leave them there. Aim. The birds will eat them or something.”

“What are you talking about, Egg?” Fiona asked. Even
she
seemed a little annoyed now. She’d never, ever raised her voice to her crush before now. “We can’t litter—this is a park. What’s your problem?”

“What’s
your
problem?” Egg cracked. “Little Ms. Goody.”

Chet nodded in agreement, as did Drew and Dan.

Fiona looked ready to
cry.
But then Ranger Lester approached their picnic table with hands raised.

Clap, clap.

“Attention, everyone! The teachers have decided that you will all head to the next activity together, not in groups of boys or girls. Jimmy, your teachers, and I will be joint leaders.”

Clap, clap.