Free Give and Take by Laura Dower Page A

“I’m a hundred percent serious.”
    “Soh-reeee,” Aimee said, smiling.
    Madison knew Fiona was righter than right. The same was true for Poison Ivy Daly. If Madison kept being mean to the enemy, then she’d only get meanness in return.
    As the trio walked along, snow continued falling, but lightly. There was no storm on the way, not as far as Madison could see. This was just a dusting, in spite of what the big-haired weather lady said.
    “Now that your trip was canceled, what are you doing for Christmas break?” Fiona asked Madison.
    Madison shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll spend some more time with Mrs. Romano at The Estates.”
    “And you’re coming over to my house, too,” Aimee cried.
    Fiona giggled. “And mine, too.”
    Madison smiled. “Of course.”
    “Do you know what you’re getting this year for presents?” Aimee asked, skipping down the sidewalk and leaving little snow footprints behind. “I asked for new toe shoes.”
    “I know my mom got me some new cleats for soccer,” Fiona said. “And I asked for a Kindle, but I don’t know if I’ll get one.”
    “What about you, Madison?” Aimee asked.
    “Who knows,” Madison said. “I asked for some computer software. And some clothes, of course. But usually Mom takes me shopping after the holidays when all the sales happen.”
    “What are you giving your parents?” Aimee asked. “My brothers and I got my mom a one-year membership at the yoga center.”
    “I don’t know what to get,” Fiona said. “Chet and I can’t agree on the right gift. I wanted to make them dinner so we wouldn’t have to blow a lot of money. We don’t have that much allowance saved.”
    As they were talking, Madison realized that she hadn’t even thought about what she would get Mom or Dad for the holidays. She’d been so worried about her ski trip and Mrs. Romano and the Winter Jubilee concert and everything else at school that she’d forgotten to buy gifts.
    “What about you, Maddie?” Aimee pressed.
    “I want to get them a snow globe,” Madison blurted.
    “Huh?” Aimee said, stopping in her tracks. “A what?”
    “Did you say snow globe?” Fiona asked.
    Madison nodded. “Mrs. Romano, the woman I visit at The Estates, told me this story about this snow globe she has on her dresser. It represents friendship and love and—”
    “A snow globe?” Aimee interrupted.
    Fiona chuckled as she bent down to the sidewalk to pick up some snow.
    “Maddie, I don’t get it,” Aimee said. “You have to get a better present than that.”
    “Heads up!” Fiona said, hurling a mini-snowball at Aimee. It exploded on Aimee’s wool coat. The two of them dashed off down the street—armed and wet.
    Madison blinked at the gray sky and took a deep, cold breath. She wrapped the orange scarf Mrs. Romano had loaned her tightly around her neck and imagined the snowy days long ago when Mrs. Romano may have worn it herself. Did she have snowball fights back then?
    And what was wrong with snow globes, anyway? Madison thought they were romantic. Aimee and Fiona just didn’t get it.
    Madison wondered what Mrs. Romano would be doing for the holidays. What would her kids be getting her for Christmas? Nurse Ana said the Romano family hadn’t visited in two years because they lived in Italy or some other faraway place. Madison felt woozy just thinking about that. She couldn’t imagine living so far away from either parent—even if they were both fighting.
    When they turned the corner to Fiona’s house, Aimee chased after Fiona to stop there, too.
    “Aren’t you walking the rest of the way?” Madison asked her.
    Aimee shrugged. “I just have to stop and get this book I left at Fiona’s. I mean, you can wait if you want …”
    Madison shook her head. “I have to get home. You know that.”
    “So I’ll see you later then, okay?” Aimee said. “E me.
    Fiona waved. “See you later, Maddie. Let’s talk later tonight.”
    As Madison walked away she felt her