All Tomorrow's Parties

New York is without a doubt the coolest damn city on the entire planet.

My fascination with the Big Apple began when I was about ten years old, on New Year's Eve in the living room of my parents' old farmhouse. Bex and I spent the night sprawled on our stomachs on the floor, eyes trained on the TV as we watched the ball drop in Times Square and listened to the screams of the crowd. I remember turning to Bex and informing her that someday we were going to live there and be rich and famous.

We might not be at the rich and famous stage yet - actually, we're about as far from rich and famous as it is humanly possible to get - but we're living in New York City, baby! Sure, our apartment is the size of a dollhouse, and our neighbors are a tad unfriendly. There might be a slight amount of air pollution, and rent is not going to be cheap. But you know what? We're finally here, and we're not leaving any time soon.

The morning of our second day in the little apartment on the sixteenth floor, I woke up early like I always do. In fact, my entire morning routine was exactly the same as it always has been, except for the fact that the background noise had drastically changed. The morning soundtrack for those who grew up in rural Ohio was usually limited to birds chirping, and not much else. Here, a cacophony of noises presented themselves even before my eyes were fully open. Horns honking, engines revving, the shouts of street vendors and cab drivers alike, music playing from thousands of radios, and the general sounds of some eight million people waking up were all floating in through my open window.

After taking a fifteen-minute shower in which I indulged my need to sing loudly (and probably off-key) the entire time, I wrapped a towel around myself and padded across the hall into my bedroom. Not bothering to dry my thick brown hair, I quickly shimmied into my clothes before dancing back across the hall into Bex's room.

All I could make out of my cousin the shadowy, box-filled room was a mass of flaxen hair piled at the end of a sheet-covered lump smack dab in the center of the mattress. Smirking, I took a running leap and landed directly on top of her. "Bex! Wake up! We're still in New York!"

"Where the hell else did you think we'd be?" came the sleepily grumbled response from beneath me as Bex shoved a pillow in my general direction. "Get off of me."

"Get out of bed."

"I can't very well do that with you digging your kneecap into my spleen, now can I?" she yawned, rolling to the side. I flopped down beside her with a grin, propping my chin on one fist.

"Are you awake yet?" I asked, poking her with my free hand. She smacked my hand half-heartedly as she blinked at me through sleep-clouded grey eyes.

"Yes, I'm awake. You were rehearsing for your American Idol audition in the shower, how could I sleep through that?" she asked dryly.

"Didn't know you were listening, or else I would've sang louder," I said with a laugh, hopping up from the bed. I was too excited to sit still for long. "So what are we going to do today? Organize? Explore? Decorate? All of the above?"

Bex sat up, leaning back on her elbows as she surveyed me with a look on her face that I knew all too well. It was her you're-a-head-case look that I received on almost a daily basis. "How about we have some coffee first, yeah?" she said, allowing a smile to creep across her face. "Though I don't think you really need it."

I sighed dramatically. "Fine. I'll go make you coffee like the wonderful person I am, and then, Rebecca, we are making a game plan for the day."

She laughed. "Yes sir, Energizer bunny, sir."

I stuck my tongue out at her as I sashayed out of the room.

***

Ten minutes later, we were both leaned up against the cabinets in the minuscule kitchen. Bex was sipping on a cup of coffee made with our very well loved coffeemaker that had survived all of our high school years, while I was drowning Teddy Grahams in milk.

"So," she said, setting her mug down on the granite-colored countertop. "I think we should definitely see about finding some apartment essentials today. Y'know, those trivial things like furniture, and groceries, and maybe a lamp or two so we're not carrying around candles like a reenactment of Little House on the Prairie?"

I swallowed a mouthful of milk and nodded my agreement to her suggestion. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm seeing images of you dropping a candle and setting the imaginary living room rug on fire."

She raised one eyebrow, taking another gulp of coffee. "Hate to break it to you, babe, but if anyone was going to set a rug that we don't yet have on fire, it would be you."

"I know," I laughed, biting the head off of another Teddy Bear. "I just like to imagine that you're the clumsy one in this duo."

Bex shook her head in amusement, causing her long hair to sway gently. "Why do I put up with you?" she asked, hip-checking me lightly into the counter as she stepped across the kitchen to dump the remains of her coffee into the already stained sink.

"Because you love me, duh," I said, blowing her a kiss and fluttering my eyelashes. She laughed again and flipped me off affectionately, moving gracefully into the adjoining room. I followed suit, twisting my hair into a semi-respectable ponytail as I went.

In the living room, Bx bent to retrieve her bag from the floor and slung it over one shoulder, digging through it to pull out her car keys. I immediately began to protest.

"Oh no," I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "We are in no way, shape, or form taking your car."

"Why not?" she asked, offended.

"Because! Traffic is going to be a nightmare, and we're close enough to walk to just about anywhere, and we need to experience the public transportation system! It's part of our cultural adjustment to the big city life!" I said earnestly, shooting her my best toothpaste-ad smile.

She frowned. "But I love my car."

"But nothing! You can still love your car while we're riding the subway," I told her, unfolding my arms to grasp her elbows. "Bex, come on! We're burning daylight standing here, and we have so much to do!"

She sighed in defeat, letting her keys fall back into the depths of her bag. "Alright, alright, you win. Let's go have an adventure."

"That's the spirit!" I cheered, my smile so wide that I probably looked like the Cheshire cat. I opened the door and tugged her towards it, making her smile as she came along. Linking arms, we left the apartment for our first taste of the Big Apple.