BSC in NYC!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, but you already knew that!

I couldn't remember what Stacey's dad's nickname was for her, so if it's not Bootsie, then I apologize for the mistake, but I remember it was something like that.

Deare Mom, Dad, and Janine,

I am haveing the best time in NY! Alredy we have bean to the Nashural Hestory Moozeum and Times Sqare! There are lots of grate shops in Times Square! There was one that suld lots of chaclite!

Love,

Claudia

When Stacey and I had returned to her father's apartment after visiting the Natural History Museum (I had bought the chilliest necklace at the gift shop), Mr. McGill was watching the evening news in the living room. We hadn't seen him much that day since he had immediately left for the office after dropping us off at his apartment.

"Oh, good, you're back," he said as Stacey and I walked in. He turned off the TV. "There's something I want to talk to you about something, honey."

Stacey gave me a sideways glance. "Is everything okay?" She sat on the coach and I sat next to her.

"Oh, yes, everything is fine," her father reassured her. "I just wanted to tell you I'm dating someone."

There was a pause before Stacey tentatively said, "You are?"

"Yes, and I would love for you to meet her. I've told her all about you and she's dying to meet you. I figured we could have lunch together tomorrow. I think you would really like her, Bootsie. Her name is Carrie Bradshaw and -"

"Oh my Lord!" I exclaimed as Stacey squealed with excitement. "Did you say Carrie Bradshaw?"

"Yes, you girls have heard of her?"

"Duh, Dad! Of course we've heard of her! Carrie Bradshaw is like, a legend!" Stacey squealed again. "Oh my God! I can't believe you're dating her! That is so cool! Or maybe not. I don't know if I want to hear about my own father in the columns she writes."

Mr. McGill choked on the coffee he had just sipped. "You read her columns?"

"Oh, they're fabulous," I interjected. "Much more interesting than the boring books we have to read for school."

"Don't you girls think you're a little to young to be reading the, uh, material she writes about?"

"Dad! We're thirteen and very mature for our age!" Stacey exclaimed.

"Much more mature than our other friends," I agreed.

"So you'll have lunch with us then? I was thinking of making reservations at Tavern on the Green."

"Of course I'll come!" Stacey said excitedly. "I just hope I have something to wear that's appropriate for meeting one of New York's most fashionable women."

"Don't worry, Stace, I'll help you," I said. "Together we'll pick out an outfit for you that's super chilly."

"Um, sure, Claud." Stacey glanced at her pink Fossil watch. "It's almost time to meet the others at Times Square."

"I better change then!" I exclaimed. "I have the perfect outfit to wear on a night out on the town!"

"Yeah, I need to change too," Stacey agreed.

I have to say both Stacey and I looked very sophisticated. She was wearing a black leather mini skirt with a rhinestone belt and a white tank top with the words ROCK STAR written across it in glitter. The only jewelry she wore was a bunch of silver bangles on her right arm. She told me that the thing in style right now is to wear only one kind of jewelry, but I don't think I could do that because I love wearing lots of jewelry! I was wearing a tank top covered with pink feathers and red and black snakeskin pants. I had swept my hair up with a barrette in the shape of a snake. Around my neck I wore a necklace in the shape of a snake. One of my earrings was a pink feather and the other was a tiny silver snake. I looked at myself in the mirror, very satisfied. I looked very chilly indeed.

"Hey, where's Dawn?" Stacey asked when we had met up with the others in front of Planet Hollywood.

Kristy rolled her eyes. "She offered to stay back at the hotel to watch David Michael, Karen, and Andrew. She didn't need to do that, of course, since Mom and Watson are in for the night, but that was her excuse. She just didn't want to come to Times Square at night."

Stacey just shrugged. "Her loss."

"Let's go in here first! I want to get a shirt!" Mary Anne said.

"Mary Anne, I thought you already had a shirt from Planet Hollywood," said Jessi.

"No, I have one from the Hard Rock Café, but not Planet Hollywood," Mary Anne corrected her. "Which reminds me, we must eat at the Hard Rock Café before we leave New York!"

Once Mary Anne had bought her shirt, we continued walking down the busy sidewalk. Since it was July, Times Square was packed with people, many of them tourists who didn't speak English. We went into the Swatch store where hundreds of watches, all different colors and styles were sold. I wish I could have bought all of them! I would have so much fun coordinating an outfit for each of them!

We next stopped in one of Stacey's favorite stores, Sephora, which sells make-up and other beauty products. Kristy looked bored as the rest of us oohed and aahed over the newest products.

"Smell this! It smells like a margarita!" Jessi told Mal as she picked up a plastic bottle filled with something green. "And it's shampoo and conditioner!"

"Ooh! I love it!" exclaimed Mallory. "This will be the closest I'll ever come to having a margarita. I wished I was old enough to wear make-up though." She looked wistfully at all the beauty products.

"I definitely want to come back here," I declared. "I could spend hours here!"

Stacey laughed. "And I believe it. Trust me, I have spent hours there!"

"Oh for crying out loud." Kristy rolled her eyes. "What's the big deal about make up anyway?"

Stacey and I shared a look. Kristy can be so immature at times.

We continued walking. I noticed a lot of tourists were taking photos of me and I secretly congratulated myself for making myself so noticeable that people thought I made a great attraction. Maybe they even thought I was a native New Yorker! I also noticed that there were a lot of people who were dressed as wildly as I was, but they had something that made them stand out: fushia colored hair, mohawks, tattoos, multiple piercing. I always thought I stood out, but apparently not as much as I thought I did!

"Ooh! A Hello Kitty store!" Mal squealed. "I love Hello Kitty! Let's go in there!"

Stacey mumbled something about Hello Kitty being for eight years old, but we went in the store anyway. Mary Anne immediately burst into tears.

"Mary Anne!" I took her arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you, Claudia." Mary Anne took out a Kleenex and dabbed her eyes. "It's just that being around all these Hello Kitty cats reminds me of Tigger and I miss him so much." She blew her nose.

I patted her arm. "There, there."

After Mallory bought a pair of Hello Kitty earrings, we continued walking, passing many famous sites such as the TRL building.

"That would be so fresh if we could be on TRL," I heard Mal say to Jessi behind me. "Especially if someone really chilly was the guest."

"Charlie and Sam are thinking about going down," Kristy said. "They heard Jennifer Lopez is going to be on to promote her new album or movie or something and they're dying to get a glimpse of her."

"I don't know what's so great about her," Stacey said, stiffening beside me. I could detect a note of jealousy in her voice. Stacey and Sam have a kind of past. They sometimes date, but lately they've been in a dry spell.

"You're much more prettier than Jennifer Lopez," I assured my best friend.

She smiled at me. "Thanks, Claud."

"Oh my Lord!" I exclaimed looking up. "I see a giant Hershey's bar!"

"Oh!" Stacey laughed. "That's the Hershey store where they sell-"

But I was already running towards it and was the first to reach the store that sold chocolate! Nothing but chocolate! I was in heaven!

"Whoa, it's a good thing Dawn's not here," Kristy said when the rest of my friends caught up with me. "She'd probably tell us we'd get cavities just by being here."

"We should buy her one of those huge candy bars," I laughed pointing to a four foot tall chocolate bar leaning against a wall.

Everyone except Stacey bought something. I bought a fancy bag of tiny assorted chocolates. I would probably have them all eaten by tomorrow though. As we left the shop and passed a girl in her twenties with not only an eyebrow ring and a nose ring, but also hair dyed purple on one side and bright red on the other side, I decided that I was going to do something dramatic to change my look.