Alicia's POV

I made a mental note that I need to spoil my friends. I have the best friends in the world! Yasmine and Astrid were able to help me secure the dinner reservations since I was so focused with my match. Also, a bigger shoutout that they extended their stay in New York to entertain Nicola since I was preoccupied with interviews. They were also able to make sure Nicola steered clear of my family. I know that they will eventually meet, but why rush it? Yaz and Tridi did a remarkable job in the wardrobe department. I knew I could task them with finding an outfit for Lala, but they certainly surpassed my expectations. Lala looked gorgeous as hell.

"The helicopter bit seemed like a scene from a movie." Nicola laughed.

"I stole that from a movie who's setting was based in Seattle." I proceeded to tell Nic that my father had taught me the mechanics of planes and helicopters. We'd often go flying when I was younger. Since he's gotten busier with work, we hadn't had the time to bond over our love of flying objects.

"Well, it was amazing anyways. The view was breathtaking! I'm really enjoying our date." She flushed in embarrassment when she realized what she said. I decided to play with her a bit.

"Date? I don't recall asking you on a date. This is just a friendly tour of the city." I smirked into my glass. Lala quirked an eyebrow before shrugging.

"A friendly gesture? I understand. Maybe I can ask KJ-"

"Stop." I interrupted to see a proud smirk on her face. I rolled my eyes at her. "Fine. You win." She did a little victory dance in her seat. Even if I tried, I couldn't resist smiling at her childish behavior.

"But... you never asked me on a date, so I guess you're right... this isn't a date." She ate a piece of her chicken.

"Whatever. You still enjoyed seeing New York though."

"I've been to New York before." She fired back.

"But did you get this nice of a tour?" I retorted. She rolled her eyes before chewing her chicken in a silent protest. I giggled before consuming a piece of my salmon.

"Since you're never gonna make the move. Alicia Vera McAllister, will you do me the honor of going on a date with me?" She clasped her hands together and gave me puppy dog eyes.

"How could I say no?" I nodded my head in confirmation. Her squeal of excitement caused heads to turn. She sheepishly looked down and muttered a quiet sorry. I used my hand to lift her chin up so her eyes met mine. "Don't apologize. It was cute." She blushed at my compliment. Nicola started to tell me her childhood stories. I tuned her out since I was distracted by how excited she looked. She gesticulated wildly when she talked about something that she considered to be funny. Nic stated how much she loved her parents, but their jobs overworked them. It appeared that, like me, she was closer to her dad. Her sister still disapproves of her attending this school since she thinks it's full of snobby rich kids. Well, her sister isn't wrong. Surprisingly though, her sister likes me as well as her friends. I mean... I easily deduced that Rue loved me. Logan and Rue have been her childhood friends since forever. Lala and Rue met in preschool and have been close ever since. The duo met Logan in the third grade. Logan, apparently, fancied Nic back in the day, but stopped crushing on her when he found out she was a lesbian. I suspected that she had a past with Rue since she never mentioned Rue's sexuality. Her entire family was accepting when she came out. As she talked more about her life before coming here, I understood why she was so sad to leave her old school behind. I could tell that she was quite popular at her old school despite her modesty. It wasn't hard see why. She was incredibly funny and sweet and her beauty rivaled that of a goddess.

"Lis?" She waved her hand in front of my face.

"Huh?"

"Did you hear anything I said?" She giggled.

"The majority of it... I want to take you to one more place before we call it a night."

"Sure!" After the boat docked, Lala and I were driven to Central Park. I took her to the mini amusement park. She happily grabbed my wrist and guided me to the carousel. She mounted a chocolate colored horse while I settled on a beige one. We laughed as the ride commenced and we bobbed up and down. After the ride was over, Nic led me to the swings and held hands the entire ride.

Lala challenged me to some games and I lost... miserably might I add. Not only did I lose the water pistol game, but I also lost whack a mole. Those moles move incredibly fast! She even won a prize. She picked out a squirtle and gave it to me. I hugged it close while thanking her. Since Nic had chosen all the rides thus far, I decided that I wanted to choose our final ride. I entwined our fingers and guided her to the Ferris wheel. When she wasn't looking, I slipped the guy some money and told him to keep the ride moving. The guy put the rail down and walked away to start up the ride. I cuddled into Lala's side as the ride started moving.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" I looked up from her shoulder.

"Yes. Thank you." She smiled.

"You're welcome." I whispered as I gazed into her eyes. It was as if time stood still. We just sat there, gazing into each other's eyes. Nic broke it by flicking her eyes down to my lips before regaining eye contact. She closed her eyes and leaned in. I instinctively shut my eyes and met her halfway. Our kiss felt like a cinematic moment since our lips met when we were at the top of the Ferris wheel and fireworks went off, both literally and figuratively. We pulled back to observe the fireworks in the sky. I then turned back to her and pulled her face into mine again. I had to kiss her again to make sure that this was actually reality and I wasn't dreaming. Her smiling into the kiss was enough for me to feel contempt.