Dibs! (Chapter 4)

Less than a week after, it was the girls' lunch time and Lizzie tried to walk pass the cafeteria while holding an airtight container of vanilla frosted cupcakes. As she passed the usual door she enters, Madeline caught Lizzie from behind and rushed up to her.

"Lizzie," she called.

Lizzie stopped and turned around. "Oh, hi, Madeline. What's up?"

"Nothing," Madeline stopped in front of Lizzie. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, to the nurse's office."

"With cupcakes?"

"It's the nurse's birthday."

"And you like the nurse?"

"Somebody has to."

"Okay."

"Why does your hair look like that?"

Madeline tucked a piece of hair, from her super curly hairstyle, behind her ear. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you like to curl her hair tighter when something special has come up."

"Oh, I-- I just thought today that curlier is better. It's just nothing."

"Okay, so you're not seeing anybody special today. Like your mother, your grandfather, a boy... friend?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Oh, okay. So you're not seeing someone like Bret?"

Madeline nervously chuckled. "Bret? No, no. I don't even know who that is."

"You do know who that is because you did your hair for Bret!"

"Well, you made those cupcakes for Bret."

"How did you know?"

"You just told me."

"What? Oh-- you and your trickery."

"How can you be seeing Bret? He's mine."

"Let me stop you right there: he is mine."

"Oh, that is not T-R-U-E."

"Oh, don't spell out your feelings. Maddie, Bret likes me and we do nice things for each other, showing that we are going to have to go on our first date. Like he helps me with physics, I make him delicious cupcakes."

"Oh, please. He don't want to eat your nasty cupcakes. You'll just downright kill him."

"How dare you! I know Bret doesn't want to go out with a girl with stuff on her face."

"I don't have stuff on my face."

"Oh, yeah?"

Lizzie opened her container. She took out one of the cupcakes and glanced at it for a while, confusing Madeline. Instantly, Lizzie pushed the cupcake on Madeline's face, twisting it until it crumbled down to the liner, leaving a smear of frosting and cake upon Madeline's face. She dropped it with Madeline just standing still with her eyes closed.

"How do you like them apples?" Lizzie inquired. "Or should I say how do you like them cupcakes? Cake."

Madeline opened her eyes, which instantly freaked Lizzie out. Quickly, Madeline ran after Lizzie, taking only a few seconds as she grabbed her hair and put her in a headlock, making Lizzie plead for her to stop. Luckily, Andrea saw the action when she tried to go to lunch and ran towards the girls.

She pulled Lizzie away from Madeline. "Hey, what is going on here?" Andrea asked.

"Lizzie says she's seeing Bret when I'm seeing Bret," Madeline answered angrily.

"You're seeing Bret?"

"Yeah!"

Andrea took a cupcake from Lizzie's open container and smushed it on top of Madeline's head. "I'm seeing Bret!"

"What?"

"That's impossible," said Lizzie. "I'm seeing Bret!"

Immediately, Skye and Debra approached the three girls.

"What is going on?" questioned Skye.

"Yeah, there's no need to fight," added Debra.

"Mads and Liz' claim to be hanging out with my boyfriend," answered Andrea.

"Wait, who's your boyfriend?" asked Skye.

"Bret Farley."

"Oh, no, he's not."

"No?"

"He's my boyfriend."

"Nuh-uh," said Debra. "He's my boyfriend."

"Bull to the crap," said Madeline.

"How is he all your boyfriend?" asked Lizzie.

"No, just my boyfriend," said Andrea.

"That's a lie."

"You're a lie."

"If he is all of your boyfriends," Madeline started, "then why do I have his number?" She pulled out a Post-It from her back pocket which had a phone number written on it.

Andrea looked closely at it. "Madeline, there's only six digits on that paper."

Madeline flipped the paper to look at it herself. "Aw. He didn't finish writing the number."

"Or maybe he just didn't want you to call him."

"That is not true!"

"So true because he's with me," Debra spilled.

"There is no way that he is only with you."

"If he's not, why did I spare him my exercising tape, 'Yoga on the Go-ga'?"

"Oh, puh-lease," said Skye.

"Puh-lease you!"

"Bret is mine!" shouted Lizzie.

Andrea pulled her hair. "No, he's mine."

"That is a bunch of bull," Madeline said after kicking Andrea's shin.

"Back off!" Skye growled, stepping up to the Madeline and stuffing the cupcake from her head into her mouth.

"Oh, I'm about to unleash an ultimate black beatdown on y'all's," said Debra, punching her left hand with her right fist. She jumped into the commotion and grabbed onto Skye's waist.

Immediately, the girls started to wrestle all of each other, developping a group scuffle. They pulled on each other's hair, pushed each other down on the floor and smushed one's face with Lizzie's cupcakes. They basically created a scrimmage in front of the witnessing people's eyes. One of those people were Bret, who walked up to the fighting girls with a mystery girl.

"Stop it!" he ordered. "What are you girls doing?"

The girls stopped once they heard his voice and spotted at the Caucasian brunette who standing by his side.

"Who is she?" Andrea asked irately.

Bret looked at the girl for a second. "This is my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" the girls shouted at the same time.

Dibs! (Chapter 3)

Later, after that class, Skye waited for Bret to arrive at her English class and he so did. His seat was assigned next to hers. Once the bell rung, the teacher instructed the class to read the first five chapters of their given book. She also added when the class is done, they can answer the questions on their worksheet with the help of their neighbor.

As Skye read the book, she applied a set of headphones from the MP3 player on her lap over her ears. She played a song and turned the volume to the point where the sound was audible to the class. It even garnered attention from Bret himself.

"Hey," he said to Skye.

Skye slipped her headphones down over her neck. "Hello."

"Is that 'Ace of Spades' by Motorhead?"

"Why, yes, it is. You like Motorhead?"

"Love them."

"Wha-a-at?"

"It's true."

"I thought I was the only one here who listens to Motorhead."

"Well, now we're the only two."

Skye smiled.

"I'm Bret."

"Skye."

"Exotic."

"Thanks."

"Do you have a set of earphones?"

"You want to share?"

"Yeah, if it's not a bother."

"Oh, no. No, no. I actually do have a set of earphones, stashed right in my pencil case."

"Cool."

"Yes, I am. I mean it is."

The day after, Andrea and Debra had already developed plans to win over Bret's affections as they each both knew how to be near him. Right before Debra could be around him, Andrea could not take her eyes off of Bret in gym class. For him to notice her, she wore her signature golden hoop earrings, put her hair in a bouffant-style ponytail and tied her gym shirt in a knot in the front. She sat behind him on the gym bleachers but he did not notice her yet.

After a minute of the class waiting, the gym teacher walked out in front of them.

"Okay, class," he announced, "you know the drill. I want you sprinting in three long circles inside the gymnasium. After that, I'm going to teach you how to dance. And Andrea, fix that shirt."

"I did fix the shirt," said Andrea.

"No, I meant 'fix' as in wear it the correct way. Not 'fix' as in style it up and make it glamorous or whatnot."

"Fine."

The students got up from the bleachers and walked down onto the court. As Andrea stepped down, she walked next to Bret with her shirt still tied.

"Do you think this looks good?" she asked him.

"Sure," he answered.

"I mean, why work hard to get abs if you can't show them off?"

"No, I feel you."

"I'm Andrea, in case you didn't hear Mister Bobsack say my name."

Bret chuckled. "I'm Bret."

"Cool. Do you like sports?"

"Yes."

"I don't. But I'm very good at them."

"Any sport?"

"Any sport, especially basketball."

"How good are you?"

"Very. How good are you?"

"Very."

"Oh. I bet I can beat you in a game of basketball."

"I bet you can't."

"There's a basketball court three miles from my house. Maybe you can come over and show me what you're working with."

"Fine."

"As wine."

Later that day, school was over, however, Debra was still there as she started joining a yoga club just three weeks before. Before the club began, Debra convinced the members to do their yoga outside in the back of the school. She came up with the idea when she learned that Bret liked to study on the circle bench behind the school. Luckily for her, the members agreed and they all brought their mats to do yoga. They wore sweatsuits as intended for the club with Debra being the only person to not wear a jacket. Before she laid out her yoga mat, she approached Bret, who was reading his 'The Best Marauders' book on the bench.

"Hey," she said, sitting her backpack, "do you mind if we do our yoga here?"

"Not at all," Bret smiled.

"Great."

She laid out her mat five feet away from Bret while the other members laid out their mats from the side of her. Debra stepped on hers and started stretching in front of Bret.

"I'm Debra," she introduced herself. "Have I seen you before?"

"I don't think so," Bret responded. "I'm Bret, by the way."

"Oh, Bret. Do you like yoga?"

"I do it once in a while."

"Oh, music to my ears. Do you want to join us?"

"I don't know. I have to read this whole book for history class."

"This will only take a few minutes. Besides, yoga really frees the mind and spirit. You'll be relaxed like a cup of butter."

"Hmm... why not?"

"Great! I have an extra mat. Coincedental?"

She opened her backpack and pulled out a lavender yoga mat. She laid it right behind hers and straightened it out. Bret sat his book down on the bench and walked over to the mat to step over it.

"Let's start with my favorite yoga poses," Debra recommended. "First, the melting heart pose."

She got down on her knees and laid her hands and arms straight out in front of her on the mat. Bret hesitated a bit but he confidently imitated the pose.

"Now let's form it into the table to child pose," she said.

Still on her knees, Debra lift her body up with her elbows on the mat with her forearms facing up. As Bret did the same, he tried not to stare at Debra's buttocks as it was all he could see.

"Cobra pose," Debra instructed.

She flattened her legs on the mat and held herself up with her hands on the mat and her arms facing straight up. Bret took a couple glances of Debra's clenched buttocks as he imitated the pose.

Debra stood up then said, "Stand up and now do the downward facing dog."

She quickly bent down, shaping her body like the letter V. Her hands and feet were on the mat, making an open space. Bret, copying the downward dog pose, could not help but just look at Debra's facing buttocks.

"Debra?" he caught her attention.

"Yes?" she responded.

"Do you do squats?"

"Yes, all the time. Why?"

"Just asking."

Dibs! (Chapter 2)

The next day, Madeline was at the school library along with her history class as her teacher brought them there to check out history-related books to help them write their upcoming essay. Once she arrived at the library, she noticed that the new kid was in there as well. She was confused yet she did not care as she wanted to flirt with the boy. When the teacher instructed the students to look for books, Madeline went after the unnamed boy.

She walked up behind him while he gazed upon the top of one of the book shelves. "Hi," she garnered his attention.

"Hi," the boy smiled.

"I'm Madeline," she held her hand.

The boy shook her hand. "I'm Bret."

"Nice to meet you."

"You, too."

"You have such strong hands."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, it was a compliment."

"Oh, then, thank you."

"Anytime. What are you looking for?"

"I just saw a book that said, 'The Best Marauders' that I want to get because it relates to my given topic."

"Ooh, pirates. I have a topic, too, that I should be working on but I'm interested in helping you with your topic."

"Oh, are you smart?"

"The smartest."

"I like smart girls."

"I know all of the presidents of the United States."

"Interesting."

"Try remembering them."

Bret chuckled.

"How long have you been in Laguna High?"

"About two days. I wasn't in this class yesterday because my alarm clock and I ended up arriving a couple hours late."

"Oh, late on the first day of school?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty much a bad boy."

Madeline giggled. "Do you want me to get your book for you?"

"No, thanks. I'm tall so there's a possibility I can reach it."

"But I would be nothing but glad to get your book."

"Okay. Thanks."

Madeline giggled again before reaching for the requested book. She made a straining sound with her mouth as she made a few attempts to get the high-shelved book. She turned around and spotted the person in front of her sitting in a chair by a table.

"Eleanor, I need your chair," she said, pulling the chair from the girl's bottom, almost making her tumble.



On the same day, Lizzie noticed Bret in her physics class when she turned her head from her seat and saw him sitting in the back row of desks. She smiled to herself as she planned to make an attempt of talking to him. Her teacher was out so a substitute filled in for him. So the instructions given to the class were to take notes about an upcoming subject. When the students were told to get textbooks from the back cabinets, Lizzie got up once she saw Bret get up.

She approached him from behind. "Hi," she said with pep.

Bret turned around. "Hello."

"I'm Lizzie."

"I'm Bret."

"Ha, beat that, Maddie."

"What?"

"I meant cool name."

"Thank you. My mom thought of it first."

"Well, your mom sounds like a great woman."

"She is."

"So are you new?"

"Yeah. I was supposed to be here yesterday but I was late to class."

"Oh, did the teacher marked you absent?"

"I don't know."

"Because I know people get marked absent if they were at school on the very first day. But if you're new, there's probably nothing to mark, right?"

Bret chuckled bashfully. "I guess."

"Then you're off the hook. How lucky are you?"

"Very."

"Yeah!"

He chuckled again, this time a little less bashfully. "You're funny."

"I hope so! Hey, do you want me to help you take notes? I know stuff."

"Sure. Why not?"

"Good to hear because when I would ask people that, they always had reasons for why not."

Dibs! (Chapter 1)

"What is that?" asked Andrea, looking at Madeline pick her sandwich. "Baby spinach?"

"Yes," Madeline answered. "Why?"

"You can put that in a sandwich?"

"Yeah, it's a green and you can put greens in sandwiches."

"And it makes it healthy?" asked Lizzie.

"Yeah. Whatever green is healthy."

"Like green skittles?"

"No, I mean vegetables."

"Ew."

"What do you mean 'ew'? You eat vegetables."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean I like it."

"My dad puts ham in his sandwich," noted Skye.

"So?" inquired Madeline.

"So ham is less healthy than turkey. Don't you know that?"

"Of course. I know everything."

"I don't believe that," Andrea commented.

"Don't you know me at all?"

"What do you know that we don't know?"

"I know all the presidents of the United States."

"I find that hardly true."

"Well, I do."

"Then list them."

"Fine. George Washington; John Adams; Thomas Jefferson; John Quincy Adams; James Madison; Ulysses S. Grant; Andrew Johnson; Abraham Lincoln; George Bush; Ronald Reagan; Richard Nixon; James Monroe; Jimmy Carter; John F. Kennedy; Millard Filmore; Andrew Jackson; Rutherford B. Hayes; Franklin Pierce; James Buchanon; Dwight Eisen--"

"Okay, I get it! You win."

"Yay."

"I don't know half of those people," admitted Lizzie.

"Do you know something, guys?" questioned Skye.

"Madeline knows something."

"No, I mean something weird is going on. Like don't you feel a draft in here? As in a spiritual draft."

"Are you trying to say that there's a ghost nearby?"

"No. I just feel like something happened today but I can't put my finger on it."

"Speaking of fingers," said Andrea, looking behind herself, "I would like to put my fingers on that."

The girls paid their attention to an unfamiliar boy who was entering the cafeteria. He was tall, had brown hair, peachy skin, a leather jacket and black sunglasses. The girls were so dumbstruck by his good looks that they all imagined him walking in slow motion. Once he walked past them, the girls gradually stopped paying attention.

"That is what I was trying to talk about," said Skye.

"Is he new?" asked Lizzie.

"Yeah. I saw him for the first time in my English class."

"Well, I never seen him before thus he has to be new," said Madeline.

"He's so hot that the sun can't compete with him," Debra commented.

"He's so hot that you can cook scrambled eggs off his back," Andrea added.

"I bet those eggs would be delicious," said Lizzie.

"Dibs!" shouted the girls at the same time. They groaned and moaned right after.

"I saw him first," said Skye.

"Well, I saw him second," Andrea responded.

"I deserve to have him because I know all the presidents of the United States," Madeline decided.

"What does that got to do with this?"

"Maybe that guy prefers smart girls."

"Oh, and we're not smart?" Debra asked.

"That's not what I'm trying to say."

"Then what are you trying to say?" asked Andrea.

"If the shoe fits, put it on."

"For you to know, I own thiry-four pairs of shoes that are hidden away from my parents," said Lizzie. "And they all fit so I guess that boy is M-I-N-E, mine."

"Touch my man and you'll be G-O-N-E, gone." said Andrea.

"Girls, we don't even know his name to possess him," noted Skye.

"His name is Charles," Madeline jumped in.

"You don't know that," said Andrea.

"I predicted it."

"Just because you're smart doesn't mean your predictions are true."

"But I don't have to be smart to know your predictions are false."

"Oh, you little--"

"Girls!" Debra called. "Can we not fight over a guy? I mean we barely know him; this is getting a little silly."

"Debra's right," Lizzie sighed. "We're not going to let a guy get in the way. We're best friends; we make it work."

"Oh, yeah," Madeline agreed.

The girls concurred and began giggling. Later, their friendly giggles turned into perturbed scowling and spurious smiles.

Dirty Little Secret (Chapter 5)

A couple of days after, the girls met up with each other at the cafeteria for lunch time. As they chatted and ate lunch, the Cow Belles entered the cafeteria and started to feel uncomfortable when a bunch of people there stared at them and laughed. The Belles looked at each other in confusion and walked up to the quintet's table once they spotted them.

"What did you do?" asked Pamela.

"Why do you assume we did anything?" Madeline turned around.

"Everybody is looking at us weird," said Mauricia.

"Tell us what you all did," Pamela demanded.

"What I did was put a story in the newspaper," said Madeline.

"You put us in the newspaper again?" asked Mauricia.

"Well, everybody seemed to like your last story. I thought I ask my friend, Calvin, to put another one in."

"And what story is it?" asked Pamela.

"Check for yourselves," said Skye, pulling out a newspaper.

Mauricia snatched the newspaper from Skye and opened it up. "We're under the 'Continued Liars' list?"

"Yep," answered Madeline. "Turns out Pamela stole your lucky sweater and never told you about it because we messed it up with permanent marker."

Mauricia gasped.

"It was an accident," said Pamela quickly. "I swear."

"How can you do this to me?"

"Yes, how can she do that to you?" Madeline inquired. "But you're no angel either as Pamela thought her dog died from natural causes. But actually, you ran it over with your car."

Pamela gasped. "You killed Mister Fuzzles?"

"How did you know that?" Mauricia asked Madeline.

"I had my spies follow you and eavesdrop your individual conversations," answered Madeline. "And when I say 'spies', I mean my friends."

"I got to wear a black jacket," Lizzie happily commented.

"Hurts when your secrets are out, doesn't it?"

The Cow Belles turned to each other and started arguing. They shouted at each other in an overlapped way while walking away from the girls.

"We are bad," said Andrea.

"Yes, we are," Madeline said. "Now they know how it feels."

"It was kind of mean what we did," said Debra.

"Yeah, but they're mean, too. We're a seven; they're a ten."

"I thought I was a ten," said Lizzie. "Actually, I gave myself a nine. My skin's not glowy enough."

"The school needs to monitor their newspaper," noted Skye.

"I agree," said Madeline. "But not right now, of course."

"You know what?" started Debra. "I'm glad that our secrets are out."

"Why?" asked Andrea.

"Because now we know what we didn't, we can finally move on. We don't have to hide who we are. Plus, it gives us something to talk about and laugh at in the future."

"You're right," agreed Lizzie. "And since everybody knows I wear Secret Extensions, I can show my real hair so it's not a big deal anymore." She stuck her hand in the side of her hair and pulled away a long piece of elastic with long, dark hair attached to it. She revealed her new hairdo, which was a choppy look with unevenly sized locks.

The girls looked at her with different expressions on each of their faces, mostly sharing shock.

"Lizzie, I love you," said Madeline, "but when you said it was bad, I didn't know it was that bad."

"So should I put my hair back on?" asked Lizzie.

"Yes, please."

"You're beautiful just the way you are," said Debra. "But that is one haircut-gone-wrong."

Lizzie applied the elastic of hair back on over her real hair. She combed the hair with her fingers to make it blend in. "I probably wasn't going to go through with it anyway."

"I wouldn't," said Andrea. "And I'm sorry that I tried to hit you with a bat the other say. I wasn't really going to hit you. I was just going to rub your face with it to intimidate you."

"Whether you would have hit or not, I was already intimidated. But I accept your apology."

"I would have never hit you."

"It's okay. We're like sisters and sisters hurt each other all the time so it's not a big deal."

"Where did you get your extensions anyway?" asked Madeline. "I could really get into that."

"What kind of name is Mister Fuzzles?" Skye asked, mostly to herself.

Dirty Little Secret (Chapter 4)

For a couple of days, the girls tried to figure out who was posting their secrets publicly. After thinking of people who could have done it, they all agreed that the Cow Belles, Pamela and Mauricia, were behind it. So Madeline told a friend who told a friend to tell the Cow Belles to come by the choir room at school around three O'clock to check out makeup samples on Monday. Madeline succeeded with the plan; afterwards, once Monday came around, the Cow Belles visited the choir room after school.

They opened the two doors for the entrance and walked right in. They immediately saw the girls, except for Andrea, standing feet away from them.

"Oh, it's you five," said Pamela. "Actually, four."

"Anyway, why are you guys here for the makeup samples?" asked Mauricia.

"Isn't it obvious, Mauricia? They need it badly."

"Oh, yeah. That's right."

"There are no makeup samples," said Madeline.

"Why?" asked Pamela. "Did you buy it all?"

"She thinks she's such a rich girl," said Mauricia.

Andrea walked out from the space beside the stage with a broom. She walked towards the doors and stuck the broom inside the handles. She walked pass the Cow Belles and stood beside her friends.

"There were never any samples," said Lizzie.

"Then why are we here?" asked Pamela.

"Because we know," replied Madeline.

"You know what?" asked Mauricia.

"We know you posted our secrets onto text and the newspaper," said Skye.

Pamela gasped. "Really? Us?"

"We would never do such a thing," said Mauricia.

"Alright," started Madeline, "listen, please. We just want to talk to you two. We don't mean any harm--"

Suddenly, Andrea screamed. She ran towards the Cow Belle, only to jump on Pamela and push her down. All of the girls looked at them in surprise. Andrea shook and wriggled Pamela's head; Pamela put her hands on Andrea's hands but she could not pull them off. She screamed in terror while Andrea growled, trying to pull her hair out.

"Hey, get off of my friend!" Mauricia said, putting her hand on Andrea's arm.

Andrea, while pulling on Pamela's hair with one hand, pulled on Mauricia's hair with her other hand, shaking Mauricia's head vigorously.

"Okay, nevermind!" Mauricia said in a crying voice. "Nevermind! You won! Nevermind!"

Madeline rushed over to Andrea, pulling her off of the Cow Belles by the waist. She dragged her back to where her friends were standing; Andrea had thin locks of hair in her balled up hands.

The Cow Belles quickly stood up and tried to fix their raveled hair.

"We didn't come here to be treated like this," said Pamela.

"You came here for beauty products," Skye commented.

"True that," said Mauricia.

"What do you want from us?" asked Pamela.

"We want to know how you unveiled our deepest secrets," said Debra.

"Whoa, calm down, Charles Dickens," said Mauricia.

"We will tell you," Pamela added.

"Liz-Wad left a note of her and Andrea talking about their hair and boyfriend problems."

"So we snipped pieces from their information and mass-texted to our inner circle."

"Who mass-texted it to their inner circles."

"Who mass-texted to the people left on their contacts."

"Okay, that makes sense," said Madeline, giving a short glare to Lizzie. "But how did you figure out the things that we didn't write?"

"Oh, that was simple," said Mauricia.

"Very simple," added Pamela.

"We hacked into your Facebook accounts."

"We had these guys follow you and take pictures of suspicious stuff."

"And by 'guys', we mean 'photography nerds who are obsessed with us'."

"Like, who wouldn't be? We're irrestible."

"You hacked into our Facebook accounts?" asked Madeline.

"And your phones, too," added Mauricia.

"Y'all are some crazy putas," Andrea commented.

"Why would you do this?" asked Debra.

"Because we're bored," answered Pamela.

"And powerful," said Mauricia.

"You guys deserve to be embarrassed."

"You embarrassed us last year by showing our acne."

"But with the pictures, I can definitely get in a Proactiv commercial."

"Anyway, how else are we going to show our unappreciation for you all?"

"By leaving us alone?" recommended Skye.

"Look, girls," Madeline began, "we may not like each other but to be nice, we're not going to tell on you."

"What?" Andrea said loudly.

"We're not going to tell. But we won't tell if you guys stop doing what you were doing."

"Deal," said Pamela.

"This is a bunch of bull!" said Andrea

"Andrea, the appropriate words are 'Taurus fasciculum est'," said Debra, almost struggling with the phrase.

"What does that mean?"

"It's latin for 'This is a bunch of bull'!"

Dirty Little Secret (Chapter 3)

Later that day, it was dismissal and the girls grouped by Debra's locker once they had their backpacks while waiting for Andrea. As they did, Lizzie decided to start a discussion about her confusing day.

"Everybody is acting so weird around me," said Lizzie. "I feel like I'm in that movie 28 Days."

"Have you ever seen 28 Days?" asked Skye.

"No, but I know a ton of freaky stuff happens in there."

"Why is everybody bothering you?" asked Debra.

"Because they found out that I--" She stopped herself.

The girls looked at her in a confusing way.

"They found out that you what?" questioned Madeline.

"Nothing," Lizzie took a while to reply. "Nothing at all. I have no idea. Let's just not talk about it, okay?"

"But you brought it up," said Skye.

"Now I'm bringing it down."

"Where is Andrea?" asked Madeline. "I feel like I've been waiting forever."

"Patience, my friend," said Debra.

Skye looked to her side. "There she is right now."

The girls observed Andrea walking down the hall towards them, with a furious look on her face and holding a long object in her hand.

"Is that a baseball bat?" Debra asked.

"Why would she hold a baseball bat?" Lizzie asked.

"Girls, when Andrea is seen with large things in her hands," started Madeline, "it means that someone is going to die."

"But she's walking towards us," said Debra. "Does that mean she's going to kill us? Because I didn't do anything."

"She was missing at lunch," said Lizzie. "Maybe she was doing baseball practice."

"But Andrea is not on the baseball team," noted Madeline. "And I don't know about you but I am frightened."

Once Andrea had gotten close enough, she lifted up the baseball bat and approached Lizzie. "I'm gonna get you, Liz'!" she said through her teeth.

Lizzie sprinted away while Skye and Debra tried to block Andrea. She struggled with her baseball bat still held high. Lizzie looked at her as if she was crazy and maintained a far distance.

"Why are you so upset?" Madeline asked.

"I'm going to smash her face in!" Andrea did not answer Madeline's question.

"Come on, Andrea," said Debra, still blocking her. "Peace on Earth."

Andrea quickly backed up, forming space between Skye and Debra. She pointed at Debra's face with the baseball bat. "Peace on Earth this!"

"Why are you trying to attack Lizzie?" asked Madeline.

"She told my secret to a bunch of people."

"What?" Lizzie said, walking quickly towards Andrea. "You told my secret."

"No, I didn't."

"Then why does everybody know I wear Secret Extensions?"

"Why does everybody know I wanted to break up with Kevin?"

"Wait, wait, wait," said Madeline. "Hold on a second." She pointed at Lizzie. "You wear Secret Extensions? I thought your hair was naturally that long."

"It is," said Lizzie. "It's just that I tried to cut my hair a few weeks ago and it got... bad. So I'm wearing fake hair until my original hair grows back into its maximum length."

"Why didn't you tell me? It's not a big of a deal."

"I was going to tell you but Andrea went and told everybody."

"I did not tell everybody," Andrea pointed her bat at Lizzie.

"Oh, that reminds me," said Skye. She took off one of the straps of her black backpack and held it in front of herself to unzip it. She pulled out a folded-up newspaper then put her backpack back on. She unfolded the newspaper to the desired page and handed it to Madeline. "You might want to read this."

Madeline read the story in the middle of the newspaper titled, "Forbidden Love Stories". "'Schools are full of love stories. Teenage love affairs are the most common in romances in the media. But as we grow up, we learn tons of valuable lessons about love, such as being in love with someone who doesn't love you back. As a perfect example, debate club member Madeline King loves to hang out with graphic artist Tony Sweetin almost every day. However, she puts her heart into a railroad of pain as she knows she can never be with Tony because he has a long-distance girlfriend in Illinois. And developing a relationship with Madeline would be unfair to the unaware girlfriend even though it is sadly unfair to her'?! Who put this in here?!"

"I have no clue," said Skye. "I didn't read ahead after that."

"Now everybody has pity for me? I don't need pity; I'm happy that Tony has a girlfriend that he loves but can't touch because she's in a place like Illinois!"

"So you're not happy for him?" asked Andrea.

"This is outrageous. Of course I told this secret to all of you but I know you guys would never do this to me. Besides, I didn't even detail the situation to you guys like this so something weird is going-- Hey, Skye, you're in the newspaper, too."

"Really?" Skye inquired. "I didn't see it."

Madeline pointed at the story which was in the right corner of the paper. "It's right here. Your name is titled under, 'Enthralling Liars'? It says, 'Skylar Carter tells her friends that she is a vegetarian. But actually, we have transparent evidence that when she is not around her friends, she gets her grub on at Burger King, eating burgers and chicken tenders.'"

Debra grew an angry expression on her face, breathing heavily.

"Okay, I don't care that you're not a vegetarian, but I think I know someone who does."

"How can you lie about being a vegetarian?" Debra asked loudly, approaching Skye.

"I'm sorry," Skye responded. "I didn't mean to lie."

"But you lied anyway. Why would you do that?"

"I didn't want you to feel left out since you were the only vegetarian out of us. I just wanted us to connect."

"Oh, now we have a bad connection. I would never keep a secret from you."

Madeline flipped a page in the newspaper. "Oh, Debra, there's a story about you, too."

"Say what now?"

"'Debra Lincoln once went out with a boy who had a strong resemblance to U2's lead vocalist, Bono.'"

Skye stared at Debra, bristling with anger while Debra developed an abashed look on her face.

"I forgive you now, Skye," said Debra, not knowing what to say. "Hug?"

"How can you not tell me you dated a guy who looked like Bono?" Skye angrily asked.

"And this is a big deal because?" questioned Andrea.

"I have a huge infatuation with Bono. He is my hero. So for Debra to not tell me what she has experienced means that she had a reason for not telling me which makes it shady."

"Guys, we can't let these secrets get in the way of our friendship," said Madeline. "Look, there are some things we haven't told each other or accidentally told other people, but that is what makes them secrets. Everybody has one and we cannot get blinded by this. Now we need to figure out who released them so we can still have our pride."

"Madeline is right," Lizzie agreed. "Let's--"

"Hey!" a unfamiliar boy interrupted.

The girls turned around, paying their attention to the boy. He marched up to Andrea and snatched away the baseball bat from her hands.

"That's my baseball bat!" he said. He turned around and walked away, while slowly rubbing his bat. "Are you okay, Alicia?" he whispered into the bat.

Dirty Little Secret (Chapter 2)

Two days later, on a school day, Lizzie entered the school around seven O'clock which was the appropriate time to come to school. As she walked down the hallway, she heard a ring from a phone. She thought it was coming from her cellphone but she started to hear more rings. She looked left and right, observing the students who were standing by the halls and looking at their phones. After they did so, they looked up, gradually, and spotted Lizzie, walking pass them. The students either giggled or gawked at Lizzie. She started to feel uncomfortable, unable to figure out why they were staring at her.

Lizzie tried to walk faster but she was then stopped by an unfamiliar student, possibly a ninth grader.

"Can I feel you hair?" she asked.

"No!" Lizzie panicked before running away.

A few hours, third period was over and all of the students transferred to their next classes. Andrea headed for her fourth period, alone yet confidently. However, she started to pass some people, giving her some cold looks. Andrea did not why random people were staring at her like that. Then, she passed more people who would make comments at her.

"You're a jerk."

"That is not cool."

"How dare you."

"Add me on MySpace!"

Andrea could not handle the weirdness. She stopped by the lockers and turned around. "What do you want from me?" she yelled at the people behind her.

She turned around, facing her boyfriend, Kevin, who was an inch away. She jolted back from surprise then quickly calmed down.

"Oh, hey, Kevin," she said. "Why do you look enojado?"

"Don't speak your Spanish to me," he said seriously.

"What's up?"

"Have you been telling everyone that you were planning to break up with me?"

"What?! No."

"Then why is everybody saying that?"

"I don't know. I only told-- I mean--"

"So you were going to break up with me?"

Andrea sighed. "Yes, but I didn't tell a thousand people."

"Why, Andrea? Why would you want to break off something special?"

"Because the thing that was special is gone now."

"Huh?"

"Listen, Kevin, I like you but we barely see each other."

"We can make it work."

"No, we can't."

"Why not?"

"Do you even like me?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Not a trivia question. I can't do this anymore because you're in love with yourself."

"That's ridiculous. I'm not in love with myself."

"So you don't care about the fly-away in your hair?"

Kevin touched his gelled hair. "I have a fly-away?"

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about. I can't be with a guy who chooses himself over his girlfriend."

"You know what? Maybe I am a little arrogant."

"You are."

"Okay, but I really did like you. You were always the girl I wanted to have. I liked you... until now."

"Kevin, I was going to break this off more gently."

"Well, it's too late. Mass-text beat you to it."

Kevin turned around and walked away.

"Kevin, wait! Let's start over! You can't break up with me when I was going to break up with you. This is not fair!"

Dirty Little Secret (Chapter 1)

"When can I see you?" asked Andrea to her boyfriend, Kevin, as she closed her locker.

"How about Thursday?" he recommended.

"Can't do Thursday. I have to study."

"For what?"

"A very hard algebra test."

"Then why don't you study tomorrow?"

"I'm not going to be able to remember things for something two days later."

"Whatever. How about Saturday?"

"What about Friday?"

"I have oboe lessons with my mom."

"You want to know how to play the oboe?"

"Yeah. But don't tell anyone who knows me."

"Whatever. I can't do Saturday. I have a thing with the girls."

"Can't cancel it?"

"Can't you cancel your oboe lessons?"

"No."

"Then no. Baby, I feel like we never see each other."

"I know. But seeing you at school is good enough."

"That's because you don't have plans during school."

"I do what I can do. Come on, who's the best?"

"Me!"

"That's right." Kevin pecked Andrea on the lips. "See you at school tomorrow."

"You can call me today."

"No, I got to gel my hair."

"Understandable. Bye."

"Bye."

Kevin walked away with Andrea watching him leave, frowning and picking up her shimmery backpack to throw on her back.

Later, her best friends walked up from behind her.

"Hey, Andy," Madeline greeted.

Andrea turned around. "Hey, girls."

"What's new?" asked Lizzie. "You look like you've been struck by lightning."

"Ugh, I wish I was struck by lightning."

"Oh, what's wrong, Andrea?" asked Debra.

"I feel like me and Kevin are drifting apart. He's always busy whether it's important or not. We only see each other at school now. It's been frustrating."

"Aw, Andrea," said Madeline. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. Besides, I already told Lizzie so that's only three of you who feel bad for me so that's less pressure."

"I still feel bad," said Lizzie.

"Don't harsh the buzz."

Andrea turned around and squeezed herself between Madeline and Debra so they can walk together. However, they did not get very far as they became face-to-face with their adversaries, Pamela and Mauricia, known as the Cow Belles.

"Looky-looky," said Pamela.

"Well, if it isn't the Cabbage Patch Kids," said Mauricia.

"Here we go again," Skye said quietly to herself.

"You got something to say, Avril Lavigne?" questioned Pamela.

"Why don't you back off?" asked Madeline.

"Why don't you back on?" Mauricia replied.

"Ooh, nice one," said Pamela.

"It really wasn't," commented Skye.

"What do you want, Olsen Twins?" asked Andrea, crossing her arms.

"Nothing," responded Mauricia. "You just happened to be in our way."

"Uh, you probably knew where you were going," said Skye.

"Yeah, we did," said Pamela, "but you were all in the way."

"Then move," said Andrea.

"Yeah, moo-ve," Lizzie added.

The girls, except the Cow Belles of course, giggled.

"I don't get it," said Mauricia.

"Me, neither," Pamela said.

"Well, isn't that surprising?" said Skye.

"Pamela, Mauricia," Madeline started, "we did nothing to you. In fact, we haven't talked to you for a while . So why don't you girls step out of our ways and we don't even have to talk anymore, since it bothers you two so much. Alrighty?"

Pamela and Mauricia looked at each other silently and angrily. As they do, the five best friends walked passed them to go off to their planned destination out of school. While they walk away, a folded piece of paper falls out of Lizzie's backpack. When the Cow Belles turned around, they both spotted the paper, believing it belonged to the quintet. They sprinted over to it with Pamela picking up. She unfolded it, revealing writing that covered the whole paper.

Mauricia gasped. "Could this be?"

"I think it is," Pamela responded.

"A convo between Dizzy Lizzie and Fanny Andy."

"That is what I was thinking."

Mauricia pointed to a specific location on the paper. "Oh, read that right there."

"'Don't tell anyone. It's supposed to be a secret'."

"Do you know what this means?"

"No."

"This means that they have something that is not meant to be told. But I think someone has to know, you know?"

"I totally agree. But not just someone; more like everyone."

"Yes! Pam?"

"Ricia?"

"Let's get dirty."

"Oh, yeah. But not too dirty; I just got this shirt."

Tongue-tied (Chapter 5)

On a Monday, lunchtime began, and the girls, except for Madeline, got together at their table in the cafeteria.
"Where's Madeline?" asked Andrea.
"I don't know," answered Debra. "I saw her this morning."
"We all saw her this morning," said Skye in a nasal voice. She started coughing violently.
"Are you sure you don't want to chill at home?" Lizzie asked, leaning away from Skye.
"Hey, I feel fine. I'm just not fine-fine."
"I can see," said Andrea. "I hope you don't have Ebola."
"Ha-ha. Very funny."
"That's not funny; that's serious," Lizzie said.
Andrea shrugged her shoulders.
Debra turned her head to see if Madeline was approaching. Luckily, she spotted her quickly. "Oh, hey, I found Madeline."
The girls looked at Debra's direction, seeing Madeline actually talking to her friend, Tony, as they enter the cafeteria.
"Oh, my gosh," Lizzie gasped. "She's finally talking to him."
"Yes, finally," said Andrea. "Now we don't have to be embarrassed with her."
"I can't believe that there was a possible chance that Madeline gets shy," said Skye. "I can't believe it. She's so assertive."
"Yeah, and confident, too," added Lizzie.
"Assertive means confident."
"Well, I don't own a dictionary."
"Now I know what to get you for Christmas."
"Really?! What?!"
Skye chuckled to herself.
Soon after, Madeline parted from Tony and walked to her table of friends.
"Hi, Madeline," greeted Debra.
Madeline sat down next to her. "Hey, Debra. Hi, girls."
The rest of the girls greeted.
"So what is like talking Tony?" asked Lizzie.
"It's like taking candy from a sleeping baby."
"That's not nice; that's the baby's candy."
"I'm trying to say it was easy. Easier than I expected."
"Oh, yay."
"So where are you and Tony at?" Andrea questioned. "Where do you two stand?"
"Uh, I don't know," Madeline replied.
"Come on, you do so know."
"You can tell us anything," said Lizzie, leaning closer towards Madeline.
"I have nothing to tell."
"Now you're shy around us?" Andrea threw her arms out. "Come on, Mads, spit it out."
"Girls, I love you all but I have nothing to say."
"Please, Maddie," started Skye. "Don't be so--" She stopped to cough and hack loudly and violently as earlier. The girls jumped back from her verocious illness. Skye took a gasp of breath before speaking again. "I'm sorry about that."
"How about this: I'll tell you guys once Skye washes her hands."
"Come on. It's just a little cold."
"Wet, lather and rinse, young lady!"

Tongue-tied (Chapter 4)

Once the weekend came, Lizzie and Debra set up a dinner table inside the den of the first floor in Lizzie's house. They lit candles, made menus and arrange plates and utensils for two on a white table-clothed table in the center of the room with two chairs, each facing towards each other on the ends of the table. After they were done, they waited for Madeline and Tony to arrive.
"Are the other girls coming?" asked Lizzie, closing the den door.
"Uh, Skye is not coming," answered Debra. "She caught the flu for some reason."
"What about Andrea?"
"She said she's coming, but she needs to come before Tony and Madeline comes. Or else she ruins the plan. When I called her, she talked about going to Taco Bell. I told her to don't go because if she tries to come, we're not going to let her in until the date is over."
"But Andrea is Mexican; you can't stop her from her traditions."
"Her traditions? What--"
Suddenly, the door bell rung.
"Ooh, yay!" Lizzie squealed. "Tony is here!"
Lizzie sprinted pass Debra, who followed her, and went down the stairs. Lizzie looked through the peephole, seeing Tony dressed nicely, and opened the door.
"Hi," Lizzie greeted happily.
"Hello," Tony greeted back. "Is this your house? You know, for the date?"
"Oh, yeah. Come on in."
Almost hesitant, Tony awkwardly entered the house.
"It's okay," said Lizzie. "I'm not going to cut you up and eat you."
Lizzie closed the door once Tony stepped into the lobby. Tony waved at Debra who waved back.
"My den is upstairs," Lizzie said, "so follow me." She walked upstairs with Tony and Debra walking behind her. They entered the hallway, with Lizzie opening the door to the den.
"This is pretty cool," Tony commented.
"Thanks," Lizzie and Debra responded at the same time.
"I appreciate this. I do."
"And you'll appreciate this even more," said Debra, "once Madeline comes in ten to fifteen minutes." She said that while looking at her watch.

More than ten minutes later, while waiting outside of the den, Lizzie and Debra heard the doorbell. They smiled at each other before running downstairs. Lizzie looked through the peephole, seeing Madeline in a red mini-dress, and opened the door.
"Hi!" Lizzie and Madeline greeted at the same time.
"Where's your dress for the slumber party?" Madeline asked.
"Oh, I forgot to put that on," Lizzie shook her head. "I'll go upstairs and get it."
Lizzie moved out of the way, exposing Debra.
"Hey, Debra!" said Madeline.
"Hi, Maddie," Debra responded.
"Where's your dress? Remember? It's a prom-themed slumber party."
"Right, right. See, I was ironing my dress so I can put it on. You know, for 'selfies'. But I'm going to put it on now. Just come upstairs."
"O-Kay."
Lizzie and Debra walked up the stairs together with Madeline following them. They walked down the hall, towards the closed den door.
"Our dresses are in the den," said Debra.
"Yeah, you should see them in the den," Lizzie added.
She opened the door, letting Madeline enter.
Madeline asked, "Why are our--" She stopped once she saw Tony. When she turned around, Lizzie closed the door and placed a wooden chair that was next to the door under the doorknob. Madeline urgently tried to twist the knob to open the door but it would not open. She turned around and leaned on the door.
Tony had a confused look on his face. "Um, hi, Madeline."
Madeline made a quiet, whining noise come out of her mouth.
"Would you like to have a seat?"
Madeline made a hesitant face. Not too long, she walked over to the table. Tony got out of his seat and pulled out the chair for Madeline. Madeline stopped for a second then continued walking. She sat down in her seat with Tony pushing her in. He walked back to his seat.
"So how are you?" Tony asked.
Madeline looked at him wide-eyed.
"You look nice."
Madeline chuckled shortly. She looked down.
"So... these couple of weeks have been weird. Just to break the ice. No pressure but I just want to know what's up."
Madeline made a whining noise again.
Shortly, Lizzie entered the room with a pitcher of water.
"Good evening, everyone," she said. "I will be your waiter and I would like to know what do you want to eat."
Tony picked up his menu and opened it to look at it. "The only thing on this menu is Steakum sandwiches and celery sticks."
"Well, sorry, pal. I don't have steak and salad to serve so I put the closest option on the menu that I had. Show a little appreciation."
"Sorry."
"Would you guys like some tap water?"
"Sure. Thanks."
Lizzie poured the pitcher in Tony's glass, filling it halfway. She stepped over to Madeline to fill her glass.
"Talk," she whispered to her.
Madeline did nothing but stare at Lizzie, still anxious to be around Tony.
"Debra will be here to serve the food," Lizzie said before leaving the den and closing the door.
"So do you like Steakums?" Tony asked to break the silence.
Unluckily for him, more silence came along as Madeline just stared at him, unable to carry a response.
Lizzie sat the pitcher on the floor next to a little device that she, afterwards, picked up. She looked at Debra who sitting against the wall next to the den door.
"Hey, Debra," she caught her attention, "before you get the food, do you want to see something?"
"Sure." Debra got up and walked over to Lizzie.
"See, I have this set which is a video camera and a mini television. How this works: you turn on the video camera and put it in a room. And with the mini television, you set it up and it will show presently what the video camera is recording. And right now, I have the camera in the den and if I turn this on..." She pressed a button on the TV which made it turn on, showing Madeline and Tony at the dinner table from a thirty-degree angle. "...you can see the date."
"That's really cool. Where did you get this?"
"I got it from a spy kit that I bought. And only for three ninety-nine. Such great prices!"
Debra smiled before walking downstairs to get the food for the dinner date.
"Madeline, is anything wrong?" Tony asked, after sipping his glass of water.
Madeline nervously smiled and shook her head.
"Really, if anything's wrong, you can tell me. I know we don't know each other that well but you can talk to me. We're friends. Right?"
Madeline opened her eyes even wider.
Soon, the door opened with Debra walking in with two plates of food, one in each hand. "Steakum sandwich and celery sticks for you, sir," she said, sitting a plate in front of Tony. "And a Steakum sandwich and celery sticks for you, ma'am." She put the other plate in front of Madeline. "If you need anything, don't. Enjoy." She walked towards the door. She then stopped and turned. "But if you guys want any dessert, I'll come back and give you pudding." She left the den and closed the door.
Debra sat down on the floor next to Lizzie who was watching the mini TV device. Lizzie pressed a button on it that turned up the volume.
"Can they hear us?" Debra asked.
"No, we need the walky-talkies for that."
As they watched, they listened to the conversation between the talkative Tony and the silent Madeline.
"This is actually delicious," said Tony after taking a bite out of his sandwich.
Madeline looked up and down a few times while poking at her sandwich with a fork.
"Your friends are really good cooks."
Madeline smiled very shortly.
"I don't want to sound like a jerk but I have a feeling that you're not really shy."
Madeline looked away at the wall.
"I mean you have amazing friends who set me up on this amazing date with you. This has to be the most amazing day ever. But I can't have an amazing time if you're not having an amazing time. So tell me, Madeline: I am offending you because I really like you and I don't want to give you the wrong impressions."
Madeline stared at Tony as if she offended him. "I-- I--" She then began to stutter. "I-- M-- Bleh. You-- I-- Uh... Huh. I-- Ee-- Murr-- Y-- Ah-hah-hah. Uh-huh. Uh... I-- Pfft! Uh-- I-I-I-I-I, uh-uh-huh. Gee-- Uh-- I-- Huh. Huh-huh-huh. Heh, uh-- I-- I-- Uh..."
"I don't think this is going well," Lizzie said, gluing her eyes to the screen of the TV.
Eventually, the girls started to hear Madeline blubber. While she does so, she sinks down her chair, slipping under the table.
"She's falling out of her seat like last time," Debra said softly.
As Madeline's head almost goes under the table, with Tony staring out of confusion, she stumbled off the chair and tumbled on the floor, grabbing on the tablecloth and making it slip off the table. Pulling on the cloth made the plate of food and glass of water fall on Madeline, with the sandwich falling apart and landing on her hair and the glass pouring all of the water in her hair as well. Madeline tightly closed her eyes as the water dripped rapidly on and off her face, making her black mascara run. Her mouth was opened to represent the shock she felt.
Seeing the incident made Lizzie and Debra jump back.
"Oh, white girl down!" Debra gasped.
Lizzie put the TV down and got up along with Debra and opened the den door to enter and help Madeline. They rushed over to her and kneeled down, trying to get her up.
"Are you okay, Maddie?" asked Lizzie, interlocking Madeline's arm with hers. "That was a big fall you took... not like I was there."
"This date was a bad idea," said Debra. "We're really sorry. Come on, we'll get you out of here."
"No, wait," Tony called, standing up. He picked up his glass and plate then walked over to Madeline to kneel before her. "Do you feel embarrassed?"
Madeline nodded, forming puppy-dog eyes.
After she nodded, Tony took his plate and flipped it over his head, making the sandwich and celery sticks fall on him. Then he quickly poured the whole glass of water over his head.
The girls looked at him in surprise.
"Now I'm embarrassed," he said. "We're both embarrassed."
Madeline smiled, not holding back.
"Aw, this is so sweet," Lizzie commented. "Such as romantic moment. Now which one of you guys are going to pay the bill?"

Tongue-tied (Chapter 3)

A few days after, the end of the school day came and Debra closed her locker as she got out her peace-sign-patterned backpack. When she kneeled down to pick it up, she was approached by Lizzie.
She got up with her backpack strapped on and spotted Lizzie. "Oh, hey, Liz'. I don't usually see you on this time of day."
"Really?" Lizzie inquired. "What time is it?"
"It doesn't matter. So what's the goose on the moose?"
"Huh?"
"What's up?"
"The goose? Oh! I have an idea for something."
"Interesting. What is it?"
"Well, since Madeline gets nervous around her crush, Tony--"
"Terribly."
"Yeah, terribly. I thought maybe we should set them up on a date."
"How is Madeline going to ask out Tony without bursting into flames?"
"I said we should set them up on a date."
"Oh, neat idea. But how is that going to work?"
"We go up to Tony and tell him that Madeline wants to meet up with him for dinner. Then we tell Madeline that I'm having a slumber party at this specific location. But actually, we will set up a dinner table at this location with candles and music and lock Maddie and Tony in it so they will be forced to have a normal conversation."
"Huh. That sounds like a good idea."
"Does it? I also have a Plan B, which is hypnosis. I bought a kit and everything, only for two ninety-nine."
"Yeah, we'll stick to the first plan."
"Okay."
"What location would this take place?"
"At my house. See, my parents cleared out the den in my house and it's the perfect space to have dinner in."
"So we're going to use a den in your house for a romantic date without your parents' permission?"
"Oh, no. My parents said I could do whatever I want with that room until they get new furniture for it. I was thinking about using it as a playpen."
"Oh, for your baby cousins or something like that?"
"No."
"Okay. Um, we can start this plan?"
"Tomorrow. The sooner the better."
"We got to tell the other girls."
"Right on."
The girls began to walk down the hallway together.
"So what kind of music were you thinking to use?" asked Debra.
"Oh, there's this guy named D'Angelo. I don't really listen to him and I saw this one video and I was like, 'Why not a chance?'"

The next day, during the transition to period three, Lizzie and Debra talked to each other about what they wanted to do. As they did, they found Tony walking down the hall pass them. Debra parted away from Lizzie and approached Tony.
"Hey," she called.
Tony stopped and turned around. Debra also stopped. "Hi," he greeted.
"I'm Debra."
"Tony."
"Oh, I know. You know my friend, Madeline?"
"Perhaps, I do."
"What do you think of her?"
"She's sweet, but kind of--"
"A spaz."
"I wouldn't say that."
"But you would. Anyway, word on the street is she likes you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Do you like her?"
"Of course."
"Great to hear! She wants to go to dinner with you."
"With me?"
"Yes-a-rooni."
"That's a bit forward, but alright."
"You agree?"
"Yeah."
"Bingo! But she doesn't want to go to a restaurant."
"She doesn't."
"No, she felt more comfortable eating at a friend's house."
"That's a bit weird."
"Well, so is she."
"That's true. I'm down."
"Great-dinsky!
"I see you like to make up words."
"I do what I do."
"What's the address?"
"Oh, it's all inside this paper." Debra handed Tony the little piece of paper that she was holding in her hand.
"Thank you very much. I can't wait to see Madeline."
"I bet you can't. See you later."
"See you."
The two parted ways with Tony going to class and Debra walking with a waited Lizzie.
"He ain't all that," Debra said.

Tongue-tied (Chapter 2)

The week after, Madeline thought that she should tell her friends about the unusual encounters that she had with her classmate, Tony, ever since she met him. So during lunch time in the cafeteria, Madeline finally spit it out.
"Girls, do you think I'm cool?" she asked.
"What kind of question is that?" asked Skye.
"I just want to know."
"To us, yes," answered Andrea. "But to other people, no."
"Why do you care?" questioned Lizzie to Madeline.
Madeline answered, "Because I met this boy named Tony and I don't know what happened but when I first saw him, I was speechless. Literally! And I have so much to say."
"We know that," said Andrea.
"I can't control myself around him. And for the past week, I have been stuttering and muttering every time I talk to him."
"Then why not just not talk to him?" Skye asked.
"Because he either talks to me or I have to. But I can't and I don't know why."
"How can you react this way to Tony but never to any guys you liked?" asked Debra.
"I think I have an idea. The guys I meet are always smoking hot. But Tony, he's gorgeous. I have never seen or dated a guy who looked similar to Tony. Never!"
"How can you date but not see a guy?" asked Lizzie.
"I get it," said Andrea. "You're in love."
"No way," responded Madeline.
"Uh-huh. People act weird around other people they like 'too much'."
"I barely know his last name to be in love with him."
"Maybe it's love at first sight," added Debra.
"Uh, I don't think I believe in that."
"You don't got to know his last name to love him," said Andrea. "Romeo didn't ask for Juliet's last name when they started to get their mack on."
"I thought her last name was Montague or something," Debra replied.
"Yeah, I don't care. Maddie, this could be so exciting for you."
"But I don't love him," said Madeline. "I don't think I do. He barely knows me because I spit more than I speak."
"Ew," uttered Skye.
"I know."
"I don't get it. How can you be the girl who flirts so much to the girl who can't even speak?"
"I don't know. Maybe I'm losing my charm."
"But if you do that," started Lizzie, "then there's a high possibility of you not becoming a witch."
"So when you speak to Tony, nothing?" Debra inquired.
"Nothing," Madeline responded.
"Not a word?"
"Oh, one word: I. As in 'I' don't know what to do when 'I' don't know what to say because 'I' can't even say anything!"
"Calm down, hush puppy," said Skye, hovering her hand up and down over the table.
"Maybe you're not relaxed enough," added Debra. "Try breathing exercises before you speak to him."
"Breathing?" Madeline inquired.
"Yes, it helps control the rapid blood flow."
"It does?"
"I don't know. Just try breathing slowly."
Madeline closed her eyes and began to slowly inhale and exhale.
"There you go."
"Wow, you're like a wizard," said Andrea.
"Maybe the charm is going to you, Debra," Lizzie jumped in.
Madeline continued to inhale and exhale. "I feel totally calm." she whispered.
Soon, she heard a boy's voice. "Hi, Madeline."
Madeline turned her head and once she caught a glimpse of Tony, she uttered an unusual, indistinct sound. She began to giggle nervously, turning into uncontrollable sputtering by a few seconds. Feeling embarrassed, Madeline slid from her seat under the table as she silenced herself.
Tony had a blank expression on his face. "Okay, see you later." He walked off to his chosen seat in the cafeteria.
"Wow, it's more worse when you witness it," stated Skye.
Lizzie leaned forward to the spacing of the table to look at Madeline. "He's gone now."
Madeline climbed back up onto her seat. "Oh, finally," she said out of breath.
"You must really like him," said Debra.
"I don't know what to do about it," Madeline said, almost in a whiny voice.
"We can convince him to wear a mask," Lizzie insisted.
"He's not going to wear a mask."
"It would be worth the try. Just a Jim Carrey mask."

Tongue-tied (Chapter 1)

One day, a school day, Madeline was learning in the classroom of her physics class. As she took notes from the chalkboard, the teacher made an announcement.
"Okay, class, now that you got filled in on today's subject, we can begin with the experiments so partner up and find a station."
The students of the class scooted their chairs and scrambled around the classroom, looking for the people that they wanted to partner up with it. Once Madeline was done taking her notes, she got up and walked a curve in the room, heading towards a Caucasian girl with strawberry-blonde hair.
"Hey, Samantha," greeted Madeline.
"Hey," the girl greeted back.
"So you want to be partners?"
"No can do."
"No can do?"
"Regina already asked me to be partners and I said yes."
The girl standing next to Samantha waved awkwardly at Madeline.
"What is this?" questioned Madeline. "Third grade? We're usually partners."
"I'm sorry. She asked me."
Samantha and Regina began to walk away.
"Don't walk away," Madeline called. "I'm important, too."
Madeline looked around the room and could not find anybody who was by themselves. So she approached the teacher's desk.
"Mister Cunningham, I do not have a partner," she said.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the teacher responded. "I thought I counted the number of students present to an even number."
"Well, people sometimes miscalculate."
"Don't worry. I'll find you a partner."
"Thank you very much."
The teacher got up from his chair and scanned the entire classroom.
"Hey, has anybody seen Tony?" he asked out loud.
"You let him use the bathroom, old man," responded a male student.
"Thank you, Phillip." He walked over to Madeline. "I see the problem: one of the students here went to the bathroom. When he comes back, he will become your partner."
"Okay, I can live with that," said Madeline.
"So prepare your station for the both of you."
"I can't live with that but I'll do it anyway."
Madeline turned and walked towards an empty counter that she spotted earlier. She kneeled down and opened the cabinets of the counter. She pulled out two safety gloves and two pair of safety goggles and placed them on top. She closed the cabinets and picked up one of the goggles to put them on. During, one of the classroom's doors opened and entered a handsome boy with short brown hair, brown eyes, and a green-striped sweater.
"Tony," the teacher caught his attention, "we're doing a motion experiment and I need to be partners with Madeline."
Tony handed Cunningham the bathroom pass from his hand. "Okay, I'm cool with that."
"Madeline, your partner, Tony, is coming to your station," Cunningham shouted.
Madeline turned around. "Awesome. Now I--" She uttered an indistinct sound and started to cough violently. The sudden movements she made made her goggles fall down to her neck.
Tony walked up to Madeline. "Hi, are you okay?"
Madeline nervously giggled. Then her giggles turned into sputtering. After several seconds, she stopped herself.
"Um, do you have a cold?" he asked.
Madeline, with her mouth closed, tittered as a response.
"Okay, well, my name is Tony. You must be Madeline."
Madeline interlocked her fingers together from her back. She continued to titter with her mouth closed.
"So let's get to the experiment."
Madeline droned with an awkward smile.
Tony walked next to Madeline from her right and put on the goggles and gloves. Madeline did the same only with the gloves.
"I'm getting a feel that you've never seen me before," said Tony.
Madeline didn't respond. She tried to look away.
"I'm not new or anything but I did switch classes. I accidentally got put into an honors class. I was supposed to take an AP class so here I am."
Madeline nodded.
"I love physics. Probably because I'm good at it. Not that I'm bragging. You're probably better at it than me."
Madeline tittered inside her mouth. She turned her head to look at Tony but then started to cough again.
"I'm sorry but are you sick?" Tony asked.
"Mm-mm," Madeline hummed while shaking her head.
"Do you need some water?"
Madeline shrugged but then nodded her head.
"I have some water in my backpack if you want some."
Madeline finally opened her mouth, letting out a single chuckle. But she began to sputter and cough uncontrollably. She covered her mouth quickly with her hand.
"Listen, I'm worried," Tony admitted. "Do you need to go to nurse? Because I will tell Mister Cunningham to report you to the nurse if you want."
Madeline tried to speak but her words were muffled from her covering her mouth.
"Mm-mm. Mm mmm, mm-mmm um mm mmm."
"I'm guessing no?"
Madeline uttered a small, muffled giggle.
"So if it's okay with you, we can start the experiment."
Madeline nodded.
Tony gave her an awkward smile before focusing on the little contraption on top of the counter.
Madeline uttered a sigh of distress into her hand.

Have Fun Working at the Mall (Chapter 5)

The next day, Madeline felt bad about the way she behaved towards Penelope. She learned that if you want to get anywhere in life, you have to work. Plus, her parents had a fit when they learned she had gotten fired. However, Madeline wanted to get her job back and marched to the mall to head to the Pink Tee.
"Penelope," she called after entering the colorful store.
Penelope, from behind the counter, groaned and rolled her eyes once she saw Madeline.
Madeline walked in front of the counter. "Look, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I acted like a brat and that's because I acted like a brat my entire life. But now, I just want to be normal and not depend on money to get me through life. I want to work."
Penelope picked the doughnut in a paper bag off of the counter. She walked out and marched towards Madeline. "You know, you have got a lot of nerve of talking to me the way you were talking to me. Don't you have any respect for the elders?"
"You're only twenty-five years old. You have to be--"
"Don't be a smart aleck, okay, Mad? I should have hired some woman in her thirties who is unable to grown from her teens than an actual teenager. I never liked kids ever since that baby threw up on me. Again. And again. And again. So I should've learned my lesson but what about yours?"
"I learned my lesson. I learned that adults' lives are harder than a teenager's and I should respect them because I have a lot to learn."
"You know, you sound smart but your words are just going, 'Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo'. My boyfriend wants kids so I tell him I have no ovaries."
"That's a bit personal."
"It's not personal if it's not true. I'm working fine. But here, this, this is not working fine." Penelope took a bite of her doughnut and continued to speak in a muffled tone. "You can apologize all you want but I know, deep down, you ain't going to change because--" Penelope suddenly started to gag. She produced tiny gasps and a silent gurgling from inside her mouth.
"Please, Penelope, I know you're mad but this is real. I can't promise to change but I can promise to do my best."
Penelope continued to gag, gaping her mouth wider and wider.
"Now you're speechless. Please talk to me."
Penelope stiffly waved her hand in front of her face as she turned red.
"What? Now I stink? Come on, Penelope, I understand how you're feeling but don't act like this."
Penelope then slowly held her neck, still gagging.
"Now I make you vomit? Don't be so cruel, Penelope. Oh, you're sending me mixed messages."
It took Madeline a couple seconds to make a realization.
"Oh, oh, my god! Are you choking?"
Penelope nodded; her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
"Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry."
Madeline ran behind Penelope and wrapped her arms around her abdomen. She held on to her arms while pushing quickly and forcefully on Penelope's stomach. Madeline did that four times until Penelope spit up her doughnut. Madeline released to let Penelope breathe and relax.
Penelope took another gasp of air before speaking. "Oh, Mad. You saved my life."
"It's Madeline."
Penelope, without hesitating, hugged Madeline. Madeline did not hug her back as Penelope released quickly. "Oh, my gosh. Thank you, thank you."
"Well, I wasn't going to let you die. I really need a job."
Penelope glared.
"I'm just kidding, You're welcome."
"God, I'll never eat and talk at the same time again."
"I didn't even know you were choking. I thought you were making fun of me."
"Oh, thank goodness you're smart."
"You'll admit that?"
"Just thank you. Thank you. I owe you."
"You owe me?"
"Yes, of course."
"So since you owe me, can you give me my job?"
"Seriously?"
Madeline nodded.
"Oh, I guess I can do that."
Madeline squealed happily before squeezing Penelope. "Thank you, thank you! And I promise I'll behave. I promise."
Penelope patted Madeline's back. "Just because I hugged you does not mean you can hug me back."
Madeline released. "Oh, sorry. When can I start?"
"How about right now?"
"I'll get my shirt."
As Madeline began to walk pass the entrance door, her friend, Guy, walked in with a bouquet of flowers. She instantly paid attention to him by stopping.
"Hey," Guy greeted.
"Hey, Guy," Madeline smiled. "What are you doing here again?"
"Well, you haven't called me so I thought I'd stop by."
"Guy, you gave me your number yesterday. I don't call people the day after."
"I was just joking."
"Oh, you're a joker now? What's with the flowers? Are they for your mom?"
"Yeah, but then I started to think of you so..." Guy took out one of the flowers from the bouquet and handed it to Madeline. "... one lucky daffodil for a lucky lady."
Madeline smiled from ear to ear while sniffing the flower. "This is actually a sunflower but thanks."
"So before I stash these at home from my mother, I'm going to the White Cup cafe. Do you want to join me?"
"Yeah!"
Penelope loudly cleared her throat.
"I mean no. I'm sorry."
"No, it's cool," Guy responded. "But if you change your mind, you know where to find me."
"Okay. Bye."
"Buh-bye." Guy turned around and left the Pink Tee.
After he did so, Madeline rushed up to Penelope. "Can I go on just one little break?"
"No," Penelope answered.
"Oh, please?"
"No."
"I know what I said but--"
"Your shift starts now."
"Fine." Madeline threw her arms down. She turned around and trudged away from Penelope. She sighed then mumbled, "I hate responsibility."