The Quirks, Welcome to Normal by Erin Soderberg Page A

Stella’s mom got plates and cupcake-decorating stuff ready on the dining room table.
    Molly looked around Stella’s house and immediately noticed how
clean
it was. They’d grown so accustomed to the clutter surrounding them that sometimes Penelope and Molly
forgot what regular houses looked like. Molly made a mental note to remind her family to clean up now and again—they weren’t cave people, after all. She wished her house were more like
Stella’s house. Clean, tidy, and normal.
    Unfortunately, Penelope was thinking the same thing at the same time. Moments after they arrived, pillows popped off the couches and settled in on the floor. Live dust bunnies hopped out of the
corners and melted into gray, dusty piles around the living room. Molly hastily slipped the pillows back on the couch and pushed at the dust bunnies’ butts to force them under the couch. She
poked her sister in the ribs. Pen smiled, took a deep breath, and tried to calm down.
    “Don’t forget!” Stella announced loudly, a few minutes after the Quirks had arrived. “They’re announcing the Normal Night challenge live on tonight’s news. We
can practice for whatever the dare is, after they announce it!” She clapped excitedly.
    “So Normal Night is really fun, huh?” Penelope asked.
    “Of course it’s fun!” Amelia answered, flopping down on the couch. “It’s the best night of the
year
in this town. Everyone comes, and it’s just a
huge party. You guys are going to love it.”
    Izzy nodded. “The dare is always really cool and super silly. I’m so excited to find out what it’s going to be this year.” She made a funny face. “I hope it’s
not pancakes again. I don’t think I can even look at pancakes after last year’s dare.”
    “Did they have anything like Normal Night in your old town?” Norah asked quietly. She chewed at a piece of her hair. “Where did you live before Normal?”
    Molly ignored the second part of Norah’s question. She hated telling kids they’d lived in twenty-six—or was it twenty-seven?—towns. It made people ask too many questions
about why they kept moving. “No,” Molly said, shaking her head. “We’ve been to a couple of fall carnivals and a Renaissance festival and an apple festival and one time we
got to go to a St. Patrick’s Day Parade . . . but nothing like Normal Night, I guess.” She shrugged.
    Izzy’s mouth fell open. “That’s a lot of festivals and stuff.”
    Penelope and Molly looked at each other. At the same time, they said, “I guess.”
    The doorbell rang, and Stella popped off the couch. “Pizza!” she shouted, hustling to the dining room table. As the other girls got settled at the table, Stella’s mom bustled
around, dropping slices of pizza on each person’s plate. Penelope got a piece with mushrooms. Pen hated mushrooms. She stared at her pizza, her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. She began to
hum, a low, strange sound that made everyone stare. Molly sang along, trying to make Penelope’s odd behavior less obvious.
    “What’s wrong, Penelope?” Amelia asked, concerned. The other girls stared. “Don’t you like pizza?”

    Molly’s eyes widened as Penelope nodded and stuffed a big bite into her mouth. She tried to smile and began to chew. No one else was paying close enough attention to realize that
Penelope’s mushrooms had turned into slugs. Molly covered her own mouth, totally grossed out. She worried she was going to be sick.
    Instead, Penelope leaped up from the table and ran to the bathroom. Molly heard the door slam. “She’s fine,” she said lightly, trying to laugh it off so the others would stop
staring. “She just doesn’t really like mushrooms.”
    “I can get her a different piece,” Norah offered kindly, standing up. “She should have said something.”
    Pen returned to the dining room then. There was a large orange safety cone sitting atop her head. “What are you
wearing
?” Izzy asked with a laugh. “Is that a