Chapter 1: An Evening at the Mistles' House
It was a cold Saturday evening in January 2018 when I met my childhood friends Sarah, James, and Henri at my other best friend, Emily Mistle's house in East Liberty. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. "I have missed you guys so much," I told my friends. "How was your trip to Gettysburg?" "It was a lot of fun, Angel," James replied. "Thank you for asking!" "We were gone for 3 weeks," Henri added. "Wow, that is a long time to be gone," Erin pointed out. "Good to see you again, James," Michael greeted. "How was your Christmas, Sarah?" Emily asked. "Angel and I had a lot of fun." "Our Christmas went well," Sarah replied. "Did Gettysburg get any snow for Christmas, like Pittsburgh did?" I asked. "No, but it was very windy on Christmas," Sarah replied. "What was your favorite thing that you did over Christmas break?" "I don't know, I guess I would have to say seeing the high school and middle school band concerts," I replied. "Didn't you like it when my younger siblings sang Christmas carols?" Emily asked. "Oh yeah, that was a lot of fun, too," I agreed. "Angel, Michael, Erin, and I are having pizza for dinner tonight," Emily told Sarah. "We ordered you, James, and Henri a separate pizza and a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi from Pizza Fiesta." "We also have a special surprise for you that we brought back from Gettysburg," James told all of us. "Well, our parents have it, but you can come see it next weekend at the Waterworks Theater!" "I have missed you guys so much," I told my friends. "It was also very cold outside when you were gone. It was not pleasant at all." "I bet it wasn't," Sarah agreed. "I'm glad you guys had fun in Gettysburg, but not seeing you guys for a month, along with that extreme cold, was a dark time for me." "Ever since we met Angel at that church on our parents' wedding day, we became best friends," Sarah added. "What church are you talking about?" Emily asked. "The East Liberty Presbyterian Church?" "No, the Natrona Heights Presbyterian Church," I explained. "The same place where we had our honors banquet, too," James added. "Is the pizza here yet?" Henri asked. "I am starving." Pretty soon, Sarah, James, and Henri's pizza came, while Emily, Michael, Erin, and I had our own pizza. I ate Hawaiian pizza, Emily ate chicken-pesto pizza, Michael ate BBQ Yardbird pizza, and Erin ate Farmers' Market pizza. Sarah ate cheese pizza, while James and Henri ate pepperoni pizza. While Sarah shared some of their parents' cookies with James and Henri, I ate a Nature Valley Dark Chocolate and Nut Chewy Trail Mix Bar, Emily ate Honey Nut Chex Mix, Michael ate Pretzel M&Ms, and Erin ate a Cliff Mojo Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Trail Mix Bar. "Mmm, this pizza is good," Henri stated. "I like it much better than spaghetti and salad, especially salad." "What about the tomato sauce on spaghetti?" Sarah asked. "You still like that, don't you?" James asked. "Of course," Henri replied. "The cookies I baked reminded me of the wedding cake our parents baked, with fruit-flavored fillings and vanilla frosting." "And our banquet cake, too, Sarah," James pointed out. "Why are Sarah, James, and Henri talking about a wedding and banquet when neither one of them is happening tonight?" Emily asked. "Oh, we are all about reminiscing the good old days," I reminded Emily, "and the last 15 years of our friendship." "Maybe, they would like to play a game to get their mind off of things," Michael suggested. "That's a good idea, Michael," Erin agreed. "We have 3 choices of games for you guys to play," Emily told us. "Apples to Apples, Bananagrams, or Headbanz?" "I would like to play Apples to Apples again," I requested. "Oh, and may I please have a glass of juice?" "Sure," Emily replied. Emily got me my juice and us our Apples to Apples game. I ended up winning the game. Pretty soon, it was time for me to go back home. "Thanks for a great evening, guys!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Bye, guys!" "Bye!"