-S-
Mrs. Olverman was smiling at her granddaughter and the friend she had brought along. Mrs. Olverman was wearing a dark purple sweater and sitting in a chair.
“How have you been, Grandma?”
“Good, good.” Mrs. Olverman said brightly.
“Do you remember Michelle? You met her last week.” Sara asked.
“Of course I do, she’s your nurse friend.”
“Yes, that’s me.” Michelle said.
“So how do you like my house?” Mrs. Olverman asked Michelle.
“It’s lovely. I love your decorations.”
“That’s good. You can stay as long as you want.” Every time Mrs. Olverman said something, her glasses slipped down. Sara looked around the commons room. She saw many other grandmothers and grandfathers, but Sara and Michelle were the only visitors.
“Don’t you want to come home?” Sara asked her grandmother.
“No.” Mrs. Olverman shook her head. “I’ve made good friends here. It is nice to have people around.” She pulled her glasses up and continued talking. Her small hand was shaking. “Getting old isn’t so bad, but losing people to talk to is sad. In here, I can enjoy listening to other peoples’ stories. I always see other people to help. Helping the other residents and being their friend gives me new life. I haven’t felt this way in a long time. I love my house, but in here I have people around me. I am in their lives and these people are in mine. Living alone is hard.”
Sara realized the senior center was actually a better place for her grandma to stay. She had everything she needed here. Sara felt her grandmother watching her.
“Sara. I’m not sure what you have been through, but in my house, everything is ok. I hope you have a good vacation from whatever is bothering you.” Sara was surprised how her grandmother knew that. Sara nodded her head, but she was holding back tears. Michelle was watching the other nurses, engrossed in their work.
When it got dark, Sara and Michelle left the senior center. Sara was sad to leave her grandmother.
“You can comeback anytime.” Michelle told her.
“I know. I am just… I really love her.”
“You and your grandmother are very alike.” Michelle said while she was opening the car door.
“Really?” Sara put her seat belt on.
“Yeah, you both have a great smile.”
“Thanks.” Sara started the car.
“Well, let’s go. I am hungry. My friends are waiting for us.” Michelle said.
“Ok. Where are we going?”
“Denny’s.”
“So we are going to fry the apple and dump it into chocolate and sell it. How does that sound?” Jake said it with confidence.
“Fry? Where and how? Who fries apples, by the way?” Michelle opposed.
Jake smirked. “That‘s why it is so creative. Nobody’s tried it before. That’s how you become successful.”
“Well, Americans do love fried stuff,” Shawn said. He was playing a video game on his cell phone, but occasionally jumped into the conversation.
“What about the frying pot? Are you going to buy it?” Bailey asked Jake. She combed her black hair.
“I guess there might be a place to rent that stuff.” Jake wasn’t sure about his idea.
“I’m sorry, Sara. You probably have no idea what we’re talking about.” Michelle told Sara. Sara was listening to their story and eating her sandwich.
“I am fine.” Sara answered. Even though she said she was fine, Sara was not sure what was going on. Michelle introduced her friends, but Sara couldn’t understand why such a diverse group would get together to hang out. Sara expected people who were more like Michelle.
They set plans to make money at the "Apple Blossom," which was a huge local festival. They were discussing how they could make the most money. Sara looked at them one by one and tried to remember their names. Jake was very tall and kept talking about frying apples. Michelle kept treating him like he was a fool. Bailey was the girl with the black hair; she was short and chubby.
"How about this? Jake and I will actually try the fried apple, and we will tell you if it is worth selling. You never know until you try it." Shawn was talking to Michelle and Bailey.
"Why don't you taste dirt? You never know until you try it whether it tastes good or not." Bailey talked back to him.
"Yeah, right. That’s like trying poop. It's not worth tasting, you moron."
"I didn't say poo~" Bailey said.
"How dare you compare my idea to poo!" Jake said.
"She didn't say poo!" Michelle helped Bailey.
"Hey, we are eating here..." Jennifer glared at them. Jennifer had long brown hair, she was skinny and very pretty. She had some kind of tattoo on her right arm. It looked like a Joker. Jennifer and Sara were quiet, but the rest of them were chatty. Since Sara did not know them very well, she did not know how to jump into the conversation.
"So..." Sara opened her mouth. Everybody was looking at her. "Do we have to use apples?"
"Yeah. It's an apple festival," Bailey retorted.
"Well. Not necessarily. One of my friends is doing Tarot Card Readings there," Jennifer said to them.
"Oh, come on. No one's going to be interested in psychic crap at the festival," Jake was kind of intense. Jennifer glared at him, but he avoided eye contact with her.
"Are you going to work there with your friend?" Michelle asked her.
"Well. If she gets busy, I will help her."
"Do you know how to do all that psychic stuff?" Sara asked.
"I know a little bit. Do you want me to do yours?"
"Wow...really?" Sara said. Bailey took out her notebook and started to write things down.
"So here are the ideas. Fri......ed apple..." Bailey was being sarcastic and Jake was making a funny face at her. She kept writing. "…and....what else did we talk about?"
"Just regular caramel, and dark chocolate with nuts." Michelle helped Bailey.
"...and that Tarot Thingy?" Bailey looked at Jennifer.
"Oh, no. I don't want to ruin my friend’s business. I will go see a real psychic."
"Well. I say he is a scam." Jake said.
"Hey! What do you know? You also saw the video. He is real. Psychic power is the real deal." Jennifer told Jake.
"Is he famous?" Michelle asked. "Oh, yes. Boldo Lovel. He is amazing. He is one of the best. He also does readings, too."
"Readings?" Bailey asked.
"Oh, I think I've heard about it. It is talking to dead people." Michelle said.
"Yes. That is correct. He did many times and there are so many witnesses."
Jake grabbed one of his French Fries and used it as if it was a pointer in a classroom and said.
"As a person who is working in the medical field and also studied science, a little bit, I think they are incorrect. Think about it; we can go to Mars, we clone animals and you are talking about how people speak to the dead?"
"What do you know about science?" Jennifer said to Jake.
"I was really good at it. If I wasn't a nurse, I might’ve been the second Einstein," Jake joked.
"Yeah, Einstein with delicious fried apples!" Michelle said.
"Hahahahaha." Sara thought it was so funny, and she laughed out loud. Jake looked at Sara.
"I'm sorry..."
"What are you going to do if it tastes good?" Jake made his eyes really big.
"Yes!" Shawn shouted out of nowhere playing his video game.
"Shawn! Focus! Turn off the game." Michelle shouted, but Shawn pretended he hadn’t heard. Michelle made a straw gun and shot him.
"Hey." Shawn was annoyed. Now Bailey and Jennifer made the straw gun and shot him. "Knock it off!" Shawn complained, but the girls didn't stop. Sara laughed, but Jake didn’t care. After Shawn finally stopped playing his game, they talked more about their ideas for another 40 minutes. They kept arguing with each other, but Sara realized they were actually enjoying themselves. Right before they took off, Bailey asked Sara what she liked to do. Sara told Bailey that she loved ballroom dancing and also told her she was on the dance team in her middle school and high school. They decided to go dance downtown next week.
On the way back home, Sara asked "How did you end up being friends with them?"
"Why? You don't like them?"
"Oh, no. They are good people. I was just wondering because you guys are so different."
"Haha, that's right. Well. Jennifer and I were friends since we were very little. We went to elementary and middle school together until I moved to Nevada, and I came back here and we became best friends again. Jake was in my nursing program. Bailey was Jennifer's friend from high school and Shawn is Bailey's cousin."
"Ok. That makes sense."
"By the way, you are in, right?"
"In what?"
"For the Apple Festival. It's going to be fun!"
"Hmmm... Yes. It sounds fun."
"Wait, can we drop by the store? I need some groceries." Michelle said while they were waiting in traffic.
"Sure. Tell me how to get there."
While they were shopping, they talked about how Bailey compared Jake's fried apple to dirt.
"Shawn actually said it was poo,” Sara said through her laughter.
"That's right. Only he would make it worse."
There were not many people in the store and Sara and Michelle had fun shopping. While Michelle was contemplating between Cookies and Cream and Dark Chocolate ice cream, Sara went to buy some fruit. Hmm. What can we do with apples? She was thinking about the festival. When she found the apple section, she saw a familiar person. It was her neighbor Mr. Mitchell. He reminded her of her grandmother and that she had gone to visit her earlier. She said hello to him, and bought some apples. The apples were so ripe and pretty.
"Hey, Sara, are you done?" Michelle asked. She was holding both ice creams.
"You bought both of them?"
"Yes…. I did. You need to stop me. I’m addicted.”
Sara put the apples and both things of ice cream on the counter.
"Oh, you bought a lot of apples."
"Yes. Since Jake is frying them, I am thinking of boiling them." Sara made jokes about the apple festival the whole way home.