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"Alright," Coach Pearce says, in a tone that ends introductions. "Sadie, I want to see your floor routine. Full run, no adjustments, exactly as it is right now." She looks at me. "I want to see where you actually are, not where you want me to think you are."

I smile, then remove my hoodie and sweatpants already having my leotard on and get ready to show her what I can do. Giving my music to one of the girls so they can put it on for me, as I have no idea who or where to put it on. I roll my shoulders back, walk to the corner of the floor, and find my start position. Feet together, arms down, chin up. The gymnasium goes quiet; the only thing I can hear is the music. That’s all I need to hear at the moment.

I can feel them all watching, Coach Pearce with her clipboard, and I let myself feel it for exactly one second before I set it aside.

I know this routine. I’ve lived this routine for two years. Every tumbling pass, every turn sequence, every pointed toe and held line. I know it the way I know my own name.

The music starts in my head even without the speaker.

I move.

Once it’s finished, I look over at Coach, and she smiles then walks away. She doesn’t say one word. Was that good? Do I need to work on something? Well, I guess I’ll have to wait for her to talk to me when she’s ready.

Is that going to stress me out all day? Yes, I was hoping she would have said something, even if it was bad feedback, at least I would know what I need to work on.

I start walking to my bag, wondering what’s next because I don’t know how it works here. Juno falls into step beside me as we head toward the changing rooms, her water bottle swinging loosely from her fingers.

"Okay," she says, in the tone of someone delivering a verdict. "You're good."

"Thanks." I smile at her.

"Like, actually good," she says it like she's surprised, which I choose to take as a compliment. "Cara's going to pretend she's not impressed for about a week and then she'll get over it." Juno looks behind her, and I look too.

"I can hear you," Cara says from six feet behind us.

"I know," Juno says cheerfully. She glances at me sideways. "Where are you from?"

I tell her about my hometown which is nothing special, and nothing never happened there. I tell her about my scholarship and how I hard to work hard against some others fighting to be the best.

"And you're on a scholarship?"

"Yeah, a full ride."

She nods. "Cool. Where are you living?"

"East Hall. Room 14."

"Oh good, that's near me." She beams with excitement; I have a feeling she’ll be knocking on my door a lot more than I would like her to. “Right, looks like Coach is calling it a day, so I think we should go grab some breakfast before class.”

“Really? We’ve not even been here thirty minutes.” I look around and Coach is walking away.

“She wanted to see us all do something to get an idea of what we can do,” Juno tells me.

Before I say anything, Cara and Bree are both agreeing. I want to make friends here, and I guess this is my group now.

“Lead the way.” I grab my bag and follow them out.

***

We end up at a place called Grounds, and I already know I'm going to be here every day. It feels effortlessly cool without trying, there’s exposed brick, mismatched furniture, the smell of good coffee, and something baked, but not sure yet what it is, but intend to ask so I can order it.

Juno claims a table on the terrace before the rest of us have cleared the door. Four chairs that don't match are pulled around it, which shouldn't work but somehow does.

I don’t sit, I pull out my camera from my bag, and I look at the girls, who are going to be my friends while I’m here.

I take a picture of Juno mid-sentence, with her hands wide. Cara studies the menu like it's a document that requires her full attention. Bree already has a coffee; I genuinely don't know when that happened, both her palms wrapped around it, watching the street.

I put the camera down and grab my phone. “Selfie,” I say, turning around, holding out my phone. I smile as the girls do the same.