Chapter 7: Construction Crew Activities

One cool, rainy last 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 Pittsburgh's Perfect Parties client Hannah Carson's house in Point Breeze. "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 2000 featuring Alex, Justin, and Max's dance anthem at #2 beat out by Madonna's "Music" at #1. "I would like to play games like Construction Crew Collection, Water for the Crew, Heads Up!, Timber!, and Construction Crew Statues, and as for activities, we can build a city out of food, design our own hard hats, and construct sandcastles outside," Hannah stated. "What about food? Don't parties always have good food?" Henri asked, licking his lips. "We will have a slumber supper out of submarines, and pancake skyscrapers for breakfast," Hannah continued. "You know something, you guys are so cool. I want to grow up to be just like you." "If you want to be just like us, then you will have to get through the awes of high school, but luckily, I got asked by an older girl named Betsy to the high school dance," James stated. "You can't forget about middle school, James," Sarah added. "I did not get asked out to that dance, and then a guy named Nathan cheated off of my history exam because he was jealous of my outstanding scholarly skills, and once he got caught, he was blaming me for it and lying." "Thankfully, I had my Boy Scouts meeting on the evening of the dance," Henri stated. "Middle school can be fun, too, sometimes," Carly stated. "I like the day when we were cooking together," Mr. Benson stated. "We cooked the macaroni and cheese that we bring to the picnic every year," Spencer pointed out. "It was also nice that we provided pulled pork sandwiches as an alternative to hamburgers, hot dogs, and fried chicken." "I even helped contribute some chips and a few desserts," Carly stated. "This past summer was very amazing," I pointed out, "since it was reminiscent of our upperclassman years of high school." "I agree that the weather was great that year," Alex stated. "Now, I grill hamburgers and hot dogs just about every day," Justin pointed out. "I make sure that the hot dogs are cooked to the max," Max pointed out. "No pun intended!" "We bring burgers, tortilla chips and salsa, pasta salad, potato salad, corn on the cob, dump cake... the list goes on," Justin happily stated. "I see that you bring in most of the healthy stuff, like fruit and veggies," I told Alex. "Yes, but I do treat myself to Eat n' Park smiley face cookies once in a while," Alex pointed out. "I saw that a few of our female clients were writing in the journal that we got them just like you used to do, Alex," I told my female friend. "I like the main 5 because 2 of them participated in the marching band in high school," Alex explained. "Plus, one of them is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh who I remember attending these activities, and there was a rising high school senior who, as Angel quoted, was 'partially like me'. Our 11th grade spring was amazing and so was this past spring." Then, we helped Hannah Carson go shopping for everything that she needed for her Construction Crew Sleepover next Saturday. Pretty soon, it was time for all of us to go home. "Thanks for a great evening, everyone!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Good night, guys!" "Good night!"