“Well, I’ve been making it even weirder for you these past few days.” I make a face. “I’m so sorry about slipping out of our room the other day without saying good-bye.”

“Yeah, that was super weird and uncool,” said Lily. “When Eliza is around, it’s like you forget you have other friends.”

I knew this was the point the others—especially Megan—had been trying make to me these past few days, but hearing it from Lily was like the kick in the pants I needed.

I winced. “That bad, huh?”

Lily crossed her arms and nodded.

“I’m so sorry.” I let out a deep sigh. “That was totally uncool. You shouldn’t have had to deal with that. I was just so excited to be here and fit back into my old life, I think I lost my way.”

“Well, now I feel bad I didn’t ask.” Lily uncrossed her arms and leaned her elbows on the little round tabletop. “How was your visit in Connecticut?”

“It was nice, but not what I’d imagined it would be.” I leaned forward too, resting my forearms on the table. “Before I visited, I thought that I would just go to Connecticut and pick up where I left off. But so much had changed. And for a while there, I was confused about where I belong.”

I told her about my “cheesy” night.

“Yikes.”

I nodded. “They weren’t doing anything on purpose. I just felt left out in my own head. And I didn’t mean for you to feel the way I felt that night.”

“Thanks for saying that,” Lily said, looking lighter from the weight lifted off her shoulders. It was so nice being able to talk to her honestly like this. I was glad she was willing to hear me out after all I’d done. Her phone went off. She pulled it from her jacket pocket and smiled when she looked at the screen.

“It’s my parents!

“Cool!”

Lily and I said hi to her mom and dad. “The trophy is going to be held in a display case at DanceStarz Academy,” Lily explained to her parents. I smiled to myself when I imagined what the look on the faces of the tiniest dancers there would be.

As she spoke to them, me waving hello in the background, I decided to video chat my own family. Hailey would love to see where I was right now. There were a lot of competing sounds around us, but I could still make out my parents’ words. They said they couldn’t wait to see the trophy in person.

It was sweet how excited my mom was for me. “I’m so happy this was such a great trip for you!” she said, getting a little too close to the camera. “Winning the nationals, getting a solo, seeing Eliza again . . .”