A Winning Gift Read Free

have much of a sense of humor, and Maddie knew she probably wouldn’t be at all amused by what had happened to her Pink Twinkle. “I suppose that’s why this one was way at the back of her makeup junk,” Maddie mused aloud. “She probably didn’t want Mom and Dad to notice it and guess how much she spent on it, since they keep bugging her about putting more money in her savings account for college. But whatever—I’ll deal with her later.”
    She clicked over to the other new text. It was from her friend Bridget:
    Maddie!! Text me back as soon as you can. I need you!!!! My life is pretty much over, and I don’t know what to do!!!!!!!! Srsly, text me back, OK????!!!??
    â€œUh-oh,” Maddie said again. Bridget tended to be pretty dramatic, but this was extreme even for her. Maddie quickly tapped the response bar to text her back. “Better find out what this is about . . .”

♦ CHAPTER ♦
2
    MADDIE LOOKED UP AS A clatter of hurried footsteps rang out from the barn entrance. Bridget had just appeared in the doorway, slightly disheveled and out of breath. Even so, she still looked more stylish than most people ever did, in a brightly patterned skirt and her beloved chunky-heeled vintage sandals. Maddie had no idea how her friend could ride a bike in those shoes, but she knew better than to ask. Bridget would just make a joke about it being one of her many and varied talents.
    Then again, she didn’t look to be in a joking mood at the moment. Her eyes were red, and she was sniffling as she hurtled toward Maddie. Even her hair looked sad. Bridget liked to experiment with her long, straight black hair, sometimes piling it all on top of her head and stabilizing it with a sparkly clip or a pair of fancy chopsticks, and sometimes braiding it or pulling it up in a jaunty ponytail. But today it just fell loose around her shoulders and over half her face.
    â€œOMG, Mads,” Bridget exclaimed, flinging herself at Maddie. “I’m soooo upset!”
    Maddie staggered back slightly, but braced herself and hugged her back. “What’s wrong, Bridge?”
    Bridget sniffled loudly, then pulled away. “It’s about Tony. He just totally d-d- dumped me!”
    â€œOh, Bridget.” Maddie wasn’t sure what else to say. Tony was Bridget’s boyfriend—well, ex-boyfriend now, it sounded like. The two of them had become an item at arts camp the previous summer. Even though they lived far apart, they’d stayed in touch after camp ended, trading daily texts full of hearts and other lovey-dovey emojis and weekly phone calls that Maddie could only imagine consisted mostly of dreamy sighs and kissing noises.
    â€œI thought he was the one!” Bridget wailed, grabbing Maddie for another hug. “I can’t believe he’d do this to me!”
    Maddie held back a sigh. Bridget was only a year ahead of her in school, which made her almost thirteen. How could she think she’d already found “the one”? It just didn’t compute.
    Still, Bridget was her friend, and Maddie hated to see her hurting. “Come on,” she said, gently disentangling Bridget’s arms from around her neck and grabbing her by the hand. “Vic and Val are here. They’re good listeners, so you can tell us all about it and we’ll try to help, okay?”
    â€œOkay.” Bridget sniffled and followed Maddie down the aisle to the grooming area.
    When they got there, Val was touching up Cloudy’s hooves with what was left of the Pink Twinkle, while Vic leaned against the wall and watched. They both looked up when Maddie and Bridget appeared.
    â€œHey, guys,” Maddie said. “You remember Bridget, right? Bridge, it’s Vic and Val.”
    â€œRight, hi,” Bridget said vaguely. All four girls attended the same enormous public middle school, but Bridget was a grade ahead of Maddie and the twins. Bridget probably