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by Laura Dower

  “That’s me,” Madison said to Leyli. “Sometimes I feel like I’m always the one going in the wrong direction.”

  In her mind, Madison imagined all the boys in her life as those racing pigs. “Squee! Squee! Squee!” They were hard to keep up with. Hart. Dan. Mark, who she kissed once under the fireworks at Gramma Helen’s house. Which one was going to come in first place? Which one would just turn around midrace and head back to the starting line? Which one wouldn’t run at all?

  After two more rounds of pig racing, the folks at Peterson’s Farm entertained the crowd with rounds of goat racing and duck racing. Kids were squealing as loudly as the animals.

  Madison and the other kids moved from station to station, grabbing things to eat, trying out some of the farm demonstrations, and playing some games. Peterson’s was really bopping now.

  Then the farm hosted their “Find the Sheep” hayride. Everyone climbed aboard a tractor that was probably built in the 1900s and huddled together on a wagon attached to the back. The tractor wheels were taller than Madison!

  Madison thought the sheep hunt would be a desperate search for missing black and white sheep along the way. But of course there weren’t actual sheep hidden en route—just painted cutouts of pretend sheep. Still, it was fun.

  A couple of kids started goofing around and got out of their seats. Madison ended up squished next to Hart.

  She couldn’t stop thinking about how he looked now, what he said (and didn’t say), and how he smelled—his coconut conditioner mixed with the cologne he always stole from his dad’s dresser. But Madison didn’t feel that same twinge she used to feel, not even up close.

  What happened to the twinge?

  Some of the boys—Egg, Chet, Drew, and Hart—wanted to head for the pie-eating contest, but the girls wanted to see the corn maze, so they split up.

  Except for Dan. He went with the girls.

  What was that about?

  At the corn maze, the girls and Dan had to divide into pairs. A woman working the event handed Leyli an orange flag and Aimee a map. Madison and Fiona got the same.

  Dan just stood there, off to the side, pulling his beanie down over his ears.

  “What’s with the hat?” Madison asked him seriously. “Aren’t you hot?”

  “It’s haircut shame,” Dan said, whipping off his cap. “Just cut my hair this morning, and I may have taken a teensy bit too much off the top. What do you think?”

  Madison stared. “I think … Oh, wow … You have no more hair.”

  Leyli reached right out and rubbed his head like a genie lamp. “Feels fuzzy.”

  “That tickles,” Dan said.

  “Bald is in,” Aimee said, “if you’re like sixty.”

  “Ouch.” Dan grinned.

  “Why didn’t Chet come to the corn maze?” Fiona asked Dan. “He was talking about it all last night.”

  “He couldn’t resist the pie. I, on the other hand, am trying to stay away from the pie. They said they’d meet us all back here.”

  “So we can all do the corn maze together and meet them afterward,” Leyli suggested.

  “I wish I’d known that was the deal. TBH, I would have voted for pie, too,” Fiona said. “I’m not really into mazes.”

  Madison knew Fiona probably just wanted to be with Egg.

  “Well, I’m going in,” Dan announced. “Last one in is a rotten scarecrow.”

  “I’ll go in with you,” Madison and Leyli said at the same time.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty adventurous,” Leyli bragged, smiling at Dan.

  Dan smiled back.

  “Hang on!” Aimee said, checking the phone she had tucked in her pocket. “I just got a text from Egg. Those other guys said we should come see them finish up the pie-eating contest. Then we can meet them over at the orchard. We can pick apples and peaches there together.”

  “Let’s just blow off the maze and go right to the orchard,” Fiona said.

  “What if we go through the maze and meet you two afterward?” Leyli asked. She grabbed Madison by the arm, and they skipped ahead. Dan raced after them to the maze entrance.

  “Okay, we’ll see you three in a little bit!” Fiona and Aimee yelled. They were considering heading back to the pigs for one more race.

  “If we make it out alive!” Madison called back.

  Madison was only half-kidding. First there was all the weirdness with Hart. Now things with her, Leyli, and Dan were getting more complicated by the minute!

  “Maddie,” Leyli whispered as they wound around inside the corn maze, “BBBBBCO Dan. He is super cute.”

  “BBBBBBCO?”

  “Big, big, big, big …” Leyli laughed.

  “Seriously?” Madison wrinkled her brow. “You’re already crushing on him that much?”

  “Well …” Leyli’s eyelashes fluttered. “I guess … I mean, wouldn’t you?”

  “To each her own,” Madison joked. “Dan’s kind of a dork, don’t you think?”

  Dan ran up and surprised them both. Madison was thankful he hadn’t heard what she called him. The three of them raced through the corn stalks like mice in a lab experiment. But then somewhere in the middle of a bunch of dead ends, Dan, Leyli, and Madison realized the inevitable: They were Lost with a capital L.

  Dan tugged something out of his pocket.

  “Secret weapon!” he said, producing a compass in a clear case.

  “Compass, of course,” Leyli said. “You’re so smart.”

  “Regular genius,” Madison cracked.

  “Well,” Dan said, “I watch a lot of science shows on TV. Joe McCann, Science Man, and The Great Big Beyond, that kind of stuff. And animal shows, too.”

  “Geek!” Madison teased.

  “Mega impressive,” said Leyli. “Science is my favorite subject.”

  “Look, I didn’t mean geek in a bad way,” Madison backpedaled.

  “Yeah you did, Maddie.” Dan laughed. “But I’m an animal geek, too.”

  “Just like I’m a gymnastics geek. We’re all geeks!” Leyli said.

  Dan and Leyli took charge and found north using the compass. The three of them wandered a bit more. Soon they stumbled upon the center of the maze. There were picnic tables and a funny ring-toss game. All around them, behind the walls of the maze, they could still hear the muffled chatter of people getting lost and acting silly.

  They each grabbed a seat on a random bench.

  A kid outside the center of the maze howled loudly.

  “Some sucker thinks he’s Tarzan,” Dan said then jumped up. “Let’s go!”

  Leyli took off after him.

  “Hey, wait for me!” Madison bellowed. But before she could get herself in gear and follow in their speedy footsteps, they both vanished around a corner into the stalks.

  “Hello?” Madison called out. Almost immediately there was a fork in the maze and then another one. She couldn’t see Dan or Leyli.

  Madison concentrated. Did she hear them moving around up ahead of her? Should she brave the maze on her own or wait here? She walked around one corner and hit a cornstalk dead end. Then she ran into a three-way fork in the maze. Her pulse quickened. Getting lost was never any fun, but now she was lost and ditched.

  “DAAAAAAAN!” Madison called out.

  No answer.

  How was this even possible? Had they both disappeared?

  Crunch.

  Madison heard another family coming up behind her. The dad must have seen the desperate look of abandonment on Madison’s face and quickly figured out she was lost. Thankfully, he offered to help her out of the maze. As soon as she stepped out, Madison looked around frantically for her two friends.

  Where had they gone now? How had she ended up alone?

  “BOOOOO!” Dan and Leyli screamed as they jumped out from behind a giant painted c
utout, a family of oversized pumpkin heads.

  “Ahhhhh!” Madison leaped into the air. She smiled, partly relieved, but inside she was annoyed. “You got me all right. Good job, guys.”

  “Sorry we ditched you,” Dan said. “It was Leyli’s idea.”

  Leyli giggled. “For a couple of minutes, we didn’t even realize you weren’t behind us. I swear.”

  No, of course you didn’t, Madison thought to herself. She wondered at that moment whether her bonding with Leyli was now going to be undone by a boy.

  Boys did that to girl friendships sometimes.

  They headed straight for the orchard and the rest of the crew. The orchard was really almost a maze in itself with gnarly apple trees in all shapes and sizes. The grassy, bumpy ground was blanketed with wormy and bruised fruit that fell to the ground while people picked.

  Madison wanted to find the Macouns for Mom. Those were the apples Mom liked best. She wandered off on her own and stumbled onto rows and rows of peaches. There were little markers poking up from the ground with pretty names such as Garnet Beauty, Intrepid, or Indian Cling. How cool! Stephanie loved peaches, so she’d have to get some of these for her stepmom.

  She found herself deep into another row secretly looking for apples and boys. Madison was sure that Leyli and Dan were off getting to know each other. Hart was probably in here, too. Maybe she needed to find him and figure out what was going on. Maybe she needed to find the twinge again.

  “Psssst!” someone sneaked up on Madison. Startled, she tripped on a root and fell forward.

  The person reached out, and Madison grabbed an arm.

  “Whoa, that was a close call,” he said.

  “I almost broke my face, dude,” Madison cried. “Why would you do that?”

  “You wouldn’t have broken it, but your face would have been smeared with applesauce.” Dan smiled. He was still holding her arm.

  “No applesauce, thank you very much!” Madison said. She wanted him to keep holding her arm like that. She’d found the twinge all right. It was right here, right now.

  With Dan?

  “This is a job for Pork-O,” Dan joked, pretending like he wanted to eat the whole place.

  “Well, Pork-O and applesauce go well together,” Madison said.

  Dan grinned. “Sure thing.”

  “I wish my doggy was here,” Madison said. “Phin loves apple picking.”

  “I don’t know if apples would be his thing,” Dan said. “Remember, he needs to watch what he eats. And we want him to get better. …”

  “I’ve been so scared this week,” Madison said.

  “He’s a good dog,” Dan said. “Even if he does chew on everything at the clinic.”

  “He doesn’t chew on as much as that annoying Chihuahua that lady always brings in, remember?” Madison quipped.

  “Hey, did I tell you there’s a new German shepherd at the clinic? We named him Skitter.”

  “Skitter? That’s a fun name,” Madison said. “You’re really good at naming things, Dan.”

  “Where are you guys?” a voice called from behind a row of peaches. “Where are you hiding, Madison and Dan?”

  “Hey, it’s Leyli. We better go,” Dan said. He called out, “Leyli! Over here!”

  “She’s nice, right?” Madison said casually.

  Dan shrugged. “Yeah, she is. For a new kid.”

  Without thinking, Madison jumped up and ran away, like she used to do at recess in the schoolyard, even when Dan called after her.

  “Hey! Wait up!” Dan said, chasing her.

  But Madison was unstoppable. She ran down the row, whizzing by the peaches, and landed in the Macoun area. Here were all her other friends! What luck!

  “Maddie!” Fiona howled. “Where have you been?”

  “Seriously,” Aimee said. “We were looking all over for you, and then Fiona said, ‘Maybe she’s picking Macouns,’ because you said you wanted to get some for your mom, right?”

  Madison was so glad that her friends had paid attention. “Yup,” she said. “You found me. Thanks.”

  Dan and Leyli appeared behind Madison.

  “Hey there,” Aimee said, looking a little perplexed. “Where have you guys been all this time?”

  “The three of us hit the corn maze,” Madison said. “And we totally got lost.”

  “Ha! Now we’re finally back together!” Fiona said. “I just texted my brother. They’re waiting for us down that hill. Apparently Drew threw up blueberry pie. Just a little bit, but ewww gross. My brother won, as usual. Hart came in second.”

  All the girls—and Dan—raced down to the main area to meet up with the pie-faced boys.

  “Chet won the contest!” Egg said.

  “He … Was … A … BEAST!” Drew added. “I, on the other hand, not so much.”

  Everyone turned to high-five each other. Madison turned and slapped Hart’s hand, but he grabbed it—and didn’t let go.

  “Um, can I have my hand back?” Madison asked softly.

  “Of course,” Hart said, dropping her hand. “I don’t know why I did that. Sorry, Maddie.”

  Madison rubbed her hands together. “Anyway …”

  “That was awkward,” Hart said. “I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Is that why you didn’t email me? Or tell me you were even coming to Far Hills? I mean, you told everyone else.”

  It all came tumbling out before she knew it.

  “Yeah, of course I told my friends,” Hart cracked. “Am I supposed to send out an all-points bulletin or something?”

  “You’re different,” Madison said.

  “Different than what? What are you talking about?”

  “Just different,” Madison said curtly. “You used to finish my sentences.”

  “Huh?” Hart said. “You act like you don’t even like me anymore.”

  “Yeah, well …” Madison was stuck for words. She glanced around. Over to the side she saw Dan staring. He didn’t look happy. Had he seen that hand grab? Was he watching Hart and Madison?

  “HART!” Chet called out. “Photo ops! Come on!”

  Madison and Hart stood there in silence, just staring.

  Then Hart turned without a word and went over to the other guys. It was kind of a “to be continued” moment, just like old times. Madison wanted to scream.

  “Hey,” Leyli whispered to Madison after Hart had gone. “Do you think Dan might like me?”

  Do I really have to deal with this right now? I just had a total meltdown with Hart, thought Madison. But she said, “He tells me everything, so I would probably know if he did.”

  “Oh.”

  Madison couldn’t stop thinking about Hart. He used to talk to her all the time. Now they barely had a conversation without … whatever just happened.

  “Photo ops—last call! I have a selfie stick!” Chet cried.

  “Come on, Madison. As usual, we’re all waiting for you,” Egg cracked.

  The group took a bunch of selfies on top of a giant tractor then took turns poking their heads through a huge hand-painted wooden scarecrow. Madison and her friends made funny faces. Madison and Hart expertly avoided each other. It got weird so fast.

  Madison checked Drew’s wrist for the time. He had a gold watch shaped like a triangle. Three hours had passed too quickly. Soon the limo driver and Mr. Waters would be here to take everyone home.

  “What are you thinking about?” Leyli asked.

  Madison grinned. “Nothing much,” she said. “And everything. All at the same time.”

  “I know how that feels,” Leyli said. “I obsess about stuff.”

  Madison smiled. “Yeah.”

  If only Leyli and the others knew she was thinking about Dan and Hart and the twinge. They wouldn’t know what to say.

  Once their rides arr
ived, everyone hastily said good-bye and rushed off. On the way back with Mr. Waters, Madison and her pals flipped through the pics in Fiona’s and Aimee’s phones. They all shared an app called funkyfotostudio, where they could add borders, captions, little stars, and halos. There was a way to make mini flip books with photo bursts and collages with special effects, like fireworks and weird ghost glows.

  Fiona also looked at the posts from the kids in their group: more scarecrow selfies, a whole series of shots showing the boys with pie on their faces, and an action video of Egg and Chet walking into a barn door as if by mistake.

  Scrolling through, Madison ran across a funny sequence of photos from Chet’s profile. They had been taken with Egg, Chet, Hart, and a few girls, including Fiona in the background. It was hard to tell who everyone else was because half the photos were blurred. But there was one girl who had turned away from the camera a little. She looked familiar. Madison squinted to look more closely. The girl was laughing. Hart was laughing, too. They were laughing together. And they were standing very close.

  “Who’s that?” Leyli whispered over Madison’s shoulder. “I know her from school, but I can’t remember her name. Was she here today?”

  “I don’t know,” Madison said, squinting. “I don’t remember …”

  All at once, Madison realized exactly who the girl was.

  That girl was Ivy Daly.

  Madison couldn’t believe her eyes. Wasn’t Ivy supposed to be her friend, at least a little bit?

  And try as she might to shake it, that moment was when the twinge came right back.

  Chapter Nine

  Madison fell onto her bed and opened her laptop. Lately, it would sometimes click and have trouble booting, but thankfully it seemed to be working all right on this lazy Saturday night. Mom said she’d get it fixed, but for now, Madison had to deal with the cracks and dents from the embarrassing spill down the school’s front steps.