Mallory and Mary Ann Take New York (6 page)

Mary Ann and I both lean forward to get a better view.

I tap our taxi driver on the shoulder. “Is that New York City?” I ask pointing out his windshield.

“That's the East River,” he says. “And that's the city in front of us.”

“Wow!” I say. “I've never seen so many skyscrapers!”

“Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!” Mary Ann says. She told me she's going to say one “
Wow!
” for each skyscraper she sees. But she stops after sixteen “
Wows!
”

“There are so many skyscrapers, I'd spend the whole trip saying
wow
,” she says.

Both our moms laugh and so does our taxi driver.

I take a deep breath. I'm starting to feel like this trip is going to be a lot of fun. The sights of New York City are so exciting, and I am glad they are making Mary Ann think about something else besides the show.

There's so much to see as we drive through the streets of New York. “I've never seen so many stores or buildings or cars,” I say.

“Or people!” says Mary Ann.

She's right. “There are people everywhere you look!” I say. There are people walking on the sidewalks, coming out of buildings, riding bicycles, and crossing streets.

“You'll see people out and about twenty-four hours a day,” says our taxi driver. “New York is known as the city that never sleeps.”

I dig in my purse and pull out my camera. “We're going to have to take a lot of pictures,” I say to Mary Ann. I roll down the window and start snapping shots from the taxi.

Mary Ann takes out her camera and starts taking pictures too. “Our New York City scrapbook is going to be our biggest one ever!”

Everything that is going on outside our taxi is so exciting. New York is completely different from Fern Falls. We take pictures until our taxi stops in front of our hotel.

“We're here!” says Mom.

Mary Ann's mom pays the taxi driver. We all get out of the taxi and get our suitcases.

“I can't believe we're really in New York!” says Mary Ann. I can't either. We start jumping up and down on the sidewalk. We scream together, “We're here! We're here! We're here!” I'm feeling happier by the minute.

Lots of people pass us while we're jumping and screaming, but no one seems to be paying any attention to us. Except our moms.

“Come on, girls,” says my mom.

We follow her into the hotel.

“This place is awesome!” says Mary Ann when we get inside.

She's right. It's more than awesome. I look up. The ceilings are higher than my house. The lobby is filled with fluffy couches, fancy rugs, and vases of flowers.

“Let's check in and take the bags to the room,” says my mom. “We can all freshen up, and then we'll get some lunch and go to the studio,”

When she says “go to the studio,” I look at Mary Ann. I know I should be thinking about what we're going to do when we get there. But I'm not. And I can tell Mary Ann isn't either. It's hard to think about anything except how exciting it is to be in New York.

I feel like a candy dish. The only difference is that I'm filled up with happiness, not mints or jelly beans.

Mary Ann and I walk around the lobby while our moms talk to a lady behind the desk. Then we follow them into an elevator and up to the twenty-fourth floor.

When we get inside our room, I can't believe what I'm seeing. There are two huge beds covered in fluffy pillows. There's a big window with long, fancy curtains. And behind another door is a marble bathroom with an oversized bathtub. But the best thing in our room is a big basket of fruit and candy on the desk. The card with it says:
To Miss Mallory McDonald
. I open it and start reading.

“Wow!” I say. I pop a chocolate into my mouth. I don't know if it is because they're from Fran or because we're in New York and candy tastes extra good here, but it is the best chocolate I've ever had.

Mary Ann eats a chocolate too. She goes to the window and looks outside. “Wow!” she says. “Mallory, you have to see this!”

I go to the window and look out. There is an incredible view of New York City outside our window. I can look into some buildings and see the tops of other ones. “Wow!” I say. “I've never slept so high up.”

Our moms look at each other. “Wow!” they say at the same time. Mary Ann's mom and my mom start laughing. “You girls sound like parrots who only know one word,” says Colleen.

We might sound like parrots, but I can't think of a better word to describe everything. New York is
WOW!

I hop on the bed and start jumping. “Wow! Wow! Wow!”

Mary Ann hops on the bed and starts jumping with me. “Wow! Wow! Wow!” she repeats.

We hold hands while we jump.

We both fall down on the bed on top of the big fluffy pillows and start laughing.

Being in New York is so exciting. I was worried this morning, but now I feel just one thing, and I can tell my best friend feels the same thing: happy.

I feel happy.

Happy! Happy! Happy!

As happy as I was in the hotel, I am just as unhappy now. And I am not the only one who is unhappy. Mary Ann is unhappy too. In fact, if there was a list called the Unhappy List, both of our names would be on it.

Here's why:

When we first got to Fran's studio, everything was perfect.

A nice man named Ernesto gave us all a tour of the set.

We got to go backstage.

We saw the sewing room.

We saw Fran's dressing room.

We got to walk through the photo gallery of Fran's most fashionable looks.

We even got to have chocolate-covered strawberries and fresh-squeezed orange juice in Fran's personal snack lounge.

Everything was perfect until Ernesto took us to meet Fran's assistant, Holiday. We went with our moms to Holiday's office to discuss “show day details.”

That was when everything went from perfect to NOT.

First, Holiday explained what would happen on the day of the show. She talked about where I would need to be and what I would need to do. My mom asked lots of questions. I shifted around in my chair and tried to listen while Holiday went over the details.

Wardrobe.

Fitting.

Stage.

Model.

Dream outfit.

I tried to focus while Holiday explained that I would have to be backstage early. Mom, Colleen, and Mary Ann would all have front row seats in the audience. I even heard her say something about giving them special backstage passes for after the show.

But as exciting as it all was, it was hard to focus on what Holiday was saying when I had something of my own to say. I crossed my toes that what I was about to say would work.

When Holiday stopped talking, I started.

I explained to Holiday how Mary Ann and I are lifelong best friends. I told her how we worked on our designs together and how we entered the contest together. I told her that we like to do everything together and that we would like to be on the
Fashion Fran
show. TOGETHER!

I thought I said it all very convincingly.

Even Mary Ann gave me a look like I had done a good job.

So I smiled and waited for Holiday to say something like, “
I get it. I've got a lifelong best friend too. If we won a contest to be on TV, we'd want to do it together too. Not a problem. You girls will be adorable together on TV
.”