Chapter 3: The Belated Highland Park Picnic
Chapter 3: The Belated Highland Park Picnic
The next day, I met some of my other friends Alex Russo, Justin Evans, Max Greenwald, and Carly Shay, as well as Carly's parents, Sam and Freddie, at Pamela's P&G Diner in Squirrel Hill. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Alex greeted back. "Do you have anything planned for today or not, Alex?" Carly asked. "Not that I know of," Alex replied. "But I must admit that these omelets are very good." "As long as Nevel does not know about them," Mrs. Shay pointed out. "Oh yeah, he was the evil guy who does not know anything about a good breakfast," Carly pointed out. We all ate our breakfasts. "Come on, Alex," I nagged. "What is on the agenda for today?" "Well, I was hoping that we would do another Childhood Chat and we could talk about a memorable summer moment from 2010," Alex pointed out. "I discovered new games and ate new foods." "Uh, Alex… you work there," Justin pointed out. "You have to be a client to participate in Childhood Chat." "I didn't know that," Max stated. "I thought that anybody could participate in the Childhood Chat." Pretty soon, my cell phone rang. I got a text from Sarah, James, and Henri. They asked me if I would like to have a game day with them in Highland Park and a picnic. We all agreed, and they would come pick us up soon. We were excited for our special day. The food was delicious, and it included hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, coleslaw, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and almost all of the candy and desserts from last night, including the cupcakes, s'mores, and ice cream sundaes from last night. Each of our groups of friends got to suggest a different game that they wanted to play. Carly and her parents wanted to play Donut on a Rope and Truth or Sing. Alex and her guy friends wanted to play Charades, Flashlight Tag, Corn Hole, and Murder in the Dark. "Thanks for giving us something to do today, Sarah," I thanked my oldest female friend. "You are so welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Alex really didn't have any plans for today," Carly replied. "And so, you saved us at the last minute!" "You didn't?" Sarah asked Alex. "Why not?" "Because I am running out of ideas, and it is not safe to go anywhere due to the coronavirus," Alex explained. "Why don't you have some of those themed days that you had during the lockdown?" I asked. "That's exactly what I was thinking," Sarah suggested. "Because we are obviously not going to be able to do this every weekend, but we just got lucky today." "Okay then," Alex agreed. After the picnic was over, I walked 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!"