We Awaken by Calista Lynne Page B

shoulder as we hugged, I realized someone was missing.
    “Where’s Ellie?”
    Her voice came from directly behind me.
    “Here, just pretending to not be a third wheel as you get your little reunion over with. Jeez, you guys were only apart for what, twenty minutes? Thirty?” She didn’t sound bitter, just joking. I let go of Ashlinn, and Ellie gave me a much shorter congratulatory hug.
    “What did you do after we left?” I asked. “It’s probably really bad that three teenage girls split up in New York City.”
    Ellie shrugged. “It’s practically Disney World out here with the amount of tourists. I managed. There’s a parking garage around the corner. A very overpriced one, I’ll have you know. We can only stay a few hours. It was nice enough for me to drive you, but I don’t plan on going broke from today. Anyway, I dropped off The Hovercraft and ran back here. Thankfully, your hot date was waiting outside or else I would have been texting you in the middle of the audition.”
    I realized they had spent the entire time I was dancing and interviewing for my life hanging out with little to do. Ashlinn could have said anything about how we truly met. Ellie didn’t seem too traumatized, though, and I got no sense that she thought either of us was insane. My only prayer was that she had refrained from telling any more stories like the butter knife incident. God knows she had a lot saved up for such occasions. Most of the time I stayed sane by assuming she made them up. Even one of those tales would be preferable to her questioning asexuality, though.
    “We gotta get a move on if you intend to do anything fun today. We don’t have much time and I think we’re getting in the way over here. How much money did you bring?”
    Ellie was never one to mince words when asking questions. I reached into my bag, which was still flung over Ashlinn’s shoulder. Seeing the normal clothes she had packed brought on a wave of uncertainty over standing in public in just a leotard, but I pushed those fears back one spot in line and found my change purse.
    “About twenty bucks.” I had hoped some more money would have magically winked into existence during the audition.
    “That won’t do much if we’re going to eat today, and there’s no way you’re starving me. Okay, we’ll just go to Rockefeller Center and Central Park. They’re free, close, and we can’t waste the day thinking of something to do. Come on.”
    Before she could leave us behind, I pulled out my sundress.
    “I’m not going in ballet shoes and spandex.”
    She groaned. “Go change, and make it quick.”
    “Where do you propose I go? I’m not walking back in there, and I don’t think the cops would approve of me stripping in the streets.”
    She popped a hand on her hip and looked at me over her sunglasses. “They should be grateful for the free show. Fine, duck into the next Starbucks we come across. There’s about three on every block.”
    And with that she marched forward ahead of Ashlinn and me without even awaiting a response. We diligently followed. We reached the next Starbucks before we even came to an intersection, and it was so packed no one noticed when I ran in and out without buying.
    With the pointe shoes already gone and my leotard following suit in mere seconds, I began peeling off the tights. That was a gift, even in the claustrophobic stall of the bathroom, and soon I was wearing an airy sundress and sneakers and was out in record time. Ellie resumed leading the way immediately.
    We walked down the streets past stores I could hardly afford to look at, and homeless people camped out in front of them, asking me for money I could not give. At one point, Ashlinn nearly walked in front of a speeding taxi, not understanding what the red hand flashing on the opposite side of the crosswalk meant, and I grabbed her arm to stop her. Ellie was already across the street and smiled knowingly when I released Ashlinn’s arm in order to hold her