Three's a Crowd (From the Files of Madison Finn, 16) (13 page)

“Well, I can see you’ve given this some thought,” Gramma said.

“I want to be in love,” Madison admitted. “And I think I’ve found the right guy.”

“Well,” Gramma said. “I’d say you have all the guys in the world after you. But that’s because you’re my granddaughter, and I think you’re perfect. Just think about those young boys who came to see you when you were sick!”

“Oh, Gramma, those are just friends.”

“You never know,” Gramma said. “Sometimes love is waiting just outside your own backyard.”

Madison grinned. Once again, Gramma had said
exactly
the right thing.

M
ADISON POURED PANCAKE BATTER
into the pan and watched as half of it was spit back onto the stove.

“I can’t do this!” she cried, nearly tipping over a bowl of eggs.

“Yes, you can. Just make smaller pancakes,” Gramma advised, helping Madison to clean up the mess.

Mom put on a pot of coffee and turned up the sound on the CD player in the kitchen. She danced around to a song called “Celebrate.”

Indeed, they were celebrating Gramma’s last day with an honorary “Thank You for Coming All the Way from Chicago to Help Madison Get Well Soon” breakfast. On the menu was Gramma’s favorite: banana pancakes with sliced strawberries on top.

Phin loved all the activity in the kitchen, mostly because he got the extra scraps that fell from the counter, and because he liked dancing around everyone else’s busy feet.

“I have to go to school soon,” Madison said. “I don’t want you to go,” she told Gramma.

Gramma gave her a hug. “Oh, sure you do,” she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. “Remember what we said? Two’s company, but three’s a crowd?”

“Not with you here. Gramma. Not really.”

“I’ll write you a note, Maddie, if you’re late, but hurry it up,” Mom said.

Mom hardly ever made excuses for Madison to be late or to miss days of school. But since returning from her business trip, it seemed as though Mom had a new perspective. Madison even noticed Mom smiling more.

Through the kitchen window, Madison caught a glimpse of Josh leaving his house. She was tempted to dash out the front door and hurry after him. But she couldn’t. This was Gramma’s last morning.

Besides, Madison didn’t want Josh to get scared off by all of her attention. She was determined to play it cooler than cool today. He would figure out her true feelings slowly, over time. That was the plan.

“These pancakes are
deeelicious
!” Gramma exclaimed as she took her first bite. “Thank you for breakfast, Maddie.”

Madison and Gramma sat together at the table for a few more minutes before Mom pointed at the clock.

“It’s after eight, Maddie,” Mom said. “It’s okay to be a little late for homeroom, but I don’t want you missing classes.”

Madison nodded and grabbed her orange bag. The weather outside had warmed up again, so she wore cotton pants, a T-shirt, and flip-flops with little flowers on them. There was nothing like a bonus summer day in the fall.

Gramma promised Madison she would send more e-mails. She would come to visit Far Hills again very soon, too, especially since her bad hip hadn’t bothered her once.

Madison kissed Gramma good-bye for the fifth time. “Don’t forget your vaporizer and your saltwater gargler. You left them in the upstairs bathroom,” Madison reminded her.

Mom grabbed the car keys. “Let’s go!” she said.

They dashed out of the house and into the car.

“I love you, Gramma Helen!” Madison cried as they pulled out of the driveway.

Phin stood on the top step of the porch, barking his head off.

Madison agreed to meet her BFFs (minus Fiona, who was still home sick) in the lunchroom around noon on Wednesday. While Aimee grabbed her usual yogurt and plain toast, Lindsay grabbed a plate of hot macaroni and cheese and put it onto her tray. Meanwhile, Madison stood by the school salad bar picking through the chopped vegetables, lettuce, and fruits, nuts, and salad dressings.

As they turned in to the main room of the cafeteria to sit down, Madison spotted Josh and his friends. She felt herself pulled to him as if by some magnetic force. She told her friends to go ahead, and pretended to go for another item at the salad bar.

“Hey, Finnster!”

Wham! Just like that, Hart cut right into Madison’s path, blocking her view of Josh and the rest of the lunchroom.

“Are you going to sit down with everyone?” Hart asked.

“Sit down?” Madison said, shuffling along with Hart while trying to keep Josh in her line of vision.

“Yes,” Hart said. He stopped walking, so Madison stopped, too. “I wanted to talk to you about the seventh grade web project. …”

Madison realized that they’d stopped right in front of Poison Ivy’s table.

Ivy and the drones looked up at Madison with nostrils flared.

“Um….” Madison asked, nudging Hart toward another table on the other side of the cafeteria aisle. “Can we talk at the table?”

Hart nodded. “Okay, sure.”

“Oh, hi, Hart. Do you want to sit? You can sit down here,” Ivy said. “There’s plenty of room for you.”

Madison waited for Hart to respond. He often sat with the enemy instead of with the rest of Madison’s friends. But today, Hart walked away without even acknowledging Ivy’s presence.

Madison was dumbfounded.

So was Ivy.

It was difficult for Madison not to laugh—hard—in her face. But she restrained herself, even as Ivy flipped her hair and tried to act as if nothing had happened.

As Madison followed Hart, she refocused her eyes on the back of the room. Where was Josh sitting? Was he still in the cafeteria? She couldn’t spot him in the room.

“So, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to team up and do some extra-credit work in Mr. Danehy’s class,” Hart said. “I didn’t know if you knew about his offer or not, since you were out sick.”

“Uh-huh,” Madison mumbled, distracted.

“Did he tell you about it?” Hart asked.

“Uh-huh,” Madison said.

“I know most people are going to do it with their lab partners, but since you and Ivy aren’t exactly friends—”

“What are you talking about?” Madison asked blankly.

“Science class,” Hart said.

“I have a lab partner,” Madison said.

“Yeah, I know, but, like I just said …”

Before Hart could finish his thought, the two of them reached their regular seats at the orange table at the back of the room. Egg and Dan were sitting there talking to Aimee and Lindsay—boys on one end, girls on the other. Chet, Fiona, and Drew were all out sick.

Aimee looked up and saw Madison approaching with Hart. She made a funny smiley face. “Hey, Maddie,” she said. “What are you and Hart talking about?”

Hart slid into a chair next to Egg. He looked very confused.

“Seriously,” Aimee whispered to her. “What is up with you two?”

“Yeah,” Lindsay said. “Is something going on?”

Madison shook her head. “He just wanted to know if I’d do some science classwork with him.”

“Wait! That’s means something. Maddie, doesn’t that mean something?” Lindsay asked.

“No, it doesn’t mean anything,” Madison said.

The three of them looked over at Hart, who was talking to Egg and Dan. He didn’t look back at them.

“He is cute,” Lindsay said. “I think you would make a nice couple.”

“Jeez, Lindsay! Why don’t you just announce it over the loudspeaker?” Madison cried.

“Sorry,” Lindsay said.

“Where’s that Josh guy today?” Aimee asked.

Madison shrugged. “He was here. I thought maybe we’d talk at lunch. Oh, well. I think he left.”

“Ninth graders are so full of themselves,” Aimee declared.

Lindsay and Madison nodded in agreement.

After school, Lindsay had to go to her piano lesson. Aimee and Madison decided to pay Fiona a visit. They called ahead of time to make sure Mr. and Mrs. Waters didn’t mind visitors when both of their kids were home sick.

As they approached the Waterses’ house, Madison got a squirmy feeling in her stomach. She wasn’t sure if it was butterflies from her crush on Josh—or something she’d eaten at lunch. She tried to ignore the feeling.

They climbed the porch steps and rang the doorbell. Mr. Waters answered the door. He was wearing an apron—Mrs. Waters’s apron. Aimee giggled when she saw him.

“Hello, girls!” he said with a wide smile. “I was just in the middle of baking a chicken casserole. Come on in.”

Madison and Aimee waited for Fiona. She came down the stairs in her bathrobe and slippers, coughing.

“Fiona!” Madison cried when she saw her friend. “I can’t believe you’re still sick. That totally stinks.”

“We brought you a present,” Aimee said, presenting Fiona with a Deep Purple Jawbreaker, Fiona’s favorite candy.

“Aw, thanks,” Fiona said, sniffling. “I miss you guys.”

From behind the staircase, Madison heard the rumble of footsteps. Someone was coming up from the basement.

Fiona rolled her eyes. “My brother is being a real jerk,” she said.

Chet appeared, carrying a tray of snacks. Behind him were Dan and Hart.

Dan nodded in the girls’ direction. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Aim. Hey, Finnster,” Hart said.

Madison and Aimee said their hellos, and then the boys and girls parted ways. Fiona dragged her friends into the kitchen.

“Don’t mind me!” Mr. Waters said as he carried a tray over to the stove. “Fix your friends a snack, Fiona,” he added, walking out of the room again.

The girls sat down at the table and picked at a bowl of cheese popcorn.

“Did you see Josh today at school?” Fiona asked Madison.

Madison smirked. “Yes. I did.”

Aimee hit Madison in the shoulder. “I can’t believe you like someone who is practically in high school.”

“I can’t believe he lived next door to me all this time and I never met him—or even noticed him before now,” Madison said. “It’s like this lightbulb went off in my head.”

“So what did he say when you talked the last time?” Fiona asked. “Tell me all the details. Is he going to ask you out?”

“Well.” Madison put her finger up to her chin to indicate that she was thinking hard about the question. “He was outside in his yard, and I was walking Phinnie….”

“Did he pet Phin? That’s always a good sign,” Aimee said. “The guy you like has to like your dog.”

“What?” Madison asked. Then she giggled.

“Did you flirt with him?” Fiona asked.

“I think so,” Madison said. “You know me. I’m not always that good at flirting.”

Coughcoughcough.

Chet burst into the kitchen with his hand on his chest.

“Coming through!” he screeched. “Sick person! Take cover!”

Hart followed behind him, cracking up.

“Excuse us!” Chet snorted, making his way to the sink for a glass of water.

“You’re disgusting!” Fiona yelled at him. “And totally rude!”

“Watch out, or she’ll blow her nose on you!” Chet said.

Hart laughed. He looked over at Madison and smiled.

Madison smiled back.

“Let’s go up to my room,” Fiona said, glaring at her twin brother. “We’ll leave rude boy down here while we work on our web project.”

“Actually, I have to go,” Aimee said. “I have to meet my mom. She’s taking me to a dance class tonight. I almost forgot about it.”

“But we have to work on the optical illusions page,” Madison said. “Wasn’t that the reason we came over to see Fiona?”

“We can work on it later, can’t we?” Fiona suggested.

Madison groaned. “We have barely done anything on it.”

“I promise we’ll work on it later,” Aimee insisted.

Madison threw up her hands. “Fine. E me later.”

Aimee grabbed her bag and scooted out of the kitchen to the front door.

“What are you doing for your project?” Hart asked.

Madison was about to tell him when Fiona interrupted.

“It’s a secret!” Fiona said. “You’ll see our amazing project at school just like everyone else.” She didn’t want Chet to know what she was doing, because she knew he’d find some way to sabotage her or the webpage. He always did.

“You’re such a loser, Fiona,” Chet grunted. He pushed Hart toward the kitchen door, and the boys went to find Dan. They’d left him downstairs in the basement by the new family computer.

“You and your brother make me laugh,” Madison said when the boys were gone.

“I’m glad someone thinks it’s funny,” Fiona said.

The two girlfriends headed to Fiona’s room with root beers in hand. Fiona’s bed was unmade. Clothes were piled in one corner. A spread of teen magazines covered the floor.

“Nice! You have the latest issue of
Stylegirl
!” Madison said. She dropped to the floor and flipped through the pages.

“I have all the latest magazines,” Fiona said. “Mom got them for me. I like to read when I’m sick, don’t you? I take all the love quizzes and stuff. Hey! There’s one magazine that has a quiz about finding your true mate. You should take it.”

Madison laughed when she saw the headline of the quiz:
TWO’S COMPANY, BUT THREE’S A CROWD: HOW DO YOU CHOOSE WHEN YOU LIKE
TWO
?

She stretched out on Fiona’s floor, pen in hand.

Knock-knock.

“Who is it?” Fiona snapped. She opened the door, expecting to see her brother. But it wasn’t Chet. Hart was standing there.

“Chet asked me to borrow a pair of headphones from you,” Hart said.

“Oh,” Fiona said. She opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of Monkeyphones. “Fine. Here. Give these to him. And maybe then you guys can stop following us, okay?”

Hart shrugged. “Okay,” he said.

Fiona shut the door right in Hart’s face. She turned around and smiled.

“I think maybe it’s a good idea if you’re going out with that older guy,” Fiona said. “Guys our age can be such dorks. Well, except for Egg, of course.”

Madison grinned back at her BFF.

Going out with that older guy.

She liked the sound of that.

W
HEN MADISON ARRIVED HOME
from Fiona’s, the Finn house was quiet—until Phinnie came scuttling around a corner, his little nails going
click-clack
on the hall floor.