Give Me a Break

by Laura Dower

  Madison started to giggle as she attempted to shake her hips, too. But her rhythm was a little off this morning. Even Phin was dancing better than she was.

  Mom smiled. “I wish I had my camera. You girls crack me up. You’re so beautiful…”

  “Beautiful? Oh, Mom,” Madison sighed. “Don’t get all mushy on me now.”

  “I still can’t believe we’re really, truly going to Big Mountain,” Aimee said. “I read in Star Beat that Foster Lane spends his weekends there in the winter.”

  “Foster Lane? Is that a real name? Who’s he?” Mom asked.

  Aimee feigned disbelief. Her jaw dropped open. “Mrs. Finn!” she exclaimed. “Foster is a major hottie. He’s on that TV show Lost in Tucson.”

  “Whoa,” Mom said, chuckling. “I thought I was pretty hip, but I’ve never heard of him or his show. And I work in the movie business!”

  Madison laughed. “Wait! I’m starting to get that weird butterfly feeling,” she said. “Right here.” Madison pointed to her stomach.

  “I know. Me, too,” Aimee said. “This trip is the deal.”

  Ding-dong.

  “And there’s your dad!” Aimee squealed.

  Mom zipped up the canvas bag with Phin’s dog food and chew toys in it. She set aside his beanbag for sleeping, although there probably wasn’t enough room in Dad’s car for it. Dad had rented a Jeep for driving up to the mountains. Some luggage could go on top of the car, some would be stacked in the back, but it would be a tight squeeze with the five of them: Dad, Stephanie, Madison, Aimee, and Phineas T. Finn.

  “You girls ready?” Dad called out from the hallway. He’d let himself in at the front door, which wasn’t really all that weird, considering the fact that this had once been his house, too. Madison still felt strange when he rang the doorbell.

  “Dad!” Madison yelled as she ran for the door. She gave him a big hug. So did Aimee.

  “I should be around for most of the week,” Mom said. “If you need anything.”

  “Thank you, Francine,” Dad said.

  Madison grabbed her two smaller bags. Aimee rolled her suitcase back out onto the porch. Mom kissed Maddie, Aimee, and Phin good-bye.

  “I packed his little doggy sweater,” Mom said. “The one that Gramma Helen knit for him.”

  “Awwwww, that is so-o-o-o-o sweet!” Aimee said.

  Even though Madison was feeling much more alert, Aimee’s high-pitched squeals were still a little over the top.

  Everyone said a second round of good-byes and then the travelers headed for the car. Stephanie was inside, half covered by a wool blanket.

  “Good morning,” Madison said as she squeezed into the back. It was a snug fit. Phin wasn’t sure where he was supposed to go. Finally, he curled up in a ball on Madison’s lap. Aimee got in on the other side.

  Madison stared out the window as they pulled away. By now, the sky was white with morning light. Trucks headed for delivery stops. City buses chugged along on their early-morning routes. There were only a few other cars along the road.

  They passed the Far Hills Animal Clinic, where Madison liked to volunteer. They even drove past a tomblike Far Hills Junior High.

  “It’s official. We’re really on winter break,” Madison said with a sigh. “I never thought it would come, but now it’s here. And we’re leaving town!”

  “Um… can we listen to the radio?” Aimee asked.

  “Sure,” Stephanie said. She clicked on a station. “Ask Me How I Feel” was playing.

  “No way!” Aimee cried.

  “The same song!” Madison screamed.

  Dad jumped. The car lurched. Phin scrambled into the front seat.

  “Phin! Madison!” Dad groaned. He used her full first name only when he was annoyed at something.

  “Oh, sorry, Dad,” Madison said. “It’s just that this song was playing on the radio at Mom’s, too, just a few minutes ago, and if you randomly hear the same song like that, it means that it’s your lucky song. Doesn’t it, Aim?”

  “You’re the one who believes in all that superstitious stuff,” Aimee said.

  “Well,” Dad said, “I don’t care if it is your lucky song. That’s no reason to scream in the car. I thought something was wrong.”

  Aimee made a “whoopsie” face. Madison squirmed in her seat.

  They drove on. Once they hit the highway, everyone (except Dad, of course) started to doze off.

  Madison awoke half an hour later with a cramp in her leg. Stephanie was looking out the window, or sleeping—Madison couldn’t tell. Phin slept on Stephanie’s lap. Dad was listening to talk radio, not the cool music station they’d been listening to before. Aimee was still out cold, her mouth hanging open the way it usually did when she slept. She always slept funny. Once, at a sleepover, Madison, Fiona, and their other friend Lindsay watched as Aimee rolled over, mouth open, asleep, onto her giant teddy bear. The next day, Aimee woke up with fur on her tongue.

  “Daddy?” Madison asked softly from the back seat. “I’m going to use my laptop. Is that okay?”

  “Of course,” he said. “That’s why I got you the laptop. So you could take it anywhere you wanted.”

  “I mean, is it okay if we don’t talk?” Madison asked. “I don’t want you to think I’m being rude or that I don’t want to talk or… well, you know what I mean.”

  Dad looked briefly over his shoulder at her and then turned back to the road. He could see Madison through his rearview mirror.

  “Maddie, this is your vacation,” he said. “Do whatever you want.”

  Madison logged on and opened a new file.

  On the Road

  Rude Awakening: I thought taking a trip with Dad and Stephanie would drive me crazy. But this vacation feels like it’s driving in a very different direction.

  Big news: in addition to keeping her mouth wide open like a trout, Aimee snores! I never knew that, even after all the times I slept over at her house and she slept over at mine. Or maybe she snores because she is sitting up. I wish I had my video so I had proof. She will totally deny that she does this.

  I forgot that once you drive out of Far Hills, there are so many trees and mountains, and everything here is dusted with snow. Dad says that when we get up to the Adirondack mountains, we’ll be climbing in altitude. It gets colder, so there’s even more snow on the ground. He’s good with all that science data. I know he watches the Weather Channel a lot.

  Oh, wow! As I’m writing this, we just passed this HUGE farm with cows everywhere. And I can see there’s a flurry of snow in the air now. Stephanie’s waking up in the front seat. She rolled down her window for a little fresh air and WHAMMO! A gust of snowy air blew right into her face. Between the snow and the snores, this is pretty funny stuff. But I’m trying desperately not to laugh back here.

  I have absolutely less than no idea where we are, except that we just passed a sign that said “ALBANY, 40 Miles” and I know that’s the state capital. So we must be more than halfway there. Dad said it takes five hours.

  Madison glanced over at Aimee, who was still snoring. Stephanie heard the snoring, too, and smiled at Madison from the front seat.

  “Do you want to hold Phin?” she asked.

  Madison nodded and carefully took the pug onto her lap.

  “I think we’ll stop up ahead,” Dad said. “There’s a rest stop. We can grab some coffee or soda and take a bathroom break.”

  Phin pressed his pug nose up against the back window, and it steamed up. The air was definitely getting colder. A light snow had begun to fall.

  As they pulled off the road into a rest stop, Aimee finally woke up. “Where are we?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. “Look! It’s snowing!”

  Outside, flurries were starting to fall faster now. It was as though they’d driven onto a movie set or into a giant Christmas card.

  Everyone grabbed a drink and a snack at the rest stop, and then they headed out on to the road again. Dad was struggling a little bit with the map. He was looking fo
r a shortcut to the resort. His client had given him directions for the back-road route, but Dad couldn’t seem to find one of the country roads he was looking for.

  “Jeff, dear, take the main highway,” Stephanie advised sweetly.

  Madison already knew what was going to happen—and it wasn’t pretty. Dad always refused to do things the easy way.

  About a half hour after leaving the rest stop, Madison leaned over to Aimee and whispered, “We’re lost. I can feel it.”

  “I heard that!” Dad snapped from the front. “We are not lost. I’m just taking the scenic route. I think the snow’s letting up.”

  Stephanie chuckled. “Oh, Jeff, the snow is the least of our worries.”

  Kerthunk.

  The car moved shakily from side to side.

  “What was that?” Aimee cried from the back.

  “Yes, Jeff, what was that?” Stephanie asked, clutching her car door. “Was that the tire?”

  “Rowwrooooo-rorrrroroooooo!” Phin barked.

  Dad sat forward in his seat and gently applied the brake. “I have no idea what the—”

  Kerplonk.

  “Now, that didn’t sound like a flat tire. Did it?” Dad asked.

  “It sounded bad,” Aimee responded.

  “You can fix it. Right, Dad?” Madison asked.

  All at once, the car lurched forward and then slowed down to a crawl. Dad guided it over to the side of the road. The five of them (including Phinnie) sat there quietly.

  Dad pounded his fist on of the dashboard. “This is just my luck!” he cried.

  Stephanie put her hand on his arm. “Don’t worry, Jeff.”

  Madison liked the way her stepmother acted in stressful situations. Stephanie’s cooler-than-cool demeanor calmed Dad down. Madison remembered how different it had been between Mom and Dad. On family trips, they would make each other more stressed.

  “So… are we going to get out of the car?” Aimee asked Madison. She looked over at her friend.

  “I don’t know,” Madison said with a shrug.

  “Let’s call triple A first,” Stephanie said. The American Automobile Association helped cars in emergencies like this. One call would summon a tow truck and mechanic to come and help fix the car.

  “Oh, no.” Dad stared straight ahead at the steering wheel. “You won’t believe this, Stephanie. I left my card in my other wallet.”

  “You forgot your card? When we were taking a major road trip?” Stephanie said. “Jeff, how could you do that?”

  Madison and Aimee didn’t say a word more.

  Dad hung his head. “We were so rushed, I just—”

  “Here, use my card,” Stephanie said, pulling it out of her purse with a smile.

  Dad leaned over and brushed Stephanie’s cheek with his hand. “Thank you,” he said.

  When they got out of the Jeep, everyone saw the problem right away: not just one but two very flat tires.

  Luckily there was still decent cell reception even though the hills were all around. Madison and Aimee waited near the car while Dad and Stephanie walked a bit down the road to make the phone call. Phin sniffed around the flat tires.

  “Hey, Aim, do you see that?” Madison asked Aimee, pointing into the sky.

  Aimee was too busy primping to notice. Her hair and outfit had gotten mussed when she fell asleep in the backseat.

  Madison craned her neck to look up into the sky. Right above the Jeep, a group of crows circled around. They cawed loudly. She wondered if it were a bad omen.

  Were flat tires and crows signs of bad luck that couldn’t be shaken?

  Was the trip to Big Mountain headed for big problems?

  Chapter 4

  “I’M COLD,” AIMEE COMPLAINED after they’d stood in the road for twenty minutes.

  “So, why don’t you put on another sweater,” Madison suggested.

  Aimee rubbed her eyes. “I’m tired, too,” she moaned. She sat down on the Jeep’s bumper. “How long do you think we’ll have to wait?” she asked.

  Madison shrugged. It already felt as if they’d been waiting forever. She scanned the sky again for the crows, but they seemed to have flown away. She hoped that that was a good sign.

  Dad and Stephanie sat on a large boulder a short distance from the car, waiting impatiently for the tow truck to appear.

  Madison grabbed Phin’s leash tightly as the dog paraded around the Jeep, sniffing the area. He shivered a little, so Madison pulled him up into her arms, rubbing his little paws. They were half frozen from contact with the cold ground.

  “We should have gotten Phinnie little fleece ski boots,” Madison joked loudly. “Right, Dad?”

  Dad wasn’t laughing. He had his nose buried in the car manual that he’d found inside the glove compartment.

  Stephanie, however, smiled. She stood up and walked over to the BFFs. “How are you gals holding up?” Stephanie asked. She put her arm around Madison’s shoulders and squeezed.

  “Aimee’s cold,” Madison answered. “We’re so scrunched in the backseat, too. Usually, road trips are cool, but for some reason…”

  “Oh, I guess we should have rented a larger minivan,” Stephanie said. “Next time we’ll know better.”

  Madison wondered how Stephanie could be thinking about a next time when this time had scarcely begun.

  “Aimee, have you skied much?” Stephanie asked.

  “A little bit,” Aimee said. “My brothers are all way better than me. I tried snowboarding a few times, though. I was okay at that.”

  “Wow, snowboarding! That’s very impressive,” Stephanie said. “I’d like to try that. I’ve gone surfing a few times in Hawaii but never snowboarded.”

  “You’ve been to Hawaii?” Aimee cried. “That’s, like, my dream vacation.”

  Madison thought about surfing and how Fiona was probably halfway to California by then, not stuck on the side of some mountain in the middle of nowhere, waiting for a massive snowstorm to swallow her up.

  A loud boom came from down the road behind them. A silver tow truck pulled into view, engines rumbling, red and yellow lights flashing.

  The driver poked his elbow and then his head out of the window.

  “Ahoy, there!” he said, as if he were standing on the stern of a ship. His face was grizzled and he wore a brown baseball cap that read MOE’S TRUCK STOP. “Got yerself a flat, do you?”

  “We have two,” Dad moaned. “Can you beat that?”

  The driver and Dad surveyed the damage and made arrangements to head to a nearby service station. The closest one was twelve miles back in the opposite direction. Dad and Phin drove to the station in the cab of the tow truck. Stephanie, Madison, and Aimee got a special ride in another car sent by the garage.

  Once they got there, it took a long time for the Jeep to be repaired. Stephanie took Phin for a walk. Aimee and Madison hung out inside the service station and got cups of hot cocoa from a vending machine.

  “It’s just not the same as Mom’s, is it?” Madison joked as the machine spit gobs of brown stuff into the cups and squirted a dollop of fake whipped cream on top of each one. The cream melted before they could even take sips, but they drank up anyway.

  A pair of drab green plastic chairs stood in the corner of the room. Madison pulled her laptop out of her bag and took a seat. Aimee sat down, too.

  “The other day I found this cool website,” Madison explained. “It’s called Love Connection. You punch in the name of the person you really like, and it tells you whether you have a perfect love match or not.”

  “Those games don’t mean anything,” Aimee said with a toss of her head. “You don’t believe them, do you?”

  “What are you talking about?” Madison said. “Of course I do.”

  “Maddie, that’s like writing your names and counting the vowels to see if you’re destined to be together,” Aimee said.

  “Yeah, what’s wrong with that? I do that all the time,” Madison said. “I can’t believe you don’t do that. Everyone does
that.”

  “Whatever,” Aimee said. “Go ahead and log on. I’ll play.”

  Madison booted up the computer and typed the website address in to her browser. A screen flashed the sentence WHAT’S YOUR LOVE CONNECTION? Background music played. Little pink hearts danced around the border of the page. The screen prompted Madison to enter the name of her crush and her own name.

  Madison stared at the screen.

  “Well, what are you waiting for?” Aimee asked. “Put in ‘Hart Jones.’”

  “But you said I’m supposed to get a new crush,” Madison said.

  “So? See if you and Hart are destined to be together anyway,” Aimee insisted. “It’s only a game.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t believe in this stuff,” Madison said.

  “Yeah, well… maybe I believe in it a little,” Aimee admitted with a smile. “Plug in Hart’s name. Go ahead.”

  Madison entered the names. The screen flashed, and then the results popped up.

  Hart Jones and Madison Finn:

  26% chance of romance

  Madison’s face drooped when she saw that.

  “That’s terrible,” Madison said.

  “Oh, Maddie, it doesn’t mean anything,” Aimee said. “It’s just a number.”

  “A low number,” Madison said with a sigh. In that moment, she felt as though all the time she had spent liking Hart had been wasted; as though she should have been crushing on someone who had a better percentage.

  Aimee leaned over and typed in another name next to Madison’s. Before Madison could erase it, the website flashed the new message.

  Walter Diaz and Madison Finn:

  35% chance of romance

  Madison gasped. “Aimee! I could kill you! How could you type in Egg’s name! That is so gross! I’m glad Fiona isn’t here. She’d kill me!”

  Madison quickly typed Aimee Gillespie over her own name. She typed Benjamin Buckley in to the boy slot. Aimee tried to hit the DELETE key but she wasn’t fast enough.

  Benjamin Buckley and Aimee Gillespie:

  74% chance of romance