Read Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Stage Fright for Free Online Page A

a Somnambulist more,” Mom said, smiling into the camera. “Or you could just save your money and stay home and watch Good News! instead.”
    The minute she appeared on the TV screen, my real-life mom went, “Oh, no!” and put both hands over her mouth.
    “What’s wrong, Liz?” Dad asked, laughing. “You look great.”
    “You look fantastic, Elizabeth,” Mrs. Harrington said. “That’s a great color on you.”
    “I picked it out for her,” Kevin said, all proudly.
    But Mom still looked upset. “They have no budget for a makeup artist,” she said. “So I did my own. Lynn kept saying to be sure to use a heavy hand because the lights really wash people out, but I had no idea—”
    “You look really pretty, Mom,” I said.
    But Mom just said, “Where are my eyelashes? I look like a rabbit.”
    “You don’t look like a rabbit, Mom,” I said, peering at the TV. In no way did my mom look like a rabbit. Besides, even if she did, wouldn’t that be a good thing? Rabbits are cute and cuddly and everyone loves them. Even if they do poop in your hand.
    “Ha,” Missy said, looking up from her cell phone keypad. “You do kind of look like a rabbit, Mrs. F.”
    John and Mark had come down to the TV room to join us. John started laughing.
    “John Junior! Melissa Ann!” Mrs. Harrington said. “Do you want to go home right now?”
    “Yes,” Missy said.
    “Ignore her, Elizabeth,” Mr. Harrington said. “You looked great. And thanks to you, I’ll be telling everyone in my office not to see Requiem for a Somnambulist , based on your advice.”
    Uncle Jay brought Mom another specialty drink. He said, “Here’s to the star!”
    Mom drank her specialty drink in practically one gulp. “I think I’m going to step outside for a minute for a breath of fresh air.”
    The phone started ringing, so Kevin ran to answer it. “Hello, this is Kevin Finkle speaking,” he said. All of us kids were supposed to answer the phone that way (only I said, “This is Allie Finkle speaking,” and Mark said, “This is Mark Finkle speaking.” It is a rule).
    “Mom,” Kevin yelled after he’d hung up, “that was Mrs. Hauser. She says to tell you she just saw you on TV and you looked really great!”
    “Fantastic,” Mom said. Only she didn’t sound like she actually thought it was too fantastic.
    “Now, Liz,” Dad said. “You’re overreacting.”
    “Am I, Tom?” Mom asked him. “Am I, really?”
    The phone rang again. Kevin ran to get it. “This is Kevin Finkle speaking.”
    “Allie,” he called after a moment, “it’s Caroline.”
    Erica and I ran to the phone.
    “Hello?” I said, holding the receiver so Erica could listen in, too.
    “Oh, my gosh, Allie,” Caroline cried. “We just saw your mom—”
    “I’m here, too, Allie, I’m over at Caroline’s on the extension,” Sophie cried.
    “—and she was so funny,” Caroline said.
    “And she looked so pretty!” Sophie said.
    “She thinks she looked like a rabbit,” I said.
    “Why would she think that?” Caroline asked.
    “I don’t know,” I said. “She just does.”
    “She didn’t look anything like a rabbit. She looked totally beautiful,” Sophie said. “I called my mom, and she thought so, too. Plus, she thought the stuff she said about that movie was hilarious.”
    “My dad thought so, too,” Caroline said. “He was laughing. Wasn’t he, Sophie?”
    “He was,” Sophie said.
    “That’s good,” I said. “I’ll tell my mom.”
    “So, see you at the stop sign tomorrow?” Caroline said.
    “Yeah,” I said.
    “I’m so nervous about the play,” Sophie said. “I’m so nervous I can’t eat. My mom is worried I’m giving myself an ulcer. I’m really scared Cheyenne is going to get the part of Princess Penelope.”
    “She won’t,” Erica said.
    “She won’t,” I echoed, even though I had no way of knowing that for sure. Still, friends try to make friends feel better. That’s a rule. “She’s too big a