Mark and Katie take Manhattan

Two hours. That’s how long it took for Mark and Katie to drive Ashley’s car all the way to New York City. Or at least that’s how long it would have taken if time wasn’t currently frozen.

Snow hung suspended in the air, glittering like confetti across the skyline. Street vendors were mid-shout, pigeons frozen in mid-flight, and even a yellow cab hung at an angle after swerving on ice. The streets were packed with people—paused mid-laughter, mid-step, and mid-phone call.

Mark pulled up just off 7th Avenue, near Times Square. With time frozen, he didn’t really care or worry about parking laws, and no one else did either. Katie’s eyes sparkled with excitement as they came to a stop. Mark and Katie sat in the front, while his three “dolls” sat in the back.

“This is amazing,” she said, hopping out of the car.

“Really?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, all of New York is now essentially our playground.”

“Oh yeah,” Mark said as he realized the situation. “Sorry, everything just has me stressed.”

Katie rolled her eyes. “Yeah no kidding. The way you gripped the steering wheel the whole way here.” As Katie said this, she moved to the back of the car, and opened the door. “I’ve decided to make it my goal to make you relax.”

“What,” Mark asked, actually surprised at this declaration.

“You heard me,” Katie said as she pulled Phoebe’s frozen form out of the car. The short blonde was dressed in oversized flannel, a graphic tee, and leggings under a skirt, with a scarf wrapped around her neck. Probably not the best outfit for winter, but after looking through her social media, Katie thought it fit the girl’s style. She leaned the frozen girl against the side of the car.

“Ok,” Mark said wearily as he opened the door closest to him. “I’d say you know best.”

“Or…,” Katie asked as she worked to pull Dawn’s frozen form out of the car. The Mexican American girl was dressed in a cropped hoodie layered under a puffer jacket, black jeans, and a beanie on top of her head. She had a bored blank look on her face.

“Or what?” Mark asked, pulling Gabriella’s body out of the car. The Hispanic girl was dressed in a soft gray sweater with a long navy coat, skinny jeans, and boots on her feet. She actually had a bored expression molded on her face.

“Oh uh sorry, I thought you were going someplace with that.”

“Nope.”

“Well alright then,” Katie declared, somewhat disappointed. “So, how do you want to pose them?”

“Not sure exactly how, but where, I was thinking Times Square for sure. Maybe Central Park, the Met steps—ooh, and one of those subway entrances. Super touristy, but it’ll sell the story. Perhaps eating a hotdog at a cart… like over there,” Mark said, pointing to a cart not far away. “It’s only a few steps away and Phoebe is fairly light.”

“That’s a no go,” Katie said shaking her head. “I checked her socials, Phoebe was a vegetarian. Dawn wasn’t though. I’m not sure on Gabriella.”

“O.K, then we do Dawn first then. Though we still need the other two to pose with her and make it look like them taking the photos.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

Phoebe was first—Mark carried her under her armpits, while Katie grabbed her legs. They carried her across the street and gently propped her up against a frozen couple in front of it. They soon left and returned with Dawn, followed by Gabriella.

Once all three girls were at the cart, Mark and Katie got to work. Carefully, Mark opened Dawn’s mouth, and lifted her arm up, spreading her fingers, before despising a hotdog in her hand. He then moved it closer and closer until it was centimeters from her lips. He tried giving her a goofy expression before placing a camera in Phoebe's hand so as to get a photo from her POV.

Next, Katie adjusted Phoebe’s pose, placing her hand up in a mock wave while tucking her other arm around Gabriella’s shoulder. Mark snapped a few photos from different angles with Phoebe’s phone.

“Caption this like she just bumped into tourists or something,” Katie said, laughing.

Once they were done with the hot dog stand, they loaded the girls back in the car, and started looking for more locations to take photos.

They soon found a large Christmas display and brought out Gabriella, angling her to like she look like she was taking a selfie. Katie even positioned a frozen tourist nearby to make the shot look more believable. Katie used Gabriella’s phone to take a few shots from below, making sure her bored expression somehow came across as artsy.

“Ugh, this looks so real,” she said. “Like she’s trying to look unimpressed with the city.”

Dawn was next. They placed her on the steps of the Met, legs crossed, gazing blankly toward the skyline. Katie pulled out Dawn’s phone and took a burst of shots. She even positioned Mark next to her, then blurred him out slightly in one of the edits so it looked like a stranger had photo-bombed.

They soon moved to Central Park. They set Phoebe up next to a horse-drawn carriage, pretending to laugh with her mouth slightly parted, and angled Gabriella to be gazing up at the snow-covered trees. Dawn got posed next to a Coffee stand, holding a stranger’s coffee cup like it was her own.

Finally at Time’s square, they posed each girl either together smiling, or with a character. As they manipulated each of his doll’s limbs, Mark couldn’t help but get a hard on. He really wanted to bend each one of the, over and take the, right then and there.

“I think that might just be enough,” Katie declared as they finished a photo where it looked like Phoebe was kissing Cookie Monster.

“Good, because sharing with Cookie Monster is one thing,” Mark said as he pulled Phoebe back by her waist, “but I am not sharing with Oscar the Grouch.”

Katie laughed at this, as she scrolled through Phoebe’s phone, setting up posts to go out later. She did this for all three frozen girls.

Phoebe’s read: Spontaneous city trip with my girl’s #RoadTrip #NYC

Gabriella: Needed a break from school. #NYC > stress

Dawn: Guess where we are! #GirlsTrip #SnowDay #CentralParkVibe

“Now no one’s gonna question it,” she whispered as they loaded the dolls back. Into Ashley’s car. “We just made it look like they chose to leave in a far more convincing mater I must say.” Katie looked proud of her self with her photography skills.

“Well let’s hope it works.”

Katie pouted. “Well don’t be such a downer. Besides, I would say this date was a success.”

Mark blushed. “Really.”

“Yeah, unconventional and loads of fun. I can’t wait to see what you come up with for a second date.”

“Oh boy,” Mark said, gulping loudly.

Once all three frozen teens were loaded and packed, Mark and Katie got into the front of the car, and headed back to Mark’s house. Time would have to remain frozen so that no one suspected they had gone anywhere.