Manhattan, Broadway.
Gwen followed behind the three girls, slowly making her way through the bustling crowd. New York at night was like a city that never slept. The business district was packed with people and traffic, surrounded by brilliant neon lights, while huge electronic screens overhead continuously played TV programs, advertisements, and news.
The three girls chatted nonstop as they walked, their mouths barely resting for a moment. From Gwen's observations, their topics were nothing more than rumors about who was dating whom at school, the latest news about some Hollywood star or rock singer, or clothes, shoes, and cosmetics.
Gwen listened to them while occasionally chiming in to make her presence known. In truth, she had little interest in any of these topics, just as she was not particularly enthusiastic about going shopping with her classmates. The only reason she had come was because she did not want to seem different or be seen as some kind of "weird girl" by her classmates.
There was another reason as well: she did not want to go home too early. There was nothing for her to do there anyway, except stare blankly at her absurdly huge luxury apartment.
Somehow, the girls' conversation drifted onto physics, a rare occurrence. They argued over a certain question for a while, then unanimously turned around and decided to consult the "authority."
"Hey, genius," one girl asked, "what was the second cosmic velocity again?"
"That's the minimum speed needed for an object to finally escape Earth's gravity and fly away from the planet. It's seven miles per second," Gwen answered.
A red-haired girl let out a loud whistle. "See? I told you!"
"You just happened to guess right."
"But seriously, Gwen, how do you remember all this stuff?" the red-haired girl asked.
"You should ask her