suddenly remembered something.
Something important.
Aimee was coming home tomorrow.
Chapter 8
M ADISON LOOKED AT THE clock. It was just after eleven.
Aimee would be pulling into her driveway any moment now.
And Madison was still trying to sign Aimee’s homemade card with just the right words. She was stuck.
She scribbled down the saying from the Girl Scouts: Make new friends and keep the old; one is silver the other gold. But that sounded goofy. In fact, everything Madison thought of writing just sounded terrible. It was like “Return of the Brain Freeze.”
She wanted to say something important. She knew that much. Finally, she knew what to write.
This is just a card to say I missed you and I hope we will never have to be apart like this summer ever, ever again. I am lucky to call you my BFF.
Love ,
Madison
P.S. I hope you missed me as much as I missed you.
She folded the card, licked the envelope and waited for Aimee’s call.
There was a group of birds feeding just outside the kitchen window. The male cardinals were bright red. They were biting off the ends of sunflower seeds to feed the gray birds with the tufts on their heads, who must have been the females. They were sharing perfectly. Madison always marveled at how birds worked together to eat and talk and fly—and just be. She wished her mom and dad knew how to do that.
The phone rang. Madison spied the clock: noon. On the dot. Aimee was never late. Not even for phone calls.
“Is this you? Is this really and truly and absolutely YOU?” Aimee screeched. “I am just going to unpack my duffel bag and then I’m coming RIGHT OVER!”
Of course, she didn’t come right over. She didn’t even hang up the phone right away. She started babbling.
She said she missed Madison when she was at camp. Then she said that she had so many stories to share from camp. And then she said she wished so much that Madison had been at camp.
Camp! Camp! Camp!
Madison wanted to kick “camp” in the head. First, it took her friends away from her for half the summer and now what? Were all those same friends coming home—and camp was following them back?
Madison didn’t really feel like hearing about camp tents and lake trips and marshmallow roasts anymore. She had her own stories to tell, right? It wasn’t as if camp had a corner on the market for making new friends. Madison had met someone new and she hadn’t had to go live in a tent in the woods or attend some fancy dance camp to do it. She had met a new friend right here in Far Hills, and she was going to tell Aimee all about it.
But of course, what Madison actually said to Aimee was, “Cool! Can’t wait to hear all about your CAMP!”
Madison felt excitement and guilt and weirdness churning inside her belly. She sat by the window to wait for Aimee’s arrival. Was Aimee’s hair going to be longer? Had she gotten any skinnier? Aimee didn’t really eat all that much to begin with, plus she was a ballet dancer, so that made her like a total skinny-mini. And then there was that Josh guy. Madison knew Aimee would talk about the camp counselor and of course, Madison had no boy stories of her own to compare with JOSH. What if Aimee had actually done something with that Josh guy? What would she say then?
That would be weird.
Of course, thinking through every possible hello and good-bye did Madison no good. The exact moment Madison saw Aimee cross the street, every nerve in her body stopped being nervous. She was just THRILLED.
Madison Finn exploded into a chorus of high-pitched shrieks.
“OH MY GOOOOOOOOD!”
She ran out the front door and Phin followed, barking.
Aimee and Madison practically squeezed each other to death on the front lawn.
“You look sooooo good, Maddie!” Aimee screamed. “I missed you so much!”
“So do you! I missed you so much too! Your hair is so long! You look so good, too!” Madison screamed back.
Their arms wrapped around each other like twine.
“Maddie, camp was like the
Something important.
Aimee was coming home tomorrow.
Chapter 8
M ADISON LOOKED AT THE clock. It was just after eleven.
Aimee would be pulling into her driveway any moment now.
And Madison was still trying to sign Aimee’s homemade card with just the right words. She was stuck.
She scribbled down the saying from the Girl Scouts: Make new friends and keep the old; one is silver the other gold. But that sounded goofy. In fact, everything Madison thought of writing just sounded terrible. It was like “Return of the Brain Freeze.”
She wanted to say something important. She knew that much. Finally, she knew what to write.
This is just a card to say I missed you and I hope we will never have to be apart like this summer ever, ever again. I am lucky to call you my BFF.
Love ,
Madison
P.S. I hope you missed me as much as I missed you.
She folded the card, licked the envelope and waited for Aimee’s call.
There was a group of birds feeding just outside the kitchen window. The male cardinals were bright red. They were biting off the ends of sunflower seeds to feed the gray birds with the tufts on their heads, who must have been the females. They were sharing perfectly. Madison always marveled at how birds worked together to eat and talk and fly—and just be. She wished her mom and dad knew how to do that.
The phone rang. Madison spied the clock: noon. On the dot. Aimee was never late. Not even for phone calls.
“Is this you? Is this really and truly and absolutely YOU?” Aimee screeched. “I am just going to unpack my duffel bag and then I’m coming RIGHT OVER!”
Of course, she didn’t come right over. She didn’t even hang up the phone right away. She started babbling.
She said she missed Madison when she was at camp. Then she said that she had so many stories to share from camp. And then she said she wished so much that Madison had been at camp.
Camp! Camp! Camp!
Madison wanted to kick “camp” in the head. First, it took her friends away from her for half the summer and now what? Were all those same friends coming home—and camp was following them back?
Madison didn’t really feel like hearing about camp tents and lake trips and marshmallow roasts anymore. She had her own stories to tell, right? It wasn’t as if camp had a corner on the market for making new friends. Madison had met someone new and she hadn’t had to go live in a tent in the woods or attend some fancy dance camp to do it. She had met a new friend right here in Far Hills, and she was going to tell Aimee all about it.
But of course, what Madison actually said to Aimee was, “Cool! Can’t wait to hear all about your CAMP!”
Madison felt excitement and guilt and weirdness churning inside her belly. She sat by the window to wait for Aimee’s arrival. Was Aimee’s hair going to be longer? Had she gotten any skinnier? Aimee didn’t really eat all that much to begin with, plus she was a ballet dancer, so that made her like a total skinny-mini. And then there was that Josh guy. Madison knew Aimee would talk about the camp counselor and of course, Madison had no boy stories of her own to compare with JOSH. What if Aimee had actually done something with that Josh guy? What would she say then?
That would be weird.
Of course, thinking through every possible hello and good-bye did Madison no good. The exact moment Madison saw Aimee cross the street, every nerve in her body stopped being nervous. She was just THRILLED.
Madison Finn exploded into a chorus of high-pitched shrieks.
“OH MY GOOOOOOOOD!”
She ran out the front door and Phin followed, barking.
Aimee and Madison practically squeezed each other to death on the front lawn.
“You look sooooo good, Maddie!” Aimee screamed. “I missed you so much!”
“So do you! I missed you so much too! Your hair is so long! You look so good, too!” Madison screamed back.
Their arms wrapped around each other like twine.
“Maddie, camp was like the
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