Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

audience.”
    “The audience is important!” Helena said, and we laughed because it was so true.
    Robert overheard us and he actually smiled. “That’s good you made it.”
    I squinted at him. “Why are you being nice?”
    He shrugged. “Think you can keep up learning the new music?”
    Everyone in my class knew that I was a mess when it came to learning anything new.
    I took a breath. “Yes,” I said. “I know I can.”
    Mommers got very excited about my spot in Stage Orchestra. She pinned the letter to the fridge and circled the concert date on the kitchen calendar with a sparkle pen from her office supplies.
    “Let’s celebrate!” she said. “Let’s go out to eat. How about Numbskull Dorry’s? Within walking distance!” she sang.
    “Can we afford it?”
    She waved a shiny credit card at me and danced a cha-cha.
    I stopped in my happy tracks. “Whose is that?” I asked.
    “Mine!” she said. “I got it from Pete. It’s for the business, but I can pay on it. Come on, Addie! Let’s have some fun!” She leaned right into my face and said, “Can you say that? Fun ?” She scowled at me, then grinned. “Lighten up, kid! I’m employed!”
    We had a blast. First we dressed up more than we needed to. Mommers tossed me some of her clothes to try, which didn’t quite fit. I felt funny in lady clothes but Mommers talked me into wearing one of the shirts. She borrowed a glow-in-the-dark necklace from me and we both painted our fingernails—Mommers in hot orange, me with the clear stuff. We put our hair up on top of our heads and used rhinestone bobby pins to hold back the wisps.
    At Numbskull Dorry’s, I ordered first.
    “Fish and chips, please,” I said.
    “Fish and chips,” Mommers teased. “How predictable!”
    But I surprised her when I asked the waitress, “Is Rick in the kitchen tonight?”
    “You bet. Who shall I say is here?” the waitress asked.
    “Addie,” I said. “From the minimart.”
    “Well, it’s busy, but if he can get a second, I’m sure he’ll come out.” The waitress hurried off.
    Mommers pretended to be French, and she was loud about it, too. “Oddie from zee minimart?” She let her voice rise and fall. “And who is zee gen tleman, Reek? ” The people from the next booth looked over at us and smiled at our fun. I felt my cheeks turn warm.
    “Not Reek! Rick! ” I whispered. “He’s just the owner .” I tried to keep a straight face but I was no good at that.
    Mommers sat back, her hand to her heart. “You’ve been keeping secrets! My, my, Oddie dahling! Tell me more!”
    I leaned forward and said, “When you call me Oddie, you sound like Katie!” We burst out laughing. Maybe it was just something about Numbskull Dorry’s. It was a good times place for us.
    Rick came out while we were having dessert. He greeted us as if we were his most important friends. He sat right down and Mommers flirted with him. I didn’t bother to tell her that he had a boyfriend.
    Later we walked home in the cool October night. The streetlamps lit the city sidewalks and jack-o’-lantern faces glowed from the porches and windows of the houses on Union Street. Halloween was just a few days off. I was sorry I would not be trick-or-treating with my little sisters. I wondered if my old Dalmatian costume had fit Brynna, and if Katie had found something that would make her into a hamster—she wanted to be Piccolo, she’d told me.
    Mommers put her hand on my shoulder to slow me in front of a brick house on a corner lot. Two orange pumpkins grinned in shining slices from a bench by the door. Little tissue ghosts hung from the knobby branches of a small tree beside the gate.
    Mommers bit her bottom lip and narrowed her eyes. “We’re gonna get a new place soon, Addison,” she told me. “Maybe even by Christmas.”
    I was not focused on Christmas at all. I was focused on the second Friday in December, which happened to be the twelfth. That was the night of our Stage Orchestra