Chapter 4: Holiday Traditions and Hors D'oeurves
The next day, I met up with Sarah, James, and Henri, as well as some of my other best friends Alex Russo, Justin Evans, and Max Greenwald, at the boys' house in Squirrel Hill for a discussion group on holiday traditions while munching on hors d'oeurves. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. "As we all know, the holidays are coming up," Alex told us. "Does anybody want to talk about holiday traditions they have had prior to ours?" "I know, I used to spend the holidays with my dad and stepmom when I lived with them," I told my friends. "Some of my favorite holiday foods included the beef tenderloin, cheesy potatoes, and steamed asparagus." "We already told you about a really great Christmas that we had as kids last week at Monroeville Mall," Sarah stated. "I don't really know if we have really had any more great Christmases since then, though," James pointed out. "John Quincy told me once at support group that he celebrates Hanukkah," Henri stated. "He told me how they play with a dreidel, light a menorah, and eat traditional Hanukkah foods, such as potato latkes, applesauce, and jelly doughnuts." "Ooh, that all sounds very interesting, Henri," Max stated. "Thanks, Max," Henri replied. "I wish that I would have gotten to celebrate Hanukkah." "My dad and I would play football at Thanksgiving as well as go to football games the Sunday after Thanksgiving," Justin explained. "We actually got to do that this Thanksgiving." "You're lucky, Justin," James stated. "I wish that my dad could play football as well as your dad!" "Well, James, if your dad is over one day, we can teach him how to play football," Justin suggested. "Do you have any favorite former holiday traditions, Alex?" Sarah asked. "Thank you for asking, Sarah," Alex replied. "I always like waking up in the morning to the smell of freshly baked Christmas cookies and nice warm milk, along with opening presents under the beautiful Christmas tree, and going to the park to hunt for Easter eggs, kind of like what we used to do before the pandemic began." "Chinese cheerleaders from ghostly Wuhan!" I exclaimed. "A 98 Degrees-themed event in our birthday suits and Santana dubbed as 'Sex-tana'!" Alex looked shocked at me. "Angel, I am so disappointed in you!" Alex exclaimed in an angry tone of voice. "Excuse us, but we need to have a very serious discussion before our hors d'oeurves are served," Alex told us. Sarah, Alex, and I stepped out for a little bit. "Angel, what is wrong with you?" Alex asked sternly. "We have had this discussion several times before, already." "I just want to show you how much I like you and I take advantage of you by getting you to change," I told Alex. "Well, that is not very appropriate, Angel," Sarah reminded me. "I just like having you ladies as roommates," I explained. "Well, we're not going to be your roommates anymore if you continue to act like this," Alex reminded me in a stern tone of voice. "No, seriously! We can just pack up our stuff and leave the condo and move back into our own homes." "I don't want that," I disagreed. "Then, you better straighten up and fly right," Alex told me. "Yeah," Sarah agreed. "I also really like listening to 98 Degrees and Santana every week," I told my female friends. "That's good to hear," Sarah told me. Then, we went back into the kitchen for hors d'oeurves. Sarah decided to eat round red potatoes, napa cabbage, Granny Smith apples, sweet potatoes, pineapple, and blood oranges. Alex decided to eat carrots, brocco rabe, shiitake mushrooms, okra, strawberries, and cantaloupe. James decided to eat cheddar cheese, stilton cheese, and muenster cheese. Justin decided to eat Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, camembert cheese, and chevre cheese. Henri decided to eat fine egg noodles, tortellini, and wagon wheel pasta. Max decided to eat mostaccioli, linguine, and acini de pepe. "This reminds me of the summer that I graduated from high school," Alex stated. "Once we graduated, we had to wait another whole year before we could do another activity together after our senior trip to Kennywood!" "Now that I have a new job at Goodwill in Penn Hills, you have to wait a whole week before we can do another activity," I reminded everyone. "That activity is our annual Christmas party," Alex reminded us. "Only this time, it is at Buca di Beppo in Station Square since we didn't get to go there for my birthday this year!" After we finished eating our hors d'oeurves, it was time for all of us to leave. "Thanks for a great evening, everyone!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Good night, guys!" "Good night!"