Chapter 8

ROGER

SOMETIMES I WISH I had an older brother like Roger Gillespie. Does Aimee know how great it is to have someone listen and really listen, not the kind of listening moms and dads do because they want to protect you and play it safe? Roger listens like he wants to really help.

This morning Aimee had to leave for her dance practice at like 6:30 and I was talking to Roger at breakfast about the problems we had with the election Web site. I asked him what I should do since Aimee was saying Ivy had put the lizard on the Web site but I didn’t think so. I don’t think Ivy even knows what a gila monster is.

Roger says don’t put myself in the middle.

He says maybe being in the middle is why I feel crushed by different things, like being the meat in a sandwich or something.

Rude Awakening: I’m sandwich meat?

No wonder boys don’t like me.

After adding to some pages in her files, Madison ducked into ShnaZZy’s, her favorite online shopping site. It was a place where you could buy clothes and books and candles and other cool objects. She wrote down the online code and inventory numbers for a few things she desperately wanted. She knew when Mom came back home, the items would probably never get ordered, but she still liked to think about having them.

SWTTLK09214Q	Zipper Sweater with Flower Appliqué
SWTTLK09203Q	Cargo Pantskirt Camouflage Pattern
SWTTLK09239Q	Fuzzy Scrapbook
SWTTLK09218Q	Baby Tee (Orange Neon)

By the time Madison got into school that morning, her head was overflowing with over-thoughts about boys and clothes, and, of course, the election. She headed straight for Mrs. Wing’s classroom.

“Madison!” Mrs. Wing cried out as soon as Madison walked into the room.

Egg was in the room, too. Drew wasn’t in school yet.

“Madison, we have a problem,” Egg said in an announcer’s voice.

Madison’s stomach flopped. She imagined Aimee’s Web page again: Attack of the Gila Monster, Part Two. She was afraid to look.

“See?” Egg pointed to the computer screen. “Problem.”

Madison’s heart sank.

“What is this?” Mrs. Wing asked, pointing at Ivy’s page.

There, under the flashing name IVY DALY was not a photo of a seventh grader with picture-perfect long red hair, but a photo of a skunk.

“A skunk?” Madison said with disbelief. She covered her face with her hands.

Egg chuckled. “Really smells, doesn’t it?”

Madison frowned. “Not the time to be funny.”

“Now I think we need to take this seriously, you two. I think I have to let Principal Bernard know what is happening now.”

“Mrs. Wing, I swear we triple-checked all the pages, the scans, the HTML code you and Mr. Lynch showed us how to input. I swear.”

Mrs. Wing nodded. “I’m sure you did.”

Drew walked in on the mess. He couldn’t believe his eyes. “Oh no. Look! Ivy’s a skunk, Maddie.”

“No kidding, smart guy!” Egg said.

“Oh, Mrs. Wing I know that I double-checked the scans yesterday, too. We all did. I just don’t—”

“Madison, I don’t blame you. I don’t blame any of you. But now this is a problem I have to handle from here.” Mrs. Wing took over.

Madison stared at the monitor. Seeing the skunk on the page meant that her ideas about Ivy being the true hacker were all wrong.

So who was it?

The mystery plot thickened.

“Mrs. Wing, I want to figure out who did this.” Madison decided on the spot that she had to be the person to find the source of the problem—even if she didn’t know where to begin.

“Well, I am still filing a report with the principal. But I’ll let you look into this immediately. Tomorrow we’ll meet again to talk about it.”

The three of them spent the next half-hour eliminating Miss Skunk and putting Ivy’s real photo back online.

The remainder of the day passed by in a kind of haze. At every corridor turn, at the door to each class, Madison kept expecting some kind of showdown with Ivy, just as she’d had a showdown with Aimee. No matter what Mrs. Wing said, Madison felt responsible.

Madison didn’t see Ivy in science class. Did her absence mean she hadn’t seen it yet and she was just late to class? Had the skunk been safely removed in time? Or had she seen it and run screaming from the building?

A little after three o’clock, after the second bell, Madison got her answer. And the only screaming Ivy was ready to do was in Madison’s direction.

“Hey, Finnster,” a sarcastic voice howled from behind Madison as she went through her locker.

She twisted around.

“Madison Finn, I want an apology and I want it RIGHT NOW!” Ivy was standing there with hands on her hips, lips drawn into a mean pout.

“Apology for what?”

“For messing with my campaign. For messing with ME!” Ivy tossed her red hair back and a little fell into her eyes. She poked Madison in the breastbone with her pointy finger. “YOU can’t get away with this.”

“Don’t touch me,” Madison pushed the finger away. “Ivy, I’m trying to figure it out, I swear.”

“I heard that you put a certain picture of a certain animal up on my page of the school site. I heard that you’re trying to trash me and my chances to win class president. I heard—”

“Well, you heard WRONG,” Madison asserted. “Who tells you this stuff?”

“None of your business!” Ivy snorted. “You don’t play fair.”

“I play fair, Ivy, even with you.”

“What’s up with that?” Ivy pressed her palm up against the locker so Madison couldn’t get in to get her last book. “I wonder what Principal Bernard will say about all this. I wonder what he heard,” she added in a mocking tone of voice.

“Quit it, Ivy. I won’t let you scare me.”

“You are the scary one, Madison Finn.”

“When did you get so mean, Ivy? You used to be so nice.”

“What are you, Queen of Nice?”

The two enemies were practically spitting on each other. A few lockers away, a small crowd was gathering.

“Madison Finn, you don’t know what nice is.”

“Ivy Daly, you don’t know what friendship is.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“You’re stupid.”

“No, you are.”

“Liar,” Madison said without thinking.

“You are the liar,” Ivy yelled.

“Takes one to know one.”

“You’re the one who backstabs and runs away from friends.”

“Shut up!” Madison felt her skin get all clammy. This had become so personal all of a sudden. It wasn’t really about the skunk anymore and they both knew it. Suddenly Madison felt like she was back in third grade with her scratchy knee socks and braids.

Ivy yelled a little louder. “So why should I believe anything you ever say?”

“Believe whatever you want,” Madison shot back. “I didn’t put the picture up there. Go ahead and tell the principal. I don’t care.”

“I think I WILL tell.”

“You know what. Ivy? You’re no skunk. You’re a RAT!”

“Well, you’re a—” For a split second it seemed that Ivy didn’t have a response. She gave Madison an evil stare and took a deep breath. “You’re a COW.”

One of the bystanders laughed out loud and suddenly Madison got very nervous. She looked up at Ivy.

“Well?” Ivy barked. “No more answers from the brainiac?”

Madison had to run. She cut to the left and took off down the hall.

“Crybaby!” Ivy shouted after her. By now the rest of the kids had dispersed. Ivy turned in the opposite direction. She had won.

Madison disappeared into the girls’ bathroom around the corner. She couldn’t face anyone right now, especially not eighth graders milling about in the hall. She couldn’t even look into her own reflection in the bathroom mirror.

She wished Bigwheels were here right now to tell her what to do.

From: MadFinn

To: Bigwheels

Subject: What Do I Do?

Date: Fri 15 Sept 3:19 PM

Hello? Are you out there? I haven’t heard from you.

Hasn’t been a great week. HELP!

I’m @ the school media center right now. I have an English paper due and I have not even picked the book I’m writing a report on. Can you help with that? Help (x100) is basically what I need on that and some other stuff I’d rather chat about.

Please write again. Is something wrong? I’m worried.

Yours till the ping pongs, MadFinn

p.s. Thanks in advance.