Hi Elinor,
Mailice here with a short review!
Sorry it took me so long to get back here. But now I'm here and I'm about to start.
What struck me positively was the increased use of direct speech, which felt good here after we focused more on having an idea and getting to know the characters in the first part. Here you realise that you are already prepared as a reader, and can also mentally engage with Marcy to understand how the dialogue is directed. I especially liked how Cole and Marcy greeted each other. It was short and crisp and didn't give that sluggishness that you sometimes get with greetings. It also gives the characters charm.
Looking at this part, I found it a bit short and can understand that the time has to fall a bit shorter also because of the progression of the plot. It builds on giving the reader a brief insight, like a taster course, which doesn't have to please everyone, but visibly builds on piquing curiosity in the reader and seeing what happens next.
In general, and here I'll sum up again for 1.1 and 1.2, I found it a good introduction for the reader. You give the key facts and build on them to reframe something familiar and thus create an incentive. I found the first part more memorable, especially with the introduction of Marcy and her sister, while the second part clearly moves in a different direction, where the focus is on "getting there" first and not just presenting the theory for the story.
As it turned out, my sister and I would have trouble flagging down a cab. It was 6:54 and we’d been standing outside for nearly ten minutes. We were both starting to get anxious and trying not to show it. We had gone back and forth for a while about trying to go to a less crowded street, but it would be harder to catch a cab. Neither of us knew the subway well enough to figure out where we needed to go, and while we could have walked, it was almost two miles and neither of us were dressed the most appropriately for that.
I wouldn't consider this a criticism, as I suppose in the full story 1.1 and 1.2 are a whole chapter and you read through it, but here I found it a bit too rushed and hastily written. You can interpret some of Marcy's character as being excited / nervous at the moment, but it shows too clearly in your sentence structure here and I found the first section a bit tiring to read because I wanted to jump straight into the story.
Eileen said with a wry smile.
Tiny typo here.

In summary, I found it an interesting conclusion, especially because the dialogue between Cole and Marcy was so short that you almost want to read on to see what else is in store for both of them.
Have fun writing!
Mailice
Points: 119190
Reviews: 1203
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