Page 13 of One More Weekend

As soon as we started moving, Jenna was suspicious. “If I guess correctly, will you tell me?”

I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes, despite the smile taking over my face. “Can’t you just enjoy it? Do you have to make guesses?”

“Answer the question, damnit.” Jenna nudged me with her shoulder as we walked.

“Sure, I’ll tell you.”

Nodding, Jenna tucked her hands into her trouser pockets. “Cool.”

As we walked, we could feel the sun warming the street. There was still a chill at night that wore off as soon as the beams of light smacked into the concrete of the sidewalks in the morning.

I could smell it in the air, the shift from spring to summer. It wouldn’t be long before businesses put up their pride flags and friends started planning beach days.

After two blocks, I stopped us at the M15-SBS bus stop and pulled out my phone to pay.

“A bus?” Jenna questioned, her eyebrow raising, “Downtown? What could there possibly be to see in FiDi?”

The shorthand made me laugh. Of course, we weretechnicallyheading down toward the Stock Exchange but it was not at all what I had in mind.

But the bus saved me from answering the question as it pulled up in front of us. We hopped on, scanning our phones against the digital screen at the front of the bus before waltzing to the middle of the bus.

It was just us a few commuters who were running a little early to the office. So we took a seat with a view and watched as the city slowly passed by us. The familiar awnings and crowded, narrow streets of Chinatown quickly shifted to towering office buildings and suited dudes with the same haircut.

“I love the bus.” A soft smile rested on Jenna’s face as she watched out the window. I hadn’t seen her look at the city like this in a minute; her eyes were always plastered to her phone, answering work emails.

Under my breath, I whispered, “Me too.”

Before long, I was pulling the long yellow cord overhead signaling to the bus driver that we were ready to get off.

Over the speaker, a robotic voice filled the cabin. “South Ferry, Terminal. Please stand clear of the doors.”

As I stood from my seat, Jenna followed suit with a surprised look on her face. “A ferry?”

Once we stepped off the bus and onto the street, she jumped up with excitement. “Oh! I know what we’re doing!”

“Oh, do you?” I turned around to eye her, playing up my suspiciousness.

“Yep.” Jenna crossed her arms confidently as we crossed the street to Battery Park. As we moved through, toward the railed edge that faced the Hudson Bay, Jenna laughed. “It’s an interesting first choice.”

Whipping around, I kept walking backward. “How do you know? You haven’t confirmed it.”

“Don’t need to.” Jenna bit her lip playfully. “But fine. We’re going to the Statue of Liberty, aren’t we?”

10

JENNA

I could seethat I was right just from the look on Sy’s face, she was almost guilty and it made my stomach turn.

“Ha! I knew it.” I rapped my fingers against each other, like an evil mastermind. “Nothing gets over my head, silly Sy.”

Rolling her eyes, Sy bumped into me as the ferry came into view. “Lucky guess. It’s a guided tour but we don’thaveto stay with the guide.”

We filed into a short line of people standing outside of Castle Clinton, where a red brick wall towered over us with only port holes for old cannons breaking the defense. I hadn’t seen it since freshman year when a group of us headed downtown to explore outside of campus.

My eyes wandered to our fellow attendees. Most of them looked like tourists, wearing fanny packs and good walking sneakers. There were a few kids, excitedly bouncing at their parents’ feet.

“It’s quite a touristy first pick.” I leaned toward Sy and lowered my voice. Immediately, the smell of their earthy sweat hit my nose.

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