“Save me, Amy!” Lily whined into the phone after school.
She had been in Wilmington for almost two weeks now. But instead of feeling better about her new town and school, she was feeling worse and worse. She’d thought joining dance team would help her feel at home. But it was just making her miss her old team even more.
“Uh-oh,” Amy said, sighing. “It’s still that bad? But what about your room? Is it cool now that you have your stuff?”
Lily flopped back onto her bed. The walls were still bare. Aside from her clothes, most of her stuff was still stuffed in boxes scattered around the room. Her dad and their belongings had finally arrived a week ago, but she hadn’t been very interested in making this house feel like a home.
“Actually, I haven’t set anything up yet,” Lily admitted.
“Lily, it’s been a week!” Amy said.
“I know, I just . . . haven’t gotten around to it,” Lily mumbled.
“Well, what about school?” Amy asked. “Have you gotten to know any girls on dance team yet?”
Lily shrugged. “Not really. They seem like they’re all such good friends. It’s too weird trying to talk to anyone, so I just keep out of the way. I go to practice, then leave as soon as it ends. I don’t even go to the locker rooms — I just change at home.”
“Seriously?” Amy said. “Why?”
“Ugh,” Lily moaned. “I can’t sit in there and listen to the girls chattering and making plans in the locker room without me! It’s too depressing.”
“Well, have you ever asked to tag along?” Amy pressed.
“Of course not! I’m the new girl,” Lily reminded her. “I can’t just force them to be my friends and invite me to things. And now we have the pep rally dance tomorrow. I know the routine, but I’m terrified. It’s almost worse than not being on the dance team at all! And the team captain, Mia . . .”
“Not as good a captain as you were going to be?” Amy guessed.
“No, it’s not that!” Lily protested. “Well . . . maybe a little. She’s definitely one of the best dancers, but her attitude is the worst.”
“Okay, so she’s not the best captain ever. But no one else is nice?” Amy prodded.
“The coach is really good,” Lily admitted. “The other girls are okay, I guess. There’s this one girl, Jill . . . I sit in the courtyard for lunch sometimes, and I watch her and her friend Porter play hacky sack. It’s better than sitting alone in the cafeteria.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll have a bunch of friends soon. People just need to get to know you and see how fabulous you are!” Amy exclaimed.
“Enough about my depressing life,” Lily said with a sigh. “What about you? How’s the team? I miss you guys so much!”
“So I told you Coach held special tryouts to fill your spot, right? Well, Madison got it. I don’t think you know her — she transferred from West this year. Anyway, she’s awesome. She’s helping me work on aerials.”
“Really? That’s . . . great,” Lily said. She tried to ignore the empty feeling growing in her belly.
“Yeah, she’s got a huge backyard and a basement all set up for practice,” Amy explained. “I’m getting really good at my pop cartwheels. A bunch of us have just been hanging out there and doing extra practice on whatever lately.”
Sounds like a lot of fun, Lily thought, her stomach in knots now. Without me.
“So, um, what song are you guys doing for your pep rally dance?” Lily asked, trying to change the subject.
She didn’t feel like hearing more about Madison. It felt like all she was really hearing was that her old friends were moving on just fine without her.
Am I the only one still sad about this? Lily wondered, her heart sinking.
“Madison suggested we do that ‘Shake the Room’ song, and Coach went for it,” Amy replied. “It’s really fun. I bet Coach will post a video of the dance afterward.”
“I’ll watch for it,” Lily said. Suddenly she didn’t feel like being on the phone anymore. “Hey, my mom is calling me for dinner. I have to go. I’ll text you tomorrow or something.”
“Okay,” Amy said. “Tell your mom I said hi!”
“Same,” Lily said.
She turned off her phone and closed her eyes. Talking to Amy hadn’t made her feel any happier. In fact, she felt worse. Her old team was doing fine without her. Maybe even better!
Lily felt like she didn’t belong anywhere. She knew her old friends still loved her, but as much as she missed the Greenville dancers, they weren’t her team anymore. The Panthers were.
Lily opened her eyes, and the room around her came into focus. The blank walls and stacks of boxes were so depressing. Living in limbo like this wasn’t helping her.
It’s time to stop acting like this move is just temporary. Wilmington is home now . . . whether I like it or not, she told herself. Maybe if I make my room look more like home, it will start to feel that way too.
Lily jumped off the bed and put on her favorite playlist. Then she went over to a pile of boxes and started opening them up, looking for her favorite posters and dance trophies.
After finding some old tack in her desk drawer, Lily began hanging things on the walls. A string of lights here, a poster there. Soon she was dancing as she worked; she didn’t even notice until there was a knock at the door that made her jump.
“Come in!” Lily called, turning down the music.
Her mom walked in. A big smile spread across her face as she saw the new and improved room.
“Wow, someone finally decided to move in!” Mom joked. “It looks great. What happened?”
“Well, if I’m going to live here, I might as well make it nice,” Lily said, shrugging. “Is dinner ready?”
“Soon,” Mom replied. “You have time to work a little longer. I’ll see you downstairs in ten?”
“Okay,” Lily said. “Thanks, Mom.”
It was funny, but just getting her things out of the boxes really was making her feel better. Lily started dancing again as she wound a scarf around one of the bedposts. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.