Chapter 2: A Hike in Frick Park
The next day, I met Sarah, James, and Henri, as well as some of my other best friends, Alex Russo, Justin Evans, and Max Greenwald, near Alex's house in Squirrel Hill. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. "I am back from visiting my parents in Swissvale," Alex happily stated. "Well then, let us be off!" I happily stated. We all walked down Darlington Road to Beechwood Boulevard, where Sarah, James, and Henri's personal favorite playground- the Blue Slide playground- was located. From there, we walked through the park to attempt to get to the other playground located at the corner of Forbes and Braddock Avenues, which was Alex, Justin, and Max's old favorite playground. "How are you doing, Justin?" James asked. "I'm doing fine, James," Justin replied. "I hope we know where we are going this time." "Do you think that you can climb down these big hills, Max?" Henri asked. "Of course I can, Henri," Max replied. "After all, that is the fun of a nature hike!" Unfortunately, Sarah, Alex, and I ended up getting lost yet again. "Oh god, these hills are too scary!" I cried out. "It's okay, Angel," Sarah told me. "Yeah, we can help you out," Alex agreed. I held on to Sarah's and Alex's hands while climbing down the hill. "Now, where are we?" Sarah asked. "Don't worry, Sarah," Alex told her. "I have this all figured out." "You said that last time, Alex, and we got lost," Sarah disagreed. "Everybody needs to just calm down," I told my female friends. "Hiking is a lot like gym class," Sarah explained. "One of my least favorite classes back in middle school!" "Gym class was not all that bad," Alex contradicted. "In my opinion, I personally think this hike is 10 times worse than a middle school gym class. Hiking equals bowling for me." "I know, you are not a very good bowler, either," I told my friend, "so that's two things you need practice with." "Guys, I don't have a lot of time on my hands since I work full time," Alex stated in an upset tone of voice. "Now, which way are we going again?" she asked in an angry tone of voice. "We have got to find that playground, Sarah!" She then started to cry a little bit. "Alex, honey, it's okay," Sarah told her. "Just take a deep breath and look calmly where you are going." We followed the trail along the Parkway East and Braddock Avenue, where D's Six Pax and Dogz, the restaurant we were eating dinner at, was located. We found James, Henri, Justin, and Max sitting at the table. As we sat down, we ordered dinner. I ordered pizza topped with pepperoni, olives, green peppers, and pineapple, and offered to split it with Sarah, James, and Henri. Alex ordered chicken fingers, Justin ordered a bacon cheeseburger, and Max ordered a hot dog. All 3 of those meals came with fries. There was also an ice cream truck on Braddock Avenue beside the restaurant that gave out free ice cream. Sarah, James, Henri, and I all got soft serve ice cream cones, while Alex ordered a strawberry sundae, Justin ordered a chocolate sundae, and Max ordered a caramel sundae. "This ice cream truck reminds me of another similar truck near MSG Academy in Freeport that also gave out free ice cream during the spring of our senior year," Alex happily stated. "That's awesome," Sarah remarked. Sarah and I had vanilla soft serve cones, while James had chocolate, and Henri had Twist. I ordered rainbow sprinkles on my cone and Henri ordered chocolate sprinkles on his cone. After we got ice cream, 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!"