Elly stared around the empty compartment, her mouth hanging open.Sarah, now beside her, noticed another door.”Over there,” she said, pointing. The girls hastened towards a small door on the other side of the compartment. Sarah tried not to stare at the small room’s intimidating controls. Pushing open the door, the girls stepped down to the ground. Sarah wobbled slightly in her heels, looking around. They were in a long, empty tunnel. “Come on,” Elly said. She started forward towards an escalator. They climbed onto it and rose steadily upwards. When they reached the top, they encountered a large, metal door. “Now where do you think this goes?” Elly asked. She shoved her shoulder against the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Sarah scanned the wall around the door. “Maybe try hitting that button?” she said. Elly paused. She looked at the key pad next to the door. “Well, duh,” she said, snorting. She punched the button. The door opened. On the other side…was Grand Central Station. Sarah and Elly exchanged glances. “Is Bent for real?” Sarah asked. “His personal train drops him off here?” Elly rolled her eyes and started down the bustling hallway. Swarms of people rushed to and fro around them. Many were dressed casually, but several wore elegant attire. “I’m starving,” Elly grumbled, walking into Grand Central Terminal. Sarah gazed up at the high ceiling. The constEllytions in the famous mural seemed to pop out at them from the greenish-blue background. “There they are!” Elly murmured. The boys leaned over one of the high balconies that overlooked the station’s floor. Sarah followed Elly up the staircase. Bent and Kurl stood with their arms crossed. They both had relaxed faces, as if they weren’t in serious trouble. Elly pretended to swat each of them. “Take that. AND that!” she said. Sarah let Kurl pull her into a side hug. “You’re tougher than Elly,” Kurl whispered. “You take it like a man.” He kissed the side of her cheek. “Well, don’t expect me to go through that experience ever again,” she said. She put a hand on her hip. Kurl brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “No promises,” he said, laughing. Sarah elbowed him in the side. “OUCH!” he said, bending over and cracking up. Bent watched them stiffly. His jaw clenched. “We better get going.” He walked ahead, pushing open the doors that led outside, to the street. As Sarah stepped out of the station, she inhaled her breath. She was standing in the middle of NEW YORK CITY!!!!Tall skyscrapers rose up around them. Their gleaming windows reflected the bright streetlights. Horns honked loudly. Cars and buses sped by on the busy roads. Crowds of people in dark clothing rushed along the sidewalks in every direction around them. Bent stood near the road, scrolling through his phone. Elly shoved by him. She stretched out her arm. “I’ve already got a car coming,” Bent told her. Elly made a face. “You think I TRUST you?” she said. A yellow cab veered hurriedly off the busy street and came to a screeching stop in front of them. Bent opened the back door. He gestured for them to get into the backseat. “Look, man, I got this,” Kurl said. He climbed into the front seat, next to the cab driver. Elly glared. “Okay, well, I’m not sitting next to Bent. I’m still MAD.” She smiled at Sarah. “That means you’re in the middle, girl!” With a giggle, Elly dove into the backseat and slid over. Sarah bit her lip as she crawled across the seat to get to the center. She sat down, tugging her gold dress to keep it from tangling around her legs. Bent made a strange grunting noise as he slid in beside her and closed the door. “Where to?” the cab driver barked. He was a grumpy-looking man in his late fifties with a five o’ clock shadow and an army crew cut. Bent gave him the cross streets. “There’s a ton of traffic. It’s gonna take us forever to get there if we stick to Fifth,” the cabbie grumbled. Bent kept his face neutral. “FDR Drive should shave off most of that time, don’t you think?” he said. The cabbie scowled. “Kids,” he muttered. The cab driver pushed the clutch into drive. The cab rolled away from the curb and shot out into the chaos of blinking lights and cars.