Chapter 3: Show-and-Tell and Games
One cold fourth Saturday of January 2022, I met up with my childhood friends Sarah, James, and Henri at the Pittsburgh's Perfect Parties office in Monroeville. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. We kicked things off for the day with a discussion on our favorite movie snacks, in which I liked popcorn and trail mix, Sarah liked soft pretzels, James liked popcorn, and Henri liked nachos, followed by Show-and-Tell, in which I showed myself a picture of myself being proud after a Focus work session as well as a YouTube video that I filmed myself at Goodwill of me working hard. Then, Sarah showed a picture of her being proud after winning the Pittsburgh's Perfect Parties Employee of the Month award, James showed a picture of himself being proud of the car that he received for his 16th birthday, and Henri showed a picture of himself being proud of his bravery after managing to cross the ice. "I tried to think of a Santana song to cheer me up, which usually promotes positive, summery thoughts," Henri happily stated. "A lot of the winters when we were best friends with each other featured snow and ice, but none of us seemed to mind back then," I remarked. "I was proud to have a new birthday present other than going out with my best girl friends for pizza and cake," James happily stated. "By the way, congratulations again on winning your award, Sarah," I congratulated my best friend. "Thank you so much, Angel!" Sarah happily exclaimed. "My friend from Goodwill, Lisa, won that exact same award," I told my friends. "She helps me out the way you guys help me out." "Yes, we saw that," Sarah told me. Then, we watched a few videos on social interaction and performance along with a review on the in group and out group. "That last video reminded me of when we wore all black clothes to school once to blend into an all-black environment," Sarah stated. "You, Alex, and Carly are wearing the same colored shirts that Casey, Emma, and Sarah Sobert wore yesterday when we hung out together," I told Sarah. "Did you get to hang out with the Sobert sisters again yesterday?" Sarah asked me. "Yes, I did," I replied. "Abigail and Hannah were with us, as well." "What all did you guys do?" Sarah asked. "We did all of the activities discussed in Thursday morning's 5 to 5 Childhood Chat, which were playing Chopped, Jr., a Bean Boozled taste bud test, spas and makeovers, a photo shoot in Hartwood Acres Park, and making fresh flower arrangements, along with numerous crafts to make and foods to eat," I explained. "I think it would be cool if we get to hang out with these girls before Abigail's Spa Night Sleepover next month and before Hannah's Hotel Sleepover in August. After all, you can't beat going to the spa or the hotel!" First, we ate dinner of lightened bacon cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries and cupcakes for dessert while listening to Santana while we waited for our other friends to arrive. "Do you guys have any games that you would like to play when our friends come?" I asked my friends. "Well, Flashlight Tag is a good game to play at night, and the Obstacle Course would have been good, but the weather is too cold to do that," Sarah explained to me. As predicted, our other friends Alex Russo, Justin Evans, Max Greenwald, Carly Shay, Spencer Puckett, and Carly's stepdad, Freddie Benson, joined us for Game Day. Sarah wore a blue shirt like Casey wore the day before, Alex wore a purple shirt like Emma, and Carly wore a red shirt like Sarah Sobert. We played games like Charades, Flashlight Tag as promised, and other games like Sardines, Murder in the Dark Game, and Nail Polish Spin the Bottle. We listened to my other friends' favorite bands like NSYNC and 98 Degrees. "I am so happy that you got your car back, Alex," Sarah stated. "Maybe, it was better that our Childhood Chat internship got cancelled," I stated. "It is supposed to snow again tomorrow, and it is really not safe to drive in the snow!" "Are you sure that you don't want to be under my meal plan, Angel?" Alex asked me. "No, thank you," I stated. "Alex cooked some really good things for us to eat yesterday, like cream of vegetable soup, chicken salad, and chicken parmesan, also known as 'Dr. Dolgoff's'," Carly told me. "I also feel bad that the internship got cancelled, but Alex will find some fun things for us to do in the weeks ahead." "Just be sure not to pack your Sundays too full," Sarah told us, "in case we get a pop-up Sunday Fun-Day or something like that." "We won't," Alex replied. After our Game Day was over, it was time for all of us to leave. "Thanks for a great day, everyone!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Good night, guys!" "Good night!"