Chapter 1: Mother's Day
The next day, I met one of my other friends, Carly Shay and her parents, Sam and Freddie at Max's Allegheny Tavern on the North Side for breakfast. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Carly greeted back. "Happy Mother's Day!" "Same to you, too," I replied. "What do you think of this restaurant?" Mrs. Shay asked me. "It was a great choice for breakfast, Mrs. Shay," I replied. "We chose it because they have really good pancakes," Mr. Benson added. "Could we have possibly come here when we first met each other?" I asked. "That was over 10 years ago," Carly pointed out. "What other places in Natrona Heights have good brunches like what we are having right now?" I asked. "I'm not sure," Carly replied. Later that day, we headed to the Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill to discuss our relationships with our mothers. We also saw some more of my other best friends, Alex Russo, Justin Evans, and Max Greenwald, along with my new mentor, Jenna Moser and her mom, Robin, Alex's mom, Harper and Justin's mom, Juliet. I explained how I thought that my mom, Nadine was a good target. Carly had a close relationship with her mom, Sam, as they understood each other and could help each other out whenever they needed to. Alex and her mom, Harper, communicated with each other decently, but disagreed with each other about what outings to go on. Justin and his mom, Juliet, did not speak with each other much at all, since his good female friend, Alex, was pretty much like a motherly figure to him. Jenna often felt that her mom was a little too naggy and pushy. "I'm feeling a little too tired to go to Vincent's today, so can we go somewhere closer?" Alex asked. "Sure," I replied. "How about Pastoli's Pizza and Pasta?" "That sounds good," Alex replied. Jenna also invited her boyfriend, Matt Mifflin and younger sister, Jill to come to dinner with us. "Mom, do you remember which pizza restaurant we went to in Natrona Heights after one of our football games?" Alex asked. "I don't know, maybe J&S?" Mrs. Russo asked. "Mrs. Russo, I thought that was a great birthday party at Lidia's that Alex had last weekend," Justin remarked. "Yes, and I love their pasta," Max agreed. Alex, Justin, Max, and Mrs. Russo split a Hawaiian pizza, while I ate a personal Hawaiian pizza, Jenna ate chicken-pesto pizza, Matt ate BBQ Yardbird pizza, and Jill ate Farmers' Market pizza. Alex also showed us all pictures that she got back from her birthday celebration at Lidia's last Saturday. Pretty soon, it was time for me, Jenna, Matt, and Jill to leave. "Thanks for a great day, everyone, and happy Mother's Day!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, and happy Mother's Day to you, too," Alex replied. "Bye, guys!" "Bye!"