Free Friends till the End by Laura Dower Page A

watching him disappear into the throng of kids flooding the hall between classes.
    The soccer match was set to begin right after the final school bell. Madison knew she wanted to get to the field quickly, not only because of the large crowd, but also because Far Hills was playing against its bitter rival, Dunn Manor. Madison was in the mood for rivalry. After all, she’d been living it throughout her classes all day long. Why should after-school events be any different?
    After dumping a few books back in her locker, Madison searched the hallway for someone with whom to walk over to the soccer field. Madhur and Aimee were talking near the girls’ bathroom.
    The three of them headed over together.
    “Give me an M-A-L-L-A-R-D!” cried the opposing team’s cheering section.
    Madison and her friends clapped loudly to drown out the cheer, and clapped even more loudly when Fiona and her teammates took to the field.
    Normally, a soccer game would not have been so well attended. But the scores had been close all year long. These last games of the season were the deciding ones: who would walk away as the soccer champs? Everyone at Far Hills wanted to be a part of the girls’-soccer-team triumph.
    Madison scanned the bleachers for a sign of Hart. Although he had said he wouldn’t be at the game, there was always the off chance he’d changed his mind. But he wasn’t out there. She did see Dan, however; he came right over to where she and the other girls sat.
    “Hey!” Dan said. “I e-mailed you, like, ten times this week, Maddie.”
    “No,” Madison said. “It was once or twice, and I e-mailed you back.”
    “You did not,” Dan said. “I didn’t get it.”
    “Since when do you get anything—except the extra slice of pizza?” Aimee teased. Dan’s nickname back in elementary school had been Pork-O, because he’d had a reputation for eating everyone’s snacks and leftovers. Here it was the end of seventh grade, and he still couldn’t live it down.
    “Go, Rangers!” kids in the stands shouted as a whistle blew.
    The game was starting.
    Madison waved to Fiona as she stepped on the field in her blue-and-white uniform. Shin guards poked up through the tops of her socks, and her cleats looked new, even from a distance. She looked a little like her idol, Mia Hamm, with her ponytail. Madison had learned a lot about women’s soccer just from the posters that lined Fiona’s bedroom wall. And from games like this.
    “Go, Fiona!” Madison squealed, although she was pretty sure Fiona wouldn’t hear with all the noise. Still, it was luckier than lucky to cheer right out loud for a friend.
    “This is my favorite thing at school,” Madhur gushed, clapping wildly.
    “Soccer?” Madison asked.
    “No,” Madhur said. “Being a part of something so much bigger than me. That’s how I feel about most things. You don’t get it at school when you’re taking some English test. But you do get it here, in the middle of everything.”
    Madison had to nod, since she liked being in the middle of everything, too.
    At the end of the row where the girls and Dan sat, Madison saw some guys approaching. Hart was not among them, but Drew, Egg, and Chet were.
    As soon as Chet saw Madhur, he came closer and took a seat in the row directly ahead of her. Madison saw them flirt. She knew the signs only too well from observing Ivy’s moves and knowing how she herself acted in similar situations.
    Back out on the field, the game wasn’t producing any goals—yet.
    But all that was about to change.
    Fiona and her teammate Daisy Espinoza set themselves up at midfield for a pass. Fiona had to kick the ball upfield to beat a defender, but when she got it back again, she was able to launch it with a high kick. It traveled all the way downfield toward the Mallard goalie. Everyone raced to beat it. The crowd went wild.
    “I can’t believe what a good game this is,” Egg said.
    “For girls’ soccer, you mean?” Dan said.
    “Hey!” Madison