When we get home from school the next day, Dad is already in the kitchen working on dinner. A thick gravy sits in a pan on the stove, it smells like there might be roast chicken in our future. Thank God someone in this house knows how to cook.

My sisters and I will end up with high expectations for any partners we end up with because in our house, Mom is well known as a terrible cook, Dad has been preparing lunches and dinners for us for as long as I can remember. So far, not one of us has taken any time to learn how to cook for ourselves, something he is always threatening to get us involved in.

The four of us all collapse around the kitchen table, each taking our usual seats. "How was school?" Dad asks right on cue. We all say something along the lines of fine, but for once he doesn't pick a target to hone in on to ask for specifics. Even as he stirs something on the stove, he is using his other hand to type on his phone.

The front door slams shut and we all jump at once, Dad almost dropping his phone. "Sorry!" Mom calls. "Hit the door too hard."

Everyone settles back down and a moment later Mom has joined us in the kitchen, one big happy and hungry family.

"I'm starving," Mom says before leaning over to give our dad a quick kiss. "When’s dinner?"

"Not for a while. Anyone who's hungry can grab an apple or a granola bar. We are not eating until about six."

A few of us grumble as I reach for the fruit bowl. If it was up to the rest of us, we would always end up eating dinner by like 4 o'clock, always starving after school. We tried it for a while, but we end up hungry again by bedtime, looking for extra sandwiches or lunch food to fill our stomachs again.

Mom tilts her head back in despair, but when she looks back over at us she's smiling. "So, I've got big news."

"We're moving back!" I kick Rhiannon under the table.

Mom is unfazed. "No, but I suspect even you will like this news." Rhiannon looks unconvinced, Mom carries on. Even Dad is paying attention now. Convinced I know it's coming, I do my best to keep my expression neutral. "So, I've talked to your friend’s parents and…" She pauses dramatically, watching all of us. My mouth twitches is the tiniest bit when her eyes lock on mine, but I'm not sure she notices. "We invited at least one of each of your friends to come spend Thanksgiving with us this year! Everyone will stay for two nights, we’re are so excited to get to see everyone again."

"Everyone?" Reece asks. "Who's coming?"

From there, my parents go on to list off who they've won over to let their kids to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with us instead of with family. One of Reilly's best friend's is coming, but not the other because his parents didn't think it was appropriate that he spend a weekend in a big slumber party with a house full of girls. Two of Reece's friends will be here too. I'm surprised to learn that my parents asked Elise to come as well as Nadine, but her family had already made plans to spend Thanksgiving out-of-state with her grandparents, so that was a no go. Rhiannon's best friend from middle school, Marybeth, is also coming. I didn't realize they still talked, but with how much Rhiannon is keeping to herself now, or even before we moved, I'm not sure who she was hanging out with before we left. But the news even gets my most stubborn sister smiling.

My sisters are all talking excitedly over one another while Dad's goes back to cooking. Once again, Mom catches my eye, raising her eyebrows in an obvious question. I shrug guiltily. Mom rolls her eyes but doesn't seem mad. Even though she told Nadine's mom not to say anything to her, she had to have known this was a possibility.

"I may be pushing my luck here," Reece says, grabbing everyone's attention. "But how would you guys feel about us having a party on the Friday or Saturday night after Thanksgiving? Nothing big," she adds, although my parents already know all too well that anything involving having all of our friends in one place is automatically big. When you start with four kids, inviting anyone else in can add up. "But I'd love to introduce Aditi and Aly to a couple of people I hang out with here now."

My parents look at each other, I'm surprised when they don't immediately say no. "We'll think about it," Dad says, only temporarily ending discussion.

I’m not sure if it would be weird having Nadine meet Kent, Jen, Frank and Rosie in a big group setting. She’d probably like them, but either way, having five whole people over to one of my sibling’s parties would be a new record for me.

"Fine," Reece says, not knowing when to take the absence of a no for an answer. "But remember that we did nothing for our birthday this year, so that should be taken into consideration."

"Noted." Mom nods, and that's that.

I pull out my phone and start texting Nadine to make plans. We still have a few more weeks of school to get through, but I’m determined to make the most of the time she’ll be here.

Would it be too much work to have her mom drive her computer up here with her?

I take almost two hours to talk myself into what I want to do next, but in the end, I text Kent.

Reagan: Hey. What are your plans for Thanksgiving weekend? Also, I’m going to need everyone else’s number :P

* * *

Even though a few weeks have passed heading out of class each day to track down my newfound lunch buddies feels weird. Now that it's colder, they've given up on doing much outside anymore. Every day seems to bring a new spot to sit down and wait out the lunch period together, after eating in the cafeteria.

Today, we all ate the lunches that our parents packed for us, then we disappeared into one of the stairwells where we've all hunkered down on the floor, hoping not to be discovered by any teachers. Another group of kids is sitting on the stairs above us, but their voices aren't much more than murmurs.

So far, no one has brought up my text asking who would be around on Thanksgiving weekend to maybe come over. My parents haven't even approved the idea of a party yet, but I'm already sure that Reece will win this round. If she does, I want to be ready with people of my own to invite.

As everyone's talking about some gossip surrounding people I haven’t met yet, I flip through my math textbook, preparing myself for a quiz at the end of the day. I should have taken Rhiannon up on her offer to help me study because I'm sure she's already got this in the bag.

"Oh, hey, Reagan. Totally meant to tell you, I will be around on the night of Black Friday, if you're having people over still." Rosie comes to my rescue without even meaning to, mentioning my party so I don’t have to.

I perk up right away, closing the book in front of me with no concern for saving my place. Who was I kidding? I wasn't absorbing any new information anyway. "Oh yeah? That's awesome." I try not to look too conspicuously at everyone else group, hoping someone else will volunteer the same information without things getting uncomfortable.

Instead, Frank, Jen, and Kent all share looks with one another, my heart sinks. If only Rosie will be able to come, this whole party thing just got a lot more awkward. I probably shouldn't have risked inviting any of them.

"I'm with my dad that weekend," Kent explains. "Nothing for sure yet. I'm going to see if I can get back in time, but he lives a couple hours away."

"No big deal," I say. "Seriously, no stress. I figured I'd throw the idea out there. I get that everyone's usually busy for Thanksgiving."

"No, no. I want to come. It would be cool to meet your friends from home or even more of your sisters." He gives me a conflicted smile. "When I brought it up to my mom, you know she was all over the idea of my going into the Donovan house. Like I would act as an undercover reporter or something. I have no idea why she's so excited."

"Well, let me know. Not a big deal either way." I shrug, trying to convince myself as much as him.

Frank mumbles something about his parents being weird on holidays, Jen says she isn't sure yet. I look down at my lap, wishing I'd still had my textbook open so I could have something to pull me away from this discussion. I'm betting Rosie wishes she hadn't spoken up because going to one of my parties without any of her friends probably isn't her idea of a good time.

Lunchtime passes in stilted conversation. When the bell rings, I’d love to just disappear for the rest of the day, but, of course, now most of us have drama class together. So I'm stuck, continuing to hang on to the edges of their conversations as we make our way to class. Then I have to sit with them, like I usually do now, on the floor of the classroom as Mr. Sullen starts his lesson.

Today, our drama teacher has decided that he wants to do an in-depth exploration of emotion that involves the entire class acting as a group. We all fake cry, fake laugh, and fake fall in love as one blob of students. It's a little easier to get out of my head when I know everyone else in the class is worried about their own performance and not looking at mine.

After acting out a dramatic death scene, I open my eyes to find Kent watching me. Instead of feeling self-conscious, I can't help but laugh out loud. This class isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm still definitely going to fail—despite the eighty-three percent we got on our first group performance—due to a complete lack of acting ability, there is now a small chance I won't humiliate myself before that happens.

Drama class ends in a flurry as the bell rings. Mr. Sullen announced that he had run out of things to talk about, almost ten minutes before and had left the class to their own devices as he started in on grading people's papers, making dramatic eye contact each time he turned to a new one, silently announcing to the whole room whose class test he was grading at any given time.

I slide my backpack up over my shoulder and try to go back and put my shoes on, which we all had to take off coming into the room today. Kent is hovering by the classroom door, looking at me but trying to act like he's not. My heart flutters, curious what it is he's waiting for. I look behind me but none of our other friends are still in the room, I know Ken's next class is on the other side of the building, so he should get going. But I could swear he's waiting for me

I take a step toward him, when Mr. Sullen calls out. "Reagan, do you have a minute?"

My breath leaves me in a huff. So much for getting one-on-one time with Kent. He looks over at both me and the teacher and leaves the room without saying a word.

"Yes?" I ask, looking down at my feet as I approach my teacher. Mr. Sullen has easily been my favorite teacher so far in Fairview, but sometimes his friendliness can be intimidating. I never know how I'm supposed to treat him, but always default to respectful student mode even though I'd love to be one of the students who can joke and laugh with him like some of the others.

Even now, when he’s smiling at me, I worry I've done something wrong. There has never been a good reason to be called to stay after class, at least until drama. In the couple months I've been at the school, Mr. Sullen has called on nearly everyone else to talk to him for a few minutes after class at least once, a couple of the kids multiple times. I do not understand what the rhyme or reason to any of this is, so when I asked Jen or Frank why they stayed to chat, they both shrug it off like it's no big deal.

"You can relax," he says with a soft chuckle. "Although, I'm guessing that telling you to relax usually has the opposite effect. I'd have loved to talk to you sooner since I've known mostly everyone else since last year, but I got the impression you wouldn't be comfortable." I look up but am not sure what to say. He's dead on. "I don't mind." I say. Okay, I mind a little, but I'm not about to confess that. I'm just desperate to know what it is he wants to talk about. If anyone had told me what this chat is supposed to be, I could've prepared myself somehow.

"So, how are you liking Fairview so far? There was a lot of attention when your family first moved back, it seems like things have calmed down now."

If I’m being honest with myself, I hadn't thought about it in at least a couple weeks, maybe longer. While going to things like the Halloween festival, or even just walking around in town can sometimes lead to more staring than I'm used to, especially if I'm with any of my family. No one has said anything about the Fairview Four in a while, even the newspaper has even backed off. Something I like to think Kent is at least a little bit responsible for.

"It's been good," I say at last because it has been. I realize that's a boring answer. And for some reason, this is a teacher I don't want to think I’m boring. Even though I kind of am. "The attention hasn't been that bad, I guess. And my mom loves it here. I know I’m pretty lucky that I have three sisters in the same grade, built in friends in a new school."

Mr. Sullen nods appreciatively. "Gratitude. I can appreciate that." He waits, I know he's expecting me to say something else, but I have no idea what.

"Did you live here before?" I ask. "Back when we were born." I’m not sure why that's the question that tumbles out of my mouth, but more and more I've been wondering about when we first lived here in addition to my mom living here before that. It’s something I barely thought about growing up. We watched the documentaries and new segments, which always featured a bit about the town. But it never seemed like a place that was part of my history--not until I moved here.

"Yes, actually. Fairview High was my first and only teaching job. So I believe I was teaching English back when your mom went to the school though I don't think I ever taught her myself. When her pregnancy was announced, it was all anyone around here could talk about. It's safe to say quadruplets were the most exciting thing that had happened to us in a while. When you all came out looking exactly the same, it was big news. Though, from your perspective I can see why maybe, that’s not so much the case. From a lot of other people’s perspectives as well."

"Yup. I never understood what the big deal was. We’re basically double twins. No one gets this excited about twins."

"I have some theories. But, that’s not why I wanted to talk to you today. I’m sure you’ve talked about the anomaly of your birth more than enough to last a lifetime. I just like to occasionally make a point of getting to know my students, now that includes you." He must see me glancing at the clock because he adds, "Don’t worry, I don’t have a class fifth period, I can write you a note if you need one. The people I work with are pretty used to me doing this. Of course, this is entirely optional."

Staying to talk to a teacher sounds a lot more appealing if it means I get out of math class. "I should text my sister to let her know I’ll be a few minutes," I say.

"You’re close with your family then."

"Hard not to be." I give a small laugh.

"Fair enough. I never know where to start these conversations if I don’t have a jumping off point. I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about you beyond your family. You’ve been quiet so far."

I blush, feeling weird that he’s noticed me at all. I’m used to being the least recognized Donovan sister at school. If someone’s not busy mistaking me for one of my sisters, they’ve definitely noticed them more than they’ve noticed me. Rhiannon is always the one who gets the best grades, Reece is the one who makes the most noise, and people tend to flock to Reilly without her even trying. I’m usually just so-and-so’s sister. Which I’m fine with. "Not much to know about me, anyway."

"Well, I’m sure that’s not true. What made you opt into take drama class?"

I give him a long look, trying to figure out if he’s teasing me. He has to have heard what happened, but he’s still smiling politely and waiting for me to respond.

"Wasn’t working out in biology class," I say and know immediately that it sounds like a stupid answer. "I knew I needed an art credit." Probably not the most artistically driven reason he’s ever heard.

"Can’t draw or play an instrument, I take it?"

"Zero talent whatsoever." Fairview requires that each of its students graduate with at least one art credit, drama is the only one that doesn’t require any actual ability to begin with. I had planned to take art next semester and suffer through a few months of terrible drawings and crafts, but now I’d need to switch that out anyway in order to make back my missing science credit. "Not that acting is really my strong suit either."

"Want to know a secret?" Mr. Sullen asks.

"Always."

"Your actual acting ability counts for literally none of your grade. It’s all right there in the syllabus, but we don’t advertise that part. For many people, the acting is the fun bit, but it’s not what we’re grading you on." Mr. Sullen holds a finger up to his lips to emphasize our little secret, I grin.

"That makes me feel a little better."

"Happy to help. Well, I’ve kept you long enough for now. But let’s do this again sometime, shall we?"

I nod and head for the door shortly after, note in hand to explain my tardiness for math class. I’m not sure what to make of what just happened, but it’s hard not to feel like if Mr. Sullen was trying to get to know something interesting about me, then he was probably left feeling pretty underwhelmed.