“AUHHHGGHH, I’m coming for you, Harper!” Drew lurched across the room toward me like a zombie, and I squealed and ran away. (Okay, I didn’t run away too fast. Hee-hee.)
“If you need any help with the dances, let me know,” I said.
“You focus on bringing home a win at nationals,” Zora said. “Or at least a souvenir.”
“I remember they do have great pizza,” Drew said. “You think you could fit a pizza in your suitcase?”
“Could be messy.” I laughed.
“Make us proud!” Zora said, dramatically fake-sniffing. “Our little Harper, all grown-up, going off the big city. To crush her enemies and destroy them!”
“Beep boop,” I replied.
CHAPTER 6
Psst…”
I heard the hiss, but I wasn’t sure where it was coming from. Vanessa, a few chaperone parents, and the whole Squad were at the airport, seated at the gate for our New York City flight. We were facing one another in the two rows next to the window.
“Psst…”
There it was again. Everyone seated on either sides of me was either plugged into their music, busy chatting, or, like Lily right next to me, testing out their new neck pillows.
“Harper!” someone said in a loud whisper. “Over here!”
I looked across and saw Riley staring at me with wide eyes. She was pointing her finger away from the window and miming something I couldn’t make out.
I scrunched up my face. “Huh?”
She rolled her eyes, then grabbed her phone and started tapping on the screen. My phone buzzed right away. A text from Riley.
In front of you! Isn’t that the actress that plays Trey Thompson’s teacher on NYC High? Episode 3? I chuckled to myself. Riley’s celebrity watch was starting sooner than I’d thought. If I didn’t turn around and look where she was pointing, she’d keep bugging me. When I did, I definitely saw the resemblance. But no, it wasn’t the same person. I shook my head.
She just shrugged her shoulders and started scanning the rest of the passengers for another sighting.
I grinned. It was a good thing I was sitting next to Lily on the flight. But I totally understood what Riley was feeling. Already, there was this excitement in the air. We were on our way to nationals! In New York City! I could hardly believe it.
* * *
I was pulling my DanceStarz rolling duffel up farther in line when I got a text.
Counting down to when you land!
Perfect timing. We’re at the airport right now!
Eeeeeee!
She sent me a GIF of a dancing bagel, and I literally laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny?” Lily asked, smiling.
“Just Eliza… Eliza-ing,” I said, smiling at my screen. And then Eliza responded with a close-up of her actual face cracking up like the crying-laughing emoji. I cracked up, too. “She’s super excited that I’m on my way.”
“Oh,” said Lily, sounding confused. “But didn’t you say we’ll be competing against your old dance studio? Isn’t it weird?”
“Yeah, but we’re not really mentioning that mostly,” I told her.
“No, I mean… yeah, I can see how that would get awkward,” Lily agreed. We pushed our luggage a bit forward together.
“Eliza’s cool. I can’t wait for you to meet her,” I said.
Lily pulled out her earbuds from her bag. “I heard they’ll keep us kind of busy touring New York in between our call times for the nationals,” she said.
I panicked for a moment. “I hope not! I would be so bummed if I don’t get a chance to hang out with Eliza. And everyone on my old squad. Well, not everyone will be there, because some of them stopped dancing or went somewhere else. But at least Eliza’s there. I hope! If there’s time!”
Lily looked surprised by my reaction. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I’m sure everything will work out.”
When I went back and took another look at Eliza’s filtered face, I cracked up all over again and my worries disappeared.
Lily stood up, her carry-on bag on her shoulder. Was she sick of all my laughing?
“Where are you going?” I asked her.
“They called our group,” she said. “Vanessa and the moms are looking for us.”
That’s when I looked around and realized that everyone is already making their way to board. How long had I been staring at my phone?
I scooped up my bag and followed Lily to the line.
Megan’s mom started handing out our boarding passes. She had been holding them all, just in case.
“Lily, you’re in seat 16A,” she said, giving Lily her pass. “And, let’s see, Harper is in seat 14C.”
“But I thought I was sitting next to Lily,” I said.
“Nope.” Megan’s mom double-checked our seat numbers. “It appears you’re not.”
I knew she was only stating facts, but I got the feeling she was enjoying my disappointment. It was hard not to imagine that when she looked so much like Megan, the person who’d always been extra challenging to me.
Lily and I exchanged a bummed-out look.
“But is there any way I can switch?” I plead.
Megan’s mom shrugged. “You’ll have to wait and see who you’re both sitting with and ask them.”
It was too late to go around asking everyone now. A few of us were already past the ticketing agent and walking down the jetway. Besides, I wanted to be a good sport and not a bratty baby about this. I decided to just be cool. And from the resolved look on Lily’s face, I could tell she’d decided the same.
A few minutes later, as I followed the seat numbers down the aisle, I was in for a surprise when I saw Megan and Trina at row sixteen. Ack!
They both looked up at me, clearly wondering what I was doing there.
“Hey, guys,” I said sheepishly. “I’m supposed to be sitting here, but I can totally swap with the person sitting next to Lily.”
Megan peered up over the seat in front of her. She eyed Lily getting into row fourteen with…
I turned around to see who the person is. It was Megan’s mom!
“Nope,” said Megan. “I love my mom, but it’s enough to have her chaperoning this whole trip. Not going to sit next to her if I don’t have to!”
I puffed out a defeated sigh and gave Lily a sad wave. She waved back with a frown.
“You two will be sharing a room, so you’ll have plenty of time to catch up later,” said Trina.
“It’s cool.” I smiled, embarrassed that I’d dragged this on so long. At least I got the window seat.
Once I was buckled in, I texted Eliza to give her an update.
Boarded and so far, leaving on time.
It’s a sunny and clear day here. Great day for a flight.
I hope so.
I know so.
My grinning captured Megan’s attention. She’s seated next to me, hogging up both armrests. “Don’t tell me you’re texting Lily.”
Trina looks at me and cracks up. “Oh, no. Is it like, Hi, Lily. Do you sense me staring at the back of your head? How about now? Or now?”
Megan snorts.
“As a matter of fact, I’m not texting her. I’m texting another friend.”
“What other friend do you even have?” asked Megan, unironically.
“Eliza, from my old dance studio in Connecticut. She’s excited I’m coming up,” I explained.
“Wait,” said Megan. “You said your old dance studio would be competing against us at nationals.”
“Well, yeah, but they’re still my friends,” I said.
“They’re our competitors,” Megan shot back. “This happy little reunion better not interfere with nationals. Eliza is going to be going up against us, so I hope you remember that.”
The sour taste in her warning lingered. But a moment later our plane started zooming down the runway for takeoff and Megan suddenly looked nervous.
“You okay?” Trina asked Megan.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I j
ust— Oop!” The plane jostled its way down the runway, and Megan shut her eyes.
“You’re a nervous flyer?” I asked.
“No, pfft,” she said. Then she opened one eye. “Okay, maybe a little. Whatever.”
We hit a little bump, and Megan shrieked.
“Megan, we’re still on the ground,” I told her. “And don’t worry, we’ll distract you when we’re actually up in the air.”
She winced and clutched the armrests tighter. “Promise?”
“We promise,” Trina and I responded.
It ended up being actually a fun flight. We played cards and Would You Rather?, and I learned something new about both of them (Megan would rather go waterskiing, Trina snow skiing; Megan would rather have an extra eye, and Trina would rather have two noses). And we also managed to get Megan through the worst of the turbulence, even though I had a feeling I would have nail marks when she dug into my arm after a particularly big bump. Bonding accomplished!
As we peered down on skyscrapers on our approach to LaGuardia Airport in New York, I was all too happy to point out any landmarks I recognized.
“There’s the Statue of Liberty! And one of the big bridges—I always forget which one is which!” I pointed them out to Megan. I think she actually had tears in her eyes from joy. (Or maybe from relief we were almost on the ground.)
I couldn’t wait to show everyone New York.
I was baaaack!
CHAPTER 7
I was grateful passenger vans didn’t have assigned seats. It was so nice to be sitting next to Lily again. As we were all transported from the airport in Queens to the hotel in Manhattan, we were able to take in the first New York City sights from the second row.
While the van weaved through the crowded highway, Lily commented on different things out her window.
“The highway is so narrow! So many cars!” she said.
“So fast. So many turns. I think I’m going to throw up,” Riley said, holding her mouth.
“You get used to it after a while,” I answered.
“How do I find my seat belt in this thing?” Riley twisted and turned in her seat next to Lily and me.
“You’re already wearing your seat belt,” Lily pointed out, grinning. Riley was acting as jumpy as Megan had during in-flight turbulence.
I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of the highway sign that read MANHATTAN and MIDTOWN TUNNEL and texted it off with a quick note.
Lily looked at me as if she knew exactly what I was up to.
“Eliza again?” she asked.
I smiled at her. “No. I sent it to my parents.”
“Oh. Okay.” Lily looked almost relieved. “Sorry for assuming.”
“Don’t be too impressed,” Trina told Lila. “She wasn’t texting Eliza, because Eliza already knows we’re here. As soon as we touched down, she was texting her our status.”
“Oh, come on, you would be excited about going back home to meet your old dance crew too,” I said.
“Uh, no,” Megan said. “Mine is the Bells. Not excited to see them ever. Not excited to see Isabella in New York, either.”
Hmm. She had a point there. But Eliza was different.
“Isabella!” Trina shrank in her seat. Even the mention of her name still weirded Trina out. Isabella was intimidating. “She was—”
The van abruptly swerved and Trina lost her train of thought. She didn’t continue her statement, for which I was grateful. She just grabbed her headset and plugged into her soothing music. I liked the zoned-out Trina much better.
“You’re right, I’m sorry,” said Lily. “I would be excited about going back to my old gymnastics team too. I mean, who wouldn’t be eager to see a good friend again?”
“I really think you and Eliza will get along,” I said, patting Lily’s knee.
“I’m excited to meet her,” she replied cheerfully.
“Great!” I said. It seemed silly that everyone was so focused on Eliza, like I was going to go and give her all our secrets or something. I would love for both of my dance worlds to get along.
“We’ll be there in no time,” I said, back to the reassuring mode I’d used for Megan on the flight over. “Check it out!” I nudged Riley. “Look! We are getting closer.”
The van climbed a hilly part of the highway, and when it reached the peak, the gleaming New York City skyline came into view. The skyscrapers reflected the bright midday sun, and we all gasped and cheered when we saw it.
“New York City, here we come!” Megan shouted from the front seat, throwing up her arms as high as they could go in a low-ceiling vehicle, still relieved she’d survived the flight.
“Whoop!” hollered Lily.
“The Squad takes Manhattan!” I shouted, grabbing Lily and Trina’s hands and throwing them up with mine.
Everyone cheered and took videos of our mini celebration. And the closer we got, the less concerned Riley became about the dicey city driving.
We were so pumped by the time we reached the fashionably old-world hotel, no one was ready to stay inside. As we gathered in the marble-walled elevator bank we began to sound like a bunch of toddlers, trying to convince the chaperones to let us go out. “Can we? Please, can we?”
“Fine!” Vanessa held up her hands and shouted above the whining. “All those interested in a predinner stroll through Rockefeller Center, meet me back down here in twenty minutes.”
We jumped up and down and squealed, not caring how cheesy we were acting. We scored another victory when we crowded out our chaperones and nabbed an elevator all to ourselves. We all were silly dancing when the elevator doors opened. And Isabella was inside. Ack!
“Looks like the cool quotient of New York City just went down a few notches,” Isabella said in a fake-playful way the moment the elevator doors closed us in together. “JK. Gee whiz, that was some cheerful arrival.”
“Oh, Isabella. I didn’t know you were staying at the same hotel,” Megan said, obviously mortified but trying to hide it.
“Most of the dance teams are staying in this hotel, because the nationals are held in the grand ballroom downstairs. But you just got here, so how could you have known?” She talked like she’d been here weeks or months longer than we had. “I’ve been bumping into newcomers like you from lots of dance studios.”
“It’s not all of our first time visiting New York,” Megan says, reaching for me and nudging me forward. “We’ve got a local girl ready to show us around.”
That was not at all what I’d expected, so I got a bit tongue-tied now that I was put on the spot.
“Oh, really?” she said. “That’s handy—you know, we were just wondering what subway stops are by here. We’ve been taking car service, but I might go underground in order go to downtown for something different. So, subway? I’m sure you know that off the top of your head.”
Had I just stepped into some elevator quiz reality show? I looked up at the cameras and wondered if there was a live studio audience watching somewhere.
“But if you don’t know—” challenged Isabella.
“Oh, she knows,” Megan insisted.
Oh, I didn’t know.
But maybe I was off the hook. Ding! We’d reached our floor, but everyone was still staring, waiting, hoping for me to get it right or wrong.
“Our floor,” I said quickly, and exited first. I swallowed hard, hoping the Squad followed me off, leaving Isabella on the elevator. I took a few paces onto our floor and breathed easier knowing the pressure was off.
I turned around to chat with the Squad. “Whew, that was…”
Isabella standing there. On our floor. Waiting. On my answer!
Seriously?
“What a coincidence.” She crossed her arms. “We happen to be staying on the same floor. So, subway station? Miss Know Everything About New York City.”
Megan and Riley looked like they wanted to Google the answer telepathically. Lily and I exchanged a look that confirmed we both thought this was bonkers.
&nb
sp; I’ve been to New York plenty of times, but never on my own. I mean, who really knows all the subway stations? I came in from Connecticut! I was always following my parents, some other older relative, or a chaperone. That’s when it popped into my head: the lyrics to the jazzy song I danced to at my old studio last year. Nothing betta/Than Rockefeller/Here’s what to do/Take the B, D, F, M, and Q…
“The B, D, F, M, and Q,” I said, my heart thumping. Rockefeller Center, where we were!
Isabella’s thumbs rapid-tapped her cell screen, then she paused for a second before reporting: “Okay, you’re right.”
“DanceStarz are always right,” boasted Megan. “Come on, girls. We have to be ready for Harper’s city tour in fifteen minutes.”
We pivoted with sass and headed down the hall, leaving the Energii dancers standing there to get swallowed up by our chaperones, who spilled out of the next elevator.
CHAPTER 8
The Squad, Megan’s and Riley’s moms, and Vanessa walked the wide city streets at the height of rush hour. It was a chilly day, and there’s a clashing of sounds, smells, and even—for Riley— tastes. She got really excited just stepping out on the street. The first thing we saw was a street vendor.
“My first street hot dog,” Riley saids before gnawing off a mouthful. “You guys are going to regret not ordering one for yourselves.”
“You didn’t even order that one for yourself,” says Megan. “Harper ordered it for you.”
Trina giggled. It’s true. Riley had been so caught up over how to phrase her order, and what local terms she should use when ordering, that she’d shied away from it altogether.
“Oh, you know you wanted one too,” Riley said cheerfully. Megan’s mother had muttered that it was disgusting to order off the street, so Megan didn’t get one. She scowled. We snapped a pic of Riley holding up her hard-earned hot dog, a ginormous stone fountain in the background.
It’s funny: As we joined the crowds, it all came back to me. I zigzagged my way through the sidewalks full of fast-walking people, tourists with their cameras and fanny packs, making a hole for the rest of the crew to follow behind safely. I learned these moves from my dad, who used to work in the city. When we’d meet him here for lunch, he would take long strides and tunnel his way through any slow-moving mob of people, and we’d be running to keep up. He knew all the shortcuts and the best eateries.
The Competition Page 3
