Madison's New Buddy by Crystal Velasquez

Author:Crystal Velasquez [Velasquez, Crystal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2018-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

“Pass the popcorn!” Sofia yelled from one end of the couch.

“Only if you pass the Cookie,” Keiko answered from the other.

Between them, Madison and Jasmine giggled as they handed the giant bowl of popcorn to Sofia, while passing not a chocolate-chip cookie, but a wiggling dachshund, back to Keiko. Now that Keiko had mostly gotten past her fear of dogs, she and Jasmine’s dog, Cookie, were pals.

This was Madison’s first slumber party at Jasmine’s house. After they’d had dinner with Jasmine’s parents, they’d played card games and watched a movie, laughing and talking through the whole thing. Now the four of them were squished together on the couch in their pajamas.

“What should we do now?” Madison asked.

“I saved the best for last,” Jasmine said, jumping up. A few seconds later, she returned with a thin metal stand that had wheels on the bottom and a flat wide screen on top.

“What’s that?” asked Sofia. “Don’t tell me you built a robot.”

Keiko giggled. “No, it’s better than a robot. It’s a karaoke machine!”

Jasmine smiled. “My dad just got it, and I’ve been dying to try it out.” She flipped a switch near the base. Then she tapped a few buttons and a list appeared on the screen. “All you have to do is choose a song, and the background music starts playing.”

Keiko picked up the microphone dangling from a cord on the side of the stand. “Then you sing into this, and boom, you’re a star!”

“Cool!” said Sofia. She took the microphone from Keiko and struck a pose with the microphone close to her open mouth, as if she were belting out her favorite tune.

Jasmine laughed. “Well, let’s start the show! Mom and Dad can be our audience.”

Madison’s heart sank. She knew that karaoke involved reading the lyrics off the screen as you sang. There would be no way she could read fast enough to keep up with the song. Her friends were sure to notice, and the fun slumber party would become a nightmare. She had to do something, and fast!

“I don’t know, you guys,” Madison said. “Don’t you want to make hot fudge sundaes instead? My mom and I brought whipped cream and everything.”

“After all that popcorn I just ate?” Sofia stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes, holding her belly. “No, thanks. If I eat one more bite, my stomach will explode!”

“Besides, even Cookie wants to sing. Look!” Keiko held up the microphone in front of Cookie’s snout, and he yipped and wagged his tail happily.

Madison sighed. Even Cookie would be no help.

“But … but … I don’t think I know all the words to any songs,” Madison tried.

“No problem,” Sofia chimed right away. “The words pop up on the screen, too! All you have to do is read along. It’s so easy.”

But that was the problem. It wasn’t easy—at least not for Madison. Why couldn’t reading be as simple for her as it seemed to be for everyone else? Thinking about it made her feel like hiding in a corner, just like Buddy.

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