13
Why is Energii here?” Megan hissed.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Riley looked worried.
Uh-oh.
It was parade day! We were in the parade parking lot meeting spot, doing last-minute adjustments to our buns and our pastel costumes, when a white van decorated with bright orange and yellow starbursts pulled up next to us. A team of girls in white leotards with metallic glitter patterns in silver, bronze, and black on them filed out of the van.
“Isabelle! Bella!” Trina excitedly called out and waved.
Trina ran over to two of the girls and grabbed their hands. They reluctantly let her pull them toward us.
“Look who’s here!” Trina said.
The Bells.
“Hi!” The Bunheads went to hug the two girls from the other team. The response didn’t seem too enthusiastic.
“We didn’t know you were going to be here,” Riley said. “Energii isn’t even from this town.”
“You haven’t returned any of our texts,” Trina added.
“Yeah, we’ve been super busy,” the smaller girl with the black hair in braids wearing a white-and-bronze leotard responded. “New studio, new team, you know.”
“I do know! I’m new here,” Lily stepped in. “I’m Lily. You must be Isabelle and Bella. I’ve seen your team videos. You’re really good.”
“Bella and I have SO many new followers since we joined Energii.” The taller girl with light blond hair wearing a white-and-silver leo shrugged.
“But, wait, why is Energii even here?” Megan asked. “Like Riley said, the studio isn’t even in this town.”
“One of the dancer’s dads is a dentist here, so we’re dancing on his float,” Bella said.
“Oh!” It hit me. I pointed at Isabelle’s white-and-silver leotard. “Are you supposed to be teeth with braces on them?”
“I’m a filling. You know, for a cavity,” Isabelle said.
“You’re a dancing cavity?” Megan asked.
“I’m a filling,” Isabelle said. “The people with black are the cavities. Bella is gum disease.”
“Gingivitis!” Bella corrected her, pointing at her bronze stripes. “They said I’m gingivitis. Not gum disease, ew.”
I tried not to laugh, but I let out a snort.
“Uh, who are you?” Isabelle whipped her head toward me.
“I’m Harper.” I regained my composure. “I just moved here too.”
“Mm-hmm,” Isabelle said. “What are you guys supposed to be?”
“We’re representing a new frozen yogurt place,” Lily said. “Sugar Plums. Check it out!”
“I’m lemon fro-yo with rainbow sprinkles,” Trina said. “Hey, Bells, remember when we did the routine where we were in a rainbow? ROYGBIV?”
“Oh, yeah.” Isabelle softened for a second. “We won platinum.”
“That’s when I did my side aerial, but, Megan, you didn’t have yours down yet,” Bella said. “So Trina’s lemon, Riley’s berry something, and what’s Megan?”
“Megan is obviously vanilla, because she’s boring.” Isabelle cracked herself up.
“I’m original tart!” Megan said.
“Even better!” Isabelle laughed. “Original tart for a sourpuss.”
Megan’s face dropped. I felt sorry for her.
“She’s original because she’s the original member of the studio,” Trina said. “Remember when we all started at DanceStarz? It’s so weird we’re not on the same team with you anymore, Bells.”
“And now you’re the competition.” Megan had regained her composure.
“Oh, you’re not our competition,” Isabelle said.
“Right, because this is noncompetitive! It’s only a parade,” I said, still trying to diffuse the tension.
“No, I meant because Energii will blow your studio away.” Isabelle copped an attitude. “You’re new, so maybe you don’t know you are not in our league. There’s no competition.”
She and Bella fist-bumped.
“Hmph,” Megan sniffed. “Not sure how you can be so confident when you don’t even know what we’re bringing. Our secret weapons.”
Megan pointed to Lily and me.
Wait, what? Secret weapons? Lily and I looked at each other like, What?!
“Bring it,” Isabelle said. “You’re our rivals now.”
“And you’re traitors,” Bella said. “You chose to stay on DanceStarz even though—”
“Bella!” Isabelle interrupted her. “We have to go. But we’ll be watching, DanceStarz. Very. Closely.”
That sounded like a threat.
“Why did she say we’re traitors?” Riley asked.
“I don’t even know.” Megan frowned. I could tell she was upset.
“Are we still friends with them?” Trina asked.
I was guessing the answer to that was no. The Bunheads stood there, all frowning.
“Well! That was fun!” Lily said sarcastically.
“Yeah—no,” Megan said. “All right, you heard what just happened. We need to show these bad teeth what we can do. We need to outdance them and outshine them. The Bells are going to be sorry.”
Suddenly, this not-a-competition was feeling really competitive. Megan started walking quickly, and I hurried to keep up as we tried to find our float. We wove in between a scouting troop, a float for a Moose Lodge with a giant moose on it, and a fire truck. Then we passed a marching band, and you couldn’t miss it:
It was a giant papier-mâché frozen yogurt cup with a giant spoon taller than me.
The flatbed truck it was on was decorated with pink-and-ice-blue fringe. There were two signs on the side of the float. In pastel colors, there was:
SUGAR PLUMS PRESENTS . . .
And in our studio colors:
DANCESTARZ
“It’s no gum disease,” I said to Lily. “But it’ll have to do.”
“I think you mean gingivitis,” Lily replied with a straight face. We both cracked up.
The other dancers from the studio were milling around the float, excited. They would be walking alongside the float, waving and doing freestyle moves as we moved down the street.
“While the float is moving, you’re to stand and wave inside the yogurt cup—but, for safety’s sake, do not dance,” Vanessa instructed us. She told us that at a certain point in the parade, the float would stop, and that was when we’d perform our dance on the flatbed platform.
“Okay, this is hilarious,” I said.
“I think we look adorable,” Trina said. We all agreed.
“Let me take pictures!” Lily’s father came up alongside our float with a camera. “Say cheese! No, say cheesecake-flavored yogurt!”
“Cheese . . . cake!” we all yelled.
I could see one of the employees of the store driving the truck. The marching band ahead of us was playing a fight song, and people twirling batons started throwing them in the air, usually catching them. We all climbed onto our float, ready to go!
The float lurched into motion unexpectedly, and we all lost our balance and knocked into one another. Well, except, apparently, for Megan.
“Ow! Stand firm,” Megan commanded. “We’re dancers; find your core.”
I planted my feet on the ground and steadied myself against the side of the yogurt cup. And we were off! The float moved down the street. It was really fun waving at the people on the sidelines, who waved back at us.
We rolled down the main street of my new town. I’d been spending most of my time in the dance studio, or at home with my mom while she unpacked and set up the new house. I hadn’t really gotten out to explore too much. It was weird that this was my new hometown. I waved at people, my new neighbors.
We proceeded by a bank, a cleaning service, and the post office. There was an Indian restaurant my parents had started going to and a yoga place my mom wanted to join. We passed a diner where my dad had taken me for blueberry pancakes once. There was a flower shop, a pizza place that smelled good even from here, and then
the library, which reminded me to ask my mom for a library card. And the entrance to what was going to be my new school in a few weeks. Ack!
Occasionally, we stopped so that one of the parade participants could perform. Eventually, we turned the corner and could see the road that led to the dance studio and the frozen yogurt store.
“Wave to our home! We love you, DanceStarz!” Trina yelled, and we waved toward the street.
“And Sugar Plums!” Lily cheered.
We passed a few more office buildings and then looped around in a parking lot.
“Look! You can see Energii!” Riley pointed. We all leaned out of the giant cup so we could see their float. You couldn’t really miss it. It was an enormous toothbrush and tube of toothpaste, with silver fringe hanging down. The dancers assembled to pose on the float.
“That’s town hall. They’re going to perform,” Riley said.
And we’d get to watch, because from this angle we could see them clearly. Even if they didn’t think we were their competition, I wanted to be and to see what we were up against. It looked like they were going to do a large group dance, with the dancers walking on the ground participating too. I particularly wanted to watch the Bells, since they used to dance with my new teammates. I leaned way over the side of the cup to get a good view.
The music echoed across the parking lot, and we watched as Energii started to dance. They began doing some jazz-funk dance moves.
Every single dancer did a kick in perfect unison with the others. Oh, they were good. Then they stopped and pointed to the top of the float. Isabelle and Bella were among the dancers on the top. They all did leg holds that put mine to shame. Their facials were so expressive I could see them from all the way across a parking lot. I understood why the girls had wanted the Bells on their team—and weren’t thrilled with me.
“Do you see that?” Megan said quietly. “Do you see what they can do?”
Oh, I’d seen. We all watched their performance silently. I saw Vanessa standing to the side, watching intently as well.
“Well, that was a crowd-pleaser,” Lily said. “Can’t wait until we get our turn!”
The rest of us groaned.
“What? We’re almost as good as that,” Lily said. “Come on, we’re incredible too!”
I admired her optimism. I knew we were good and separately, maybe even incredible. But this team looked like it had been practicing those moves together for a long time. We’d been together for a week and a half. The band in front of us began to march again, and as batons flew, our float lurched forward. I waved at the cheering crowd, but I think we all felt a little subdued after watching Energii’s performance.
“High energy!” Megan yelled at us. “Wave and give it your all!”
She was actually right—we had to represent every moment we were here. I livened up and waved at the crowd as we rolled by. And then the float looped around and parked in front of town hall. It was almost our turn to perform!
“The TV station is here!” Lily said, and we all looked to see a local TV news crew, with cameras pointed our way.
“We’re going to be on TV!” Megan and Riley jumped up and down, then posed.
The pressure was on.
Vanessa stepped up onto the float.
“Two-minute warning,” she said. “Now, this is your first time together as a team. You’re here to prove yourselves. You’re representing DanceStarz and Sugar Plums, so give it your all! You know what to do.”
Megan, Riley, Trina, Lily, and I got in a circle.
“Okay, so this is our first performance ever together,” Megan said. “Trina?”
“All right, now’s our time to shine!” Trina said.
Every team has one of those inspirational people, and apparently ours was Trina.
“Let’s give it one hundred percent,” she continued. “Let’s do this not just for ourselves but for our team and for DanceStarz and to celebrate our town!”
I did feel a little chill when she said these things. I wanted to give it more than 100 percent, and show everyone what our new team could do!
“Let’s do our ritual.” Megan had to go and ruin it.
She tapped her nose.
“Wait,” I interrupted. They’d never taught us that ritual.
“Ring, ring! Tap, tap, pat, pat!” The Bunheads tapped their noses and patted their knees. Lily and I tried our best to follow it, but we were lost. And then a burst of laughter came from below.
Isabelle and Bella. They were standing at the front of the sidelines, laughing hysterically.
“Look at them! They’re still doing the Bells’ ritual,” Isabelle said loudly.
We all stiffened.
“Did you hear them mocking us?” Megan whispered fiercely. “They’re just going to stand there and mock us.”
“Haters gonna hate.” Lily shrugged.
“We can’t let them throw us off our game,” I agreed.
“No, you guys don’t understand.” Megan looked seriously upset now. “We have to kill it. We have to show them. That means: We have to do our routine keeping the jumps.”
Wait, what?
“Uh, we’re leaving that out, remember?” Lily reminded her.
“The Bells are watching us. Did you even see Energii’s routine? Ours is weak without those.”
“But Vanessa said not to,” I said.
“Didn’t you hear her just now?” Megan said. “Vanessa said: ‘You know what to do.’ That means we do it.”
The Bunheads turned to look at me. Megan’s gaze pierced through me. I knew how important it was to her to look good for her rivals. I couldn’t blame her. I wanted to look good for my rivals too.
Even if my current rivals happened to be my teammates.
“Okay,” I said. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
“Harper?” Lily looked at me nervously.
Megan wasn’t questioning it. She broke from the circle and clapped her hands.
“Take your spots!” Megan shouted. We all jumped out of the yogurt cup and stood in a pyramid formation: Lily and Riley stage right, Trina, Megan, and me stage left. I took a deep breath. I just needed to fight through this.
I could see the line of people along the side of the street, watching us. Including the Bells and, of course, Vanessa.
“Harper!”
And my sister, waving, nudging her way to the front. My parents were trying to keep up with her. Ack. I took a deep breath and felt the adrenaline kick in.
Our music started.
Trina and Riley strutted into the center. Lily and I strutted from our side and crossed over. Megan came into the middle and posed. I knew we were looking good. We did a toe-touch jump at the same time, and then a fouetté. . . .
It was time. I prepped for the jumps.
I thought I was doing okay—I really did. Lily later told me I was and that Megan had sped up the moves even from what we had practiced. But regardless, I was the only one who couldn’t keep up with them.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
I jumped in the wrong direction and right into Trina. It happened in slow motion. As we collided, I felt nothing but air underneath my feet and both of us went down . . . down . . . down . . .
Off.
The.
Float.
CHAPTER
14
It wasn’t that bad,” my mother told me as she rewrapped the bandage Vanessa had given me to wrap around my banged-up knee.
“Physically,” I muttered. Fortunately, I’d just scraped up my knee. What was more injured was my pride. I leaned back on my bed against my fluffy pillow and groaned.
“Oh, it was bad,” Hailey said. “You should have seen it; you were like . . .”
Hailey dramatically pretended to fall, her mouth open in horror and her hands pinwheeling wildly in the air. She staggered backward, slid down the bed, and then landed facedown on the carpet.
“It was not that bad, Hailey,” my mother repeated. “Minor.”
I couldn’t even look at Vanessa when she’d come running over. I felt like I’d let her down. And Trina wasn’t speaking to me. Lily had been really nice and kept smiling at me at least. The rest of the team had finished the dance—the show must go on!
The doctor from the medical office float checked me out and told me to stay off it for a night because it would bruise. But I’d be fine.
Besides being totally humiliated. What if someone had filmed it and posted it online? My parents had brought me right home, and I’d changed into a cami and shorts and pulled out my fuzzy penguin socks. My mom was taking care of my injury, and my dad offered to go pick up chicken with broccoli for me, but even my favorite food didn’t sound appealing. My mom kissed my forehead, and she and Hailey left the room.
My phone blipped. I winced as I reached over to get it. It was Lily.
u ok?
I sent back a thumbs-up emoji. I mean, I was okay. Physically. Lily texted back:
good. Vanessa said she’ll talk to us tmw
I cringed. How was I going to face anyone at the studio? I went back on my phone and searched other dance studios in the area. Obviously not Energii. But, like my mom had said, everything else was far away, and I knew my mom was looking for a job, so there was no way she’d be able to drive me that far.
I only had four more years until I got my driver’s license. . . .
I couldn’t wait four years to dance. I flopped back on my bed. This was hopeless. There was no way I could switch studios. But how could I go to practice tomorrow? I couldn’t face the Bunheads, and I certainly couldn’t face Vanessa.
I started to cry into my pillow. Maybe I should just give up dance.
Wait. What was I saying? No. I definitely wasn’t going to give up dance. I loved dance. Maybe I could just dance in my room. Maybe I could just never leave my room, so I wouldn’t embarrass myself again. My bed would be my stage. My stuffed animals would be my audience. I wouldn’t have to deal with people ever again.
There was a knock on my door.
“Please go away!” I yelled, but the door opened anyway.
Mo trotted in and jumped up on my bed. He always hated when I cried, and he started licking at my old tears. Oh, Mo, you always know how to make me feel better.
But Mo doesn’t open doors.
The Audition Page 8
