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“Probably not,” I replied.

“Guys, I’m right here!” Anna cried, making us both laugh.

Cress added a deodorant to the cart, and we headed to the checkout. The woman at the till had the biggest frown on her face when she saw Anna riding in our cart. Anna had absolutely no shame and grinned widely up at her before asking about her day. She chatted so much that the woman didn’t have a chance to tell us off. To be honest, I think she was simply happy to see us leave by the time we were ready to pay.

We stopped by the pizza place and picked up ten massive pizzas before heading back to school. We carried them over to the large shed that had been cleared out so students could work on their booths. There were already some girls and a couple of guys there, all of them painting the booth a bright shade of hot pink.

“I’ve got pizza,” Cress announced.

Cheers of excitement went up from the team. Everyone dropped their paintbrushes and converged on Cress. I was somewhat glad I’d snuck a piece in the car because it was like watching Cress walk into a pack of pizza-eating zombies.

My phone started ringing, and I smiled when I saw it was my mom calling.

“I’m going to take this outside,” I said to Anna, somewhat grateful to avoid the horde of hungry dancers. She was carrying some of the pizza boxes herself and looked like she was preparing for the moment when the dance team realized she also had pizza for them.

“Okay, I’ll try to save you a slice,” she said.

“Thanks.”

I went outside and answered my phone.

“Finally,” my mom gasped. “You’ve been missing my calls all week.”

“You’ve been missing mine,” I replied with a laugh. “Phone tag is the worst. How are you? How’s the café?”

“All good,” Mom said. “Frank complimented Norma on her new haircut last night, and Norma’s been blushing ever since.”

I laughed. “I wish they’d get together already.”

“These things take time. How’s school going?”

“School is good. I had my driving lesson this morning.”

“And…”

“You don’t want to know.” I pushed down a shiver at the memory. “But, in happier news, I’m spending this afternoon helping Cress paint her dance team’s booth for the Halloween carnival in two weeks.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“Yeah. We just grabbed some pizzas for everyone, and we have so many snacks I’ll probably need a trip to the dentist when I’m done. I think it’s going to be a good afternoon.”

“Well, I won’t keep you too long,” Mom said.

“No, it’s okay. I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” she replied. “Actually, that’s part of the reason I called. The café’s been quiet, so I was thinking of taking a weekend off to come visit you.”

“Really?” I could barely contain my excitement. “But you always work weekends.”

“Well, that was before you headed off to school. Norma can manage just fine without me. You and me always spend Halloween together.”

I let out a joyful squeal, making my mom laugh. These last weeks without her had been hard, and I needed a hug from her now more than ever.

“It’s a long drive over, so I’ll only be able to make it for one night.”

“One night is better than none,” I said. “And if you’re coming for Halloween, that means you’ll be here for the carnival. This is going to be so much fun. I can’t wait to see you.”

“Me too,” Mom said. “And if this goes well, hopefully I can make it up there more often.”