Chapter 10: A Party at Emily's House

One pleasant Saturday evening in July 2017, my childhood friends Sarah, James, and Henri came up to my best friend, Emily Mistle's house in East Liberty. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. "That is a pretty dress you have on, Sarah," Emily remarked. "James is taking pictures in the backyard," Sarah told him. Emily and I both got our pictures taken by James and Michael before Michael showed us some Improvisation games such as the Name Game, in which we said our name and performed an action, a game where we clapped directly to other people, The Mirror Game, in which we imitated other people's actions, and finally, the Shape Game, in which we formed different shapes. Then, we had dinner, which was tacos, including vegetarian, classic ground beef, as well as steak and shrimp fajitas. There were also snacks including trail mix bars, regular candy bars, Chex mix, M&Ms, vanilla creme cookies, Chips Ahoy! cookies, Oatmeal Creme Pies, potato chips, carrot sticks, cheese puffs, vegetarian straws, and also some leftover s'more birthday cake from Caden's 12th birthday party yesterday. "Mmm, that cake looks yummy!" Henri exclaimed. "So, I hear you were in charge of your younger brother's birthday party at the wave pool yesterday," Sarah told Emily. "Is that true?" "Yes, Sarah," Emily replied. "It's true." "I remember when nobody wanted to spend time with me on my birthday one year except James, of course," I told everyone. "That was because we were planning a surprise party for you with yummy snacks like we are having right now," Sarah remembered. "Only this time we are eating tacos instead of pizza and s'more birthday cake instead of ice cream cake." "James, thanks for helping Angel on her birthday," Emily told James. "You're also good friends with my brother, I see." "Yes, Emily," James remarked. "I am good friends with Michael on Facebook just like with Carly Shay's mom, Sam." "What about Justin Evans?" I asked. "Aren't you good friends with him?" "Yes, Angel, but not on Facebook," James replied. Henri was chowing away at the s'more birthday cake. "Mmm, I wish I could have been at Caden's birthday party yesterday," Henri stated as he ate the cake. "Henri, it looks like you have chocolate frosting on your face," Erin pointed out. Henri quickly got a napkin and wiped it off. "My high school graduation was also very memorable," James pointed out, "as Sarah and Angel were there for it." "Did you graduate from high school in 2006?" Michael asked. "Yes, I did," James replied. "That is when I graduated from high school, too, and I learned to take a photography class in high school, just like you." We also decided to play board games. Sarah forgot to bring Scrabble, so I ended up playing Bananagrams with her instead, which James brought from home. James, Henri, Emily, Michael, and Erin played Headbanz, which the Mistles already had. I also agreed to sleep over at the Mistles while Sarah, James, and Henri went back home to Oakland. We cleaned up the party. "Thanks for a great evening, guys!" I thanked my friends. "Thanks for coming," Emily thanked Sarah, James, and Henri. "You're welcome," Sarah replied. "Bye, guys!" "Bye!"