The Callback

by Maddie Ziegler

  “NOOO!” I screamed.

  I blinked my eyes open to find a bright streaming spotlight on me. Apparently, I’d fallen asleep and meanwhile, the shell had been wheeled out on the stage and fallen open for my big reveal, when I was supposed to pop up and lift my leg into a standing leg hold to oohs and aahs. Instead, I was curled into a little ball, blinking like a deer in headlights. And screaming about an eel. I was totally discombobulated. And I set off a chain reaction.

  Sebastian’s singing faltered as he got confused. Some of the sea creatures jumped up on cue, but others stayed crouched down waiting for me. Some people were dancing, while others were still waiting for me, causing people to bump into one another—and me.

  I jumped out of the shell too early and bumped into Flounder, who tripped—right into the bubble-making machine. He must have hit some switch, and a massive amount of bubbles started to churn out of it at an alarming speed.

  We were surrounded by bubbles.

  “I can’t see!” someone yelled. Bubbles were everywhere! Popping! And when they popped, the bubble liquid got all over the stage. The slippery, soapy bubble liquid.

  ACK!

  Now everyone was slipping and sliding into one another, all over the stage.

  Bam! Bam! Bam! A few people fell down, and then couldn’t get their footing because of the liquid bubbles.

  “CUT!” Mrs. Elliott yelled. “Cut, cut, cut! NOBODY MOVE!”

  Everyone froze as the bubbles cleared from the stage. Which was a mixed blessing, because I could see everyone staring at me.

  “Sorry, sorry, sorry!” I apologized profusely to everyone. “Sorry!”

  Then I heard Aquata whisper: “She only has one dance and she messes it up?”

  My face was already flaming red, but then I saw Drew looking my way sympathetically. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I think my face basically spontaneously combusted in flames.

  “Walk or crawl carefully stage left!” Mrs. Elliott told us.

  I crawled offstage in shame, my hands sticky from bubble juice.

  “Well, apparently that’s an early wrap for today.” Mrs. Elliott let out a huge sigh of disappointment. And I knew it was mostly at me.

  “Stage manager, call the custodian. We have to clean up this mess.”

  I was definitely relieved to get out of there.

  CHAPTER

  18

  After that disaster of a rehearsal, I headed up to my room to try and calm down. I was in there for a while when there was a knock on my bedroom door.

  I didn’t answer, so whoever it was would go away. I was curled up in my purple round floofy chair, with a blanket over my head and Mo on my lap.

  I had a ton of homework to do, but I couldn’t concentrate because I kept thinking of how embarrassing it was when I was doing my one dance. Like Aquata said, I had only one dance to do. And I hadn’t even gotten past the first move.

  Bleh.

  I thought about everyone staring at me, from the sea creatures to Mrs. Elliott and, of course, Drew. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I petted Mo almost frantically, trying to erase the memory of falling asleep in the cozy shell. . . .

  I realized that the way I was curled up in my round chair was actually a lot like how I’d been curled up in the round shell and—ugh!

  There was another knock.

  “I’m sleeping!” I called out.

  “You’re obviously not sleeping, since you just answered me!” Hailey replied. “Say come in.”

  “Go away,” I mumbled.

  I heard the door open.

  “I said go away,” I said, under my blanket.

  “Oh, I thought you said come in!” Hailey said, cheerfully and untruthfully. “Wait, where are you?”

  Mo betrayed me by barking from under the covers. I felt the covers ripped off me, and Hailey was standing over me.

  “What?” I said.

  “I heard about what happened,” Hailey said. “I wanted to help.”

  “You heard? How did you hear?”

  “Quinn,” Hailey said. Quinn? How did Riley’s sister hear I embarrassed myself in school musical rehearsal? That made no sense. “She heard Riley talking to Megan about it. Poor Lily.”

  “Wait. Poor Lily?” I was confused.

  “Yeah, I guess she ran off crying,” Hailey said.

  “So this isn’t about me falling asleep onstage in the musical?” I asked.

  “You fell asleep onstage? Ha! That’s hilarious!” Hailey replied. “No, I’m talking about what Megan and Riley said to Lily at dance. Megan asked Lily if she was going to show up at solos, and when Lily said yes, Riley said she shouldn’t because she’d be embarrassed.”

  “Why would she be embarrassed?” I asked.

  “Megan told Lily she’s only good at ballet and the reason Vanessa gave her a tumbling routine was to make sure Lily didn’t have a chance at the solo. Everyone is going to feel sorry for her. Didn’t you hear her say it?”

  “No,” I said, furious that Megan would even say that. “I had to miss rehearsal today to do the play. Thanks for telling me, Hailey. I’ve got to text Lily.”

  “Okay,” Hailey said, pausing. “Tell her when I filmed her I thought she was a good dancer!”

  “I will,” I told her. I threw the covers off. Mo jumped up. Oops, sorry, Mo. I grabbed my phone and texted Lily.

  ????

  I saw that she read it. The little bubble went on and off, like she was thinking of how to answer. Nothing came up. I texted again.

  Are you at Sugar Plums?

  This time she answered.

  No. Home.

  I knew what I had to do. Lily had been so supportive of me since day one. She knew how hard I danced and that I’d been doing competitions way longer than she had. But it had to be annoying to hear people talking about Megan and me having the best opportunities. And to hear me complaining how busy I was—being a little bit of the star. And now this?

  I needed to be there for her.

  I ran downstairs to ask my mom if she could drive me over to Lily’s. Surprisingly, she understood and said yes, and even more surprisingly, Hailey didn’t complain when we had to go.

  When I rang Lily’s doorbell, I texted her, It’s me.

  Her father answered the door.

  “Harper, how nice to see you!” he said. “We’ve missed you. Lily’s out at the pool, so just go on back.”

  I went around the side of the house to the pool. Lily was out there. She was lying on a pool floatie with sunglasses on—and waterproof headphones.

  “Lily!” I called out, but she didn’t hear me. I tried to splash water at her but couldn’t reach to get her attention. I went over and picked up a mini beach ball from the side of the pool and tossed it gently at her.

  Oops! It hit her right in the face and knocked her sunglasses off.

  “AHH!” Lily sat up abruptly, flipping the float over. When she resurfaced, sputtering, she saw me. “What the heck, Harper?”

  “Sorry, sorry!” I said. “I couldn’t get your attention!”

  “Wait, what are doing here?” she asked.

  “Um,” I said. “I had some free time! I just wanted to hang out!”

  “You heard,” Lily said. “Great. Is that the big gossip at DanceStarz? I’m humiliated!”

  She flopped back and sank underwater. I waited. Lily actually could hold her breath a long time. I decided not to wait. I took a running start—and I jumped into the pool.

  In my clothes.

  I swam under until I was right in front of Lily. It was a little challenging because my tank top kept floating up and threatening to strangle me, but I made it to her. She had plugged her nose, but her eyes were open and wide, looking at me. She popped up to the surface, and I followed her.

  “What are you doing?” she half laughed. “You’re in your clothes!”

  “I know,” I said. “I just wanted to make you laugh.”

  Lily flopped on her back into a float. I joined her. We drifted for a minute, looking at the clouds in the s
ky.

  “You’re always cheering me up,” I said. “Especially when I have my . . . awkward moments. So I wanted to finally return the favor.”

  “Your moments are different,” Lily said.

  “By ‘different’ do you mean worse?” I asked.

  “No, I mean, okay, you might trip over something, but—”

  “In front of an entire parade!” I interjected.

  “Okay, that was pretty bad,” Lily had to admit.

  “That’s way more humiliating than something the Bunheads said,” I said. “They’re always saying mean things. Well, two of them.”

  “But you always bounce back and then get picked for things. You’re so good at dancing that it makes up for it. Mine hurts because it’s true.”

  “It’s not true,” I said.

  “Vanessa never thought I had any shot at the solo,” Lily said. “The only thing I can dance is ballet. And now I’m going to get up there and humiliate myself in front of the whole studio with a dumb tumbling routine.”

  “Your routine isn’t dumb,” I said. “I thought Vanessa gave it to you because you said you were tired of ballet. And you’re so bouncy and fun.”

  “Well, everyone else at DanceStarz will believe what Megan said,” Lily said.

  “Well, you’ll just have to show them differently at our next competition,” I said.

  Lily laughed.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You make that sound so easy,” she said. “I’m just not as good a dancer as you are.”

  “We’ll practice together,” I said. “I’m almost done with the musical—OH! THE MUSICAL! AUUUGH! I didn’t even tell you what happened to me!”

  I told Lily the story of falling asleep in the shell and waking up disoriented.

  Lily tried to keep a straight face. But when I got to the part about the bubble machine, she let out a snort.

  “Sorry.” She snorted again. Then she cracked up. “We are so embarrassing.”

  “I knowwww,” I groaned. “I had to literally crawl off the stage in shame.”

  “Well, it’s nice we can be embarrassing together,” Lily said.

  Lily was seriously such a good friend. There was something else I thought about telling her.

  “Okay, you want to know the other worst part about it?” I asked her. “I did it in front of . . . there’s this . . . Drew . . .”

  “Oh, that guy you sat across from at the lunch table?” she said. “Drew? He’s in my math class. I knew it! I saw you smiling at him!”

  “Ughhhh, was I that obvious?” I groaned again.

  “Just to me,” Lily said. “I don’t think anyone else noticed. Well, maybe him. But he was smiling back at you!”

  He was? I grinned for a minute, until I remembered I’d humiliated myself in front of him.

  “It could have been worse,” I admitted. “He had been in my dream for a second. What if I’d yelled, Drew?”

  We both cracked up.

  “Instead it turned into a nightmare,” Lily said. “Why is Megan haunting both of us?”

  “Yeah, we need to stop that,” I said. “We need to stop letting Megan get to us! In fact, let’s one of us get this solo dance!”

  My mom came into the backyard, through the door.

  “Uh . . . Harper?” My mom interrupted our moment. “Are you swimming in your clothes?”

  Oops.

  “I—”

  “I don’t even want to know.” Mom sighed. “Lily, we can drive you as well if you’d like.”

  “Thanks,” Lily said. “I’ll text my mom so she knows not to leave Sugar Plums to pick me up. Then I’ll change really quick!”

  “Me too!” I said. Fortunately, I had my dance bag ready to go in the car. I went to get it, and when I came back, Lily was in her leotard and shorts and on her phone. When she saw me, she looked up—and looked upset.

  “I don’t want to make this day worse, but”—she paused—“I think we’re too late.”

  She held up her phone and I took a look with her.

  Megan had just posted a story from DanceStarz’s back office. She was filming her mother looking inside a box.

  “It was worth it!” her mother was saying. “It’s stunning! Look at all the sequins!”

  The camera turned off, but not before I saw a peek of what was in the box. A flash of white material sparkled in the camera light, before the story cut off.

  “Was that . . . ?” I looked at Lily, and she nodded.

  “I think it’s her costume,” Lily said. “And that means . . .”

  Megan got the solo.

  CHAPTER

  19

  You two are awfully quiet,” Mom said as she drove us to DanceStarz.

  “They’re sad,” Hailey said from the backseat.

  Lily and I looked at each other. We hadn’t realized we’d been that obvious.

  “Ah,” Mom said. Fortunately, she didn’t push any further.

  I mean, it wasn’t like I hadn’t expected it. Megan was known as the premier dancer at DanceStarz. She definitely had been there longer than me. I’d figured she’d get the solo. I just thought I’d have more of a chance to prove myself first. I didn’t realize Vanessa was so close to picking the solo already. That it wouldn’t be sprung on us, like Megan smiling at us from the phone.

  “Don’t be sad,” Hailey said.

  “It’ll be fine.” I sighed.

  “It’s just we didn’t get picked for something at dance,” Lily told her.

  “Pffft!” Hailey said. “Make a Hailey on the Daily Fail-y!”

  Lily looked at me, confused.

  “Didn’t you say not to give up?” Hailey said. “Just like you told me before: follow your dreams!”

  I leaned back against the headrest.

  “She’s not wrong,” Lily said.

  “It is true,” I admitted. “I guess maybe we can take my own advice.”

  “If you want, I can film you two dancing and failing,” Hailey offered. “Do you want me to come to your rehearsal again and film everything you do wrong?”

  “Okay, that might be a little much,” I said, starting to laugh.

  “I have to agree,” Lily said.

  “But seriously, Hailey, you’re right,” I told her. “I’m not going to give up just because this one thing didn’t go my way.”

  “Even when Vanessa announces that Megan is the soloist,” Lily said.

  “We should be supportive of her,” I agreed.

  “Wow, Hailey, you’re so wise,” Lily said.

  “Thank you,” Hailey said solemnly. “It’s true.”

  My mom’s mouth twitched as she held back a smile. I had to admit, Hailey had taken a huge weight off my shoulders. I decided I really would do my best to go into DanceStarz with a positive attitude.

  So when I walked into the Studio B, I smiled at the Bunheads.

  “Congratulations,” I said to Megan.

  “Ooh, what did you do?!” Trina clapped her hands.

  “I saw the story,” I told her. “With your dress.”

  Megan’s eyes opened wide.

  “Uh, what dress?” she asked. She looked both startled and a little nervous at the same time.

  “Your dress for the solo?” I asked.

  The door opened and Vanessa walked in.

  Megan shot me another weird look. Before I could say anything, Vanessa clapped her hands to get our attention.

  “Good afternoon, Squad!” Vanessa said. “Please join me in a circle. I have an important announcement.”

  Here we go. We all went and sat in a circle on the floor around Vanessa. Here was when Vanessa would announce that Megan got the solo dance. The very first solo dance for the most competitive dance team DanceStarz has ever had. It would be a shining moment for both Megan and for DanceStarz—

  Vanessa interrupted my imaginary speech with the real version.

  “You all know that we are about to reach a milestone at DanceStarz. One of you will perform the first solo danc
e at the highest competition level we have ever had. So, with great excitement, I present . . .”

  We all nodded. I plastered a smile on my face to be ready for the announcement that it was Megan.

  The door opened.

  “Your solo costumes!”

  One of  Vanessa’s assistants wheeled in a rack with garment bags hanging on them. Nobody moved. No one said anything.

  HUH?

  “Should I try that again?” Vanessa looked confused. “I present, your costumes!”

  She raised her arm with a flourish and pointed to the rack.

  “This is not the reception I was expecting,” Vanessa said. “You may go get your costumes.”

  “Um,” Lily spoke hesitantly. “Costumes? Plural?”

  “Why, yes,” Vanessa said. She looked at us, perplexed. “I thought you’d all be a little more excited to see them.”

  “We all get our costumes?” Riley asked.

  “Well, yes.” Vanessa looked confused. “Why wouldn’t you?”

  We all looked at Megan. She looked away.

  “We thought only the soloist would actually get her costume,” I answered. “Like, as a reward.”

  “You thought I’d have you choose costumes but not get to wear them?” Vanessa asked. “No, no. You know that’s not how I would work or ‘reward’ you—the reward is the solo itself. Even if you don’t perform the solo for the competition, you’ll each still have the opportunity to perform in other places. Maybe other competitions, maybe more parades. I want all of you to be ready to go at any time.”

  “All of us?” Lily piped up.

  “All of you,” Vanessa said firmly.

  “Are you announcing who got the solo today?” Riley spoke up.

  “No,” Vanessa said. “I don’t have enough information yet to make that decision.”

  She didn’t? She hadn’t picked Megan? She hadn’t decided? I figured it was the case since we all had our costumes, but still.

  I still had a chance?! YES!

  “Now, what are you waiting for? Don’t you want to try on your costumes?” Vanessa said.

  That got us going.