Megan wore a scowl in the next picture, but we figured it was better than the eye roll, so she didn’t take another.
“How about a taxi?” Megan begged. “A car service? We deserve a limo after our big win!”
With each step we took into the subway, the street noise faded and the cold air was replaced by that old, familiar, kind of gross subway smell.
“I can already tell it’s going to be humid,” said Trina.
“I’m just glad it’s not cold down here,” Riley said, coming out of her turtle shell by letting her coat collar fall. “But ew, what’s that smell?”
“It’s not as bad as it would be if we came in the summertime,” Vanessa said. She seemed pretty skilled at buying us each MetroCards from the vending machine. She pressed buttons rapid-fire, even as she kept talking. “There’s a stronger scent when it’s hot out, for sure.”
“Watch where you step,” said Megan’s mom as she and Riley’s mom helped Vanessa buy and hand out the MetroCards.
“What do you mean by that?” Megan asked, clearly spooked. She looked at the floor around her, wincing.
“Only that there probably can be anything from creepy crawlers to gross garbage where you step,” said Trina matter-of-factly. “My aunt had a rat run across her foot once. That’s not even the grossest story she told.”
“Oooh, really?” asked Riley, totally interested. “Tell us the grossest story she’s told you.”
“Um, no, thanks!” Megan holds up her hand to stop Trina from saying any more. “I’ve heard enough.”
“So have I.” Megan’s mom wrinkled her nose. “Can we reconsider the car service?”
“No,” Vanessa said sternly.
MetroCards in hand, we were ready to swipe, walk through the turnstyle, and start our journey.
There were a lot of people standing on the platform heading downtown. Lily, Trina, and Riley decided to study the subway map posted on an information board. Vanessa started chatting to the moms about the summer she’d spent interning and taking dance classes in New York.
I was surprised to see Megan walk up to me. “Did you catch the subway a lot when you lived up here?”
“Not that much,” I said. “My parents would sometimes drive in and we’d walk from there. But when we did ride the subway, it was cool.”
“I don’t see what’s so cool about it.” Megan shrugged, aiming to look bored and unimpressed, but not one hundred percent convincingly.
“Don’t you think it’s something you can’t miss seeing when you visit New York?”
“I could do without it, “ she said as coolly as she could. “I don’t like to to be with, uh, the masses. Underground seems beneath it all. You know?”
A blast of hot air entered the tunnel with a force, which startled Megan and obliterated her cool.
“What—? What’s happening?” she asked, looking around her. She watched the train arrive like it would run out of space to stop in time. Nothing in her face seemed to scream, Fun!
Ah, I thought. I recognized this side of Megan from our flight in. She’s scared.
“Let’s go, girls!” Vanessa called, leading us onto the train. She held the doors just in case they attempted to close before we were all on.
Thankfully, for Megan’s sake, we all found seats, and we were only a few stops from our destination.
As she sat rocking side to side with the motion of the express train flying through tunnels, Megan plugged into her music and closed her eyes.
“Sweetie? Are you all right, honey?” her mother asked, concerned that her daughter wasn’t joining in with our chatty conversation about movies and TV shows we could think of that were filmed in real or fake New York subway systems.
“Not counting those holiday movies you’re always watching,” Lily said to Trina.
“No fair!” She grinned.
“I’m okay,” Megan said, hanging on to the pole for dear life. Then she squinted her eyes. “Is that…”
We all followed her gaze. There, sitting on a seat wearing headphones, was a celebrity influencer we all recognized.
“It is,” Megan breathed.
“Down here with the masses,” Riley pointed out.
Megan’s whole attitude shifted. Hopefully, this meant she’d be more pleasant over dinner, I thought.
“Welcome to the legendary Greenwich Village!” said Vanessa with a flourish in her hand as we exited the subway and made our way aboveground.
We oohed and aahed our way around the neighborhood, exploring the shops, the architecture, and the epic people-watching.
“Now, this is my type of area,” said Megan, admiring the uniqueness of everything she laid her eyes on. “Fancy.”
“Does that mean the subway trip was worth it?” I teased her.
“Duh, of course,” Megan said. “All real New Yorkers take the subway.”
It was good to see her feeling better. Even if that meant I’d have to keep a sharp eye and ear out for her shady remarks.
“Well, when you try the food at the restaurant we’re going to, you’ll agree it was all worth it,” said Vanessa.
And she was totally right. I’d never had Turkish food before. The chicken kebab plate I ordered was so good! Like, how could I have made it through life without this deliciousness? I felt like calling my parents and demanding they answer that question. I pulled out my phone to take a picture of my food. Then I paused.
I’d missed two texts while we were underground: from my dad and from Zora asking me how New York was. Which made me realize: Eliza still hadn’t returned my text messages. I’d sent her three. In the first one, I’d asked where she’d gone. I mean, I’d thought she’d wait for me to finishing taking those team photos. But when I’d looked up, she’d disappeared. The next text was to send her a link to an article posted on a dancers’ website about the nationals that featured a photo of Dance City midperformance. And the third text was sent just to ask her if she was okay. It wasn’t like her to ghost me like that.
She really must’ve been ghosting me on purpose.
Eliza must have been sitting all in her feelings about my walking away from that photo, and the thought made me feel uneasy.
“What’s the matter, Harper? Is it the food?” Vanessa asked.
“No.” I tried to laugh it off and play it cool. “The food is amazing.”
“Well, finish up, because we want to get in enough time hanging out at the rink.”
“We have to leave already?” Megan asked. “Wait, does the subway run at night? Is it really dark down there?”
“We can take a taxi back,” Vanessa told her.
“Whew!” Megan burst out. “I mean, okay, cool.”
“But first, a toast. Here’s to the most talented, hardest-working team I’ve ever had the pleasure of taking to nationals,” said Vanessa.
“Hear, hear!” the moms replied, bursting with pride. This was a big moment for them, too.
Together with all of our parents, they were our number one fans.
No one celebrated our wins like they did. I was so grateful to my parents and to Hailey for cheering me on every step of the way, all the way to nationals.
“Riley and I came up with a fabulous idea to celebrate,” Riley’s mother said.
Riley picked up a spoon and pretended it was a mic.
“DanceStarz Squad, you’ve just earned top honors at the forty-fourth annual dance nationals. What are you going to do now… since we’re outside of Florida and too far from Disney World?”
“We’re going ice-skating!” she announced. “At the famous rink at Rockefeller Center!
“Well…” Vanessa held up a finger. “Not all of you can skate. Sorry, Megan and Harper, but you know the rules. No risky activities before competition.”
Ugh. I knew that rule was meant to protect us.
“Oh dear, I hadn’t thought of that,” Riley’s mother said.
Vanessa caught sight of Megan’s pout. “No exceptions.”
“Well, n
ow my daughter is left out of the celebration?” Megan’s mother frowned at Riley’s mother. Uh-oh.
“It’s fine!” Megan and I both said quickly.
“I guess you both have to watch from the sidelines, the way we’ll be watching you both tomorrow,” said Trina, smiling.
“That’s fair.” I smiled back at her. Actually, it made me feel better about my solo privilege knowing that the rest of the squad would enjoy a special outing like this. “Megan and I can cheer you guys on. We can get hot chocolate, right, Vanessa?”
“Definitely,” Vanessa said, smiling.
“Megan, they have the best hot chocolate at the rink,” I said. “It’s like drinking a melted candy bar.”
“That does sound yummy.” Megan gave in. Her mother relaxed too.
We made our way to the rink, which was still pretty busy, even at night. Megan and I hung out with the rest of the squad as they rented ice skates. After they laced up their classic white skates, Lily and Trina handed us their phones like we were their personal photographers.
Trina and Lily were on the ice first.
“This place is so cool! I can’t pay attention to where I’m going when the view is so distracting!” Trina said.
This had to be the best place in the city to see the holiday lights—especially when the sun was going down like it was now. The decorated Christmas tree stood high above the rink like some special guest from a gigantic magical forest. It was so gorgeous. And the famous bronze statue of Prometheus at the level below the tree was not bad on the eyes either. It was a shimmering sight and surrounded by a water feature you could stare at all day. Plus, those holiday lights. They were everywhere and on everything lining the plaza. I remembered when I had my own ice skates and used to skate on the pond near our neighborhood.
“I forgot how much I love to ice-skate,” Lily said to Trina as she skated by. “I don’t think about it as much in Florida. I can usually go to the beach in the winter, not an outdoor rink!”
“Nice!” I said, leaning over the rail to snap a few pics of Lily’s graceful glides. Megan stood next to me, reluctantly aiming Trina’s cell phone at Trina as she cautiously made her way around the rink. She was kind of gliding/stepping her way around the outer part of the rink, hanging on to the boards.
“C’mon, do something worth taking a picture of,” Megan teased Trina. Trina paced a bit away from the railing herself and waved at the camera.
“Where’s Riley?” I asked, looking around.
Trina chimed in. “Yeah, anyone seen Riley? She was with us when we were putting on our skates.”
Just then, Vanessa and Riley’s mom skated by, arm in arm.
“Aw, look how cute that was!” Trina squealed.
“Riley’s not with Vanessa or the moms,” I said, craning my neck toward the outdoor seating.
“She’s wearing black, so it’ll be tough to find her in this crowd,” said Lily, peering over the crowd.
“There she is!” said Trina, like she’d found Waldo.
Sure enough, Riley was halfway down the rink, pulling herself up from her hands and knees.
“She must have wiped out pretty bad,” said Megan, smirking.
“I’ll go help her,” said Lily. But before she could reach her, Riley started sliding uncontrollably toward Trina.
“Whoa, here I come!” a wide-eyed Riley shouted.
“Watch out!” Lily shrieked, but Riley slammed right into Trina anyway. It was a good thing Trina was still close to the guardrail, otherwise the both of them would’ve been dropped.
“Are you guys okay?” I reached out and gripped Riley’s arm in case she hadn’t yet regained her balance.
“We’re okay. Yup, okay,” Trina said. “Just a little out of control.”
Megan, Lily, and I made sure they were both fine before we started cracking up at the timing of Riley’s body slam.
“Trina’s getting better on those skates!” I remarked after watching her effortlessly skate around Riley.
“Oh, yeah?” said Lily, tying her scarf and fixing her knit hat in place. “Bet she can’t do this!” She did some fast back crossovers, and a little twirl at the end.
My mouth swung open. Who knew Lily could move like that on the ice? That was just another small reminder that I had so much to learn about Lily.
“Lily, you’re so good at skating!” I yelled to her. I could tell that no matter what tension was between us, she liked that compliment. She turned around and began skating backward. As I took a video of her, I was beginning to see how I’d taken her for granted since we’d come to New York. Leaving to go hang with Eliza without letting her know I was doing that in the first place was one major goof that stood out in my mind. I hoped to be a better friend to her. Lily kicked up a good speed and then put her back leg up in a banana-split pose before skating away like a pro. A few skaters offered their muffled applause, and Lily took a dramatic bow.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I shout, grinning.
“Easy for you to say on solid ground. But give me a move to do and I’ll match it!” Lily challenged me playfully.
Any move I thought up would look a lot more amazing on ice, thanks to Lily’s skill level. I did a sample of today’s winning routine. Because I could hear Vanessa’s warning in my ear, I didn’t want to cause Lily any extra risk while her lower body was weighed down by those rented skates. Instead, I overemphasized the arms and head choreo. There was holiday music playing on the plaza speakers, and I danced along with the tunes like this was the Olympic trials.
Megan, Lily, and Trina recognized the moves right away and chuckled. “Nice!”
As soon as I was done, Lily extended her arms and gracefully skated through the moves with the wind whipping through her hair. She looked like an ice goddess!
“You guys have nothing on me!” Trina was back, but with Riley literally hanging on to her coattails. “Watch this!”
“Oh, boy.” Megan playfully rolled her eyes as Trina gestured to her to get the camera ready.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Riley let go of Trina’s coat hem and made her way, clumsily, to the guardrail. “I didn’t say go fast!”
We grinned to ourselves and gave Trina the stage. She pushed off slowly but elegantly and took a wide turn and came back toward us before turning off again.
“She’s making a figure eight! See it?” Lily pointed at the lines Trina’s blades had etched into the ice.
“Whoa! I did not expect that,” Megan said when Trina joined us again, taking a bow midglide.
“Okay, me next, me next!” said Riley, raising her hand like she was in class.
We all looked at each other. “Uh, are you sure, Riley?”
A new guest DJ must’ve just reported to work, because the holiday music disappeared, and the next song was more pop with a sick bass.
“I love this song!” Riley clapped and bobbed up and down in place. She boldly skate-walked closer to the railing, her arms pumping. When she was close enough to grab the railing with both hands, she began hopping and landing on the toe of one skate and the heel of another. On the spot she invented and then repeated the most intricate footwork I’d seen in a while. Riley’s moves drew a small crowd.
“Fancy!” Lily cupped her hands to her face and shouted in her direction.
I gave Riley a gloved high five when she was done, a little breathless but still triumphant.
“Megan, you want to give that a try on solid ground?” I asked her.
She looked like she wanted to tie my sneaker laces to each other. “No, thanks.”
Then I heard the beginning notes of something that made my heart sink for a moment. Brought back bad memories. Then I saw all of the younger kids scream and race to the center of the rink.
“What even is this?” complained Megan, leaning on the guardrail.
“That’s the Bumblebee song,” I said.
“The what?” Riley asked.
“It’s a trendy song,” I said. “The Bumblebee. I’ll show you h
ow to do it. It’s a line dance thing.” I faced everybody and started the dance from whatever move I remembered most. The more I got into it, the more of the dance I remembered.
Lily and Trina joined in, and we swayed in sync for a few more cycles before Riley felt comfortable enough to join in too. Megan watched from the guardrail as I went through the line dance, step by step. I repeated and repeated it again. Across the rink, a larger group had formed in a line, and they were Bzz, bzz, bzz-ing away.
“When I get back home, I’m going to show everyone I know that dance,” Riley said.
“I think this is fun,” I decided. Sure, it was cheesy, but I was happy that they liked the dance as much as I’d thought they would. “It’s not fun,” complained Megan from the sidelines.
“Don’t be embarrassed to like it,” I told her. “It’s easier if you try it off the ice, of course.”
“Who says I’m embarrassed? And who says I can’t skate?” Megan said. “Anyway, ice-skating is dumb. Wearing someone else’s borrowed shoes and going in circles on a giant ice cube? Who needs to do that? Bunheads! Are we finished here?”
Trina skated over to Riley. They linked their arms as Trina guided Riley around the rink and out the exit, where Megan met them.
That left Lily and me. We stared at their backs in silence.
“Can we talk?” I asked her.
“Sure. Okay,” Lily said.
“All right, so—” I started. Just then a group of kids grabbing hands did a huge, long whip, and the kid holding at the end whipped so quickly by Lily, she almost fell over.
“Anyway,” I said when we recovered from that, “I just wanted to say—”
Two couples holding hands pushed in between us, blocking my view of Lily. This was not working so well.
“Want to go get hot chocolate?” I shouted to her.
“Yeah, okay!” Lily yelled back. She weaved her way through the crowd and headed out the exit door.
We got lucky. We caught the concession stand when the line was relatively short. We had our hot chocolates a few minutes later. The warm cup felt amazing to hold. It also felt nice to sit for a moment.
“Hey, girls!” Vanessa waved to us from a few tables away, where she and the moms were chatting.
The Competition Page 11