November 24

   I couldn't believe it. My mother's Friendsgiving plan had actually worked. We ended up deciding to do it on Friday, instead of Thursday, because everyone but Alex and Jack had plans. I woke up around 9:00 AM and after eating breakfast, I watched some Doctor Who episodes for awhile.

After lunch, I finally got to cooking. Now, the cool thing about my mother's idea was that it was a potluck, so I only had to make one dish. Also, it meant that everyone was guaranteed to like at least one thing there (unless they made something they strongly disliked).

"What are you planning on making?" my mother asked, coming into the kitchen.

I shrugged. "I'm trying to decide. I'm checking what we have first."

"We can always go to the grocery store if we need to," my mother said. "Most of them are open again."

I nodded absentmindedly as I scrounged through the fridge. Seeing a couple zucchinis, I remembered we had chocolate chips in the pantry. "What about chocolate chip zucchini bread?" I suggested.

"Sounds good," my mother. "Ask me if you need any help. I'll be resting in the living room."

I smiled. I was glad my mother had yesterday and today off. She worked so hard at her job and she deserved a break. I used my phone to look up a recipe. The one I found had a lot of good reviews, but one of them was one-star. It read: "My great-aunt always made the best zucchini bread growing up. My nieces and nephews were coming over and I wanted to make something similar for them. I read the instructions very carefully and watched the instructional video, but it still didn't turn out well. My nieces and nephews called the zucchini bread 'sick.' I will not be making this again, and I am relieved that my nieces and nephews managed to finish this horrendous recipe."

The review made me crack up and I wondered if the reviewer ever found out that 'sick' could also be a compliment. The recipe was easy enough to follow. I mixed together the ingredients, spooned the batter into a bread pan, and baked it. When it was finished, I let it cool and got to cleaning up the kitchen and then the house in general.

    Around 5:00 PM, the doorbell rang. I ran to it eagerly and flung it open. Halfborn and Mallory were standing there with two covered dishes in their hands. "Come in," I said, gesturing.

    I led them into the house. Halfborn nodded approvingly when he saw the nature magazines my mother read stacked on a side table near the door. "Where should we put the food?" Mallory asked.

      "It can go on the dining room table," I said. "I'll show you where that is."

      "Nice tablecloth," Mallory remarked as she took in the sight of the fall leaves-patterned one my mother had laid out.

     "Thanks," I said, "and thanks for the coming. It's great to be with friends."

     "Course it is," Mallory said.

      She and Halfborn uncovered this dishes. Mallory had brought succotash, a medley of vegetables and lima beans, while Halfborn had brought smoked seafood. "I caught these fish myself," he said proudly, "with the help of my lovely girlfriend."

Mallory blushed. "We went fishing yesterday for Thanksgiving," she said, "and we had leftovers."

"How romantic," my mother commented, her eyes sparkling.

The doorbell rang again. We all went out to greet TJ. He was carrying a dish of greens beans that pleasantly smelled like they'd repellent vampires. Jack came next with a jar of homemade salsa. Hearthstone and Blitzen had made a potato casserole in the shape of a duck. Sam and Alex were the last to arrive. Sam brought a bowl of tabouleh, while Alex brought a plate (that naturally she had made herself) of cheese enchiladas. I brought out the chocolate chip zucchini bread, which I had sliced up, on a plate.

    My mother and I set the table and we all sat down and began eating. "How was everyone's Thanksgiving?" Mallory asked.

      "I ate microwave Mac and cheese while watching Plan Bee," Alex said, spearing some fried okra with a fork.

     "Plan B?" Jack asked. "As in the morning after pill?"

    Alex laughed. "No bee as in honeybees. The movie was free on YouTube, but no wonder. It was horrendous. The only good thing about it was the dank memes I've been making."

     "So that's where you got those," I said between bites. "I was afraid you'd gotten into animation and I didn't want to tell you how badly you were doing."

    We all laughed. "My grandparents and I went over to Amir's house for Thanksgiving," Sam said.

     "Did you have falafel?" I asked.

     Sam rolled her eyes. "We don't eat falafel at every meal."

   I had a feeling she had wanted to add "idiot" to the end of her sentence. "Mallory and I went fishing," Halfborn said, his mouth full of the fish they'd caught together.

     "My mother had me over," Blitzen said. "The food was good, but we have different tastes in entertainment."

    "My mother had the day off, so we spent it cooking," TJ said. "My aunts and cousins came into town, so we had a nice family get together."

    "I went on a hike," I offered.

     Hearthstone signed that he'd been studying runes. His father (who totally deserved an ironic father of the year award) had hosted a huge party and forced him to stay shut up in his own room the entire time.

      "I didn't do much," Jack said quietly. "I had the day off, but Riptide was busy with family, so we FaceTimed in the evening."

     I shot him a smile. "You two are a tight couple."

"Yeah," Mallory said. "The two of you are better at communicating than Halfborn and I."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Halfborn asked.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Anyone have plans for winter break?"

"My father and stepmother are going to Thailand," Alex offered.

"Are you going with them?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nope," she said, popping the p. "I'm going to stay with my grandpa."

"Instead of going to Thailand?" Jack asked. "I'd love to go there. The temples, the history, the culture. . ."

"My father is probably just going to stay at a hotel and do boring stuff," Alex replied, "and besides, I'd rather not spend more time with them. This way is best."

Jack shrugged, but didn't argue further. Hearthstone signed that Alex was smart. "Family doesn't always treat family as loved ones," he signed.

That was something we all could agree on.