“Okay, now that I finally have you alone, what is the deal with Whit? How come you’ve never mentioned him?” I asked as I jumped onto my bed and faced Ivy.
Ivy smacked her hands over her face. “I had no idea Whit was going to be there,” she said. “I knew we’d be seeing Dakota, but I didn’t know Whit was interning this year.”
“So?” I pressed. “How well do you know him?”
“Well, like Whit said, all three of us had been in school together since kindergarten. My mom and Whit’s mom and Dakota’s dad all started working at City Nation around the same time, and we were all enrolled at the Montessori school a few blocks away. So we were sort of friends the way you are when you’re little, right? Like people you might not necessarily get along with when you’re older. Like I said, Dakota’s supercompetitive, and she always has been. But we coexisted okay. Then, for some reason, she kind of turned on me last year. She stirred up a bunch of trouble and got a group of girls to stop talking to me, then she tried to get Whit on her side and to get his friends to stop talking to me, too. For, like, no reason. But by then, my parents already had this plan to move, and after a month or so most people were forgetting they weren’t supposed to talk to me, so I just kind of let it go. But it really upset me. To this day, I have no idea what set her off.”
“Any chance it might have been Whit?” I asked.
“What? Why would you say that?” Ivy asked, though her cheeks were starting to turn pink again.
“Well, I was kind of getting the impression that she likes Whit,” I said. “And Whit obviously likes you. So…”
Ivy’s cheeks flushed bright red then. “He obviously likes me? Where did that come from?”
“Well, just from the way he acts around you,” I said. “Like how he looks at you when someone else is talking. He pays attention to you. He just kind of gets sparkly when you’re around.”
“Sparkly?” Ivy repeated, laughing.
I laughed, too. “No, I know, but you know what I mean, right?”
“About sparkly? In a bizarre way, yes. But you think Whit might really like me?”
“I’m just telling you the vibe I was getting,” I said. “Would that be a good thing? If he liked you?”
Ivy looked thoughtful. “It sure would have been if I hadn’t moved,” she said. “But he lives three hours away from me now. I mean yeah, obviously it would be a good thing, but…it would be kind of a bummer, too.”
“New York’s not that far away,” I pointed out. “And your mom is working here again now. Who knows—you could end up spending the summer here. It could happen, right?”
“It could, I guess,” Ivy agreed. “I don’t know.”
“Well, I do know,” I said. “You were pushy with me when I didn’t want to do anything about Benny Novak, and you were right! He ended up asking me out. So now I’m being pushy with you about Whit.”
Ivy smiled at me.
“Thanks,” she said. “I really was surprised to see him. Everything was happening so fast.”
“Yeah, what a long and crazy day,” I said.
“And it’s not over yet,” Ivy reminded me. “We’ve still got work to do. What is taking Miko and Tally so long, anyway?”
Ivy started fiddling with her cell phone.
“What are you doing?” I asked her.
I laughed at Ivy’s laziness. “Don’t strain yourself or anything,” I said.
I could actually hear Tally’s squeals in the next room, and moments later the door to our room burst open and they came in.
“Sorry we took so long,” Tally apologized. “Miko was helping me try on those things of hers. She brought so many clothes, I’ll have something new to wear every day! I’m glad I forgot my suitcase!”
Miko rolled her eyes. “And I watched the video I shot today. I should be able to upload it with just a few easy edits I can do on my laptop,” she said.
“Awesome,” Ivy told her. “Okay, so are you guys ready?”
“Explain it again,” Tally said.
“We’re going to answer questions people have posted on the blog, but instead of typing them like we usually do, we’re going to record our responses on video.”
“I’ll set up the webcam shot. Paulina, why don’t you pull the blog up on your laptop?” Ivy said. “I hope people actually posted questions. I didn’t want to look beforehand because I want the whole thing to feel spontaneous, you know? Like the readers are really interviewing us. Okay, everybody squish together on the bed.”
“Don’t forget to leave room for Ivy,” I pointed out as Tally sprawled beside me.
“That’s good. This will get all four of us. I’m turning the camera on.”
Seconds later, we were all squeezed in next to each other on the screen, smiling at the webcam.
“4 Girls here,” Ivy said. “We’re coming to you from our hotel on West Forty-Second Street, and boy, have we had a long day.”
“Later tonight we’ll post an article and a video about our experiences in the editorial and design departments at City Nation today,” I added. “Be sure to check back for those. In the meantime, we’ve got a little free time, and we’ve been dying to check the blog to see who’s got questions for us.”
I had my laptop open, half on my lap and half on Tally’s. I had already opened the blog and clicked through to the thread we’d started for questions and answers. I was relieved to see four questions had already been posted. I nudged Tally, and she cleared her throat.
“Okay, question one is from Puppyfan29. ‘I saw a movie about someone working at a magazine in New York, and they showed all the people as either mean or snooty. What are the people at City Nation like?’ That’s a great question. Thanks, Puppyfan. I feel like we met all kinds of different people today. The people in the editorial department were all different ages, but I would say I saw more people that were dressed kind of quirky or stood out in some way. Definitely everybody is really smart.”
“The design associates I met were all super well-dressed, no big surprise,” Miko said. “I guess they could sort of appear intimidating at first, but they were all really cool and nice to me. I think they’re all just really psyched to work at City Nation.”
Satisfied with our answers, I read the next question.
“‘From what you’ve seen so far, do you think City Nation is a cool place to work? Would you want to work there?’ Good question from PinkyPie. I’d have to say yes to both. City Nation is known for its writing, current events pieces, photography, fashion coverage, and editorials. If you’re a creative person and you want to work for a really high-level group, I think you’d be crazy to not want to work there. As some of you know, Ivy’s mom does work there, so maybe Ivy wants to add something more.”
Ivy nodded. “Yes to everything Paulina said, but also it can be tough. They expect you to be the best because they are the best. So if you want to work at City Nation, you have to stay on your toes.”
“Now one more question, from CaptainPony,” Miko said, leaning forward to read the screen. “‘Have you found out who is going to be on the cover yet? Are you still each getting to ask that person a question?’ We still have no idea, but the photo shoot is scheduled for tomorrow, so keep checking back. When we know, you’ll know!”
“So that’s about all we have to report for tonight,” Ivy said. “Tomorrow we’re due back at City Nation at nine AM, and we’re prepared for anything. Whatever happens, we’ll be sure to keep all of you in the loop. Until then, New York hellos from your favorite 4 Girls.”
Tally blew a kiss, and Miko and I waved, then Ivy got up and switched the webcam off.
“Cool,” she said. “I think that went well.”
“It did,” I said. “Though I feel like I sound funny when I talk on camera.”
“Oh no, you sounded like a pro!” Tally reassured me.
“Mmm, if you say so,” I answered. “Wow, I’m really exhausted.”
“We should all get some sleep,” Ivy said. “I was serious when I said we have to be prepared for anything tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day, and we all have to be at our absolute best.”
Ivy went to say good night to her mother. I yawned, changed into my pajamas, and crawled into bed. I was only too glad to get some rest, but my mind was racing from all the crazy excitement of City Nation. The faces of Garamond and Constantia and Bob and Vicky and Helvetica herself floated through my mind.
Be prepared for anything, I told myself. I was running one hundred different versions of what “anything” might be when I finally fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.