Jayla drops our shoes on the ground, and we sit on the little set of steps separating the lanes from the snack area to shove our feet inside.

“Ready to lose, ladies?” Nikki laughs, standing up to grab her ball.

“Yes,” I answer at the same time Jayla says, “Never.”

•  •  •

“So when is the big tournament?” I ask. We’re perched on stools at the Bowl-A-Rama snack bar, trying to ignore the overwhelming smell of beer and shoe polish while chowing down on hot wings. My lips are burning, but it’s totally worth it. Bowl-A-Rama wings are undeniably the best in town, and—seeing as how I generally avoid the bowling alley at all costs—also a rare treat.

“The weekend after your audition,” Nikki says, twisting slowly back and forth on her spinny bar stool.

The date of my audition has been hanging over us since I got the official invite last week. It’s thrilling and terrifying all at once, a bright red X on the calendar that hopefully marks the beginning of the rest of my life.

“Great, so all of us will be anxious little stress balls for the next month,” Jayla says, but the smirk on her face tells me she doesn’t really mind.

“I’ve got it in the bag,” Nikki says. “Anxious little stress ball is not in my vocabulary.”

“Easy for you to say. You have a whole additional year of high school soccer to earn scholarships and make a name for yourself.” I sigh. “I only have, like, five weeks to nail my repertoire, or it’s game over.”

“You will,” Jayla says, squeezing my wrist. “You’ve been working toward this forever. You’re going to make it happen.”

Nikki grabs another wing. “It’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t work out, anyway.”

I snap my head toward her. “Why would you even say that!”

“Because it’s true. You’re putting waaaay too much pressure on getting into this summer program. It’s not like there aren’t other ones out there. And it’s not like you won’t get into college without it. You have a whole other year left too.”

“But this is my only chance to study with Aleksander Ilyashev before my college audition. I need this. I didn’t even schedule auditions for any other summer programs.”

She shrugs. “Maybe you should have.”

“What the hell, Nikki?” Jayla says. She twists around so fast, I swear to god if these stools weren’t bolted to the floor, she would have spun hers right over.

“What?” Nikki asks. “I think she’ll get in! I’m not saying she won’t. But she’s putting too much pressure on herself. There are way more important things in life. Things can happen outside of her control, and she—”