“We’re taking the subway?” Megan asked, disturbed. “Can’t we walk to the restaurant?”

It was true: Every place we’d gone up until then had been within walking distance. And I wasn’t talking New Yorker walking distance, because that would easily be twenty- and thirty-block walks. This neighborhood had so many attractions within it and nearby, we hadn’t ventured out of it and hadn’t even noticed or minded.

“There are other areas to explore!” Vanessa responded, her words forming white puffs in the cool air.

“And it’s kind of the coldest day it’s been so far, and I heard the subways are nice and warm,” said Riley, pulling up her coat collar. She looked like a turtle ready to hide its head in its shell.

“Yeah, I’m sure that warm air is pretty healthy and clean,” retorted Megan with an eye roll.

“Great, Megan,” said her mom, checking her cell phone screen. “The picture caught you mid–eye roll. Let’s do it one more time.”

Megan wore a scowl in the next picture, but we figured it was better than the eye roll, so she didn’t take another.

“How about a taxi?” Megan begged. “A car service? We deserve a limo after our big win!”

With each step we took into the subway, the street noise faded and the cold air was replaced by that old, familiar, kind of gross subway smell.

“I can already tell it’s going to be humid,” said Trina.

“I’m just glad it’s not cold down here,” Riley said, coming out of her turtle shell by letting her coat collar fall. “But ew, what’s that smell?”

“It’s not as bad as it would be if we came in the summertime,” Vanessa said. She seemed pretty skilled at buying us each MetroCards from the vending machine. She pressed buttons rapid-fire, even as she kept talking. “There’s a stronger scent when it’s hot out, for sure.”

“Watch where you step,” said Megan’s mom as she and Riley’s mom helped Vanessa buy and hand out the Metro-Cards.

“What do you mean by that?” Megan asked, clearly spooked. She looked at the floor around her, wincing.

“Only that there probably can be anything from creepy crawlers to gross garbage where you step,” said Trina matter-of-factly. “My aunt had a rat run across her foot once. That’s not even the grossest story she told.”

“Oooh, really?” asked Riley, totally interested. “Tell us the grossest story she’s told you.”

“Um, no, thanks!” Megan holds up her hand to stop Trina from saying any more. “I’ve heard enough.”

“So have I.” Megan’s mom wrinkled her nose. “Can we reconsider the car service?”

“No,” Vanessa said sternly.

MetroCards in hand, we were ready to swipe, walk through the turnstyle, and start our journey.

There were a lot of people standing on the platform heading downtown. Lily, Trina, and Riley decided to study the subway map posted on an information board. Vanessa started chatting to the moms about the summer she’d spent interning and taking dance classes in New York.