Three days later, the girls' lunch period had started and Madeline arrived to the cafeteria last just like always and were greeted by her girlfriends as she sat down in her spot.
"Can't wait to eat," she said, laying down her lunch bag. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a light-bulb."
"Do you mean a horse?" said Lizzie.
"No, I'm trying to emphasize how hungry I am, which is really hungry."
"So you would like to eat a light-bulb?" asked Andrea.
"No! I'm just really hungry."
"Hungry enough to eat a light-bulb?" questioned Skye.
"Yes."
"So you do want to eat a light-bulb?" Lizzie asked.
"No! I'm just hungry! I don't want to eat any light-bulbs. It was just a figure-of-speech."
"We were just making sure," said Andrea.
"I wouldn't eat a horse, either."
"Of course you wouldn't," said Lizzie.
Madeline unzipped her bag open, exposing her lunch for the day. "So... what's new?"
"Remember when I got that love letter a few days ago?" inquired Debra.
The girls nodded.
"I've been getting more of those."
"You've gotten more?" asked Madeline.
"Yeah, ever since that day. Plus, they've increased in a certain pattern so it's not like a few. It's more like a lot."
"Please, Debbie," said Lizzie. "You're probably exaggerating."
"Oh, yeah?" She picked up her tan, fringe tote bag from the floor behind her and dropped it on the lunch table. She unzipped it open and stuck her hand into it. It took her a couple of seconds to dig into the bag, leading to her pulling out dozens of pale-colored envelopes and Post-It-sized notes. "Guess how many I've gotten?" she asked, holding the notes up and widening her eyes.
Lizzie hesitated. "Three?"
"More like twenty."
"Do you know who they're from?" asked Andrea.
"I have no clue. They are all signed 'Anonymous'. I don't know anybody in the school named 'Anonymous'!"
"'Anonymous' is not a name," corrected Madeline.
"You don't think I know that, Smart Aleck?"
"You should be happy that you're getting love letters," said Skye. "Somebody in the school likes you."
"I know, but I don't know who would send these to me. For all I know, this could be a practical joke."
"Come on, Debra," said Madeline. "I don't think anybody in the school would try to prank you."
"Unless it's the Cow Belles," Andrea added. "If it's them, I would beat the crap out of them for you."
"You don't have to do that," said Debra. "I don't condone violence anyway."
"Can you read one of your letters real quick?" asked Skye.
"Sure." She put most of her love notes away in her purse, holding one note. She opened it up and started reading:
Dear Debra,
I cannot stop thinking about you
I cannot get you out of my head
The way you walk and the way you talk
Makes my face turn a scarlet red
Sincerely,
Anonymous
"Are all of the words correctly spelled?" asked Skye.
"Yes," answered Debra.
"Then it's not the Cow Belles. You should see their grammar quizzes."
"Do you know any boys who could've written those letters?" asked Madeline.
"No," Debra replied, "every boy I know I'm friends with."
"Do they want to be friends with you?" asked Lizzie.
Debra paused. "I don't know."
Madeline gasped. "You don't know?"
"Debra, your niceness can get confused as flirting sometimes," said Andrea. "And your guy friends might think you got a 'going-on' for them."
"There is no way," said Debra. "Just because I don't know doesn't mean there isn't a chance that they're not that into me."
"There has to be one guy that likes you," said Madeline. "What about your friend, Kyle?"
"I've seen Kyle eat a booger before. Anybody who thinks it's okay to do that cannot write a love poem."
"What about your friend, Billy?" Lizzie threw out there.
"Billy can't even spell his own name," responded Madeline.
"Maddie, harsh," commented Debra.
"Oh, so what do you think?"
"To be honest, I don't think it's him."
"What about Darrell?" said Skye.
"I-- Uh--"
"Proof it's possibly him!" Madeline called out. "Suspect Number One."
"Wait a minute. That is not proof."
"Uh, you stuttered, making it proof enough."
"But I don't know."
"Exactly. That means it is my job to figure that out. But how?"
"Well, I was thinking about going to Darrell's party tonight but--"
"That is perfect! I will go to Darrell's party instead of you and look for answers."
"Isn't his house the one with red paint and the lights?" asked Lizzie.
"Yes, yes, it is," said Debra.
"Debra, you might be facing the one person who set you and your future husband up together," said Madeline, confidently. "You can thank me later."
"Maddie, we don't even know it's him." Debra put back her previous note and picked up a different one from her bag. She opened it and continued, "Plus I don't think that Darrell would write that my eyes are 'like chocolate bon-bons from a heart-shaped box for Valentine's Day'."
"Ugh," uttered Lizzie, "I hope your guy isn't like that man from the video where he said, 'Your eyes are like blueberries. Can I have some?'"
No comments:
Post a Comment