Page 37 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

I sighed, accepting my fate. “Ok… ok, let me just have a shower.” On my way to the bathroom, I asked. “What’s the first challenge?”

“Pretend a stranger is a celebrity and ask for their autograph and picture.” Maddie grinned.

Great.

“She so could be an Anne Hathaway,” Maddie murmured beside me in the back seat.

“That guy is Clint Eastwood.” Pondered Jason.

“So that one is Gordon Ramsey.” Mocked Nick.

Maddie and Jason were purists. They didn’t believe in staying close to the campus where people knew the scavenger hunt was happening. No. Instead, they made us drive to the suburbs and watch people to decide who was going to be our new celebrity.

“I’m thinking that we have a lot of black folks in this car to be parking and watching people like it’s no one’s business.” Aisha offered her two cents.

“Amen.” Nick grumbled.

“I wished we had binoculars.” Maddie sighed.

Aisha flicked her ear. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Ow!” Maddie shook herself from watching thenotAnne Hathaway.

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s just go with Anne Hathaway. She will be flattered and it will be a great day for everyone.”

“I love making people happy.” Maddie agreed.

“Aren’t you our very own Mexican Santa?” Nick smiled at her.

“Half-Mexican and Half-Filipino.” She corrected. I wasn’t sure if she caught the sarcasm or was just too pleased to be compared to Santa to argue.

With a conclusive nod, Maddie opened the door on her side, dragging Aisha with her. The rest of us remained, watching at a distance while the two of them approached the girl.

At first,notAnne Hathaway shook her head and laughed, but Aisha and Maddie kept talking about god knows what, so adamant that soon she was agreeing to an autograph and a picture. I chuckled. I knew better than to think they were cheating and telling the girl about the game. No, they were just standing there, convincing a stranger to sign a name that wasn’t hers.

Giggling like schoolgirls, Aisha and Maddie hopped their way to the car, waving back tonotAnne Hathaway. The second they slid in, they burst into laughter.

“She was so nice. I wished she was the real Anne Hathaway.”

Nick started the car. “Maybe the real deal is just as good. Keep on dreaming, Maddie.”

She chuckled and messed with her phone, probably sending the picture to the contest’s organizers. We were heading back to the campus when her phone chimed with the next task.

“See how many people can fit in a shopping cart.” Maddie announced for our next challenge.

Jason groaned. “Not fair. Some of us are buff.”

Nick rolled his eyes in the rear-view mirror. He made a sharp turn left unexpectedly, and I knew he was going straight to the biggest supermarket in town.

“No, no!” Maddie tapped on the back of his seat. “Go to the mall.”

“The mall?” I asked too.

“They have shopping carts and a bunch of teenagers.”

“Who are small enough!” Aisha squeaked in happiness. “Good one.”

We drove to the mall as Maddie showed us how our competition was faring. People were uploading pictures in real time and the official university page was sharing the best ones.

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