Eliza must have been sitting all in her feelings about my walking away from that photo, and the thought made me feel uneasy.

“What’s the matter, Harper? Is it the food?” Vanessa asked.

“No.” I tried to laugh it off and play it cool. “The food is amazing.”

“Well, finish up, because we want to get in enough time hanging out at the rink.”

“We have to leave already?” Megan asked. “Wait, does the subway run at night? Is it really dark down there?”

“We can take a taxi back,” Vanessa told her.

“Whew!” Megan burst out. “I mean, okay, cool.”

“But first, a toast. Here’s to the most talented, hardest-working team I’ve ever had the pleasure of taking to nationals,” said Vanessa.

“Hear, hear!” the moms replied, bursting with pride. This was a big moment for them, too.

Together with all of our parents, they were our number one fans.

No one celebrated our wins like they did. I was so grateful to my parents and to Hailey for cheering me on every step of the way, all the way to nationals.

“Riley and I came up with a fabulous idea to celebrate,” Riley’s mother said.

Riley picked up a spoon and pretended it was a mic.

“DanceStarz Squad, you’ve just earned top honors at the forty-fourth annual dance nationals. What are you going to do now . . . since we’re outside of Florida and too far from Disney World?”

“We’re going ice-skating!” she announced. “At the famous rink at Rockefeller Center!

“Well . . .” Vanessa held up a finger. “Not all of you can skate. Sorry, Megan and Harper, but you know the rules. No risky activities before competition.”

Ugh. I knew that rule was meant to protect us.

“Oh dear, I hadn’t thought of that,” Riley’s mother said.

Vanessa caught sight of Megan’s pout. “No exceptions.”

“Well, now my daughter is left out of the celebration?” Megan’s mother frowned at Riley’s mother. Uh-oh.

“It’s fine!” Megan and I both said quickly.

“I guess you both have to watch from the sidelines, the way we’ll be watching you both tomorrow,” said Trina, smiling.

“That’s fair.” I smiled back at her. Actually, it made me feel better about my solo privilege knowing that the rest of the squad would enjoy a special outing like this. “Megan and I can cheer you guys on. We can get hot chocolate, right, Vanessa?”

“Definitely,” Vanessa said, smiling.

“Megan, they have the best hot chocolate at the rink,” I said. “It’s like drinking a melted candy bar.”

“That does sound yummy.” Megan gave in. Her mother relaxed too.

We made our way to the rink, which was still pretty busy, even at night. Megan and I hung out with the rest of the squad as they rented ice skates. After they laced up their classic white skates, Lily and Trina handed us their phones like we were their personal photographers.