“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 just— 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.