TTFN (32 page)

mad maddie:

hey, u. u conked out?

SnowAngel:

nah. i took a long nap. plus, my body's still on california time. it's only seven in el cerrito. isn't that weird?

mad maddie:

do u wish u were back there?

SnowAngel:

r u kidding??? not in the slightest.

SnowAngel:

i'm sure i'll miss my mom and dad and chrissy eventually, but no, i don't wish i was there.

mad maddie:

well, maybe i should take your place. think your parents would notice?

SnowAngel:

madigan kinnick! *puts hands on hips* i came all this way to be with U. don't even tease me like that.

mad maddie:

i just need a break from the moms, that's all. she can't get it into her head that my pot smoking days r over, that they were over even before the Big Bust.

mad maddie:

the theme of tonight's lecture was that she thinks i have a “naive” philosophy toward life, which is that i have to try something out before i can make a decision about it. so she goes, “but u don't need to rob a bank to know that's bad, now do u? poison little children? put glass in halloween candy?”

SnowAngel:

good grief

mad maddie:

she also thinks that i was pressured into smoking, that chive made me do it. i told her, “why do u insist on believing that i can't possibly make a decision on my own? no one ‘persuaded' me to do anything. it was not peer pressure!”

SnowAngel:

huh. i'm not sure that's the angle i would have taken …

mad maddie:

the moms just shook her head and said, “i don't believe that, maddie. i simply don't believe that.”

mad maddie:

aaargh

SnowAngel:

what about chive and brannen? have u heard from them?

mad maddie:

brannen's mom went down to the jail and got him. he's grounded, just like me, plus he has to do forty hours of community service. chive got off scot-free except for being yelled at by his mom. but i didn't talk to him long, cuz it made me feel too weird.

mad maddie:

i'm glad they go to n'side so i don't have to see either of them at school tomorrow.

SnowAngel:

as for me, i don't have to go to school at all. vacation day! vacation day!

mad maddie:

lucky dog

mad maddie:

will u do me a favor, then? i'd do it myself, but i can't, obviously.

SnowAngel:

what is it?

mad maddie:

i need u to go to 2620 moreland avenue. ask for a guy named willy.

SnowAngel:

excuse me? who's willy?

mad maddie:

tell him ur picking up the package for madigan kinnick. it's already paid for, so u don't have to worry.

SnowAngel:

maddie … what kind of errand r u sending me on? i thought u were done with your life of crime!

mad maddie:

oh plz. yeah, willy sells pot from behind the cash register, and i'm sending u to get it.

mad maddie:

give me a little credit, will ya?

SnowAngel:

what is it, then?

mad maddie:

don't open it until i tell u to. there's 1 for u, 1 for zoe, and 1 for me.

SnowAngel:

a surprise?
i love surprises!

mad maddie:

so u'll do it?

SnowAngel:

of course. i have to go out anyway, cuz i need to buy a new charger for my phone. i kinda lost mine.

mad maddie:

well, thx. text me tomorrow after school lets out!

SnowAngel:

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO YOU (MADDIE) AND ALSO TO YOU (ZOE) FROM ME (ANGELA)

mad maddie:

yes?

zoegirl:

hi!

SnowAngel:

i have picked up the “surprises” per your instructions, maddie. i have delivered 1 to zoe and 1 to u, which your mom should have given to u now that ur home from school. did she?

mad maddie:

i've got the box right here. u haven't opened yours yet, have u?

SnowAngel:

no, but i am extremely tempted!

SnowAngel:

i waited so that we can open them together. okey-dokey?

mad maddie:

let's do it, then. does everyone have her box?

SnowAngel:

zoegirl:

yes!

mad maddie:

1, 2, 3 … open!

SnowAngel:

omg!!! *squeals and jumps up and down in a frenzy*

zoegirl:

maddie, it's beautiful!

mad maddie:

yeah, yeah, yeah. i know.

SnowAngel:

oh, mads, it's just like the one i lost!!!

SnowAngel:

are y'all's the same? do they both say “believe” too?

zoegirl:

mine does

mad maddie:

mine too. aren't i corny, getting us matching bracelets? i am so corny i can hardly believe it.

SnowAngel:

i love it sooo much!

zoegirl:

me too, me too!

SnowAngel:

but i'm confused. my original bracelet didn't come from that store on moreland ave. it came from curiosities. and zoe, didn't u go back to curiosities after i moved? and they didn't have any more!

zoegirl:

that's true, they were all sold out.

mad maddie:

when u want something bad enough, u MAKE it happen.

SnowAngel:

but how???

mad maddie:

dude, i went to every single store in little five points, and NOBODY had any “believe” bracelets. finally this lady told me to talk to willy at a store called moon daughter, cuz he's a silversmith and he makes stuff like that. so i told willy what i wanted, i even drew him a little picture, and he said, “sure, i can do that.”

SnowAngel:

aw, maddie, ur the best friend ever!

mad maddie:

no, u r!

SnowAngel:

no, U r!

zoegirl:

hey—what about ME?

SnowAngel:

*gives zoe a noogie* and u r 2, of course

SnowAngel:

we're ALL the best friends ever! *melts into a mush pile of affection*

mad maddie:

i put the order in for the bracelets a long time ago—back when u were still in california, angela. i wanted to cheer u up, and i hated that i couldn't do anything to make things better for u.

mad maddie:

but then u made things better for yourself. ur a stud, girl.

SnowAngel:

u know why, tho, right? cuz of u and zoe. if u guys were willing to take control of your lives, then i should be too.

mad maddie:

fat lot of good it did us. we're both grounded!

SnowAngel:

well, guess what? *giggles behind hand* i am too!

mad maddie:

wtf?

SnowAngel:

i told zoe already, when i dropped off her bracelet. zoe, tell maddie.

zoegirl:

she's grounded at her aunt's house, supposedly until the end of time. but we think her sentence will eventually be lifted. it's mainly just angela's parents' way of proving they can be long-distance parents.

mad maddie:

long-distance parents?

mad maddie:

what r u saying?

zoegirl:

she can stay!!!

SnowAngel:

i can stay!!!

mad maddie:

r u serious?

SnowAngel:

i am the epitome of all seriousness. i have grown a beard, that's how serious i am. i will only wear tweed, with leather elbow-patches.

mad maddie:

u r punch drunk

SnowAngel:

*twirls about giddily* it's true, i am. i'm drunk on magnolia trees and sweet tea and true-blue friends forever and ever.

mad maddie:

i'm still trying to soak this in. yr parents said, “sure, u can live in atlanta”? just like that?

zoegirl:

just for spring semester, and then they'll reevaluate. if things don't work out, or if angela's aunt says there's a problem, then angela gets shipped back pronto. but that's not going to happen.

SnowAngel:

especially not since i'll have u two to keep me straight. after all, ur SUCH good influences.

zoegirl:

haha

mad maddie:

maybe it's good that we're all locked in our respective houses, huh? at least it'll keep us out of trouble.

mad maddie:

in fact, i dare say … yes, yes … this calls for a googlewhack!

SnowAngel:

what r u gonna try? “grounded girlies”?

zoegirl:

“punished pals”?

SnowAngel:

“caged cuties”?

mad maddie:

ok, stop. ur starting to sound pornographic.

mad maddie:

i've got it, “virtuous rebels.” cuz that's really what we r, right?

SnowAngel:

and what's the verdict?

mad maddie:

damn! 37,100 hits!

mad maddie:

will i ever find the one???

zoegirl:

i found the one, and it's doug.

mad maddie:

i meant “the one” googlewhack, fool. as in, the googlewhack that results in just one hit. must it all be about doug?

zoegirl:

i'm sorry, i'm sorry. it's just that it's only been two days of being grounded, and already i miss him so much!

SnowAngel:

oh, poo. stop being so dramatic.

zoegirl:

me, dramatic? you're calling *me* dramatic?

mad maddie:

quit yer whining. u'll see him saturday night at kidding around, won't u?

zoegirl:

yes, only my mom has informed me that she'll be dropping me off and picking me up so that there's no “unsupervised contact.” joy.

mad maddie:

u want joy, try living at my house. the moms honestly and truly held up an egg this morning and said, “this is your brain.” then she cracked it into the skillet. “this is your brain on drugs.”

SnowAngel:

mmm, scrambled eggs!