“It’s fine!” Megan and I both said quickly.

“I guess you both have to watch from the sidelines, the way we’ll be watching you both tomorrow,” said Trina, smiling.

“That’s fair.” I smiled back at her. Actually, it made me feel better about my solo privilege knowing that the rest of the squad would enjoy a special outing like this. “Megan and I can cheer you guys on. We can get hot chocolate, right, Vanessa?”

“Definitely,” Vanessa said, smiling.

“Megan, they have the best hot chocolate at the rink,” I said. “It’s like drinking a melted candy bar.”

“That does sound yummy.” Megan gave in. Her mother relaxed too.

We made our way to the rink, which was still pretty busy, even at night. Megan and I hung out with the rest of the squad as they rented ice skates. After they laced up their classic white skates, Lily and Trina handed us their phones like we were their personal photographers.

Trina and Lily were on the ice first.

“This place is so cool! I can’t pay attention to where I’m going when the view is so distracting!” Trina said.

This had to be the best place in the city to see the holiday lights—especially when the sun was going down like it was now. The decorated Christmas tree stood high above the rink like some special guest from a gigantic magical forest. It was so gorgeous. And the famous bronze statue of Prometheus at the level below the tree was not bad on the eyes either. It was a shimmering sight and surrounded by a water feature you could stare at all day. Plus, those holiday lights. They were everywhere and on everything lining the plaza. I remembered when I had my own ice skates and used to skate on the pond near our neighborhood.

“I forgot how much I love to ice-skate,” Lily said to Trina as she skated by. “I don’t think about it as much in Florida. I can usually go to the beach in the winter, not an outdoor rink!”

“Nice!” I said, leaning over the rail to snap a few pics of Lily’s graceful glides. Megan stood next to me, reluctantly aiming Trina’s cell phone at Trina as she cautiously made her way around the rink. She was kind of gliding/stepping her way around the outer part of the rink, hanging on to the boards.

“C’mon, do something worth taking a picture of,” Megan teased Trina. Trina paced a bit away from the railing herself and waved at the camera.

“Where’s Riley?” I asked, looking around.

Trina chimed in. “Yeah, anyone seen Riley? She was with us when we were putting on our skates.”

Just then, Vanessa and Riley’s mom skated by, arm in arm.

“Aw, look how cute that was!” Trina squealed.

“Riley’s not with Vanessa or the moms,” I said, craning my neck toward the outdoor seating.

“She’s wearing black, so it’ll be tough to find her in this crowd,” said Lily, peering over the crowd.