That feeling helped me get through my second Serious Teacher Conversation of the day. Before rehearsal, I met with Mrs. Sorenson and Ms. Langford in the choir room. I convinced them I deserved to stay in the musical, listened to their lectures, and swore I wouldn’t disappear again.

“You better not,” Ms. Langford said as I stood up to leave. “Otherwise Cyd Charisse’s ghost will haunt you.” It had to be a joke, but Ms. Langford wasn’t smiling. So I gave a quick nod and got out of there.

This was good. I was fixing things. I took a big breath as I walked into the auditorium. I got about two steps in when I heard a scream.

“Alinaaaaa!” Laney barreled down the aisle, a Snickers bar waving in her hand. Ada, who’d been lying on the floor with her coat as a pillow, jerked up. They enveloped me in a hug.

“We missed you!” Ada said.

“We could hardly dance without you,” Laney added, doing a weird, disjointed version of the choreography to demonstrate.

“Okay, okay.” I gestured for her to stop. “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t,” Laney and Ada said in unison, and then broke into laughter.

Okay, maybe in all the drama, I’d forgotten how much I liked these other musical weirdos. As they caught me up on the rehearsals I’d missed, I scanned the auditorium. No sign of Margot. Jude, Ethan, and Harrison were sitting on the edge of the stage, and a few of the other usual seniors stood facing them, tossing snacks back and forth. Ethan and Harrison were sharing a Dr Pepper, which was interesting. I’d told Colleen how I was sure Harrison had joined the musical to get closer to Ethan, and she was predictably delighted about the whole thing. I tapped out a quick text, telling her of this latest development.

She responded a few seconds later. In some cultures, sharing a Dr Pepper means you’re married. How’s rehearsal?

Ok… I hope. I’ll fill you in after.

I tucked my phone away as Margot strode into the auditorium, wearing her headphones. She took them off as the senior group onstage greeted her. Ethan threw a bag of Combos at her head. She smirked, caught it, and whipped it back so fast Ethan didn’t have time to react and it hit him in the face. Everyone cackled.

Maybe it had happened gradually, or during the rehearsals I’d missed, but Margot seemed completely at ease with everyone. She’d told me before that she wasn’t great friends with most of the musical people, but it didn’t look like that anymore.

“Gonna fill up,” Laney said, grabbing her water bottle. “Don’t disappear again.”