The crowd seemed to collectively sit up and move to the edge of their seats. I for one was glad that the solos announcements were out of the way. It was on to the team awards—something we were all in together. I could tell the difference this made. Slowly, I could feel Lily and Trina’s shoulders pressed close to mine as we all gravitated closer to each other for support. And then one of us must have been the first to reach out and take the hand of the person next to them, because it started a chain reaction until we all were holding hands.

“Nah, just kidding!” Trey said.

We all croaked a collective groan.

“Your boyfriend sure is super chatty,” Trina whispered to Riley.

“I know—what is he trying to do, kill us with suspense?” Lily asked under her breath.

Trey introduced last year’s winning dance team. We watched last year’s group dance winners step onstage wearing Santa hats and waving to the crowd.

“Were they even competing this year?” Megan wondered aloud.

“I don’t recognize them,” I replied.

“No, they didn’t compete this year for some reason,” Riley said, like she’d just Googled it.

“No wonder they look so relaxed and stress-free.”

Riley knew what she was talking about. She’d studied the roster of the winners from the last few years. She’d even noticed a few patterns and shared her observations with us over dinner one night.

“Without further ado, the envelope, please,” Trey said, probably wishing to himself that he had a live drummer on hand to add even more suspense.

One of last year’s winners took an envelope and passed it to the dancer next to her, and so on, until Trey held it in his hand.

“Here we go!” Trey tore through the envelope in no time, thankfully. We squeezed one another’s hands tighter and moved closer together. Trina even squeezed her eyes shut.

We’d come to New York City ready to compete. We’d done this, and we’d done it well. No matter whose name was called, this would be what carried me through any disappointment. I was proud of how we’d performed. And most of all, I was proud to be a member of DanceStarz Academy’s Squad.

I spotted Vanessa in the crowd. She was standing and touching her fingers to her mouth, her eyes creased with anticipation and worry. When she caught me looking at her, she nodded.

Troy opened the envelope and then stared wordlessly at the name. The light danced across his sequined back.

“Oooh, this is good,” he said.

“Read it!” someone shrieked from somewhere in the dark sea of the audience. Everyone cracked up, obviously feeling the same but too polite to express it. Even Trey chuckled and shook his head.

“Okay, here we go. For real now.” He smiled mischievously before clearing his throat and gaining his composure. “Ladies and gentleman, the winning group of the forty-fourth annual nationals competition IS . . .

“. . .”