I was surprised to see Megan walk up to me. “Did you catch the subway a lot when you lived up here?”

“Not that much,” I said. “My parents would sometimes drive in and we’d walk from there. But when we did ride the subway, it was cool.”

“I don’t see what’s so cool about it.” Megan shrugged, aiming to look bored and unimpressed, but not one hundred percent convincingly.

“Don’t you think it’s something you can’t miss seeing when you visit New York?”

“I could do without it, “ she said as coolly as she could. “I don’t like to be with, uh, the masses. Underground seems beneath it all. You know?”

A blast of hot air entered the tunnel with a force, which startled Megan and obliterated her cool.

“What—? What’s happening?” she asked, looking around her. She watched the train arrive like it would run out of space to stop in time. Nothing in her face seemed to scream, Fun!

Ah, I thought. I recognized this side of Megan from our flight here. She’s scared.

“Let’s go, girls!” Vanessa called, leading us onto the train. She held the doors just in case they attempted to close before we were all on.

Thankfully, for Megan’s sake, we all found seats, and we were only a few stops from our destination.

As she sat rocking side to side with the motion of the express train flying through tunnels, Megan plugged into her music and closed her eyes.

“Sweetie? Are you all right, honey?” her mother asked, concerned that her daughter wasn’t joining in with our chatty conversation about movies and TV shows we could think of that were filmed in real or fake New York subway systems.

“Not counting those holiday movies you’re always watching,” Lily said to Trina.

“No fair!” She grinned.

“I’m okay,” Megan said, hanging on to the pole for dear life. Then she squinted her eyes. “Is that . . .”

We all followed her gaze. There, sitting on a seat wearing headphones, was a celebrity influencer we all recognized.

“It is,” Megan breathed.

“Down here with the masses,” Riley pointed out.

Megan’s whole attitude shifted. Hopefully, this meant she’d be more pleasant over dinner, I thought.

“Welcome to the legendary Greenwich Village!” said Vanessa with a flourish as we exited the subway and made our way aboveground.

We oohed and aahed our way around the neighborhood, exploring the shops, the architecture, and the epic people-watching.

“Now, this is my type of area,” said Megan, admiring the uniqueness of everything she laid her eyes on. “Fancy.”

“Does that mean the subway trip was worth it?” I teased her.

“Duh, of course,” Megan said. “All real New Yorkers take the subway.”

It was good to see her feeling better. Even if that meant I’d have to keep a sharp eye and ear out for her shady remarks.

“Well, when you try the food at the restaurant we’re going to, you’ll agree it was all worth it,” said Vanessa.