Only the Lonely by Laura Dower Page B

“Poison.” Of course she never said that to her face.
    “I never thought about this before but Poison Ivy just might ruin seventh grade,” Madison complained. “She and her stupid sidekicks Rose Thorn and Phony Joanie.”
    “Ivy won’t ruin anything if we have anything to say about it,” Aimee said. “I mean I know I’ll whup her and Roseanne in dance troupe tryouts. And you’re way smarter than they are, Maddie. That’s something to be glad for, right?”
    “Yeah, Ivy’s hot but she’s a major math moron, too,” Egg said.
    Madison and Aimee said at the same time, “EGG!”
    “She is a hottie! I may be against her politically speaking, but I’m not blind!” Egg argued. “She’s good-looking.”
    Aimee jumped all over him. “Those three witches are off-limits for friendship and crushes. Egg, you don’t mingle with the enemy no matter what, got it? I mean it, Egg. You are totally not allowed to crush on any of them.”
    Why was Aimee being so bossy toward Egg? Madison wondered. Egg didn’t seem to mind, so she laughed it off, too. Still, it seemed that Aimee really had changed a little. And here, on the night before seventh grade, she was changing a little bit more.
    “So what homeroom are you in anyway, Maddie?” Aimee asked.
    “2A.” Madison said.
    Egg piped up, “Hey, I’m in 2A too.”
    Aimee was bummed out. “Then why did they put me in 2B?”
    The very logical Egg answered her. “Alphabet, Aimee. A through F is in Room A. Then G through O or something is Room B, and the rest are in Room C. Something like that. They do it all on the computer.”
    “How do you guys know?” Aimee asked.
    Madison joked, “Hey, I think they stuck you in 2B just to torture you, Aimee.”
    “They finally figured out how to separate you two!” Egg added.
    “That isn’t funny. Egg. I don’t want to be in a different homeroom than you guys. That isn’t fair.”
    “We’ll live, Aimee,” Egg said. “We’ll probably have all our other classes together. Besides, you should feel lucky you’re not in Room A. The lovely Poison Ivy is in there!”
    Madison put her hand on Aimee’s shoulder. “We’ll have every other class together, I bet we will.”
    “I guess,” Aimee agreed halfheartedly. She seemed dejected.
    Everyone was a smidge more worried than they wanted to admit.
    “You’re not really upset, Aimee, are you?” Madison asked.
    “Yeah, I am. I’m bummed.”
    Madison wanted to make Aimee feel better. That’s what BFFs were for, after all. She remembered Aimee’s collage card, the one she’d been making for most of the month of August. It was still in her backpack.
    “You made this?” Aimee whimpered. “You made this for me?”
    Madison nodded and Aimee sniffled. She was almost crying.
    “You guys, I feel like I have been waiting for this moment all my life, waiting to get older, to get into junior high, to start dating finally and become a good dancer and get smarter and just start moving up in the world in general. All my brothers are major successes in everything they do and I have to be that way too.
    “Now the day is here. Seventh grade is here. We’re like, grown-up now. We have to deal with things now. My brothers are telling me that in seventh grade all your friends change and no one likes you. Junior high is all about being popular.”
    Madison took a deep breath. “Aimee?” she asked quietly.
    “Mmm-uh-huh.”
    “Well, what are you wearing tomorrow?”
    “What?”
    “What are you wearing tomorrow, Aimee?”
    “I dunno. Clothes.”
    They couldn’t help but laugh at that one.
    “Well, I’ll probably wear my capri pants and that yellow shirt I got last spring with the embroidery, you know the one with the little ties? Or maybe my flower skirt and a T-shirt.”
    Madison told Aimee that she would wear the same exact shirt, only in lilac. Then they could be alike but not exactly the same so no one could accuse them of being copycats or anything.
    “You should wear those