Counting Stars | ✔

Chapter Sixty-seven

I give her one last hug before sliding into the passenger seat.

"Love this!" Steff says from the back, looking around the car, trying to check out all of its features. "Which rent place did you get it from?"

Liam shrugs.

"I don't know. Ryan got it and left it at my place last night. Says he doesn't want to drive."

I turn around and watch as Steff rolls her eyes.

"Typical!"

"I can drive when you're tired," I tell Liam.

He smiles at me warmly.

"I got this. Let's just hope he is all packed and ready," He says, putting the key in the ignition and starting the car.

***

The six-hour drive to New York is not nearly as dreadful as I feared. We stop twice, once to get gas and then to grab some food and freshen up.

We put on a road trip playlist prepared by Steff and sing along to the songs we know. She and I annoy Liam by telling him to pull over every 30 minutes so we can take pictures. I've brought my most treasured possession, my camera. I take a shot of every picturesque scene we come across.

Ryan ends up driving the last few miles, which gives Liam and me plenty of time to make out in the back seat as they groan and complain. We end up stopping to watch the sunset in Greenport, a village on the north fork of Long Island. I take about a thousand pictures of the breathtaking seaside sunset and a thousand more of us on the shore.

When we arrive in the City, it's a little after 9. I am not too shocked to find that New York is as loud and crowded as they say. Probably worse. Ryan powers through the horrendous traffic as we make our way to our Airbnb, and I admire the artful Skyscrapers from a distance when we drive across the Brooklyn bridge.

I am surprised to find the Airbnb airy and well-furnished. I was expecting a small hole in the wall because people always complain about the space issue in New York. But it is spacious and clean. I fall in love with it as soon as we walk inside. It feels like I am getting a glimpse of what the future holds, and it gives me a sense of excitement. Our landlord is a nice older man. He quickly shows us around and leaves us to ourselves.

Steff wants to go out for a late dinner, but we are all exhausted. We end up ordering in, and we fall asleep as soon as we hit the bed.

***

The first couple of days are spent exploring the City, and we do every touristy thing imaginable. We visit MOMA and Guggenheim museum, and Steff and I take a thousand pictures on the steps of the Met and the Palace Hotel while enacting a few scenes from Gossip Girl.

We go to the World Trade Center, and we take the elevator ride that features a time-lapse of the New York City skyline from the 1500s to the present day. We get the best cheesecake I've ever had at Junior's, and we go to Times Square to see the famous world's largest digital art display right before midnight. I admire the Broadway Theatres, and Liam promises he will buy us tickets for Harry Potter and The Cursed Child play if it hasn't sold out.

Steff enjoys every single one of our Subway commutes. She handles all the walking around like a real New Yorker and blends into the crowd while I seem out of place. After a little breakfast at Tiffany's moment, we go to the Transit Museum and sit in old subway cars, pretending to be in an old movie. I enjoy every minute spent inside St. Patrick's Cathedral, and we explore the Rockefeller Center once we leave the Cathedral.

On our third day, Ryan and Steff decide to go to the New York harbor to see the statue of liberty, but we skip that so we can dedicate the day to exploring Central Park.