There wasn’t much of a reaction to the name Trey Thompson, other than an “Oh, that’s nice.”
“Oh, Nala from NYC High is a dance student here,” Caty said.
“Oh.”
“My dad works on set and knows Trey pretty well,” said another girl.
“Oh again,” I said, my words echoing into my cup of lemonade right before I sipped. “Hey, is Miss Desi here?”
They told me she’d left. I took a seat in front of the mirrors on the floor and ate the rest of my slice in silence. It was cool hanging out in this familiar space again and seeing faces I used to see a few times a week. But, strange to say, time hadn’t stopped like I imagined it would. When I thought of this place from Florida, I realized I was imaging it as it was, not the way it became after I’d left. New elite team, new traditions, new instructors. It was hard to keep up.
A song I didn’t know came on and everyone squealed.
“Our song!” Eliza said, putting down her plate of food and running to the center of the dance floor. “The Bumblebee!”
I watched them do a line dance to something I’d never heard before. As odd as its title was, the song had a catchy beat. I could’ve jammed to this. That is, if I still lived here and went to my old studio and knew the dance moves and was a part of things.
Then Eliza waved me up. I shook my head no.
“We’ll teach you!” Eliza ran over and pulled me up with two hands. Oh, okay. It took a few rounds, but I got it. Then, when the chorus started, I had to crack up. Out of the blue, they all started saying, “Bzz, bzz. Bzz, bzz,” and doing some sting movements. Everyone committed.
After a few more cycles through the line dance, I was buzzing right along with everybody else.
“That was so awesomely cheesy,” I said when the song was over. I was still grinning about everyone buzzing. I had to show the Squad this dance. It would be fun to bring home something new and fresh from the NYC area. I’d be an early adopter. It probably would be hitting Florida.
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” said Kelly.
“Oh, really? Why’s that?” I took the bait. “Do you know the singer?”
“Ew, no.” She scoffed. “If I did, I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
I was confused. I thought everyone liked the song.
“No, it makes me happy to hear you say that because today’s theme is Cheesy Party, and I was responsible for planning it. The extra-cheesy pizza and cheese balls, the cheesy song… Did I nail it?” Kelly asked.
This party was… a cheese theme?
“So how do you all know it?” I tried a different in with her.
“Well, the song is from my little sister,” Kelly said. “But the cheese thing is from a comp we did a while back. Something happened, and someone said, ‘so, cheese,’ instead of ‘oh, please,’ and… well, I guess you had to be there.” She and Eliza both laughed.
The talk turned to their latest stuff at the dance studio. Funny things that had happened without me. Crazy things that had happened without me. Annoying things that had happened without me.
By the time Eliza’s mom poked her head in and told me it was time to commute back to the city, I was not bummed about leaving before the party ended. I hugged Eliza good-bye and told her I’d see her in the morning. I’d been happy to see her. Hanging out with her felt normal. But the party—all of it was based on an inside thing I wasn’t a part of. That was a bit much.
When I got back to the hotel, I thanked Eliza’s mom, and Riley’s mom met me in the lobby to walk me up.
“I hope you had fun,” she said. “But everyone else is in bed. Tomorrow is an important day. One of the dance teams is going to be crowned number one. The grand champion. The big cheese.”
“Please don’t say ‘cheese,’ ” I mumbled.
CHAPTER 15
Lily was already asleep when I got back to the hotel room that night. And on the morning of the competition, she woke up before me.
“Good morning!” I called out to her through the bathroom door. I learned Lily was big on having whole conversations through that bathroom door. As soon as she’d jump out of the shower, she’d start telling me some long, funny story, as if we’d been sitting in the same room. But this time, I could only make out a murmur in reply. That was strange. So far, it seemed Lily had been a morning person.
Could be competition jitters? I pulled my things together as I waited for her to come out of the bathroom. I want to make sure I had everything I need in my dance bag:
Hairspray
Extra leo
Bobby pins
Tights
Hairbrush
Bandages
Tape for my feet
Water bottle
A chewy cranberry granola bar
Towel
Deodorant
Stretch band
Hair elastics!
We’d been through this once already. Did it get any easier on day two of competition? The churning of my stomach hadn’t started yet. In some ways, I could be a little less confident now that we knew just how fantastic our challengers were. But then, the fact I’d already been through this the day before, so I was familiar with how it felt to go to nationals, be on a nationals stage, and compete at our best, balanced all that worry out.
And when I figured the cure for day-two jitters was to not be here for day two, that made me feel better. Megan had been keeping up with Isabella’s social media posts, so we already knew that she was back in Florida after having been bumped out of the competition. Nope. These day-two jitters were a good problem to have.
“Hey!” I perked up when Lily walked out, dressed in our fuchsia competition bodysuit. “Ready for day two?”
“Sure,” Lily said without an ounce of enthusiasm in her voice. Uh-oh.
“Is everything okay?” I asked her.
“Gee. Why do you ask?” She finally gave me a little eye contact, but I almost wish she hadn’t. The look in her eyes was accusing, like I was guilty of something.
“Um, I don’t know, you seem a little… annoyed,” I said hesitantly. “I know it’s a stressful day. Do you want to talk about it?”
Lily put down her hairbrush and puffed out a sigh. She rolled back her shoulders, as if she was trying to work out a knot in her muscles. That must’ve done the trick, because after, she seemed to lighten up.
“You know what?” she asked. She rolled her shoulders again, but this time did one of Jackie and Miguel’s body roll, pop, and lock moves after. “I think I’m good now.”
“Just like that?”
“Mom says to shake off bad feelings,” Lily said. “She’s big on sleeping off your worries instead of sleeping with your worries. Also, we only have five minutes. No time to really deal with this…”
“And now you’re literally shaking things off,” I finish her thought.
“Yes.” She smiled a sad smile. “For now.”
I got it. I went in the bathroom to wash my face and hands before I left. Then I realized what I’d forgotten last night. That nagging feeling I had last night before meeting Eliza? That thing that I forgot to do before leaving? It was say good-bye to Lily before I left.
I looked in the mirror at the cold water dripping off my face in big droplets. Ugh. So that was why she’d been so mopey this morning. Ugh. I imagined her telling me one her postshower stories, talking on and on and not realizing she’d been talking to herself until she’d opened the door and found the hotel room empty. Empty because I’d left to go see my old friend.
Great going, Harper.
* * *
Back in the dressing room, we easily scored the same corner to camp out in. There were fewer contestants here than yesterday. The extra breathing room was nice, but there was also extra pressure in all the uncrowded air. In a few minutes, we’d all meet Vanessa in the warm-up room to work on our dance number again. It was a must. Only one team would be going home with the nationals winning title, so we had to be better than the best.
&n
bsp; When Eliza and her elite Dance City team walked in a few minutes after us, I could feel Lily, Megan, Riley, and Trina giving me the side eye. It was as if they’d expected me to reunite with her by running across the wide room, arms wide open and ugly crying with happiness. Eliza and I exchanged glances and gave each other a hello wave, but we stayed where we were.
“Wow, where was the whole oh, this is the biggest reunion of our lifetime!?” Riley asked, seemingly pleasantly surprised by my actions—or, in this case, my inaction.
I pursed my lips at Riley but didn’t answer. Yes, I’d been feeling guilty about what I did to Lily. But I still didn’t think there was anything wrong with me being happy to see Eliza yesterday.
“Welp, you spoke too soon, Riley,” said Megan, looking over my shoulder at the scene behind me. “Your bestie wants to talk to you, Harper.”
Wha—? At first I didn’t turn around. I thought she was stirring up drama. But then Lily pointed her chin in Eliza’s direction, which confirmed it true. I turned around and saw Eliza looking back at us and waving me over.
“You’re not actually going to go over there,” Megan challenged when I shifted my weight to the foot pointed in Eliza’s direction.
“It’ll only take a second,” I said. I paused. “It’s not like I’m selling our dance secrets to her. She was my friend. She is my friend, I mean!”
“It’s not about the time it would take.” Megan released an annoyed chuckle. “It’s about—”
Riley puts out a hand, gesturing for us to stay calm. “What she means is, you shouldn’t be hanging with her this hard when the competition is so tight.” I could tell by the way she said it that Riley wasn’t just translating Megan’s feelings, but her own, too.
I didn’t want to disappoint her or anyone else on this team, but I thought they were all overreacting. Should I stay? Should I go? But Eliza’s waiting. I’d hate to let her down. But the Squad is staring, waiting for me to make a decision they would respect. How could I choose?
Feeling tugged on both sides, I was thinking that there was no good choice. So I turned around and walked toward Eliza, and then straight by her, out the changing room, down the hall, and right to the ladies’ room. When I glanced back, I saw everyone—Lily, Megan, Riley, Trina, and Eliza—standing with their arms crossed, looking at me.
This was as stressful as the competition. Had I really just blown off my old friend? Had I also made my new friends mad? I hid in the bathroom for at least five minutes. I needed to focus. I needed to just dance. I would be dancing onstage soon. Nothing else would matter. NOTHING. Pull yourself together, Harper, I said to myself. Get back in there.
When I walked back into the dressing room, the Squad looked up from their various stretching positions. I ignored all the eyes on me and started warming up too. I sat down and began my leg stretches.
“Squad!” Vanessa said. “Join me.”
We gathered around her.
“This is all stored in your muscle memory,” Vanessa said. “I don’t have to remind you of any of this. But I will anyway:
“Lily, you’re overreaching. Be careful to show those elegant lines judges love to see.
“Megan, step over to the right on your partner trick—you’re blocking Riley.
“Trina, watch your facials. You looked a bit stressed.
“Harper. Watch that footwork.” Vanessa looked at me, and I nodded. “Make it look easy.”
We each were wearing a numbered bib, pinned on our backs for the judges’ sakes. They would be grading our individual strengths and deciding which of us would return.
* * *
Group dance time!
The team that took third place, the Scottsdale Steppers, suddenly jumped up and ran out the door in a flurry. They were up! Soon, it would be us!
We didn’t get to see Scottsdale Steppers perform. Our view was blocked by extra curtains. The handler shuffled us into the wings only mere minutes before we were going to dance.
“Let’s give it up for the Scottsdale Steppers!” We could hear Trey Thompson’s voice. I looked over at Riley, but she seemed to not even register Trey Thompson’s presence. We were that focused. I didn’t like the feeling of sitting in a boiling pot of emotions. The Steppers’ jazz music kicked off loudly.
“Okay, let’s focus on us,” Megan said. We all huddled to do our ritual.
“Dance!” Trina led the cheer. But without her usual enthusiasm, and her voice was shaking.
Lily, Megan, Trina, Riley, and I all did our little dance move—halfheartedly.
“Starz!” Trina continued.
We fluttered out fingers like sparkling stars. Then we leaned into a huddle and said:
“Squad!”
“Okay, I have to interrupt this ritual!” Vanessa surprised us backstage. “That was the weakest one I’ve ever seen.”
“We’re nervous,” I confessed.
“Way beyond,” Lily added. Everyone else chimed in: “Terrified. Stressed out. About to throw up.”
“Of course you are,” Vanessa said. “But you’re ready. I know you’ve got this. Take it from the top.”
“Dance! Starz! Squad!”
And then Vanessa surprised us as she held out her hand, palm down. “On three!” We stacked our hands on top of hers, one by one. Vanessa started us off: “One, two, three—”
“Squad!” we all shouted. All of us except Vanessa. She said something entirely different, though no one was sure what. All I could make out was that it was something with two syllables.
“Just so you all heard me,” said Vanessa, a glint of mischief in her eye, “I said, ‘HAVE FUN!’ ”
I looked blankly at Vanessa for a second to get her meaning. What had happened to her ongoing pep talk on going harder, nailing each little step, getting it perfect? I guess she thought we’d done that. Nothing left to do but have fun.
Lily put her hand out, palm down. Vanessa stacked hers, followed by the rest of us.
“On three,” said Lily. “One, two three—”
And this time, we all said the same thing: “HAVE FUN!”
Trina hopped up and down, Jackie and Miguel style. And just like that we chanted and jumped until—
“Please welcome back the Squad from Florida’s DanceStarz Academy!” Trey Thompson extended his right arm in our direction, and we jogged onto the stage, waving and cheering. The bright and sparkly fuchsia we wore only leveled up the energy. Our high-spirited arrival got the audience extra excited. They jumped and cheered along with us when the beat dropped. Some of them even got out of their seats.
The lyrics of the song we were dancing to were positive and catchy.
We dance together/We laugh together
You’re a good friend
We dance forever/We laugh whenever
Never will it end
We exploded into our routine, dropping down to the floor and then springing back up in a fraction of a second, the way Vanessa trained us to do. We mirrored each other’s steps perfectly. It was like we were different extensions of the same body, controlled by one brain. We had the routine down. Now was the time to have fun with it.
We made eye contact with one another, smiled at one another. It was no longer just about the judges or about the audience. It was about us, dancing and having fun. And it was contagious. More people from the audience stood up and danced along. And I could bet anything that underneath that fancy white tablecloth, the judges were probably tapping their feet too.
Speaking of feet, I was so caught up in the fun we were having, I’d already made it past the footwork routine I’d needed to improve. And I couldn’t believe my ears, but the audience had learned the catchy chorus and was singing along with it. My heart tingled. It was an amazing feeling. When I looked at Trina, she already had a tear glistening in her eye. No huge surprise there. Trina was obsessed with every sappy holiday movie in existence, which she watched on her laptop with a box of tissues. But the song wasn’t over. There was one final move, and we needed to
be clear-eyed and tear-free to pull it off without injury.
It was the crisscross leap move. Lily, paired with Megan, and Trina, paired with Riley, had to—in two diagonal patterns like an X—cross each other’s paths in midair and inches apart. They’d start off with a running leap, which was a lot harder than it sounded. Also, their pacing and leg extensions had to be timed right to pull the move off without knocking into one another. Not to mention, I had to time my move perfectly or I’d mess up the entire sequence. I would be doing my signature spin center stage, while moving from the back of the stage to the front. The trick was to use the music breaks as cues.
I danced my way to the back of the stage, where I positioned myself for my epic whirl-a-twirl. Trina, Lily, Megan, and Riley were at the four corners of an imaginary square, ready to take the leap. There was the musical cue! I started spinning, spotting the floodlight at the end of the ballroom while my body twisted to set each spin in motion. The trouble with turning this fast was that you were not aware of the things happening around you. I didn’t know if Lily and Megan had leapt into each other, or whether Trina’s eyes were too blurred with tears to be perfectly in sync with Riley. All I felt was the activity onstage. There was even a rush of wind on either sides of me, most likely kicked up by the run-up to the leap. But as I got to the front of the stage, the crowd erupted with this joyful amazement. That’s when I knew.
We’d nailed it! Again!
We ran backstage with thunderous applause still raining down.
“YESSS!” I said, and Lily practically leapt into my arms. The Bunheads were jumping around together, and then they ran over and enveloped us in a huge hug. We were giddy with relief and happy tears. Then I noticed Eliza and the Dance City crew standing right behind Vanessa.
There was a brief and awkward silence, where I was still being smushed by my team, with Eliza standing there.
Then Eliza came right up to us and gave me a double high five.
The Competition Page 9