“I’m just kidding!” Hailey laughed. “Please. Like Harper didn’t use half a can of hairspray this morning.”

“Hailey, now isn’t a good time for teasing. Your sister is nervous.”

“Harper, are you nervous?” Hailey asked.

Um . . . YES?!!

I was about to audition for a new dance studio. I’d be placed in classes (what if I choked and they stuck me in beginner classes with teeny five-year-olds in tutus?) and I’d find out if I could be on a competition team. So, basically my entire life.

Okay, maybe that sounded overly dramatic. But dancing was my life. The dance studio had been my second home since I was two years old. My mom always said that when I was really little, I would dress up like a fairy princess or a butterfly and jump and twirl around and break things, so she signed me up for a little-kid ballet class to get rid of all that energy. I’d been at that studio ever since.

I took every class they offered: ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary. I loved lyrical and contemporary the most, felt confident with my technique in ballet classes, and did tumbling and hip-hop for fun and to help with my routines.

I joined the precompetitive team when I was six and then made the junior competition team. Last year, I started getting solos—and winning with them. My BFFs were on the team with me, and we practiced together almost every day after school.

Don’t get me wrong—I liked doing other things besides dancing: drawing, painting, baking brownies, hanging out with my friends, and watching funny YouTube videos (and videos of dancers like Travis Wall and Maddie Ziegler). But the dance floor was my happy place.

A few weeks ago, Dad got a new job in Florida and we had to move pretty quickly.

I cried for a week when Mom and Dad told me; Hailey cried for a week too; even my Mom cried when we packed up our stuff. I definitely didn’t want to leave. Eventually, Hailey and Mom said they were up for the adventure of it, but me? I didn’t want to say good-bye to my friends and my old life. I didn’t want to say good-bye to my old dance studio.

Or hello to a new studio. And new friends.

At least, I hoped I’d have a new dance studio. There was a chance they wouldn’t even take me on a competition team. When I told my dance teacher back in Connecticut I was moving, she told me that dance was a huge part of Florida culture. That sounded great! Then she told me that Florida had a highly competitive dance community. HIGHLY competitive. Eep.

So yeah. I was nervous about this audition at DanceStarz.