Together

Jersey

Hello hello hello! I meant to publish this yesterday but I accidentally forgot to hit the button oops. I hope you all had a nice Labor Day if you celebrate it xxx. I wanted to have a quick chat with you about updates in this book- my dance schedule started tonight and is a bit rough this year so I have no idea how often I'll be able to update during the week. With the weekends, it'll stay the same- I'll update unless I have other plans (I'm a season pass holder at the theatre again this year so yay! But that takes up my Friday nights sometimes). Within a few weeks, I'll have it figured out when I'll be able to update during the week, but until then, please hang in there and forgive me xxx. Love you all so much. Now, on with the chapter. Enjoy/comment/vote xxx
-ab

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December 7, 2026

Harper

It's fun to have a Monday off with my girls. They're both flying home tomorrow. I'll be staying here in New York, by myself. If I'm being honest, I'm a bit terrified. Thankfully, the producers of Les Miserables are paying for me to keep my hotel, though I'll probably have to move to a different room.

The Broadway team has been really great through all of this, I have to say. They even offered to Uber me around, if I wasn't comfortable walking or taking the subway. I told them that I'd be fine, of course. I've been here a week already, so I've got the transportation mostly figured out. On top of that, I take the tube absolutely everywhere in London. If I ever take an Uber or taxi, then there is most certainly a reason for that. I'm used to taking public transportation, and New York's is no more daunting than London's, once you have the system figured out.

On my Monday off, we are scheduled to cross the river to Weehawken, New Jersey during the day, and catch the evening show of Chicago tonight. Most shows are dark on Mondays, so Gabe picked this one specifically for today. None of us had ever seen it, either. Chicago hasn't played on the West End since I was a teenager, and I wasn't living in London then, so I wasn't able to catch it. I'm so excited, as it's such a classic show.

Our morning, the three of us just sit in the hotel and watch a movie on the telly. It's our relaxing time, as the past few days have been so crazy for all of us. Nessa and Katherine will be the first to admit that they've been especially crazy for me, as I was thrust into a show with absolutely no warning. Now I'm wearing a corset and singing above the staff on a big Broadway stage.

I still can't quite wrap my head around that concept. This all feels like a silly dream that I'm going to wake up from, any second now.

When lunchtime rolls around, I walk out to the streets of New York with my two best friends. We end up getting sandwiches at a little bakery across the street from the Longacre Theatre. Then, we decide to walk down 8th Avenue to Penn Station, where we are catching a train to Newark, New Jersey, then a bus to Weehawken.

"There's got to be an easier way to do this," Nessa whines as we walk. "You two are in better shape than I am."

"It's literally less than a mile of walking," Kath remarks, rolling her eyes after glancing down at the map on her phone. "We walk way more than this in London most of the time. Plus, we are in a new city. Look around and enjoy the walk."

"Fine," Nessa sighs. I watch as she tilts her head back to look at the top of the tall buildings nearby.

Eventually, we find ourselves at Penn Station. We enter through Madison Square Garden, then purchase tickets and hop on the next New Jersey Transit train to the other Penn Station, in Newark.

It takes a bit to figure out the bus system, but we eventually figure out how to get to Weehawken. It does take a phone call with Gabe first, though. Thankfully, he's always a simple ring away, and it's basically his job to make sure that we are safe. He's even going to be watching over me after Nessa and Katherine go back home.

Weehawken is really cool. It has an absolutely gorgeous view of the city's skyline, from the grounds on which Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr had their famous duel. All three of us are Hamilton fans, so it's interesting to be on the grounds where it happened.

"We have to take some cute pictures here, oh my gosh," Nessa exclaims when we are in Hamilton Park. "This is the coolest view I've seen in a long time."

"It is really cool. Did you bring your camera, Harper?"

"Yep," I reply. While my friends usually simply use their phone cameras, I'm quite fond of my Canon still. I am a firm believer in the fact that it takes much better pictures than a phone. My friends generally agree on that, but they're not quite as picky about the quality of the pictures on their Instagrams as I am.

"Let's do some on there, then," Kath suggests. "They will probably print out better, and I want to make a scrapbook of this trip."

"That's a plan," Nessa nods. I pull my camera out of my bag, and announce that I'll take some pictures first. I take a few of Nessa, then Katherine. Then, Kath takes some of me.

"I wish we could get one all together..." I state. "That would be so cute."

I notice a family standing nearby, and they are clearly tourists, too. Their two kids give me the feeling that they're safe and aren't about to pickpocket us, so I walk over to the mum.

"Would you mind taking our picture?" I ask her.

"Of course!" she replies. Nessa, Kath, and I pose in front of the skyline, then she takes the pictures and hands the camera back to me.

"Thank you so much," I say, viewing the images on the little screen.

"Are you girls from the UK?" she asks. "A long way from home, hm?"

"Yeah, we are," I smile. "London."

"I was born in Sheffield, but I moved here when I was a baby," she tells us. "I spent my summers back in Britain, though, as I was growing up."

"That's awesome," I smile. "Sheffield is really nice."

"I loved it. I've not been back since I got married and had kids, as it's too expensive to bring the entire family, but I'm hoping that we can afford to go back and visit my grandparents next year, as they're getting quite old."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I frown.

"It's fine. It happens," the lady replies. "Well, anyway, I hope you girls are enjoying the States."

"We are," Katherine assures her.

"Great. Have a nice rest of your trip."

"Thanks. You too," we tell her, then she walks back over to her family.

The girls and I walk around the little park for a few more minutes before we know that we have to take the bus back. It will probably take around an hour for us to get back to the hotel, and we want to have some time to rest before going out for dinner and a show.