CHAPTER ONE
THE LAST DANCE

“Five-six-seven-eight!” Chery Etienne shouted and snapped her fingers to her favorite song. Chery and her dance squad—The Chery Bars—got into position. They bounced softly on their heels and casually looked around. But when the rap started, The Bars went hard. They danced at 100 percent—stomping, pumping their arms, twisting, and sliding.

Chery hopped in front. Her legs and hips moved one way while her arms and upper body moved another. The Bars followed.

Chery rolled her shoulders and dipped. She placed her hands on her knees one at a time to the beat.

“Yeah! Yeah!” Chery yelled over the music. “And jump!”

Chery tapped Jordyn in. Jordyn moved out front and led the dance. Then she nodded at Chery. They pretended to lasso the other members of the squad, Day-Day and Jolan. The boys leaned back like they were being pulled. When the beat dropped again, they all waved their arms, “breaking loose.”

“And jump!” Chery called. Everyone landed with a hard stomp.

“Jolan, go!” Chery yelled.

“Oh!” Jolan said, shaking his hands to signal he forgot. “I’m used to Kioko going first.”

“Kioko hasn’t danced with us since June,” Chery said, stopping the music.

Kioko Tabata used to be a part of the squad. Now Chery’s dance squad consisted of Daniel “Day-Day” Abelman, twins Jolan and Jordyn Jackson, and herself.

“Honestly, Kioko not being here throws me off too,” Jordyn said, dropping to the ground. “I wish she didn’t have to change schools.” Sweat covered Jordyn’s face.

They were all sweaty. Chery took a swig from her water bottle.

“I hope she makes it to the dance-a-thon next month,” Chery said. “She’s the only one who can do my signature move with me.”

“The Chery on Top!” the others said.

Chery whipped her waist-length box braids around, brought one leg up straight, and spun. With her leg still in the air, she fell into a split. Then she slid up and fell back down into a split in the other direction.

Her squad clapped loudly.

“That’s definitely a showstopper!” Day-Day said. “But Kioko plays rugby now at her new school.” He draped a towel over his head.

“What if we didn’t do the dance-a-thon?” Jordyn said, giving her brother a look.

“No dance-a-thon?” Chery asked. She jumped up and did a moonwalk side glide.

“Our dad said we have our entire lives to dance,” Jolan added.

Chery stopped gliding and grabbed Jordyn’s and Jolan’s hands. “This is the last summer with our squad! You guys are moving to Germany, and Kioko already left because of private school. We have to make this year’s dance-a-thon count!”

Chery cued the music on her phone. She snapped her fingers again.

“Come on,” Cherry said, “we only have a few more weeks to perfect our dance. Five-six- seven-eight!”

Instead of moving left, like they practiced, Chery fell to her knees. She twirled and jumped back up again. She was just in time to move to the right with everyone else.

“What are you doing?” Jolan asked, mis-stepping. “You messed me up! Why’d you change the routine?”

“You know me!” Chery replied. “My body grooves how it wants!”

“You always do your own thing!” Jolan complained. “I’m tired of starting and stopping. I’m tired of practices. I’m tired of sweating. I quit!”

Chery knew Jolan picked fights when something was bothering him. And she thought about the look he’d shared with Jordyn earlier. And the fact that they both talked about not dancing anymore.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Chery asked. “You both seem off today.”

Jordyn took a deep breath. “We’re moving to the military base at the beginning of August. Our dad thinks it’s better to make friends over there before school starts.”

Chery’s face fell. “That’s in three weeks,” she said. “I thought I had one more dance left with my squad!”

“You and Daniel can perform as a duo,” Jolan said.

“Actually, this kind of works out for me too,” Day-Day said. “Between private ballroom dance lessons and dancing with our squad, I could use a break.”

Chery felt her heart deflate.

“But I’m taking a break from ballroom dancing in the fall,” Day-Day quickly added. “And I’m going to join the school’s hip-hop dance team in September. You should too!”

Join the school team? That option was even worse.

Chery had her own squad—it even had her name. Besides, she had never joined a dance team because her mom said getting to the practices was too difficult.

But Chery knew that wasn’t the only reason. She had once overheard her mom talking about it on the phone. Dance classes were also too expensive.