“Wow, where was the whole oh, this is the biggest reunion of our lifetime!?” Riley asked, seemingly pleasantly surprised by my actions—or, in this case, my inaction.

I pursed my lips at Riley but didn’t answer. Yes, I’d been feeling guilty about what I did to Lily. But I still didn’t think there was anything wrong with me being happy to see Eliza yesterday.

“Welp, you spoke too soon, Riley,” said Megan, looking over my shoulder at the scene behind me. “Your bestie wants to talk to you, Harper.”

Wha—? At first I didn’t turn around. I thought she was stirring up drama. But then Lily pointed her chin in Eliza’s direction, which confirmed it true. I turned around and saw Eliza looking back at us and waving me over.

“You’re not actually going to go over there,” Megan challenged when I shifted my weight to the foot pointed in Eliza’s direction.

“It’ll only take a second,” I said. I paused. “It’s not like I’m selling our dance secrets to her. She was my friend. She is my friend, I mean!”

“It’s not about the time it would take.” Megan released an annoyed chuckle. “It’s about—”

Riley puts out a hand, gesturing for us to stay calm. “What she means is, you shouldn’t be hanging with her this hard when the competition is so tight.” I could tell by the way she said it that Riley wasn’t just translating Megan’s feelings, but her own, too.

I didn’t want to disappoint her or anyone else on this team, but I thought they were all overreacting. Should I stay? Should I go? But Eliza’s waiting. I’d hate to let her down. But the Squad is staring, waiting for me to make a decision they would respect. How could I choose?

Feeling tugged on both sides, I was thinking that there was no good choice. So I turned around and walked toward Eliza, and then straight by her, out the changing room, down the hall, and right to the ladies’ room. When I glanced back, I saw everyone—Lily, Megan, Riley, Trina, and Eliza—standing with their arms crossed, looking at me.

This was as stressful as the competition. Had I really just blown off my old friend? Had I also made my new friends mad? I hid in the bathroom for at least five minutes. I needed to focus. I needed to just dance. I would be dancing onstage soon. Nothing else would matter. NOTHING. Pull yourself together, Harper, I said to myself. Get back in there.

When I walked back into the dressing room, the Squad looked up from their various stretching positions. I ignored all the eyes on me and started warming up too. I sat down and began my leg stretches.

“Squad!” Vanessa said. “Join me.”

We gathered around her.

“This is all stored in your muscle memory,” Vanessa said. “I don’t have to remind you of any of this. But I will anyway:

“Lily, you’re overreaching. Be careful to show those elegant lines judges love to see.