wanted to see and do.
“The 9/11 Memorial first, I think,” Danika was saying as Chance and I raced each other, chugging a glass of orange juice.
I won.
Barely.
“Please tell me we don’t have to walk there,” I complained, sounding like a chick.
“Hell no.” Danika looked at me like I was crazy. “That’s far. We’ll take the train.”
“She means, the subway,” Chance interjected.
“Cool. Let me go shower real quick, and then I’ll be ready to go,” I said, and Chance shot me a look.
“Race you,” he said before taking off, running toward his room, and I sprinted toward mine in response.
Were we always so competitive?
After the quickest shower in the history of the world, I got dressed and didn’t even tie my shoes before running into the living room. Chance was sitting at a barstool, sipping a mug and tapping his fingers on the countertop, like he’d been waiting hours for me to get there.
Punching his arm, I shook my head. “How long?”
“Just got out here.” He laughed.
“I swear you two weren’t like this last year,” Danika said.
“I think this is how they show their love,” Sunny added, and I considered that maybe she was right. We hadn’t been this childish when we lived together.
We all grabbed coats and gloves because it was still cold as shit outside. But nothing was going to stop me from seeing this memorial.
We walked the short distance to the subway, and I was impressed as hell when we entered a whole new world underground. There were empty booths, kiosks, newspaper stands, and people rushing every which way. It was like an entire city existed underneath the roads above.
The four of us bought MetroCards from what was basically a vending machine before swiping them and walking through a turnstile to even more chaos. There were so many people running and darting around others in their rush to get to wherever they were going. I gripped Sunny’s hand even tighter, not wanting her to get run over.
I followed Danika down, down, and even further down until I was convinced that we couldn’t possibly go any lower. We rounded a corner, and another world opened up. The smell of stale air hit my nostrils, and I noticed how warm it was. There were multiple tracks littered with trash, and steam was billowing as people waited for their trains to arrive, completely oblivious to anything else, except their cell phones.
“I’m loving this.” Sunny gripped my arm, her eyes filled with wonder. “Even the trash,” she said, and I laughed.
“What are you two whispering about?” Chance leaned toward us before putting a hand in the air. “No. Don’t tell me. I probably don’t want to know.”
Our “train” arrived in no time, and I assumed that we’d have to stand. Once we got on though, Danika found four seats for us, and we took them right as the doors closed and the train took off. There were multiple stops and starts with people getting on and off in clusters. I was just about to stand up to offer my seat to a pregnant woman when Chance beat me to it.
When we reached our stop, the four of us exited and followed a steep set of stairs back above ground. It was bright as hell, and I shielded my eyes until they corrected themselves.
“This way.” Danika continued to lead us in the proper direction, and I had no idea how she did it.
I was so fucking turned around that nothing made sense. Where we were looked different than where we’d been, but that literally meant nothing to me.
We kept walking, my eyes taking in all the buildings as my steps slowed. It was almost like I sensed we were close.
Sunny pulled on my hand. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said as I stared up at the tall, looming tower.
“It’s right up here.” Danika pointed ahead.
The second we crossed the tree-lined threshold, the whole atmosphere seemed to shift. This part of the city felt heavy with what had once been. Or maybe it was just me. As we made our way toward the footprints of the old buildings, which were now water features outlined with everyone’s names, I sucked in a somber breath, feeling the weight of it all.
It seemed unreal, but I’d seen the pictures. I’d watched the videos. It had really happened.
Sunny wrapped an arm around my middle and leaned her head against my shoulder. “I wonder what the roses mean,” she said, pointing to a single white rose sticking out of someone’s name