Chapter 7: Frightful Activities
One cooler fourth Saturday of October 2020, I met up with my childhood friends Sarah, James, and Henri at Pittsburgh's Perfect Parties client Lauren Bennett's house in Cheswick. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. We ate omelets for breakfast and cobb salad for lunch. "Boo!" Lauren shouted at us. "This sleepover will be so creepy that it will make you want to stay home." "Are there going to be any frightful activities dealing with the coronavirus?" Henri asked. "I don't think that would be very safe, Henri," James pointed out. "Speaking of coronavirus, there have not been any sports this year, so a fun thing people can do is play sports in their own backyard, like how Henri and I played our own game of football in the backyard when we couldn't get tickets to a football game." "Hey, I have just discovered and watched clips from both of the Ted movies on YouTube," I told my friends. "Do you want to see them?" "I am afraid that that is not appropriate for work, Angel," Sarah told me. "These girls can't watch R-rated movies, remember?" "All it is is talking about teddy bears who say bad words, like how my mom shouldn't," I explained. "All right, Angel," Sarah told me. "Let's focus on work right now." "Besides, you dealt with seeing an R-rated movie at a very young age, right?" I asked Sarah. "Oh, yeah," Sarah replied. "John Paul was straight up evil, and I was only 13 years old at the time!" "Oh no," Lauren replied. "That's terrible!" "Anyway, what kind of games and activities are you going to have at your party, Lauren?" James asked. "Well, there will be a wide variety of activities including Ticket or Cricket, Worm Pie, Iron Toes, Egg Roulette, Baby Food Challenge, and of course, making Super Slime," Lauren replied. "Can I say something first before you continue?" I asked. "Sure, what is it?" Lauren asked. "Well, I played Egg Roulette at least two times this week at camp, and I made Super Slime at least once this week, too," I explained to my friends. "But, why didn't you guys invite me to hang out with you at all this week?" "Well, we didn't want to have to go all the way to Natrona Heights and pick you up," Sarah explained. "I heard that you went to Mellon Park with Carly and Alex yesterday," I stated. "How was that?" "Oh, it was nice," Sarah replied. "It was beautiful outside yesterday." "What about food?" Henri asked, licking his lips. "Most slumber parties always have good food." "Well, I plan to serve Brains, Kitty Litter Cake, and Diaper Surprise," Lauren explained. "Except I plan to use vanilla sandwich cookies instead of peanut butter sandwich cookies since Fiona is allergic to peanuts." "We eat that at camp sometimes, too," I explained. "But, it is Healthy Day today, so I ate some good things like bell peppers in my cobb salad, and a fruit salad featuring peaches and strawberries, which are two of my favorite fruits." "Sounds yummy!" Sarah remarked. We then headed to Target in Harmarville for everything we needed for Lauren's slumber party. Sarah and I helped shop for marble cake mix, vanilla sandwich cookies, green food coloring, Butterfinger candy bars, vanilla pudding containers, Tootsie Rolls, and of course, a fresh litter box and scoop for the Kitty Litter Cake, pie tins, whipped cream, and gummy worms for the Worm Pie game, and nonwashable glue, more colors of food coloring, Borax detergent, disposable bowls and a spoon, and zip-top bags for the Super Slime activity. James helped shop for Rice Krispies treats, milk chocolate wafers, and of course, clean diapers for the Diaper Surprise, eggs for the Egg Roulette game, and a fish tank for the Ticket or Cricket game. "I can make my own carnival tickets," Lauren explained. "But, I recommend waiting until next Saturday to purchase your crickets to make sure they stay alive," James suggested. Henri helped shop for a brain mold, oil cooking spray, watermelon-flavored gelatin packs, fat-free evaporated milk, and garnishes like kale leaves, for the Brains, ice and marbles for the Iron Toes game, and 6 different jars of baby food for the Baby Food Challenge. After we finished shopping at Target, Sarah, James, and Henri drove me back to my mom's apartment in Highland Park. "Thanks for a great day, everyone!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Bye, guys!" "Bye!"