Then when the chorus started, I had to crack up. Out of the blue, they all started saying, “Bzz, bzz. Bzz bzz” and doing some sting movements. Everyone committed.

It turned out to be a party!

Trey was breathless when he came up onstage to thank us for closing out the solos together. The three of us took our bows, waved to the crowd’s cheerful applause, and exited the stage one final time.

“Thank you both!” I hugged Megan and Eliza with all that I had left.

“Riley warned you that you’d eventually be blinded by Trey’s charm,” Megan joked.

“That she did.” I laughed with Eliza.

“Harper, I wasn’t mad that you didn’t take the photo with me,” Eliza explained. “Well, I was a little annoyed maybe, but I knew you had your team. And I really forgot to text you!”

Phew! I was so glad nothing was really wrong there. And then something else that was wonderful occurred to me as I looked at Harper and Megan. “Hey, who would’ve thought I’d see you two join forces?”

“We’re all on the same team today,” said Eliza. “Team Harper!”

“Team Harper on three!” Megan shouted, her hand held out palm down. We gladly stacked our hands. “One . . . two . . . three . . .”

“TEAM HARPER!” we shouted together, cheering and high-fiving each other.

“Now how about that photo?” Eliza asked me.

“Let’s do it!” I smile from ear to ear.

After the show was over, and the audience spilled out the ballroom, the dancers were told to wait together.

“Eliza, there’s someone who wants to talk to you.” Eliza’s coach came over toward a man who wore a jacket that said MIAMI DANCE. While they spoke off to the side, Eliza’s beaming smile and frequent head nods told me all I needed to know. I was so happy for her.

As I waited patiently, eager to hear her details, Vanessa walked over to me, smiling with her eyes. There was a woman I didn’t recognize at Vanessa’s side.

“Harper, this is Ms. Irving, a recruiter from Dance New York.”

My stomach flip-flopped like a pancake, and I froze. DANCE NEW YORK?

“So nice to meet you,” I said, trying to hold it together.

Ms. Irving shook my hand. “Harper, it is nice to meet you and to see you perform.”

Gasp! Were her colleagues impressed with my deer-inheadlights routine too? I was simultaneously panicking and celebrating that Dance New York saw me perform. And choke. They saw me choke.

She smiled at Vanessa.

“She saw all your performances,” Vanessa said, as if reading my mind. “Not just today.”