“Hey!” I perked up when Lily walked out, dressed in our fuchsia competition bodysuit. “Ready for day two?”

“Sure,” Lily said without an ounce of enthusiasm in her voice. Uh-oh.

“Is everything okay?” I asked her.

“Gee. Why do you ask?” She finally gave me a little eye contact, but I almost wish she hadn’t. The look in her eyes was accusing, like I was guilty of something.

“Um, I don’t know, you seem a little . . . annoyed,” I said hesitantly. “I know it’s a stressful day. Do you want to talk about it?”

Lily put down her hairbrush and puffed out a sigh. She rolled back her shoulders, as if she was trying to work out a knot in her muscles. That must’ve done the trick, because after, she seemed to lighten up.

“You know what?” she asked. She rolled her shoulders again, but this time did one of Jackie and Miguel’s body roll, pop, and lock moves after. “I think I’m good now.”

“Just like that?”

“Mom says to shake off bad feelings,” Lily said. “She’s big on sleeping off your worries instead of sleeping with your worries. Also, we only have five minutes. No time to really deal with this . . .”

“And now you’re literally shaking things off,” I finish her thought.

“Yes.” She smiled a sad smile. “For now.”

I got it. I went in the bathroom to wash my face and hands before I left. Then I realized what I’d forgotten last night. That nagging feeling I had last night before meeting Eliza? That thing that I forgot to do before leaving? It was say good-bye to Lily before I left.

I looked in the mirror at the cold water dripping off my face in big droplets. Ugh. So that was why she’d been so mopey this morning. Ugh. I imagined her telling me one of her postshower stories, talking on and on and not realizing she’d been talking to herself until she’d opened the door and found the hotel room empty. Empty because I’d left to go see my old friend.

Great going, Harper.

Back in the dressing room, we easily scored the same corner to camp out in. There were fewer contestants here than yesterday. The extra breathing room was nice, but there was also extra pressure in all the uncrowded air. In a few minutes, we’d all meet Vanessa in the warm-up room to work on our dance number again. It was a must. Only one team would be going home with the nationals winning title, so we had to be better than the best.

When Eliza and her elite Dance City team walked in a few minutes after us, I could feel Lily, Megan, Riley, and Trina giving me the side eye. It was as if they’d expected me to reunite with her by running across the wide room, arms wide open and ugly crying with happiness. Eliza and I exchanged glances and gave each other a hello wave, but we stayed where we were.