Read Picture-Perfect (From the Files of Madison Finn, 8) for Free Online Page A

shrugged. Something was distinctly different about her BFF’s demeanor. Aimee wasn’t really smiling. Her shoulders seemed to droop.
    “Why is she in such a bad mood?” Fiona asked.
    Madison shrugged again. “Maybe she has her period,” she whispered, so no one could hear except Fiona.
    “Oh,” Fiona said. “I didn’t think of that.”
    Neither Madison nor Fiona had gotten their periods yet. They’d talked about it a few times, but no one ever went into much detail. Who would want to go into detail about that? Every girl Madison knew was nervous that she’d get her period for the first time in the middle of gym class or right in front of some boy she really liked. Aimee had gotten hers the year before, but she never talked about it much. Madison wondered what things would shift once they all had their periods and they all got bigger chests. Would everything change when their bodies changed?
    “Look at Aimee,” Fiona said as the music started. “She looks so thin.”
    Madison nodded. She looked thinner than thin. You could actually see Aimee’s hipbones in the leotard she was wearing. Usually, Aimee wore sweaters and layers, so neither Madison nor Fiona ever noticed her bones so much. Standing in the studio in her leotard and tights, Aimee looked too skinny, even for a ballerina.
    “She looks sick,” Madison said aloud, still looking at her BFF across the room. Aimee leaped into the air toward them, hands up in the air.
    “Should we say something?” Fiona asked.
    Madison shook her head. “She’ll just get weird on us. She’ll get all defensive. I think if she wants to look that way, she should.”
    “And she was so worried the other day about having one stupid cookie,” Fiona remembered.
    Madison sighed. Being superthin wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. As the music stopped, Aimee wobbled over to her friends.
    “I have to run through that one more time,” Aimee said, losing her balance. She grabbed the barre.
    “Are you okay?” Madison asked, reaching out for her.
    “Of course,” Aimee said, straightening up. “What are you so worried about?” Her voice snapped like a rubber band. Something was definitely different. Madison didn’t know what to say next.
    “We’ll wait for you here,” Fiona said.
    Aimee wiped her forehead. “Fine. Wait then. I’ll be done in like a few minutes.”
    When the next run-through was complete, Aimee took Fiona and Madison into the changing room. She went into the bathroom stall to take off her leotard and tights while her BFFs waited outside.
    “My stupid dance outfit is still too tight,” Aimee said when she reappeared.
    Madison and Fiona looked at each other with disbelief.
    “Too tight?” Madison repeated.
    Aimee threw her hands into the air. “Oh well, I’ll fit into it eventually.”
    The three friends said a few good-byes to some of the other ballet students and then walked out of the studio. Mrs. Waters was there, waiting in her car by the curb.
    “Hop in, girls,” she said, giving Fiona a kiss hello.
    Aimee and Madison crawled into the back seat together. Mrs. Waters headed toward the Book Web, Mr. Gillespie’s bookstore. Despite all the distractions of puppies and dancing, they still had one clear mission this Friday afternoon: think of the perfect chaperone for the concert.
    Of course, no one brought up the subject of the concert in the car.
    Not with Mrs. Waters there.
    The three friends were positive that Mrs. Waters would raise some loud objection, as she had been doing since they had won the tickets on the radio. She would start listing the reasons why they couldn’t go, not ever, not under any circumstances. Fiona had warned Madison and Aimee that her mother was willing to talk about their attending the Nikki concert with an adult, but she was still uncomfortable with the whole idea of their being in such a huge arena with so many people. She was worried for her daughter’s safety.
    No one mentioned Nikki, the concert, or the