The Newest Normal

Chapter Ten- Morgan

It's late evening, and Cody and I are walking through the Main Street Patrick Saint Mont.

"If we need an invitation, we need to find the local parties going on." Cody suggests.

I nod. "Flip open that address book of yours for a sec."

He does, turning over the pages a couple at a time.

"Wait." My fingers stop at a name I recognize. Max Jones. Son of Elisabeth Jones and Henry Jones. Lives on 8 Raspberry White Avenue. I take a deep breath. We were on Strawberry White Avenue. His house was around the corner. I pull Cody's arm so that I can lead him to Max's house. When I find it, I see that the lights are on. The tree in front of his house has snapped in half and there are a few scratches on the house, but other than that, the house is fine. I tiptoe so that I can see inside. What is their family doing?

"What-" Cody starts, but I break him off.

"Shhh." I say, because I see a silhouette of Max. I would recognize him a mile away. He's laughing, and his lips are going upward in a smile. He walks, long strides, and brings something he's holding in his hands  to the dinner table.

"Can you please-" Cody asks, but I break him off again.

"Wait." I realize now that Max was clapping with his hands. Clapping for whom? I look in the direction he's looking at and see an outline of a girl. What? Max doesn't have a sister. I look closer and see the blonde hair. Sophia. Why was Sophia at Max's house?

"Give me that address book please." I motion to Cody. I flip through it again, ignoring Cody's protests and questions, before finding Sophia's house. Cherry Pink Drive. I remember all the houses on that street got ruined. They lived in a different part of town than Max and I. So, her house got ruined, and Max's family invited her to stay? I start pacing. I wouldn't care if my house got ruined if I got to stay with Max.

I hear some noise from the house that distracts my thinking process. I look again, and see Sophia laughing. Max laughs back. I look away. I saw him laugh with her more in these few seconds than with me in a full length seven minute conversation.

Cody looks between me and Max, and it's like a lightbulb has lit up on top of his head.  "Ohhh." He makes the connection. "Max, huh? Did- do you possibly have any feelings for him?"

"I'm so confused." I confess.

"You need to let him go." Cody advises. "Has he ever made any sign to you that he wants to be your friend? That he likes you back? It's quite obvious he likes someone else."

I sigh. "Wow, thanks for helping me feel better."

"Do you really even like him? Or are you just doing it because it's normal to like someone who's-"

I hold up a hand and look to the window. I see Max and then look away. "You're right. I need to let him go."

His eyes sparkle. "See? We're making improvements. You didn't throw a fit when I was right that time."

I roll my eyes. "You're good at being right, ok?"

"Max never deserved you anyway. It's his loss, not yours. Maybe the normal thing to do isn't the right thing."

I look up at him. His words have a comforting feeling to them. "Maybe. Thanks." I whisper.

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The whole neighborhood is bustling with excitement. You can tell because of the atmosphere. Joyful, overwhelmed, excited. Everyone is outside, throwing up streamers and putting up decorations. Bakers are making cakes that smell so much like cinnamon and vanilla frosting. Dressmakers are taking orders two at a time, with a list a mile long. Children are skipping on the streets, singing along with the streetlights.

"Do you know what's happening?" I ask Cody, astonished by my surroundings.

"No clue." He looks around. "It seems like we've been away from society for too long."

"The Emperor is awake!!" A little boy shouts, answering my question for me.

Cody nudges me. "Did you hear what he just said?"

"Yes, I very much did. They're probably throwing a ball to celebrate that fact, to say the least. And a ball means invitations!!" I squeal with joy, throwing my arms up in the air.

He shakes his head, batting away my childish behaviour.

I dare Cody to shoot an arrow into an invitation hanging from the edge of a streetlight. It was just hanging there, a little rip inserted in it. Nobody would notice. I bet he would hit it. He bet he would hit it and get it to drift onto a stool sitting down below. He won the bet. I now owe him 20 bucks.

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Ten minutes later, Cody drags me into Miss. Taylor's Dress Shop. He claims that to have an invitation, you must attend the ball with it. In order to attend a ball, you need proper attire. For me, that would be a dress. There's so many people in the shop. One woman rushes out with a white bag in one hand and a lizard in another. She pets the lizard, almost dropping her bag. Another woman rudely pushes people out of her way to the door, talking quickly on her cell phone. She makes a dash for the door before speed walking. Tons and tons- so much that I barely have any space to move. Dresses of all shapes and colours hang on mannequins, but dresses have also fallen on the floor, it happening so many times that people don't even bother to pick them up.

"This is madness." I say to Cody.

"Of course it would be during this time of year."

"I don't want to choose a dress. This was your idea. You choose."

He raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure you don't want to change your mind about that?"

I let him do whatever, feeling tired and glum just being in this fancy atmosphere. He brings me from dress to dress, each time asking for my opinion, mine only being 'I don't care' each time. He finally sits down on a stool, sighing. "You are the hardest person ever to please."

I smile. "Yes, I know."

He smirks, as if a naughty idea just came into his head. "I'm going to pick the most dare devil, boldest, craziest dress for you as punishment."

I roll my eyes. He was exaggerating, obviously. All of Miss. Taylor's dresses all fit in my standard of normal. He brings me to a mannequin with people crowding around it. So many people are gathered around the dress that I can't see what the dress looks like. Cody brings me to the front, and makes a big show of revealing the dress. I open my eyes, and see a deep velvet red dress with a long train. And then I see it- it's a backless dress. With so many people, I must have missed it. Because it didn't fit into my definition of normal. At all.

"No way am I wearing that." I tell Cody, backing away. I was in no condition to wear it either, after what happened during the storm. My hair was still damp after being exposed to the rain.

He smirks. "You said I could choose the dress. I choose this one."

I step back. "You can't. Someone else must have purchased it already or-"

"I'll tell Miss. Taylor and then we can leave."

"No no no." I push around the people, but Cody still gets there first. He announces the purchase to Miss. Taylor. She makes me try it on, and it fits perfectly. And so, we exit the store with two kids, a half built scepter, and a backless dress.