“It’s fine,” I said, and my voice actually sounded half convincing. But then I thought of something horrible. What if we had to do ballet at the callback? A wild panic filled me and I gripped the edge of my hard plastic seat. I calmed down by reminding myself that if we did, it would just be flower swaying, like Margot said. Ballet in air quotes. Not the real thing. My pulse slowed down, back to normal.

“So hey,” Margot said, her voice surprisingly gentle. “What are you doing tonight? There’s a new record store opening in Harrisburg that looks cool. Want to go?”

“Oh, um, sorry. I’m kind of tired. I think I’m just going to go home and sleep.” I already wished I were in bed, under the covers, watching Giselle.

“Okay,” Margot said. “Then you should come to me and Ethan’s movie night next week. We don’t even have to watch a musical. And you can pick the snacks.” She smiled at me expectantly.

“Um, maybe.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want to hang out with Margot. I just needed her to stay in the school zone. If she crept too much into my real world, she’d see how pathetic it was. How pathetic I was. She’d pity me. Or worse, she’d say “Get over it,” which I wouldn’t be able to stand.

I looked around for Ms. Langford, wondering when the Vamp callback would start so I could do it and go home already. When I turned back to Margot, she was tracing her fingernail over a lengthy run in her black tights, a frown pulling at her mouth.

When she saw me looking, she straightened up. “I still can’t believe Harrison’s here,” she said. I swiveled to see Harrison sitting on his own. He kept nervously pulling off his beanie, smoothing out his hair, and putting it back on.

“Vamp girls and Don Lockwoods, line up!” Ms. Langford finally called.

“Go get ’em, champ,” Margot said as I stood and joined the other two girls called back for the Vamp role—Laurel Adams and Diya Rao—onstage. Diya X-rayed me with her eyes again. What was her deal? She’d also been called back for Kathy Selden, a role with actual lines, so she probably had no interest in being the Vamp.

Diya and Laurel were both wearing leotards and dance shorts, their bare legs on display. I felt out of place in my jeans and gray Henley, but there was no way I’d change. I wasn’t showing anyone my scars.

Ms. Langford matched up the partners according to height. That put the tall Diya with Ethan (which seemed to piss them both off), the petite Laurel with Harrison, and me in the middle with Jude.