33

Elaine

No matter how many times I saw Manhattan at night, it looked more beautiful than the last. When I newly moved to this city from New Zealand where my family was, there was never a night that went by for the next year that I wasn't out strolling and checking out all the fun bars and people. I felt freer than I ever was, but I was still a tad bit uncertain about what the future held because I had no friends and my family was not with me.

When I sighted Cora and the girls for the first time sitting across from me in a then trendy new pub downtown, I was intimidated. Everything from their appearance to their manner of speech and the guys that were hanging out with them screamed wealth. They were the sole center of attention and I was left feeling so self-conscious and envious. I thought I didn't belong there. I thought I didn't belong in this town. But then Cora held up her hand and signaled me to come to sit with them. Mortified, I turned down their offer at first, insisting that