Chapter 13

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!” SOMEONE SCREAMED IN Madison’s ear.

She screamed back even louder, almost keeling over in her Aphrodite dress.

Welcome to Scary Hallway.

Maneuvering in her caftan had been tough on the dance floor. It was even more difficult in this space. Plus it was hard to see where she was going. Madison felt so uncomfortable.

Up ahead of her, she heard Hart’s whisper.

“You still there, Finnster?” he said.

“Yeah,” Madison said. Where else would she be?

To her left, some kid with a rubber ax in his head leaned over and said, “Help me.” He had fake blood oozing out of his mouth.

“Gross,” Madison mumbled.

Another boy had one of those plastic fake hands that moved. “Here, let me give you a hand,” he said, cackling. Madison laughed. The hand was one of the objects she and the other members of the committee had collected for the decorations. He must have lifted it off a table.

“Finnster!” Hart whispered again. “You there?”

“Yes!” she said again, but she really couldn’t see anything now.

There were no scary people in her path for a few feet. Now the scary hallway was more like being blindfolded. Curtains folded in around her body as she walked farther along through the maze.

“Hart?” Madison whispered, coming to a sudden stop. She froze. Was someone there? She turned around but didn’t see or hear anyone. “Hart?”

“Hart!” Ivy’s voice boomed somewhere up ahead. “Don’t go. Hold my hand!”

“I want to suck your blooooood!” Some girl with vampire fangs swooped over. She reached out and grabbed Madison’s caftan.

“Don’t touch me!” Madison screeched, stumbling backward. Now things were getting scarier.

Behind her somewhere, a group of kids started to scream. Not just little eeeks however. These were big, fat, loud screams—the kind to break an eardrum. They were just goofing around, but it was very annoying.

All of a sudden one of the kids inside the hallway was right up at Madison’s back. He started to push. Madison was jostled.

“Move,” the boy said.

Madison snapped, “I can’t move.”

When she said that, he pushed back a second time, much harder. “I said move,” he yelled. Everyone was yelling. Madison felt hotter than hot.

She got her balance only to have him shove her a third time. And with that push, Madison went flying for real—dress, crown, scepter, and all.

Flying into Hart, that is. Much to her surprise, she had been jostled right over to the scary hallway exit.

Madison fell through the curtain opening and landed, hard. On top of Hart.

Hart got up first and then reached out to help Madison onto her feet. Taking his hand, Madison stood up, teetering. He had a warm, pink, sweaty hand, but she didn’t mind. This was the hand she had hoped and prayed and crossed her fingers that she might hold at the dance.

Of course, the holding only lasted a split second. The moment Madison was back on two feet and Hart shook himself off, the hand was history. And not so long after that, the dance was history, too.

Fiona, Aimee, and Madison logged on to TweenBlurt.com later that night so they could keep talking about the dance even after it was over. No one wanted the fun to end. They met up in a Friday night, private chat room called LYLAS, which meant “Love Ya Like a Sister.”

<MadFinn>: I almost got stuck in SCARY hallway

<Wetwinz>: Some kid threw up in there I heard

<MadFinn>: No

<Wetwinz>: J/K

<BalletGrl>: So is Tommy getting expelled or what?

<MadFinn>: IDGI what’s his prob? BOYS STINK!!!

<BalletGrl>: What’s the deal with u and EGG, Fiona?

<Wetwinz>: :-)

<MadFinn>: It’s cool if u like him

<BalletGrl>: I guess

<Wetwinz>: Can you believe who won the costume awards?

<Wetwinz>: That guy who was an eyeball in a tuxedo and got first was cool. He’s in ninth grade.

<BalletGrl>: I liked the second-prize guy who dressed as all the characters from Scooby Doo.

<MadFinn>: Third place was funny. Bride of Frankenstein was cool.

<Wetwinz>: She was dancing with Frankenstein!

<Wetwinz>: Did you dance w/n e one Maddie

<BalletGrl>: No she didn’t

<MadFinn>: Yes I did sorta

<Wetwinz>: WHO

<MadFinn>: No one 4get it!

<Wetwinz>: WHO????????

<BalletGrl>: I’m getting tired.

<Wetwinz>: LYLAS

<MadFinn>: LYLAS (2)

<BalletGrl>: I need a chat room dictionary!

<BalletGrl>: It’s getting late almost 1030 whoa

<Wetwinz>: I have 2 go 2

<MadFinn>: Nooooo! Stay

<BalletGrl>: Lets hang out tomorrow

<Wetwinz>: I have soccer remember?

<BalletGrl>: Oh yah

<MadFinn>: OH yah it’s the CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!

<Wetwinz>: Yup I am PSYCHED

<MadFinn>: See u tomorrow

<Wetwinz>: *poof*

<BalletGrl>: Where did she go?

<MadFinn>: she logged off, aim.

<BalletGrl>: ok C U L8R bye

<MadFinn>: WAIT!!

<BalletGrl>: what

<MadFinn>: i have to tell you something ELSE

<BalletGrl>: what

<MadFinn>: Remember when we were @ my dad’s & u saw that insta-message from someone named Bigwheels?

<BalletGrl>: No.

<MadFinn>: Oh.

<BalletGrl>: Huh?

<MadFinn>: well u did see an insta-message & the thing is that i did know who Bigwheels was. She’s my keypal.

<BalletGrl>: Kewl

<MadFinn>: wait a minute u don’t care?

<BalletGrl>: I wanna have online friends, too. Maybe I’ll meet someone else who does ballet. U know?

<MadFinn>: u REALLY don’t care? Really and truly?

<BalletGrl>: truly

<MadFinn>: Aim ur the best!!!

<BalletGrl>: C u at the game!

Madison said good-bye and logged off TweenBlurt.com. She was a teeny bit disappointed that she hadn’t won any of the costume prizes from the dance, but neither had Ivy. That was some consolation. Besides, what mattered most of all now was that she (1) had spent half the night with her crush (and her heart was happy), (2) spent major time with her BFFs, and (3) finally admitted the truth to Aimee about Bigwheels’s existence.

Although it was very late after the chat, Madison still didn’t feel tired. She stayed online and decided to write Bigwheels an e-mail.

She owed her one. So much had happened.

From: MadFinn

To: Bigwheels

Subject: Dances and Other News

Date: Fri 27 Oct 10:36 PM

Long time, no write.

Just got back fm. my school dance & I am blissed out.

I danced w/him. Yes, THE him I have been talking about since school started. He came dressed as a wizard. I had on this dumb costume. I went as a goddess.

Anyway, how r u? How r ur parents doing these days? I think about you whenever I see my mom & dad together. This is because my parents (u know this) are divorced. I think about your family.

How was your school dance? Write back real soon.

XOXOXO Yours till the pumpkin pies,

MadFinn

P.S. Did you ever enter that contest on TweenBlurt? I think they will be sending winners soon. I ended up liking my story. Did you ever write that poem?

After Madison sent the e-mail to her online friend, she finally changed into pajamas. After crawling out of Aphrodite’s caftan, Madison combed the curls out of her hair, too. They were tangled where Mom had spritzed too much hair spray. She washed the blush off her face.

But she still wasn’t so sleepy. Madison turned the computer back on.

Scary

This past week in English, Mr. Gibbons wrote on the board: Don’t be afraid to scare yourself. Half the class was like, “WHAT??!”

He does that a lot, writes things we may not understand. Asks us to talk. So it got me thinking about a list of the things that scare me. I thought of 8 so far.

What am I afraid of?

1. The dark

2. Failing

3. Being left out

4. Ghosts like Mrs. Martin

5. Really big zits

6. Dancing badly

7. Kissing a boy

8. Horror movies

Rude Awakening: Sometimes you have to dance the fright away! Amazingly, I tried dancing tonight. And even though my dress was too long, it worked. I felt less self-conscious and way less scared.

Am I gonna be scared of seventh grade forever???

I’M AFRAID NOT!

Ha ha ha.