Stories from New York #3 Read Free Page B

City!”
    Mel smiled and tipped his hat. “Welcome to Manhattan, Tally,” he said.
    “Everybody with me?” Mrs. Scanlon said as we gathered in the lobby. “I’m just going to check us in and get our key. Ivy, have everyone wait together by the elevators, okay?”
    The lobby was small but elegant. The walls were covered with black-and-white photographs of movie stars and other famous people. One end of the room had a long, shiny desk, and the other side had sleek red chairs and couches. The floors were a gleaming reddish marble and from the ceiling hung a crystal chandelier.
    “Oh, it’s like a little palace!” Tally exclaimed.
    “Hey, look at that picture!” Miko exclaimed, pointing to a framed photo of an elegant, dark-haired woman wearing strings of pearls. “That’s Coco Chanel. She was, like, the most famous designer in the world. Do you think that her picture hanging here means she might have stayed here once?”
    “Oh, you should ask!” Tally said, admiring the picture. “Isn’t she gorgeous? Maybe someone here even met her.”
    But before we could ask, Mrs. Scanlon was back. “Here we go,” she said. “Suite 501. Let’s get settled in quickly because we’re going to have to head right back out again. Tally, the hotel is going to send up a courtesy bag for you with things like a toothbrush and a comb. I’m afraid they can’t help you with clothes, though. You’ll have to borrow from whomever is closest to your size. Miko, maybe?”
    Tally nodded agreeably, but I noticed Miko looked less than thrilled.
    “I can’t believe we’re actually here,” I whispered to Ivy as we got into the elevator. “Your mom seems so calm.”
    “You should see her at the office,” Ivy said. “It can get kind of crazy there, and the more it does, the calmer she gets. I wish I could learn to do that.”
    “Oh please. You’re the calmest person I know,” I told her.
    To my left, Tally was singing “New York, New York,” and Miko was trying to get her to stop.
    “Yeah, not such a huge accomplishment to look like the calmest person in this group,” Ivy said good-naturedly as our elevator reached the fifth floor with a
ping
.
    “We’re here!” Tally squealed.
    “Tally, you cannot do this when we get to
City Nation
,” Miko said as we followed Mrs. Scanlon out of the elevator. “You have to be quiet in an office.” She gave me and Ivy a look that seemed to say, “Can Tally possibly be quiet
anywhere
?”
    Suite 501 was right next to the elevator. Mrs. Scanlon slid the key through the slot and opened the door.
    Tally burst into the room ahead of us, since she was the only one not weighed down by a suitcase. There was a very small central room with a television, couch, and a tiny kitchen area with a minifridge and microwave beneath two small windows.
    “There are three bedrooms in the suite with two double beds each,” Mrs. Scanlon told us. “You’ll share two rooms between you, and I’ll take the third.”
    “Want to share with me, Paulie?” Ivy asked me quickly.
    “Yes!” I exclaimed. Then I saw Miko make a little face. She was superneat, and Tally was notoriously messy. But Tally threw her arms around Miko and squealed, “Roomie!” and Miko smiled.
    “But seriously, you have to stop squealing,” Miko said while hugging Tally back.
    “Take fifteen minutes to put your things away and freshen up, but then we should really get going,” Ivy’s mom said, already texting someone on her phone in one hand and pulling her suitcase into her room with the other.
    “Your mom can totally multitask,” Miko said, looking impressed.
    Ivy nodded. “We really better get moving if she wants us ready in fifteen minutes,” she said.
    Tally shot into the door closest to us, then shot out again.
    “Oops! Bathroom!” she cried, darting into the next room. “Dibs on this one!” she yelled.
    Miko made a face at me. “Do I really have to share with Tally?” she murmured. “She’ll turn the place into a