“The B, D, F, M, and Q,” I said, my heart thumping. Rockefeller Center, where we were!

Isabella’s thumbs rapid-tapped her cell screen, then she paused for a second before reporting: “Okay, you’re right.”

“DanceStarz are always right,” boasted Megan. “Come on, girls. We have to be ready for Harper’s city tour in fifteen minutes.”

We pivoted with sass and headed down the hall, leaving the Energii dancers standing there to get swallowed up by our chaperones, who spilled out of the next elevator.

CHAPTER

8

The Squad, Megan’s and Riley’s moms, and Vanessa walked the wide city streets at the height of rush hour. It was a chilly day, and there’s a clashing of sounds, smells, and even—for Riley— tastes. She got really excited just stepping out on the street. The first thing we saw was a street vendor.

“My first street hot dog,” Riley said before gnawing off a mouthful. “You guys are going to regret not ordering one for yourselves.”

“You didn’t even order that one for yourself,” says Megan. “Harper ordered it for you.”

Trina giggled. It’s true. Riley had been so caught up over how to phrase her order, and what local terms she should use when ordering, that she’d shied away from it altogether.

“Oh, you know you wanted one too,” Riley said cheerfully. Megan’s mother had muttered that it was disgusting to order off the street, so Megan didn’t get one. She scowled. We snapped a pic of Riley holding up her hard-earned hot dog, a ginormous stone fountain in the background.

It’s funny: As we joined the crowds, it all came back to me. I zigzagged my way through the sidewalks full of fast-walking people, tourists with their cameras and fanny packs, making a hole for the rest of the crew to follow behind safely. I learned these moves from my dad, who used to work in the city. When we’d meet him here for lunch, he would take long strides and tunnel his way through any slow-moving mob of people, and we’d be running to keep up. He knew all the shortcuts and the best eateries.

I also knew what was in store for us that was crazy exciting. Something that people from all over the world came especially to see.

“There are so many people!” Lily said.

“It’s that time of year for tourists,” I said. “Just wait.”

We cross the street, and . . . oh! THE TREE! Rockefeller Plaza is the site of the world’s most famous Christmas tree. It had recently been lit, and we all oohed and aahed over it.

“‘The tree has been lit annually for over eighty years,’” Lily read off a sign. “‘More than one hundred million people visit every year. Whoa.”

“Picture time!” The moms whipped out their cameras and had us shuffle as close to the tree as we could. “Say ‘cheese’!”

We walked around and saw the famous skating rink, where people were ice-skating in circles, doing tricks—and falling down laughing. I remembered my parents taking me to ice-skate every few years as a special holiday treat. We looked at some of the incredible, lit-up holiday window displays. Being back there brought on nice memories I hadn’t thought of in a while.