Heart to Heart

by Laura Dower

  “Yeeps!” Madison said, hitting SAVE and closing the file. Time really was flying by. It was 10:15 already. If Madison was meeting Aimee and Fiona at the Far Hill Shoppes at eleven, she had to dash.

  “Hey, I’m glad you’re up,” Mom said from the doorway. “I brought you some breakfast.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Madison said, hopping out of her chair. She took the glass and plate from her mom and placed them on the bureau. Then she took a bite of the crisp bagel, smeared with cream cheese. “I can’t believe how late it is already.”

  “Yup. You’d better shake a leg,” Mom said.

  “Give me twenty minutes,” Madison said, taking a quick gulp of juice.

  “I’ll be in my office,” Mom said. “Come and get me when you’re ready.”

  Madison nodded and took another bite of bagel as she shut down her computer. She pulled on a pair of faded jeans and her favorite gray cable-knit sweater. This outfit would be easy to take on and off in the stores at the mall—and Madison wanted to do a lot of trying on.

  A gorgeous dress for the dance was in Madison’s near future.

  At exactly eleven minutes past eleven, Madison was standing where her friends had agreed to meet: the Roundabout. The Roundabout was a rotating sculpture shaped more or less like a tall blob with two heads that was located in the center of a bridge stretching from one side of the second level of the mall to the other. Below was an open atrium space with rows of stores and carts. Above was the food court.

  Madison’s mom had left her at the Roundabout while she headed into a linens and bath store. They would meet up again at 2:30, which left Madison a few hours to go shopping with her friends.

  “Where are those guys?” Madison thought impatiently as she glanced at her watch again. But only a minute had passed. Madison gazed down at people on the lower level of the mall. She leaned out over the railing and saw three girls who were just about her age …

  Ugh.

  Madison leaned back and walked around to the other side of the Roundabout. Those weren’t three girls—it was one queen bee and two drones! Of course, Madison expected to see Poison Ivy, Rose Thorn, and Phony Joanie at the mall. With only a week to go before the Valentine’s Day dance, where else would they be?

  Avoid lower level at all costs, Madison told herself.

  “Hey, Maddie!” Fiona called as she and Aimee hurried up to the Roundabout. “Sorry we’re late.”

  “It’s my fault,” Aimee explained. “I had an early ballet practice that ran over.”

  “No problem,” Madison said. “I was just people watching. Lucky for me, I saw Poison Ivy down there.”

  Aimee rolled her eyes. “If only we had some water balloons,” she said.

  “Hey, look who else is at the mall,” Fiona said, pointing to the upper level.

  Madison looked up and saw Chet, Dan, Egg, Hart, and Drew walking in single file near the railing.

  “Hey, Egg!” Aimee yelled. The boys heard and looked down, pointing.

  Chet leaned over the railing like he was going to spit, but he didn’t. Dan pretended like he was going to throw himself over the edge, which made the rest of the guys laugh.

  Fiona waved to Egg, who waved right back. She pointed to the food court, then pointed to her watch and held up two fingers. Egg nodded, and Fiona grinned.

  “What is that all about?” Aimee asked.

  “We’re meeting the guys at the food court at two o’clock,” Fiona explained. “Egg and I planned it yesterday.”

  “You could have told us!” Madison said.

  “What’s the big deal?” Fiona said with a shrug.

  “I guess nothing.” Madison shrugged.

  She looked up again in time to see Hart and the rest of the boys disappear toward some upper-level shops.

  “What are we waiting for?” Aimee asked. “Let’s start shopping!”

  The girls headed straight for Boop-Dee-Doop, which turned out to be a major letdown. They didn’t have any of the cute things that Madison had liked when she’d browsed their online store.

  “Do you like these?” Aimee asked as she flipped through a rack of plaid capri pants.

  “Nah,” Fiona replied. “Bad colors.”

  Madison held up a purple tank top, which was on sale.

  “You can’t wear that for like three months!” Aimee yelled. “It’s still cold out, Maddie. Get something you can wear tomorrow!”

  Madison scoured the clearance shelf for other clothes, but the best she could come up with was a double-layered shirt with a picture of a yellow baby chick wearing glasses, topped with the words SMART CHICK. That was not really the right outfit for a Valentine’s Day dance.

  As they left the store, Madison felt a small wave of disappointment. Boop-Dee-Doop had no dresses, no shirts, nothing she liked. She wouldn’t be able to use her discount coupon today! Even worse, Madison wasn’t sure she’d be able to find a dress that she could afford in another store.

  “Let’s try this other place,” Aimee said, pointing to a sign that read “In the Pink.” It was decorated with cute little flowers. Madison had never seen this shop before.

  “What—is everything pink?” Fiona asked.

  “Who knows?” Aimee said. “But considering that we’re shopping for a Valentine’s Day dance, that might not be such a bad thing.”

  The store window was decorated with hearts and flowers, too, and mannequins in long dresses. Just the kind Madison was looking for to wear to the dance!

  The minute Madison walked inside the store, she knew she’d found something perfect for herself to wear. In the Pink had clothing in all different colors—not just pink—and it was all priced right. There were dresses and tops and pants and even shoes!

  She flipped through a rack of black crocheted tops displayed over red long-sleeved shirts. “Maybe I could wear this, with my long black skirt?” Madison wondered aloud.

  “Madison, over here!” Aimee called from the back of the store.

  Aimee was holding up a dress in pale mint-green velvet with an asymmetrical skirt. She held it up against her body. “What do you think?” she asked.

  “I love it,” Madison said. “It’ll look great with your hair. Try it on.”

  “Madison, you should try this one,” Fiona said, holding up a sea-blue dress with black trim and long sleeves.

  Madison frowned at it. “Actually, I was thinking of getting something in red …” she said.

  Fiona rolled her eyes. “It’s Valentine’s Day,” Fiona said, “and everyone will be in red. Don’t you want to be different?”

  Madison wasn’t so sure she did want to be different. Sometimes it was easier to blend in than stick out. But she took the dress from Fiona anyway, and followed Aimee into the dressing room. They got stalls right beside one another.

  Madison kicked off her shoes and stepped out of her jeans. Then she pulled on the dress, which was surprisingly comfortable. Madison hated dresses that clung too close or were made of scratchy fabric, but this one was soft and flowy. She looked in the mirror and smiled. The deep, sea-blue color actually shimmered under the light when she moved from side to side. The dress had bell sleeves and a scoop neck, which made her look taller, too. It looked kind of silly with her heavy woolen socks, but with some pale blue stockings and her favorite black Mary Jane flats …

  “Are you wearing yours yet?” Aimee asked through the stall.

  “Yep,” Madison said. “You?”

  “Nope. Mine looked horrible, so I took it off already,” Aimee said, opening the door to her stall. She had already changed back into her normal clothes. “Let me see yours.”

  Madison opened the door and stepped out.

  “Whoa,” Aimee said, her eyes opening wide. “Maddie, you have to get that dress, it looks so great on you.”

  Just then, Fiona walked into the dressing room holding a long red dress. “Maddie, if you don’t like the blue one, I found something else for you to—” she stopped midsentence and gasped. “Oooooh! You look
beauuuuutiful.”

  Madison felt herself blush. “Do you really like it?” she asked.

  “No question,” Fiona said. “THAT is the dress.”

  “Fantastic,” Aimee agreed. “How much?”

  Madison bit her lip as she looked for the tag. It wasn’t on either of her sleeves.

  “It’s in back,” Fiona said, pulling at the tag. “Hold still.” Her forehead creased as she read the tag. “Fifty-two fifty,” she said. “Marked down from ninety dollars!”

  “Can you afford that?” Aimee asked.

  Madison nodded, grinning. “I’ll even have seven fifty leftover.”

  “Enough for lunch with the guys,” Fiona chirped. “You have to get it!”

  Madison couldn’t stop smiling as she changed back into her clothes and paid for the dress. She kept picturing herself at the exact moment when she would walk into the Heart to Heart dance. She would be the envy of all the other seventh graders as she danced around the gym with Orange Crush.

  Even Ivy would have to stop and stare.

  That was the best part.

  “Okay, so what do we want?” Fiona asked as she gazed up at a sea of choices on the food court menu. “Burgers, noodles, pizza—”

  “Roma Pizza Oven,” Aimee said quickly. “They have the best veggie pizza.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Madison agreed, and the three girls headed over to the counter to order slices and sodas.

  “There you are,” said a voice behind Madison.

  The girls turned to see Egg, Chet, and Hart. Madison caught her breath.

  “Hi,” Madison said. She looked down at the floor to avoid making eye contact with Hart. She wondered if he could tell that she’d been daydreaming about him all morning.

  “Hey, Finnster,” Hart replied matter-of-factly. He said hello to Aimee and Fiona, too.

  “Drew and Dan nabbed a table for us,” Egg said, pointing to the far end of the food court.

  “Great—we’ll join them. And I’ll save you a seat,” Fiona said flirtatiously as she grabbed her tray.

  “Oh-oh-okay,” Egg said. He was blushing and stuttering at the same time.

  “Actually,” Hart said uncomfortably, “I sort of promised Ivy that I’d eat with her.” He nodded in the opposite direction from Drew and Dan, where Ivy was camped out with her drones.

  “Way to go,” Chet said, giving Hart a thumbs-up. “She looks cute today.”

  Hart stifled a laugh. “Yeah, whatever. I promised, that’s all.”

  Madison had to control herself from making an ugly face. She glared over at Ivy’s table. When Ivy saw Madison looking in her direction, she gave her a tight little smile.

  “Sorry, you guys,” Hart apologized as he walked away.

  “No big deal,” Dan said. “We’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Yeah,” Madison agreed, still masking her disappointment. “See you later, Hart.”

  He smiled at Madison again, and she felt dizzy. It was probably her good luck that Hart was going to eat with Ivy, Madison thought to herself. If she had to sit down next to him during lunch, she would have been so nervous that she probably would have ended up with half of her pizza in her lap.

  Madison, Aimee, and Fiona took their trays and headed toward Dan and Drew who had staked out a big, round table.

  “What’s up?” Aimee asked as she slid into the seat next to Dan. “Buy anything good?” She nodded at a small brown bag on the seat next to Dan. He’d loaded up his tray with two hamburgers, a super-size container of fries, and a large drink.

  “A couple of CDs,” Dan said, popping a french fry into his mouth. “But the guy at the record store clearly thought my taste was less than cool. What does he know? He had both eyebrows pierced and a blue mohawk.” Dan imitated the look on the guy’s face, pretending to sneer at Aimee’s pizza.

  Drew started to laugh so hard that he actually let out a snort.

  “But you bought the CDs anyway,” Fiona said.

  Dan shrugged. “Do I care what that guy thinks about my taste in music?” he asked. “I mean, he didn’t ask for my opinion on his lame haircut.”

  Chet slid into the seat next to Madison.

  Egg plunked his tray onto the table. “Hey, Drew, slide over,” he said.

  “Why?” Drew asked, clearly confused.

  Egg gave Drew a look, then glanced quickly in Fiona’s direction.

  “Oh,” Drew said, running his fingers through his spiky hair. He slid over so that Egg could sit next to Fiona.

  Chet rolled his eyes and Madison hid her smile behind a napkin. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one who was still getting used to thinking of Egg and Fiona as a couple.

  “Are you going to have that?” Dan asked Aimee. Half of the giant chocolate-chip cookie she’d bought to go with her veggie pizza was sitting on her tray, uneaten.

  “Are you kidding?” Aimee asked, eyeing Dan’s tray. It was almost empty, of course. He had already devoured his hamburgers. Only a couple of fries were left.

  “Aim, I never kid about food,” Dan said, lifting the remains of the cookie off of her plate and taking a bite. “Mmmm!” he said, grinning.

  Madison smiled. Dan was a big guy—taller and wider than any of the other boys in the seventh grade. When they were in fifth grade, some of the kids used to call Dan Pork-O. But Dan never really seemed bothered by it. Madison really admired his confidence.

  “Hey, Dan,” Egg said. “Come with me to get some ice cream.”

  “Ice cream,” Dan said, his eyes dancing. “I won’t say no to that!”

  “I’m coming, too,” Chet said. “Anybody else want some? Fiona?”

  “Yeah, Fiona,” Egg said. “Want some ice cream?”

  “No, thank you, Walter,” Fiona said, smiling.

  Chet punched Egg in the shoulder. “Thank you, Walter,” he said under his breath.

  Madison and Aimee exchanged looks. Was Chet as weirded out by this new boyfriend side of Egg as the rest of the group was?

  “Anyone else?” Dan asked. “Going once … going twice …”

  Everyone said no, they didn’t want anything, and the guys headed off to the soft-serve counter, leaving the girls alone with Drew.

  “Dan is so funny,” Aimee said once the guys were out of earshot. “He’s the cool, funny kind of guy I always wanted to have as a brother.”

  “You’ve got three brothers already,” Madison pointed out.

  “Yeah,” Aimee agreed, taking a sip of her soda. “And none of them are cool or funny.”

  “So, Fiona,” Drew said in an oh-so-casual voice. “Are you going to the Heart to Heart dance with anyone yet?” Fiona looked shocked, and Drew added quickly, “Egg wants to know.”

  Madison looked at Aimee, and they both laughed. Egg hadn’t asked Fiona to the dance yet because he was chicken! He had Drew do his dirty work for him.

  “Tell Egg that I’m totally free,” Fiona said.

  Drew smiled. “Who are you going with?” he asked Aimee.

  Aimee shrugged. “You, Drew!” She laughed out loud.

  “Very funny,” he said. “What about you, Maddie?”

  Madison gulped. She glanced over in the direction of where Hart was sitting with Ivy and the drones and then looked back to Drew. “No one,” she said.

  Drew took a deep breath, like maybe he was going to say something, but then he was interrupted by a flying napkin.

  “Gotcha!” Egg wailed, running back over to the table.

  The boys had returned with their ice cream cones. Egg elbowed Drew and Drew gave his friend a nod. Chet smacked Egg on the back so hard that it almost sent his waffle cone flying. Egg slid into the seat beside Fiona and sighed.

  “Want some?” he said, offering his cone.

  Fiona shook her head. “No thanks.” She grinned at Madison.

  Madison wanted to gush and celebrate her friend’s date, but she just couldn’t. Her smile back to Fiona felt forced.

  It wasn’t that Madison wasn’t happy for her fri
end. She was. But couple stuff was hard to get used to. When junior-high couples were strangers you saw from afar, holding hands in the hallways at school … that was okay. When they were your friends … it was way weirder.

  Madison checked her watch. “Ooopsie,” she said. “It’s three fifteen. I have to meet my mom soon.”

  “Same here,” Aimee said.

  “Actually, I’m supposed to call my mom,” Fiona said. “But maybe Chet and I can ride home with you, Maddie?” Fiona asked.

  “Sure,” Madison said. “Does anyone else need a ride?”

  “Could you drop me at the animal shelter?” Dan asked.

  “No problem,” Madison said. “Drew, what about you?”

  “I’m meeting up with Hart later. Egg and I are going home with him,” Drew said. Madison nodded. Drew and Hart were cousins.

  The friends said good-bye, and Madison headed to the Roundabout with Fiona, Chet, and Dan.

  “Hey, I’ll … um … talk to you later …” Egg said to Fiona before racing off after Drew.

  Aimee gestured as though she was typing to Madison, who nodded. They would e-mail each other later.

  When Maddie, Fiona, Chet, and Dan arrived at the Roundabout, they were still a few minutes early. The boys headed toward the music store. Madison and Fiona flopped on a bench. Madison looked at her bag from In the Pink beside her. She couldn’t wait to get home and show Mom the dress.

  A funny Valentine’s Day window display caught her eye. And Madison dragged Fiona to investigate. A beefy mannequin was wearing boxer shorts with lipstick kiss marks on them and sunglasses in the shape of hearts. On his head, he wore a pair of Bobblers with hearts at the ends of the springy antennae. “For Phinnie!” she said, and rushed in to buy them.

  While Fiona checked out some lipsticks in the front of the store, Madison stared out into the busy mall.

  Was that Dad? She squinted. It sure looked like him, standing at the counter in a store across the mall. The man shifted slightly, so Madison could see his whole face. It was him!

  Just as she opened her mouth to shout, “Dad,” a salesman walked up to him. Madison backed off. The salesclerk was handing Dad a small black box.

  She glanced up at the store sign.