A/N: Hey Reader! Hope you are doing well. Just wanted to say hello. Stay safe :)

We made our way through the busy streets to Ace's apartment.

Nothing was cheap in New York. Nothing. Even a mini muffin could ring you up to nearly 5 dollars. Apartments and housing was another battle.

We were in Lenox Hill, a part of New York on the edge of the Upper East Side. In this part of town, you were near everything, Central Park was just a few blocks away, the Bethesda and rivers and fountains were just a few of the million things to do and be a part of.

Just a short walk away was the iconic Met, Shakespeare garden, and Belvedere Castle. I posed with one of the statues, grabbing a quick selfie, Ace pulling me along rolling her eyes because she knew I definitely had multiples of that same picture.

"Hurry it up will ya," Ace grunted, as we were pushed through the crowd. " We got things to do, places to be..."

"Chill," I giggled snapping a picture of her as she swatted me away.

We passed some of my favorite food stalls and bakeries, but Ace was unyielding, letting me be baited by the incredible aromas before pulling me back.

But when I saw the hall, I stood steadfast. "What now?" Ace whined.

She followed my gaze to the amber yellow building in front of us. She probably passed it every day, the amaze of it likely work off, but to me, it was still striking.

"Please, please, please Ace!" I pleaded, puppy dog eyes wide.

"You know that look never works on me," she snapped but I pressed on. She stared back at me until she finally seemed to break, "Fine, but five minutes, that's it..." And before she could finish I pulled her up the steep steps of Carnegie Hall.

"You would think after the 10 billionth time in these halls," Ace began as I slowly walked past the statue of chestnut-colored cello, "that you would be over it by now..."

I smiled back as I said, "When you reread your favorite book, do you love it any less?"

"Fair enough," Ace smirked back as I returned to reading the cases.

I made Ace bring me to Carnegie Hall every time I came to New York. I think she thought it was strange how much I loved this institution to classical music when the city was home to such a broad array of music that I love more. I think there was something so epic, as lame as that sounds, about the place that felt like it was indestructible. 

I was admiring the ornate gold detailing of a frame displaying a few pages of sheet music, rounding the corner when I felt myself hit a hard object, causing me to stumble backward, but as I braced myself for a fall, a warm hand steadied my waist.

My eyes shot open as a pair of light brown eyes stared back at me. I coughed a quick "Sorry," stepping back as I got a good look the person I had nearly barreled through.

"No worries," the man in front of me easily laughed, his voice smooth. He was holding a violin case in one hand and a messenger bag hung over his other shoulder. He was a good five inches taller than me, and he looked around my age, maybe a year older. He had deep brown hair slightly covering his eyes that he quickly brushed back. He was cute, his lopsided smile and warm eyes quickly making me comfortable as I found myself tentatively smile back.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he had a chance, I heard Ace gracefully yelling at the end of the hall, "Five minutes are up Ro! We outta here!"

I heard his voice one last time, chuckling as he said "Tell your friend-'Nice sweatshirt!'" before he walked off in the opposite direction leaving me without a chance to say goodbye.

~**

"That guy was cute," Ace commented as we made our way to her third-floor walk-up. "What's his name?

"Not sure, you didn't leave me alone long enough to ask," I teased. "He liked your look for sure though."

"Haha, it's been quite a week, I have absolutely no chill, if you can't tell," Ace said as she pushed open the door to her apartment.

I had been to Ace's apartment on several prior occasions. She lived above a Thai bakery on the edge of Lenox Hill. Rent was quite insane in this part of New York, but Ace made a deal with the sweet couple that ran the shop down below, a discount on rent in exchange for writing ads and short stories promoting the place.

It was a pretty great deal. Ace's place was nice, especially for New York standards. It was two-story, a kitchen and small common space downstairs with bedroom loft upstairs, and fire escape coming off the downstairs. The building was old with eclectic furnishings, exposed brick everywhere. There was color everywhere from a deep emerald green couch to a mustard yellow table and deep burgundy brown blankets and chairs. The walls were filled with frames of pictures, quotes, torn book pages, in addition to post-its and thumbtacks and consortia pinned across the walls.

The chaotic color and organized mess of Ace's place made it feel like home.

"Like I said it's been a week," Ace said, hurriedly pulling off her hat and gesturing to the space.

I plopped onto the couch just as Ace yelled, "What do you think you're doing?"

I pulled a fleece blanket over me, "Making myself comfortable...?"

She pulled the blanket, practically dragging me up, "Nope, we gotta get ready and get the night started!"

"Where are we going, you still haven't told me," I whined begrudgingly following her up the stairs.

She had a wild glint in her eyes as she pulled open heer armoire doors, "We're going clubbing."

~**

After what felt like a couple of hundred outfits, we nearly ready.

"Why are we doing this again?" I asked. "Neither of us drink-plus I'm not even legal..."

"Live a little Ro!" Ace began, "Let's just dance the night away and have a good time. Plus I have a special final destination for tonight!"

I couldn't deny that I was excited. It wasn't just tje surprise, I loved dancing. Ace and I used to go out all the time and just have a good time. There was something about the energy of a crowd where no one was really paying attention to anyone and the music was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think that was freeing. You were just immersed in a place destined for a moment of freedom.

"Okay," I said simply, trying to hide my excitement. Ace tasered my side until I broke, both of us falling into a fit of laughter.

"You're crazy, you know. I think you're the only person who could get me to go wild tonight."

"I know," Ace grinned, messing my hair.

ACEE!" I hollered. "I just did my hair!"

"Nah, don't worry about it, it looks sexy," winking as she said, "bed-head vibes."

~**

And after me messing Ace's hair and another wardrobe change, we were good to go.

Ace looked stunning in a black lace bodysuit and faux black leather pants. She wore some over-the-knee boots and gold accessories, with her hair tied up half up, half down, a few loose tendrils framing her face. A touch of gold eyeliner and mascara and she looked edgy and badass.

I was dressed in skinny, high waisted black jeans, with tears in the knees, netted with rose lace paired with a burgundy lace camisole with a keyhole neck that wrapped loosely behind my neck. Some simple silver jewelry matched my Mom's charm bracelet and silver eyeliner and mascara surrounded my eyes. I kept the shoes comfortable with a pair of black booties. Ace had taken "creative control" in dressing me and I had to admit I felt sexy and comfortable.

I quickly tied back a few pieces of hair and let the rest of my deep brown locks graze my back, ready for the night to begin

~**

The only way to describe the first club was LOUD. Music was pounding as we walked up and inside was worse. It was packed with a mass of people sloppily drunk. The dance floor was covered in barely-there people slowly moving their bodies out of sync with the DJ, who also seemed to be drunk, filling with club with erratically pounding beats.

We quickly made our way out of there when I found Ace ready to smash a some guy's face in after he whispered something, presumably nasty, in her ear. A stream of profanities flew out of her mouth yelling "I'm gonna show you just where to shove it..."

"New York guys, always keepin' it classy," she hollered flipping him off as I pulled her outside.

The next place was better. Pop songs rang through the speakers and the crowd easily sang and swayed along. Ace and I got lost in laughter as we twirled along to our own little dramatic renditions of Justin Bieber bops.

But that too was short-lived because it turns out we had stumbled into a bar and I most definitely could not pass for twenty-one. "What?!" I yelled over the loud music as Ace's eyes bugged out. She pointed over to the bouncer that was quickly approaching, checking everyone's IDs as he busted a group of girls who looked about my age.

Long story short, we got out of there fast, our hearts racing faster and faster with each step. 

"How does something like this happen every time I'm with you," I said breathlessly.

"I keep," she took a breath, "everything," another breath "spicy," she said adding jazz hands.

I laughed as I said, "I'm starting to think you're a bad influence," smoothing of a few of her hairs that had gone wild.

"Too bad that you won't come to me to stop 3?!" Ace said screaming through the streets, not waiting for an answer, pulling me along.

Stop 3 was like nothing I had ever experienced before. 

We entered the underground speakeasy, Ace pulling out two blacklight tickets as we got stamped in.

The place was a silent disco called Aural Lights. Walking up to the entrance, I heard nothing other than light stomping and moving feet. Inside, neon lights of all colors covered every inch of the walls, and an elevated platform with paneled lights stood with a mass of people all moving and dancing...

But there was no sound.

I gave Ace a confused look as we were ushered forward towards the DJs booth where a woman handed us each a pair of headphones. I slid them on, obeying Ace's motions. She clicked a button on the side and the entire headphone lit up in a bright green. It was then that looked over the platform and noticed among the array of neon colors that filled the space were neon headsets that rested on the head of every dancer.

Everything was still silent until Ace reached over and touched my headphones.

Loud music filled my ears as Ace pulled me up onto the platform already dancing. Nothing felt quite anymore as I felt my body begin to match the beat and my heart race.

The silent disco was incredible. The way it worked was that everyone was given a headset with preprogrammed stations controlled by different DJs. Each station had a different color on the headset causing it to glow. You could be listening to a slow R&B track, your headset colored a neon red, while the person dancing next you was listening to Drake, their headset glowing blue. With a quick touch of a button, you could change the station and listen to something new....

The music was loud, but if you shrugged off of the headset, you could hear the silence, aware of how the music filled the space and brought everyone together...

There is something so wild about being able to control your own sound while sharing that individual experience with strangers around you. I switched through hundreds of songs through the night dancing and jumping along with the crowd. At moments throughout the night, a beautiful song, well-loved by so many would hit one station and you could slowly see a color sweep over the crowd as we all listened to a song together.

One of those moments was when Sam Smith's "Dancing with a Stranger" filled our headphones. I could hear everyone laugh the song seemingly perfect for the occasion, as a lavender neon light lit everyone's ears and we listened together. I chuckled as Ace and I swayed back and forth, with our hands in the air.

Ace spun me around singing "Ooh, baby, baby, I'm dancing with a stranger..." and dramatically dipped me.

She tucked back her raven locks, blue eyes shining as she mouthed, "Ready for the final destination..."

A/N: I think I have an update schedule- I'm thinking about updating every weekend :) 

I know the world is really scary right now and so many things seem out of our control. I just want to wish you health and safety. Do your best to take care of yourself. 

Hopefully, this story and Wattpad as a whole can be a place that is an escape. Stay safe y'all and take care. #readtogether

<3 livindaybyday

P.S. Check out "Dancing with a stranger" in the banner. It's a great one :)