Chapter 3: Mini Golf at Kneiss'
One hot second Saturday of September 2024, I met up with my childhood friends Sarah, James, and Henri along with some of my other best friends Alex Russo, Justin Evans, Max Greenwald, Carly Shay, and Spencer Puckett, as well as Carly's stepdad, Freddie Benson, at Kneiss' Miniature Golf in Ross Township to go mini golfing. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. We jammed out to Kate Bush, Lizzo, NSYNC, 98 Degrees, and the Pop2Kountdown from 2001. "What was up with that baseball game-like clip at the beginning of the show?" James asked. "I don't know," Sarah stated. "But, I believe that they picked 2001 because of the tragedy that happened this week that year." "As long as that baseball game-like clip at the beginning of the show was a professional baseball game and not a high school baseball game," I stated. "Not that I have anything against high school baseball games since we saw one together as kids, but the thing is that we are not kids anymore, we are full-grown adults," I stated. "Is it just me or is it hot out today?" Sarah asked. "It felt even hotter when we sold lemonade to customers on an unseasonably hot day in spring once," Henri stated. "Yes, it can be unseasonably hot in fall sometimes, too," I pointed out. "I knew that our hot summer was going to extend into the fall just like in 2002 and that was the last relatively warm month that we had for a while." "This year's seniors were never partially like you at all this year, James," I stated. "They have been like me and my older sister thus far, but nobody else." "Oh, okay," James stated. "The best part about this week was being featured in the Trib Total Review and on the news on KDKA mentioning everything that we plan to do in the next few weekends." Then, we got started on our mini golf. "This was a good idea," Carly happily stated. "I want to go mini golfing at least one more time before the summer ends because that has been my favorite activity since middle school!" "It was hard for you at first, but you eventually got the hang of it," Mr. Benson stated. "I want to go mini golfing before the summer ends, too," Spencer stated. "I am glad that everyone liked our performance last night," Alex stated. "It was one of our best performances that we ever did, plus the home football team won!" "My favorite band performance was our Christmas concert in 11th grade," Max stated. "I felt like we have put a lot of time and effort into rehearsals to make the performance good," Justin proudly stated. "Just like when Pittsburgh's Perfect Parties got recognized in the news this week," I happily stated. "I wanted to celebrate with my female woodwind students by doing some activities that they are interested in, like Emily's Spider Tossing Game, Lauren's Mud Dunkers, and India's Candy-Coated Necklaces," Alex happily stated. "I am sorry if I got jealous of you a few weekends ago at Kennywood, but I am glad that you have this job overall," I stated. "I was just worried that you wouldn't get to spend time with us anymore." "I personally think this has been one of the greatest weeks getting recognized in the news and the success of our first home football game," Alex proudly stated. Once we finished mini golf, it was time for all of us to go home. "Thanks for a great day, everyone!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Good night, guys!" "Good night!"
