Chapter 19: The Insect Investigator Sleepover
One mild second Saturday of November 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 the Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill to make friendship bracelets followed by a trip to Shelly Pie in Turtle Creek to support the marching band's dine-to-donate fundraiser, and then afterwards to Pittsburgh's Perfect Parties client Samantha Carson's apartment in Point Breeze for her Insect Investigator Sleepover. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. We jammed out to Kate Bush, Lizzo, NSYNC, and 98 Degrees as well as SiriusXM radio station Pop2K featuring the Pop2Kountdown from 2009. The room was decorated with flyswatters and toy insects. We started off with outdoor games like Mosquito Tag and Fly Swatter Relay, and then headed inside to play more games like Ants and Anthills, a Roach Race, and One Less Bug, followed by activities like creating uninvited ants on a tablecloth, making beautiful butterflies and flea-ridden cookies, and having an insect scavenger hunt outside. For dinner, there were butterfly sandwiches and chips with ladybug cookies for dessert. Then, there were ants on a log for a midnight snack and eggs with bug sauce for breakfast the next morning. Prior to then, there was a Firefly Flashlight game. "How was your golden birthday on Thursday, Samantha?" I asked. "It was fun," Samantha replied. "I got lots of yummy golden food." "Maybe, we should have a surprise party for Samantha one day for her birthday," Sarah stated. "Kind of like what we threw for Angel on her birthday a while ago?" Henri asked. "I was so worried that you guys might have forgotten my birthday that one day except for James, who was willing to drive me around Harrison Hills Park." "You know that we would never forget your birthday," Sarah told me. "This November is also like the year that you graduated from high school, James," I pointed out, "which we never had this year until just this month." "Who could forget my high school graduation?" James asked. "It was amazing and a major milestone in my life and was so happy that Sarah and Angel were nice enough to dress nice and support me in the audience." "I was too young to attend," Henri stated. "Since Thanksgiving is coming up, why don't you tell us about your first Thanksgiving in the city of Pittsburgh?" I asked. "I thought that it was a lot of fun to have our parents come visit us and have dinner in our own home," James stated. "That was my first year of a tradition that I really miss, and that is going on vacation to visit my grandmother in California with my mom," I stated. "Heck, I even remember staying at your guys' apartment in Oakland 8 years ago for Thanksgiving week." "It was nice having you with us then," Sarah happily stated. "Look at my new friendship bracelet in Valentine's Day colors!" Carly stated. "That is amazing," Spencer stated. "I haven't seen you with a bracelet since you were 14 years old and about to enter high school," Mr. Benson stated. "I could possibly wear it to the Valentine's Day dance in February," Carly stated. "As much as I was expecting 2000 to be featured in the Pop2K Countdown, I am actually happy that 2009 was featured instead," Alex stated. "The top song 'Fireflies' by Owl City was the song I remember hearing the most during a cold winter stuck inside." "I have always liked that song," Max agreed. "Even though football season is over, there are still a lot of holiday events that are coming up, like the holiday parade and the holiday concert at Heinz Hall with the Greater Pittsburgh Concert Band," Justin happily announced. "I still remember yesterday's dual Childhood Chat between Kayla Jennis and Lauren Bennett in downtown Pittsburgh, besties Jessica Linden and Victoria Spurnick in East Liberty, and Sophia Cleng and Natalie Bay in the South Side and also the Pittsburgh version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town," I added. "It is no surprise that the sweets won because Shelly Pie does not have a dessert menu. Do the kids have favorite desserts?" "Billie likes cupcakes, cookies, and marshmallows, Roman likes ice cream, macarons, and gelato, and Milo likes cake, brownies, pudding, and lemon tarts," Alex stated. "Ah, young teenagers and their sweet foods," I stated. "Speaking of which, the 3 new brass players are going to be partially like me since I was a freshman in high school in 2006 and all 3 of them are in high school this year. As a matter of fact, one of the songs the band played this year 'Malaguena' was a song that I played in high school marching band freshman year, too." "James and I have special gifts for you guys," Sarah told Alex. "Can we give them to you now or can we wait until tomorrow's discussion group?" "Why don't you give your gifts to Justin and me during the discussion group tomorrow?" Alex requested. Pretty soon, it was time for all of us to go to bed. "Thanks for a great day, everyone!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Good night, guys!" "Good night!"