CHAPTER 8:
At about 4am the following morning, Emily and Benji were waiting in line outside of Target.
"I got to say, it was a good thing your mom agreed to watch Russell." Benji said.
"Yeah. I'm actually surprised we didn't wake them up when we went out the door this morning." Emily said.
"Well, think of it this way, while they're still asleep, we get to cash in on the big sales." Benji said.
"I'm hoping to find some toys that Russell might like." Emily said.
"I'm sure they'll have lot of things here he'll enjoy." Benji said.
"Well, we'll just see what we find." Emily said as Garrett and Shannon joined them in line.
"Hey, guys." Garrett said.
"Garrett, Shannon, you guys Black Friday shopping today too?" Emily asked.
"Yep. Garrett and I are hoping to get a new 4K HDTV for our living room." Shannon said.
"Who's watching Lucy?" Benji asked.
"My mom's in town for Thanksgiving." Shannon said.
"Ah, okay." Benji said.
They all waited two hours in line for the store to open before heading inside and without missing a beat, headed for what they all came for.
After they all came out of the store, Emily and Benji followed Garrett and Shannon to Shannon's car.
"Sounds like you two found a good one." Emily said as Garrett and Shannon were loading their new 4K HDTV into Shannon's car.
"Yeah. I can't wait to plug this in and try it out." Garrett said.
"I'll bet. Oh, Garrett, before I forget, I have a favor to ask you." Emily said.
"Okay." Garrett said, curious.
"It just so happens that one of our friends happens to know someone else with autism." Emily said.
"Really?" Garrett asked.
"Yeah. His name is Calvin. He's six years old and he's nonverbal. Anyway, we were wondering if you'd be willing to be a role model for him." Emily asked.
"Give it a try, babe. Who knows; you might end up warming up to the little boy." Shannon said.
"Okay. When do I get to meet the kid?" Garrett asked.
"I'll call and find out right now." Emily said as she took out her phone and dialed Chloe's number.
"Hey, Emily." Chloe said, answering.
"Hey, Chloe. I hope I didn't wake you up." Emily said.
"Not at all. Beca and I were just about to head out to do some Black Friday shopping." Chloe said.
"Cool. Anyway, the reason I'm calling is because Garrett wants to know when he could meet Calvin and I was hoping you could find out for me." Emily said.
"No problem. Beca and I are going to be meeting Sarah later for lunch, so I'll ask her then." Chloe said.
"Great. Keep me posted, okay. Later." Emily said, hanging up.
"Well, what'd you find out?" Garrett asked.
"Nothing yet, but hopefully I'll know by later today." Emily recapped.
"All right. We'll be in touch. Later." Garrett said.
"Later, guys." Emily said before both couples headed home.
A few hours later, many people gathered the streets in Brooklyn for Black Friday sales. While Sarah made her way to a music shop for Beca, Chloe and Beca went to a comic shop to pick up things for Sarah. The two arrived at Image Anime, Beca holding Sarah's list. It was a small store, but had plenty of stuff to choose from. Beca felt a bit overwhelmed at first, this not being her world, but it proved pretty easy to find what she was looking for. She found a Charizard messenger bag for Sarah to hold her sheet music, a few X-Men character guides, and the Stan Lee Pop Vinyl figure she has been looking for.
"Ooh, that'll be perfect for you to get Sarah." Chloe said.
"And they're two for $20." Beca said, pointing to the Inuyasha figurines.
"I'm glad to have your help. You do know her best." Chloe said.
The ladies paid for their items and soon met Sarah for pizza all loaded up with their shopping bags. It was getting brisk outside and the three of them were happy to be inside.
"So, how'd you do?" Beca asked Sarah.
"Oh, great. I got plenty of toys for Calvin, and lots of stuff on sale for everyone. I wish Black Friday sales were all the time." Sarah said.
"Tell me about it. It's the only way I can afford to shop for anyone." Beca said, which the others agreed.
"So, what'd you get me?" Beca asked Sarah.
"It's a surprise." Sarah said.
"Oh, come on; not even a little hint?" Beca pleaded.
"Nope." Sarah laughed.
"But speaking of Calvin, I got a call from Emily earlier today. She wants to know when Garrett could meet Calvin." Chloe recapped.
"How about later tonight? Do you have Garrett's number?" Sarah asked.
"I don't. But I'll text Emily and ask for it right now." Chloe said as she took out her phone and did so. The text she sent read, "Hey, Emily. I was wondering if you could text me Garrett's number. I'm having lunch with Sarah right now and she wants to get in touch with him."
Emily replied "Sure. I'll text you his number right now."
After Emily texted Garrett's number to Chloe, Sarah wrote down the number before calling Garrett.
"Hello?" Garrett asked, answering.
"Hi, is this Garrett Barnes?" Sarah asked.
"Yes. Who am I speaking to?" Garrett asked.
"Hi, my name is Sarah Katzenberg. I'm Calvin's mom. You're friends with Emily Applebaum, aren't you?" Sarah asked.
"Oh, yeah. In fact, Emily was telling me this morning about some boy named Calvin and asked if I'd be willing to be a role model. This is the same Calvin, right?" Garrett recapped.
"Yep." Sarah assured him.
"Okay. When would be a good time for me to meet him?" Garrett asked.
"Are you free later tonight?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah. How does 4:30 sound?" Garrett asked.
"Sounds like a plan. Just text me your address and we will see you then." Sarah said.
"Will do. Later." Garrett said, hanging up.
After the call, Sarah, Beca, and Chloe all finished their pizza and headed back home to organize all their gifts from shopping.
As Sarah was heading back to her apartment, she noticed that Garrett texted her his address. She looked at it and realized that if she, Matt, and Calvin were going to make it to Garrett's apartment by 4:30, she'd need to hurry back to her apartment to tell Matt and Calvin. While she was on her way back to her apartment, she called Emily and explained the details about the planned meet for later that evening and Emily agreed to join Sarah and Matt over at Garrett and Shannon's apartment for the meet that evening.