Play It Again by Laura Dower Read Free Book Online Page A

friends and the joke was on Madison?
    When Madison didn’t see Aimee or Fiona at lunch, either, she got more upset. And although she ate with Egg and Drew that afternoon, Madison barely said a word the whole meal.
    Mr. Gibbons took time to go over the master prop list with Madison during the day’s rehearsal, and by then Madison was really bummed out. Luckily, his compliments temporarily put her in a better mood.
    “What a great job you’re doing,” he praised. “The Wiz wouldn’t be the same without you.”
    “Thanks, Mr. Gibbons,” Madison replied sheepishly. She was pleased that at least her stage manager duties were working out. She wished doing good prop work would translate into an automatic A on all of Mr. Gibbons’s English assignments. That would be something else.
    “Gotcha!” Aimee shrieked as she came up behind Madison during the rehearsal break.
    Madison nearly leaped out of her sneakers.
    Aimee threw her arms around Madison’s waist. “Where have you been?”
    “Where have you been?” Madison asked.
    “Me? You’re the one who’s so busy, you can’t call me.” Aimee poked at Madison’s side. “I wanted to play you that song again from my new CD. It is so awesome, I can’t stop listening to it.”
    “You called? When?” Madison asked.
    “Last night. Before I walked the dog.”
    “But—”
    “I left a message with your mom, but she said you were busy. I wanted to see if you wanted to walk Phinnie, too.”
    “You did?”
    “Yeah!” Aimee was dancing around while she talked.
    “I didn’t get any message,” Madison said.
    “What? Did you think I blew you off or something?”
    “No. Of course not.” Madison paused.
    “So what else is new?” Aimee asked, twirling around.
    “I heard you doing that duet with Ivy yesterday.”
    “Oh yeah? What did you think? Pretty good, huh? Mrs. Montefiore is a big pain, but you know what? Ivy has a good voice, so it’s actually working out,” Aimee seemed pleased by the whole thing.
    “Are we talking about the same Ivy? Poison Ivy?”
    “Yeah, Poison Ivy. But she’s really not so bad as far as the show goes. You know, when we’re singing. She has a high voice. We were practicing today together during lunch.”
    “Oh?” Madison looked up at Aimee. “You had lunch with Ivy? Alone?”
    “No,” Aimee said. “Fiona was there.”
    “I wondered where you guys went.”
    Suddenly Aimee saw the sad, left-out look on Madison’s face.
    “I’m sorry,” Aimee said. “I should have told you. I forgot. Things are busy since The Wiz….”
    “You really had lunch with Ivy?” Madison said for a second time.
    “It’s just ’cause of the play, Maddie. We’re in the play. You know how it is.”
    Madison realized she didn’t know how it was.
    From across the auditorium, Mrs. Montefiore and Ivy motioned for Aimee to go over to the piano. Everyone was standing there: Egg, Hart, Fiona, Lindsay …
    Everyone.
    “Why don’t you come over too, Maddie?” Aimee said.
    Madison thought about it. If she went over to the piano, she’d be right there, crammed together with all the other seventh-grade singers, even Poison Ivy. Maybe around that crowded piano, she’d really and truly feel like a part of the cast.
    Madison put down her stage manager clipboard and started to walk over.
    “Uh, Madison,” Mr. Gibbons called out. “I need you to run down to the basement and get me some small props. Here’s the list. Can you do that for me, please?”
    “Right now?” Madison asked.
    “Of course. We need to do a little set painting later on, and I want to get things ready. Just ask Mr. Boggs for the key to the basement space. He’ll help you.”
    “But I have to—” Madison started to say, looking over at the piano. Mrs. Montefiore had already started to play.
    “Maybe Drew can help you,” Mr. Gibbons suggested. “He’s up working on the lighting board.”
    “Forget it,” Madison said, walking out of the auditorium. “Just forget it. I’ll