“So … what should our brilliant plan be for getting both of us on TV?” Mary Ann whispers into my ear for what seems like the three-thousandth time since our plane took off this morning.

I don’t blame Mary Ann for wanting to get that figured out. I’m nervous about it too. But it’s not what I want to think about right now. We just landed in New York. There are so many cool things to see and do. I shove the tourist brochure that Fran’s assistant sent to me into Mary Ann’s hand and point to a picture of a horse and carriage. “Do you think we should take a ride around Central Park?” I ask, ignoring the question Mary Ann asked me.

But Mary Ann ignores the brochure. Her suitcase bumps into my leg as we exit the plane, and she asks her question again.

I know I need to answer her question. But I don’t have a good answer.

As we walk out of the airport, I repeat the schedule that Mom told me this morning. “We’re going to check into the hotel. Eat lunch. Then we’re going to go to Fran’s studio.”

Mary Ann smiles when I say that like a visit to Fran’s studio is the answer to our problems. “I’m sure you can work things out when we get there,” she says.

It feels like the bag of pretzels and can of soda I had on the airplane are stuck in my throat. It doesn’t seem fair that I’m the one in charge of figuring this out, but I feel like I am. “I’ll try,” I tell Mary Ann. Even though designing a winning outfit and getting our moms to bring us both to New York was hard, now that we’re here, I feel like the hard part is just beginning.

Mary Ann and I follow our moms to a yellow taxi that her mom says will take us to our hotel. She also says that we’re going to be amazed when we get there because New York City has everything.

“Do they have a wish pond?” I ask.

Both of our moms laugh.

“I don’t think they have that,” says Mary Ann’s mom.

That’s too bad because that is the one thing I could use right now. As we leave the airport behind, I close my eyes and pretend like I’m at the wish pond on my street. I make a wish.

I wish I will figure out a way to get Mary Ann on Fashion Fran with me.

I keep my eyes closed for an extra-long time. I really want my wish to come true. I know Mary Ann wants to be on the show. I do too. I want us to both be on the show. Together.

I open my eyes when I feel someone’s hand on my shoulder. “Mallory, look out the window,” says Mom. She points to row after row of tall buildings.

Mary Ann and I both lean forward to get a better view.

I tap our taxi driver on the shoulder. “Is that New York City?” I ask pointing out his windshield.

“That’s the East River,” he says. “And that’s the city in front of us.”

“Wow!” I say. “I’ve never seen so many skyscrapers!”

“Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!” Mary Ann says. She told me she’s going to say one “Wow!” for each skyscraper she sees. But she stops after sixteen “Wows!”

“There are so many skyscrapers, I’d spend the whole trip saying wow,” she says.

Both our moms laugh and so does our taxi driver.

I take a deep breath. I’m starting to feel like this trip is going to be a lot of fun. The sights of New York City are so exciting, and I am glad they are making Mary Ann think about something else besides the show.

There’s so much to see as we drive through the streets of New York. “I’ve never seen so many stores or buildings or cars,” I say.

“Or people!” says Mary Ann.

She’s right. “There are people everywhere you look!” I say. There are people walking on the sidewalks, coming out of buildings, riding bicycles, and crossing streets.

“You’ll see people out and about twenty-four hours a day,” says our taxi driver. “New York is known as the city that never sleeps.”

I dig in my purse and pull out my camera. “We’re going to have to take a lot of pictures,” I say to Mary Ann. I roll down the window and start snapping shots from the taxi.

Mary Ann takes out her camera and starts taking pictures too. “Our New York City scrapbook is going to be our biggest one ever!”

Everything that is going on outside our taxi is so exciting. New York is completely different from Fern Falls. We take pictures until our taxi stops in front of our hotel.

“We’re here!” says Mom.

Mary Ann’s mom pays the taxi driver. We all get out of the taxi and get our suitcases.

“I can’t believe we’re really in New York!” says Mary Ann. I can’t either. We start jumping up and down on the sidewalk. We scream together, “We’re here! We’re here! We’re here!” I’m feeling happier by the minute.

Lots of people pass us while we’re jumping and screaming, but no one seems to be paying any attention to us. Except our moms.

“Come on, girls,” says my mom.

We follow her into the hotel.

“This place is awesome!” says Mary Ann when we get inside.

She’s right. It’s more than awesome. I look up. The ceilings are higher than my house. The lobby is filled with fluffy couches, fancy rugs, and vases of flowers.

“Let’s check in and take the bags to the room,” says my mom. “We can all freshen up, and then we’ll get some lunch and go to the studio,”

When she says “go to the studio,” I look at Mary Ann. I know I should be thinking about what we’re going to do when we get there. But I’m not. And I can tell Mary Ann isn’t either. It’s hard to think about anything except how exciting it is to be in New York.

I feel like a candy dish. The only difference is that I’m filled up with happiness, not mints or jelly beans.

Mary Ann and I walk around the lobby while our moms talk to a lady behind the desk. Then we follow them into an elevator and up to the twenty-fourth floor.

When we get inside our room, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. There are two huge beds covered in fluffy pillows. There’s a big window with long, fancy curtains. And behind another door is a marble bathroom with an oversized bathtub. But the best thing in our room is a big basket of fruit and candy on the desk. The card with it says: To Miss Mallory McDonald. I open it and start reading.

“Wow!” I say. I pop a chocolate into my mouth. I don’t know if it is because they’re from Fran or because we’re in New York and candy tastes extra good here, but it is the best chocolate I’ve ever had.

Mary Ann eats a chocolate too. She goes to the window and looks outside. “Wow!” she says. “Mallory, you have to see this!”

I go to the window and look out. There is an incredible view of New York City outside our window. I can look into some buildings and see the tops of other ones. “Wow!” I say. “I’ve never slept so high up.”

Our moms look at each other. “Wow!” they say at the same time. Mary Ann’s mom and my mom start laughing. “You girls sound like parrots who only know one word,” says Colleen.

We might sound like parrots, but I can’t think of a better word to describe everything. New York is WOW!

I hop on the bed and start jumping. “Wow! Wow! Wow!”

Mary Ann hops on the bed and starts jumping with me. “Wow! Wow! Wow!” she repeats.

We hold hands while we jump.

We both fall down on the bed on top of the big fluffy pillows and start laughing.

Being in New York is so exciting. I was worried this morning, but now I feel just one thing, and I can tell my best friend feels the same thing: happy.

I feel happy.

Happy! Happy! Happy!