if she touched his head. And what if someone saw?
What was she thinking?
Chet came rushing over. He broke Madison’s train of thought.
“Hey, man, I was looking for you down the hall,” Chet said to Hart. “Where did you go?”
Madison stared at the floor, and the three walked down the corridor together. Once again she had lost her ability to speak in front of Hart, a momentary condition that struck her in the strangest places. The only good thing about its happening right now was the fact that Chet took up the lull in conversation. With two guy friends nattering on and on in their own personal code language, Madison didn’t really even have to speak.
Mr. Danehy was on time. And the trio barely made it to their seats before the second bell rang—and he slammed the door.
“Now!” he announced with great authority.
The whole class hushed.
“That’s better,” Mr. Danehy continued. “Now, preceding our bee scare last week, the science-center trip appeared to be going very well. Would you agree?”
No one said a word.
“Hello?” Mr. Danehy asked again. “Is everyone awake out there?”
“That trip was mad fun,” Chet said, looking around to his other guy friends for corroboration of how he saw the trip.
Ivy just sat there, twirling one of her loop earrings. “And we learned things,” she said. She looked over at Madison.
“ Lots of things,” Madison said, without thinking.
Mr. Danehy appeared impressed.
“So when we started our little field-trip experiment, I assigned you into groups of girls versus boys. I noticed a little anxiety about this while we were out in the field. Is this still true?”
“No way!” a boy in the front of the class yelled.
“So we should continue to have presentations with boys versus girls tomorrow?” Mr. Danehy asked as if he were holding a democratic vote.
Everyone agreed.
Ivy leaned over to Madison again. In light of the classroom competition, she didn’t look like an enemy today. She was an ally—an ally against an even greater enemy: BOYS.
After science, Madison was so preoccupied with the upcoming showdown that she almost forgot her after-school trip to Mrs. Wing’s computer laboratory. She’d promised to help out again with the school Web site, even if it also meant dealing with Egg and Drew.
Busy as a bee.
Drew brought his digital camera to Mrs. Wing’s lab. He had taken dozens of photos at the seventh-grade field trip. Madison looked through them, laughing. She wrote captions for the photos he printed out and put into a pile called MAYBE. The pile next to that was REJECTS.
Madison laughed hardest when she came to a photograph of Ranger Lester looking official in his safari gear. He was leaning on a tree.
She marked that caption THE RANGER GETS LOST IN THE FOREST. Mrs. Wing made her change it later on to MEET RANGER LESTER.
There were candid photos, too, of classmates. Drew had snapped one picture on the bus ride over to the field trip. As it would happen, it was a shot of Madison and Ivy. They almost looked like friends in the photo.
“Hey,” Drew said. “We should put that one up.”
“Very funny, Drewfus,” Madison said. She used a silly nickname Chet always used. Drew didn’t like it one bit,
Drew ignored her and showed Madison more photos: a chrysalis in the butterfly sanctuary, Jimmy the field guide (looking as cute as ever), a group of boys standing around while the doctor dealt with Fiona’s bee sting. He had lots of photographs of the stinging incident. It had been the highlight of the trip, after all.
After helping write more captions, Madison, Drew, and Mrs. Wing downloaded a whole new Field Trip page onto the school site.
“You both did a fabulous job,” Mrs. Wing said. She waved her arms into the air with a “Hoorah,” and her charm bracelet jangled. Madison noticed littler-than-little charms of computers and computer mice on the bracelet. It was the ultimate accessory for a computer teacher. Madison smiled. She
What was she thinking?
Chet came rushing over. He broke Madison’s train of thought.
“Hey, man, I was looking for you down the hall,” Chet said to Hart. “Where did you go?”
Madison stared at the floor, and the three walked down the corridor together. Once again she had lost her ability to speak in front of Hart, a momentary condition that struck her in the strangest places. The only good thing about its happening right now was the fact that Chet took up the lull in conversation. With two guy friends nattering on and on in their own personal code language, Madison didn’t really even have to speak.
Mr. Danehy was on time. And the trio barely made it to their seats before the second bell rang—and he slammed the door.
“Now!” he announced with great authority.
The whole class hushed.
“That’s better,” Mr. Danehy continued. “Now, preceding our bee scare last week, the science-center trip appeared to be going very well. Would you agree?”
No one said a word.
“Hello?” Mr. Danehy asked again. “Is everyone awake out there?”
“That trip was mad fun,” Chet said, looking around to his other guy friends for corroboration of how he saw the trip.
Ivy just sat there, twirling one of her loop earrings. “And we learned things,” she said. She looked over at Madison.
“ Lots of things,” Madison said, without thinking.
Mr. Danehy appeared impressed.
“So when we started our little field-trip experiment, I assigned you into groups of girls versus boys. I noticed a little anxiety about this while we were out in the field. Is this still true?”
“No way!” a boy in the front of the class yelled.
“So we should continue to have presentations with boys versus girls tomorrow?” Mr. Danehy asked as if he were holding a democratic vote.
Everyone agreed.
Ivy leaned over to Madison again. In light of the classroom competition, she didn’t look like an enemy today. She was an ally—an ally against an even greater enemy: BOYS.
After science, Madison was so preoccupied with the upcoming showdown that she almost forgot her after-school trip to Mrs. Wing’s computer laboratory. She’d promised to help out again with the school Web site, even if it also meant dealing with Egg and Drew.
Busy as a bee.
Drew brought his digital camera to Mrs. Wing’s lab. He had taken dozens of photos at the seventh-grade field trip. Madison looked through them, laughing. She wrote captions for the photos he printed out and put into a pile called MAYBE. The pile next to that was REJECTS.
Madison laughed hardest when she came to a photograph of Ranger Lester looking official in his safari gear. He was leaning on a tree.
She marked that caption THE RANGER GETS LOST IN THE FOREST. Mrs. Wing made her change it later on to MEET RANGER LESTER.
There were candid photos, too, of classmates. Drew had snapped one picture on the bus ride over to the field trip. As it would happen, it was a shot of Madison and Ivy. They almost looked like friends in the photo.
“Hey,” Drew said. “We should put that one up.”
“Very funny, Drewfus,” Madison said. She used a silly nickname Chet always used. Drew didn’t like it one bit,
Drew ignored her and showed Madison more photos: a chrysalis in the butterfly sanctuary, Jimmy the field guide (looking as cute as ever), a group of boys standing around while the doctor dealt with Fiona’s bee sting. He had lots of photographs of the stinging incident. It had been the highlight of the trip, after all.
After helping write more captions, Madison, Drew, and Mrs. Wing downloaded a whole new Field Trip page onto the school site.
“You both did a fabulous job,” Mrs. Wing said. She waved her arms into the air with a “Hoorah,” and her charm bracelet jangled. Madison noticed littler-than-little charms of computers and computer mice on the bracelet. It was the ultimate accessory for a computer teacher. Madison smiled. She
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