Authors: Laura Dower
Madison saved her file onto her brand new snowman-shaped flash drive, leaned back in her chair, and glanced around the room. She and Fiona came up to the library media center during their last free period to do homework. Madison was falling behind in social studies class and owed her teacher a few chapter reviews. At least, that was what she was trying to work on. In reality, she wasn’t writing about the American Revolution. She was writing in her files.
“Maddie,” Fiona said, distracted from her homework, too. “Do you … do you think Egg likes me?”
Madison looked over from her computer terminal. “Yes, Fiona. How many times are you going to ask me that? And Aimee thinks so too.”
Fiona giggled. “Sorry.”
“Are you blushing?” Madison asked. She giggled too.
The bell rang indicating that the free period had ended. Fiona shoved her papers into her bag.
“Should I ask him out?” Fiona asked.
Madison shook her head. “Absolutely not. Wait for him to ask you.”
“No way,” Fiona said, grinning. “I’m no good at waiting.”
“Yeah, I know. And we’re supposed to be in charge of our destinies and all that. That’s what my Mom says all the time. But remember that Egg will get all weird if you ask him first. Not because he’s a boy. Just because he gets weird about everything,” Madison said. “
Everything.”
Madison had known Egg since they were little kids.
“Okay,” Fiona said with a shrug and hurried toward the door. “I have to go to soccer now. E-mail me later, okay?”
Madison nodded and pulled her own books together. She had to dash, too. She was meeting Señora Diaz and the rest of the Adopt-a-Grandparent volunteers in room 306, the Spanish classroom.
She raced down to the room, almost slamming right into Egg and Hart on the way inside.
“Where’s the fire?” Egg cracked.
Madison frowned. “Whatever, Egg. Can I please get by?”
Egg smiled back. “Sure, if you can fit.” He and Hart blocked the doorway.
Madison stood back with her hands on her hips. “What is up with you?” Madison asked. She couldn’t believe that Fiona liked one of these guys. Then again, Madison couldn’t believe that
she
liked one of these guys, too.
“Excuse me,” Ivy Daly said as she came up from behind Madison. “Is there a reason why you guys are holding up everything?”
Madison turned to Ivy. “I’m with you,” she said, not believing the words as they came out of her mouth. “Move it, Egg.”
Unbelievably, Ivy
smiled.
“Yeah.”
Egg and Hart rushed in and sat down.
Madison scanned the colorful ceiling and walls of the small room. They were covered in posters of Spain and Puerto Rico. Señora Diaz had also hung red, yellow, and blue streamers everywhere.
Chairs were arranged in a semicircle, and everyone had their book bags lying around on chairs and on the floor, so it was hard to find the right empty seat to sit in. For a split second Madison stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do.
But a lot can happen in a split second.
“Let’s just sit there,” Ivy suggested, pointing to the chair nearest to Hart.
Madison’s eyes got very wide. “There?”
“Duh,” Ivy said. “Where else?”
Duh
was right. Ivy had never in the history of junior high asked Madison to sit with her; and Madison was dumbstruck. Should she sit with Ivy or not?
Madison quickly weighed her options. She could sit near Davy Miller, who smelled, or Joey O’Neill, who picked his nose.
One of the other Adopt-a-Grandparent volunteers, Hilary Klein, was seated across the room. Madison briefly considered sitting with her … but decided against that, too. Everyone in the seventh grade knew Hilary was the class brainiac—but she wasn’t very friendly. She and her clique kept to themselves, usually in the library. Plus, she was staring.
“Can we please make a sitting decision,” Ivy said, pushing in front of Madison.
“Okay, over here is great,” Madison said to Ivy, dragging herself over to the empty seats Ivy had indicated before. Ivy plopped down into the chair nearest to Hart—of course. Madison squeezed in on the other side.
“I can’t believe you’re volunteering for this,” Egg said to Madison.
“Yeah, well, so are you,” she replied.
“Only because I HAVE to do it, I told you that,” Egg said.
“I don’t believe you, Egg. You like doing this stuff. Admit it,” Madison said.
“It’ll be cool,” Hart said.
Madison smiled at him. “Yeah, cool.”
“Totally cool,” Ivy blurted.
“Yeah, well then you guys can be cool. I’m telling you that if it wasn’t for my
tía
Ana and my mother—”
Egg stopped speaking because Señora Diaz had just walked into her room, carrying a pile of purple folders. She handed a folder to each student in the room.
“Hola, estudiantes!”
Señora Diaz said cheerfully.
“Hola,”
everyone replied, including Egg.
Señora Diaz explained that each member of the small group of Adopt-a-Grandparent volunteers would be assigned to a specific resident of The Estates. Names of boys and girls had been matched randomly to men and women living in the home. Since each resident had requested a holiday “friend,” the student’s job was to keep that person company, chat, get snacks, and do whatever else they wanted to do together. The only catch was that some of the older people were dealing with certain illnesses. Señora Diaz wanted to make sure this would not be problematic for any of the kids.
“How sick is sick?” Ivy asked aloud.
“That’s a very good question, señorita. The truth is, sickness depends on the person. I know one gentleman on our list is in a wheelchair. Another woman can barely see because she has cataracts in her eyes. And a couple of the residents have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease—in its early stages.”
“Oh, man, what’s
that?”
Davy Miller said.
Egg and Hart laughed, but shut up quickly. Señora Diaz was shaking her head.
“Is something funny, Walter? Boys, this is no laughing matter. Alzheimer’s starts out as minor memory loss, forgetfulness, and other symptoms. As the disease progresses, the symptoms get worse and worse. Sometimes the man or woman forgets more serious things.”
“Like what?” Hilary asked.
“Like what they were doing yesterday. Or who they are. Or who
you
are,” Señora Diaz explained. “But don’t worry. We will have a meeting after every afternoon at The Estates to discuss what happened that day. That gives everyone a chance to talk about your experience. If you feel in any way uncomfortable, you can switch your visits or stop altogether.”
“You mean I could be hanging with some old dude one minute and then the next time I show up he won’t even remember me?” Davy asked.
Señora Diaz sighed. “Yes, David. That is what I mean. Thank you for explaining that so eloquently.”
Davy shrunk down into his seat.
The group reviewed a bunch of other procedures and rules about visiting The Estates and discussed the schedule for departure from school the very next day. They would meet downstairs in the school lobby, board the school minivan, and arrive at The Estates at three o’clock. Madison counted eight volunteers altogether, including herself and Hart. She was determined to get a seat near her crush for that ride. Hopefully Ivy wouldn’t get there first.
Mom wasn’t home when Madison arrived on the porch. She’d left a note.
Went for supper. Back by 5. Phin already went out. How was your day? Luv, Mom
P.S. Call your Dad
Without Mom to pester her about staying on the computer too long, Madison hurried upstairs to log onto the laptop from behind her bedroom door with its
DO NOT DISTURB
sign. She had just enough time before Mom got back home to swim around online at TweenBlurt.com. Madison needed to check her e-mailbox and see if anyone from her buddy list was there, too.
Her keypal Bigwheels wasn’t online. Neither was Fiona nor Aimee.
Egg was online, but Madison didn’t feel like talking to him.
In the middle of reading her list, Madison got a message from Dad.
She had been waiting to hear from him for so long! Madison was relieved to know Dad was finally online so she could ask all of her questions about the ski trip. What should she pack? How much snow had fallen on Mount Robinson? When were they leaving?
Madison lied to Dad, too. She didn’t know what else to say.
Madison’s heart sank a little more. Stephanie was Dad’s girlfriend, and ever since they’d been dating, Madison had always felt a little bit jealous. Stephanie rode in the front seat all the time—where Madison used to sit. Stephanie sat near Dad when they ate at restaurants or went to the movies. Stephanie was the last person Dad thought of every night. At least Madison guessed all that was true.
Madison couldn’t share her true feelings—especially not online.
She’d considered the idea that Dad might cancel the trip, but hearing him actually
do it
didn’t help the sadness Madison felt inside. Had Mom been right about Dad? Why did Madison expect the best when everyone else thought the worst? What was Dad’s problem?
Madison signed off and scanned the buddy list again. She searched for Bigwheels in all the chat rooms, but Bigwheels was
still
nowhere to be found.
Why wasn’t her keypal online when Madison needed her? Madison sent an e-mail right away.
From: MadFinn
To: Bigwheels
Subject: Ski Trip
Date: Thurs 6 Dec 4:08 PM
I wrote a day or so ago asking if you knew how to ski. Well, ignore that one. I’m not going on a ski trip of any kind. My dad bailed!!! Mom will probably freak out on him. That is no fun to watch.
Do you have any advice 4 me? Ur parents argue a lot too--right? What r they like when they fight? Do they scream and put you in the middle of the whole mess or do they leave you out of everything? My parents do all those things but mostly they pretend to be nice when I know they really don’t mean it. It’s so confusing. And it’s the holidays. Which means more fights to come. HELP.
I am sad about missing the skiing trip but how do I get my mom to be nice to my dad? How would you deal?
Yours till the ski lifts,
Maddie
P.S. All is NOT lost for Christmas b/c I’m volunteering at this nursing home and singing in chorus. So I am keeping busier than busy. U know me. WBS.
Somewhere downstairs, the front door slammed. Madison jumped so suddenly that Phin started to howl.
“Maddie?” Mom called out. “Are you home yet?”
Madison gulped. “Mom?” she said weakly. “I’m up here.”
Madison prepped herself for speaking to Mom.
She would dump the bad news and accept the consequences. Simple. Mom could handle it calmly.
“I’ve had the worst day,” Mom groaned as she climbed the stairs to Madison’s bedroom. “The worst day in a long, long time. How about you? Could it get any worse?”
Madison gulped.
She was NOT telling Mom about the canceled ski trip.
At least not tonight.
B
Y THE TIME FRIDAY AFTERNOON ROLLED
around, Madison had nearly forgotten about Dad’s bad news. She still hadn’t mentioned the canceled trip to Mom.
All she could think about now was The Estates. The very first visit to the nursing home was this afternoon. Señora Diaz’s volunteers were excused early from their other classes to go meet the minivan.
Madison and Ivy left science class early together along with Hart. Walking down the silent corridor, Madison felt like she was in an episode of the
Twilight Zone.
Not because it was dark and creepy, but because it was so strange.
Ivy was talking to Madison instead of Hart?
“What do you think your person at The Estates will be like?” Ivy asked Madison, flipping her red hair as she spoke.
“Nice, I hope,” Madison said.
“I hope I don’t get someone who’s sick,” Ivy said, talking fast. “I mean, I guess I’ll deal with it if I do, but I’d rather have someone who wants to walk around and talk a lot and not just sit there.”
“I’m sure you’ll like whoever you get,” Madison said.
Ivy smiled again. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Madison wanted to grab Ivy by the shoulders and ask her what was going on. Why was the enemy being so friendly?
Hart just walked along in a daze. “I am so tired,” he said. “Hockey practice is killing me. And I have a game tomorrow.”