“Mom,” said Megan, apparently issuing her mother a hint to cool it.

Wow. I hadn’t seen that coming.

Even though I hadn’t done it out loud, I instantly felt bad about dragging Megan like that. I had to admit, she’d been supportive and cool since regionals, and that went a long way.

I knew the Connecticut name drop was a fail, but I had been so swept up in the moment. It was like I’d forgotten that the portion of my life involving moving out of Connecticut and starting up a new school and a new dance studio had even happened. The same thing happened when I got sucked into the world of a good book or a cool movie. I’d get a little lost in it, and when I’d come out, it’d take half a second for the details of my real life to come rushing back in.

I was in New York, trying to help my new squad to victory, but that didn’t mean I should feel bad hanging with my old friend.

And sorry, but today was super fun!

Megan and her mom—and whoever else had a problem with it—would just have to accept that.

That night in our hotel room, Lily and I started prepping for the next day. I definitely didn’t want to forget anything! Lily started gathering up her things as I brushed my hair out postshower. Our favorite baking show was on in the background too.

“It’s kind of ironic,” said Lily as she packed her competition bag on her bed. “Today’s dance-off between locals and out-of-towners kind of had a double meaning.”

“Oh, really? How?” I asked.

I stopped brushing my hair, turned down the volume on the hotel TV a bit, and plopped down on my bed.

“Well, you could read that as your old life in Connecticut competing with your new one in Florida.”

“Okay.” I thought about it. “When you describe it that way, I guess I can see what you mean.”

In the silence that followed, I picked up my brush and started plucking the hair strands from it.

“I guess if I’m honest, a part of me is being tugged in a different direction. It’s been hard, since I want to hang with Eliza but do fun things with you guys too.”

“I can see that,” said Lily, refolding her hand towel to better fit in her bag. “Like when Eliza’s around, I feel like you would rather hang with her than us.”

Ouch.

“I don’t do that,” I said. Do I?

“Well, you may not think so, but that’s how it looks from here.”

I let out a slow sigh as what Lily had said sank in. I realized this was coming from my best friend on the Squad, and not from Megan, who did things just to rile people up. Or even from Riley, who could be a little extra. Lily had never told me anything to rile me up or cause drama. She did things that brought us closer. For once since we’d first met, it felt like she and I had slipped a little further apart these past few days.