“I believe you can do this.” Those words echoed in my mind as I went through the moves over and over—sometimes tripping up a little, but always trying again.

By the time I had to give up the room, I was sweaty, exhausted, and worn-out, but I was ready and confident.

We were all happy to get back to our hotel room and hit the showers.

“You can go first,” I told Lily as we both stood with arms full of shampoo, soap, and body lotion.

“No, you go ahead,” she said. “I know you have your friend coming to pick you up soon.”

Oh, yeah. Lily had overheard Eliza asking me to lunch. I had been sort of afraid to remind her, so a part of me was glad I didn’t have to.

“I wish you could come too, but I’m not sure what she’s got planned.”

Was it rude not to insist the Squad come along—or at least Lily? But no, they had to understand that I needed alone time with my friend. Besides, Eliza’s mom was authorized to take me out for a couple of hours. I didn’t think she could just take anyone else along with us, unless one of the mom chaperones joined us.

“No, it’s okay—really,” says Lily. “I wouldn’t want to miss where Vanessa will take us after lunch. Riley thinks Vanessa set up a fun surprise.”

Was Lily jealous?

She’s just a little stressed, I said to myself. It had been an intense day, and everyone was starting to get nervous about nationals. Yup, just needs some time.

“Is this place even real?” Eliza and I were in front of Cupcake Queen, already smelling all of the sugary goodness that was waiting for us inside.

I walked into the cupcake bakery with my jaw hanging. It was like we’d been transported to inside a painting. The walls were all murals of cool cityscapes. Without overdoing it, the splashes of color all complemented one another in a way I wouldn’t have expected.

And behind the glass counter were rows and rows of deliciously colorful cupcakes. These were no ordinary cupcakes. They had magical powers.

“I knew you’d love it,” said Eliza. Her mom grabbed a seat in the far corner. She’d been nice enough to come with us, since we couldn’t go by ourselves, and had brought a book along so Eliza and I could hang out.

“I forgot just how much you know about me,” I said.

“Of course! Just because you’re the new girl in Florida doesn’t mean you’re the new girl here.”

The truth of Eliza’s simple statement struck me. That’s totally right. Unlike in Florida, I had history here. I had a past people were familiar with. I had a track record. A pretty cool one, especially when it came to dance.

We ordered swirly cupcakes with chocolate frosting, and grabbed seats at a bright two-seater table.

“Mmm, this is the perfect dessert after the pizza we had,” I declared between delicious bites.