by Coco Simon
Katie laughed. “Oh, Alexis, you do love plans!”
“I like business plans when I make them and social plans when other people make them,” I said. And I’ve been sitting home alone for the past thirty-six hours, I wanted to add, but I knew that would be a touchy subject.
Mia continued, “Okay, so we’ll go surprise Ava around the corner from her school, which is my old school. Then we’re going to go get this killer hot chocolate at City Bakery. It’s so thick, it’s like melted candy bars, and they have huge homemade marshmallows they put on top, and churros if we want them, for dipping.”
“Yum!” I said, scribbling “Pick up Ava. Get HC. Churros!” in my book. “Do they have cupcakes?”
“Of course!” said Mia.
“You’re always thinking about the competition!” teased Katie.
“Business first, that’s my motto!” I said, and we giggled.
“Next, we’ll walk home and pass by the baking store Katie wants to check out”—they exchanged a smile—“then we’ll look into just one or two boutiques I like along the way, then go home to change and wait for my dad.”
I scribbled furiously. “Will Ava already have her bag with her?” I asked.
“What? Oh. Well, maybe not, because it’s a surprise that we’re going to school,” Mia said, a little distressed.
“Okay, just planning ahead,” I said. “Emma always hates it when I forget to tell her to pack a bag in case she sleeps over. Then we’re always scrambling at the last minute . . . you know.”
“Right. Then we’re going to dinner at Omen, that awesome sushi place in SoHo I’ve told you all about!” Mia’s eyes lit up in excitement.
“I can’t wait!” said Katie, grinning.
“Oh, is it cool?” I asked.
“Wait, you haven’t heard Mia going on and on about Omen?” Katie laughed incredulously.
I shrugged. “I guess not,” I admitted.
Mia giggled. “Well, after tonight we’ll all be going on about it!”
I am personally not a fan of raw fish, but I felt like it really wasn’t my place to throw a wrench into the plans. I made a mental note to eat an extra churro at the bakery.
“After Omen, my dad is going to take us to get our palms read by this really cool lady he knows.”
“Wait, whoa! Palm reading?” That kind of stuff made me a little nervous. But Katie and Mia looked at me blankly, like, What’s not to like about palm reading? “I mean, uh . . . wow!” I corrected, and they smiled.
“Yeah, she only gives out good news, though, so don’t worry!” reassured Katie. “At least that’s what Mia always says.”
Mia nodded. “Right. Then after that we’ll walk a couple of blocks to the treat that Katie and I have lined up to surprise you and Ava. . . .”
“What is it?” I asked excitedly.
They laughed. “We can’t tell you! It’s a surprise!”
“Oh.” I felt a little left out. I guess I’d feel better after we hooked up with Ava. Then she and I could be left out together. I decided to change the subject. “Okay, and will we set up the beds before or after we go out?” I asked.
Mia laughed again. “You and your details, Alexis! I don’t know! Before? After? Who cares?”
“Oh, I just thought ’cause maybe we’ll be so tired when we get back . . .”
“No way. We will be rowdy!” said Katie, giggling.
“Okay . . . ,” I said, and wrote in my planner: “Omen, palm reader, shop, get rowdy.”
Katie leaned across the seats to see my planner. “Did you actually just write ‘get rowdy’ in there?”
I nodded. “Yes. Failing to plan is planning to fail!”
“How can you fail at being rowdy?” asked Katie.
“You can use up all your energy too early and then want to go to sleep when it’s rowdy time, that’s how,” I said huffily. Didn’t everyone know that?
“Alexis Becker, you are too much!” said Katie with a laugh as we entered a dark tunnel.
“The Beckers try harder.” Mia giggled as she quoted our family motto.
It hurt my feelings a little, but I took a deep breath and decided not to turn their teasing into a fight. After all, it would be two against one. Not my favorite odds.
“And what’s wrong with that, my friends?” I asked. “What’s wrong with that?”
CHAPTER 4
New York’s Best Hot Chocolate
I was overwhelmed just finding our way out of the train station, and I couldn’t believe how confidently Mia managed the whole thing. We were weaving in and out of people in Penn Station and then onto a subway, then off a subway, then upstairs, downstairs, upstairs. And she knew where she was going the whole time! I may be a leader when it comes to business, but Mia is a leader when it comes to travel, that’s for sure! Even crossing the street, Katie and I were chatting at one point and weren’t paying attention. Mia had to stick her arm out to keep us from being run over by a turning taxi.
“Phew!” I said. “Thanks!”
“You’ve got to pay attention,” cautioned Mia. “I have to get you girls home in one piece!”
I was impressed. Just a few hours ago my mother was reprimanding me for walking alone in the mall, and here was Mia, navigating the subway and the city. I suddenly remembered I needed to text my dad.
We r in the city. Having a gr8 time!
We made our way to Mia’s dad’s apartment, which was downtown, according to Mia. It was kind of weird to think of living in the city, but I guess to Mia it was just normal. I, for one, could never get used to the noise of the traffic and the bustle of the sidewalks and the constant activity. It was so foreign to me. It seemed Katie felt the same way. She and I couldn’t stop staring at people—a guy with a Mohawk and tattoos, a homeless lady in layers of rags, a mom pushing triplets in a stroller. There was so much to see!
Mia laughed at us as our eyes bulged out of our heads. “Guys, don’t stare!” she admonished us in a whisper. “It’s rude. And sometimes people get mad, like, ‘Yo! What are you lookin’ at?’ ” she joked in a thick New York accent.
Katie’s eyes were wide. “But how can you not look? I just cannot stop staring at everyone!”
Mia shrugged. “It’s just, like, whatever, to me. To each his own.”
“Huh,” I said, still boggled.
We dropped off our stuff at Mia’s dad’s place, which was very cool. He’s an architect, and his apartment looked like something you’d see in a magazine—all sleek. Then we headed out to meet Ava. Mia walks pretty fast, so I was hustling to keep up with her, and Katie was lagging way behind.
“Come on, chicas!” Mia called over her shoulder. “City pace!”
Katie and I looked at each other, and it was obvious we both wanted to roll our eyes, but neither of us wanted to gang up on our hostess. I knew then, though, that Katie and I would have to stick together. After all, it would be two city girls and two suburban girls. We’d be the new clueless ones, the ones doing everything wrong, like staring, walking too slowly, not paying attention.
We rounded a corner and saw throngs of kids pouring out of a building up ahead.
“This is it!” chirped Mia. “My old stomping grounds! Let’s wait here.” She stopped at the corner.
Katie and I started to chat idly about school, but Mia kept interrupting to point out people.
“Hey, see that lady crossing the street over there? That’s my old math teacher. Supermean!” or “Oh! Look! There’s my best friend from kindergarten, Jack Sproule! I haven’t seen him in ages.”
“Do you want to go closer, so you can talk to people?” I suggested, but Mia declined.
“No way. It was great leaving most of these people. And there’s no point going back, because people will make a big deal that I’m there, and then we’ll be stuck with a huge group.”
Katie and I glanced at each other. “O-kaay. If you’re sure . . . ,” we said.
Mia continued to watch the crowd, like a hawk. It did seem as
if she was kind of wistful, like she wanted to still be a part of it all. Shortly, Ava emerged with a pack of kids. Mia started yelling her name and waving wildly.
“Avy!” Mia yelled.
“Mimi!” Ava cried as she spotted us. The two of them began running toward each other.
They united in a big hug, wagging side to side really hard. I was smiling so hard, my face hurt, and I wondered again how Katie must feel right now, but I didn’t want to turn to stare at her. Eventually, Ava and Mia separated, but they were still holding hands when they came over to us.
Ava gave Katie a hug and a grin and then gave me a kind of half hug, too. It was awkward, because I am not a big hugger, and I don’t really know her, anyway, but we laughed. It was nice to see her.
“Are you ready?” asked Mia.
“Ready for anything!” Ava declared.
“Did you bring your bag?” Mia asked, looking around Ava to see if she had it in her other hand.
“My bag?” asked Ava blankly.
“For sleeping over!” said Mia, exasperated.
“Oh! Was I supposed to bring my bag?”
“Duh!” teased Mia.
“Sorry!” said Ava. “Well . . . maybe I can go home and just catch up with you guys later?” She seemed kind of bummed, and to me it seemed pointless.
“You can borrow some of my stuff,” I offered with a shrug.
“Yeah, me too,” said Katie. “Don’t go home.”
Ava laughed. “Okay! But I do wish you’d told me you were going to meet me at school—I have a sweet outfit all planned out for dinner. Anyway, where are we off to now? The usual?”
“You know it!” said Mia as we started to stroll away from her old school.
Katie and I looked at each other.
“Um, is the usual that churro place?” I asked.
Ava laughed again. “Yes. At only the best bakery in the city!”
“Well, it depends on what you’re having . . . ,” said Mia seriously.
“Okay, the best hot chocolate place in the city, then,” said Ava confidently.
“For cupcakes, you have to go somewhere else,” said Mia, turning to us.
“Like where?” I asked.
Here, Katie actually took the lead and began ticking off places on her fingers. “Magnolia Bakery, of course, then its offshoots: Buttercup Bake Shop and Billy’s. Then there’s Sugar Sweet Sunshine. Oh, and Baked by Melissa for minis. William Greenberg’s. Eleni’s. Yura. Crumbs for major toppings . . .”
“Wow!” I said. “I’m impressed. You don’t even live here!”
Katie laughed. “My mom and I have done the cupcake tour of New York City a couple of times. I do consider myself a local expert.” She pretended to fluff her hair in a joking, show-offy way, and we all laughed.
“I defer to Katie when it comes to New York City baking! No one knows more!” said Mia.
I happened to glance at Ava and saw her wince a little. Yikes. All these different friendships were kind of a minefield. As soon as you were making one friend feel good, it turned out you were hurting another.
“Ava, what are you the expert on?” I asked lightly.
“Me!” Mia declared, and we all laughed again, but for Katie it was definitely a little forced.
“Well, I am an expert on Korean food, since it’s my heritage, and I’m an expert on bookstores. And coffee shops—”
“And hot chocolate!” interrupted Mia, turning to open a door and lead us inside City Bakery.
The cavernous space was dark and industrial-looking, and pretty crowded for a random weekday afternoon. The cases held rich, gooey treats, and most tables along the sides were filled with young, cool-looking people.
“I’ll grab a table! Order me the usual and I’ll pay you right back!” Mia directed Ava.
“Got it!” agreed Ava, like this was a familiar drill. Ava led me and Katie to the back to order, and she filled us in on the choices.
“We used to always come here after school on Mondays to start off the week on the right foot. Mia used to get just regular hot chocolate—oh, you’ll need to add some sugar to it, because it’s pretty strong—and then one day the cute guy who knew us by that point basically forced her to try the Mexican hot chocolate. It’s a little spicy, a little cinnamony, and it has a kick. Well, that girl has never looked back. No more Swiss Miss for her! Hey, Hector!”
The order taker knew Ava, and she said, “Guess what? Mia’s here!” Hector gave her a free cookie to bring to Mia and made Ava promise to have Mia come back to say hi. Ava introduced me and Katie, saying, “These are my friends from out of town. Make sure their hot chocolates are off the chart!” Hector promised he would. I felt all cozy with Ava introducing me as her friend. It felt good to have this little circle of Mia being my friend, Ava being her friend, and now Ava being my friend. I couldn’t tell if Katie liked it or not, though, because she was busy scrutinizing all the baked goods.
“I just can’t believe the variety!” said Katie, astounded.
I was shocked by the prices. “Their profit margin must be huge!” I marveled as we snaked through the line and waited for our order to be ready.
“I know, right?” Ava said. “It’s crazy. Places like this are a treat, though. You couldn’t come every day. There are lots of treat places in the city and lots of cheap places. You just have to know when to splurge. Also, people tend to make more money in New York City than in other places, so they spend more. It does kind of balance out.”
“Good point,” I said. “I love economics.”
“Oh! Me too!” agreed Ava with an excited smile, and we started talking about stuff we knew about business and pricing and trade.
Katie listened in silence as we chatted. I saw her look away toward Mia, who was on the phone—probably with her mom or dad—and then back at us. I tried to include her by explaining what we were talking about, but she didn’t really get it.
“Anyway . . . ,” I said, trying to wrap it up so we could include Katie in our conversation, but Ava kept right on chatting; she obviously didn’t meet many other kids who were interested in economics. Luckily, Hector returned with our hot chocolates and churros, and we went to pay. I was truly shocked by the total, but Ava promised me I’d get what I had paid for, and she was right. The cocoa, served in little white bowls, was thick and rich (could they have used hot cream instead of milk?), and the chocolate was intense. I did end up adding a little extra sugar, but the big rectangular marshmallow they gave me made a delicious sugary life raft floating on top. The crunchy, cinnamony churro was delicious dipped in the hot liquid. I had such a major sugar-and-caffeine rush when I was finished that I didn’t think I’d even be hungry by dinnertime, never mind worrying about sushi!
Mia and Ava caught up while Katie and I people watched and ate mostly in silence.
“We could own a place like this one day!” I said to Katie.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “But not here.”
“No,” I agreed.
“I don’t really like the city that much,” she whispered. “It’s kind of . . . intimidating.”
“Yeah, it’s a lot to handle,” I admitted. “I can’t believe Mia lived here.”
Katie nodded again.
“What are you two whispering about?” interrupted Mia.
“Oh, we’re not really whispering,” I said. “We’re just saying we can’t even imagine what it would be like to live in New York City. It’s overwhelming!”
Mia and Ava exchanged a proud look. “Well, people are born New Yorkers. Not necessarily in New York, but the ones born elsewhere find their way here. That’s what my mom says.”
“I can’t imagine living anywhere else,” said Ava. “I would not want to.”
Mia bristled a little. “Not everyone has a choice,” she said bitterly.
Ava looked instantly contrite. “I’m sorry, Mia! I know. I know.” She patted Mia’s hand. “Now go say hi to Hector, so we can get out of here.”
Mia agreed and went to
thank Hector for her freebie.
Ava turned to us quickly and asked, “How is she doing? Really?”
Katie and I were confused for a minute. “She’s fine,” I said. “Why?”
“No, I mean”—Ava bit her lip—“she’s kind of a fish out of water there, right?”
“Not really,” said Katie.
“It’s not Little House on the Prairie!” I cried.
Ava laughed. “No, but Maple Grove is different. A lot . . . slower. You have less independence. You know.” She shrugged. I thought about us walking around the city. Even Mia’s mom didn’t let her go to the mall alone.
“She’s fine. She’s doing great, actually,” said Katie proudly. “We have our cupcake business. Then she tried out for the chorus, and she joined the newspaper. . . .”
“Really?” Ava looked surprised. “Wait. Wow. I didn’t know all this, besides the cupcakes, obviously.”
“I’m sure she meant to tell you . . . ,” I said, not wanting Ava to feel left out. “You know how it is . . . when someone’s out of your day-to-day life, you just forget—”
“We are still in each other’s lives every day,” said Ava firmly. “We text every. Day.”
“Oh. Sorry. Okay. Well . . .” I didn’t know what to say, and luckily, Mia returned.
“You didn’t tell me you’d joined the newspaper!” said Ava a little accusingly as we all stood and gathered our things to leave.
“I didn’t? Oh! Silly me! I thought I had!” said Mia.
“So tell me now!” They linked arms, and Mia chatted and chatted as Katie and I followed behind, careful not to stare, careful to look both ways, and careful to walk as quickly as the two native New Yorkers. Katie and I didn’t always agree on everything, but in this case we did—we both wanted to fit in!
CHAPTER 5
A Good Omen
