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.”