Chapter 23

I had little time to do much other than schoolwork and dancing, so when the 2-hour pyramid came around the next week, I fought to keep a neutral expression on my face. Abby was fighting back against the producers and trying to make it go quicker, and she'd probably win.

"You all won last week. However, that group wasn't the group that won Starbound last year. It was cute, and I guess cute still wins. Let's move on to the pyramid." Abby looked at us sternly, then softened a bit. "I will say that I was impressed with every one of my soloists. On the bottom of the pyramid, Mackenzie. You had a small part in the group, and it was fine, but I need you to start proving that you can be in the full group dance. Got it?"

Kenzie nodded, looking a little sad.

"Next is Brooke. You were in the group, and you blended. You're the oldest on this team, you shouldn't be blending- you need to be a leader onstage, I keep telling you."

Brooke nodded, fine with her placement, and Kelly kept her mouth shut for once.

"Next is Kendall," Abby began, and Jill immediately jumped on her.

"Abby, Kendall did great last week!"

"Yes, she did. Jill, let me speak. Kendall, I thought you did well last week. You made improvements through practice. You won a less advanced category by five points, so I'll move you up next time. You have a lot of work to do technically, and you're starting here, on probation."

Kendall smiled at the praise. "Thank you, Miss Abby. I'll work hard."

The producers wanted Abby to be mean to Kendall, but she refused, and pyramid continued. "Paige. Good in the group, but you didn't have a solo. Not too much to judge you on. Your technique is a lot better than it was last year."

Paige smiled.

"In the middle- Nia. Second to Chloé, you looked wonderful onstage. That was the best score you've gotten in a solo. However, in the group, you got sloppy. You can do better than that."

Nia took in the correction, nodding.

"Next is Maddie. You won your category, you were great, but same as Nia, sloppy in the group. You need to be on even when you're not the lead."

Maddie bit her lip and nodded. "I'll do better."

"Good. Next is Ursula- you valiantly gave up a spot in the group and the only person your solo lost to is standing next to you. I thought you were amazing with your solo, and you made all those hard moves look easy. You're on the team, off probation."

Ursula smiled, and I side-hugged her. Jill spoke up once again.

"Why does Ursula get off probation and Kendall doesn't? It's not fair!"

"Ursula's been here since she was two, and Kendall's new," Faye pointed out. "I'm sure that Kendall will be off probation faster if you keep your mouth shut."

"Excellent advice, you should follow it," Abby glared at Jill. "Second on the pyramid, Chloé. You won your solo, you stood out in a good way in the group. I was happy with your performances."

Chloé beamed at the praise.

"Onto the top of the pyramid. Joanne, of course. You looked stage-ready in that piece, and you were great in the group, really entertaining. I like that you can do out and do a mature pointe solo then lead a group about dolls with eight-year-olds without making it look like you're dancing down."

"Thank you," I smiled slightly.

"This week, we're going to Ohio. You know who lives in Ohio," Abby prompted. None of us really reacted the first time, so we had to try a few more times to get the reaction that the producers were looking for.

"Yes, Cathy and her Candy Apples will be there. I've looked at the entries, and Joanne, I know that you're getting ready for YAGP but I'm going to have you do a solo against one of her dancers. You'll dance in the 14-16 age category. Brooke, you'll also go against one of the Crab Apples. You both need to make applesauce out of those dancers. Brooke, you're doing Acro and Joanne, you're doing Contemporary Jazz. It's a great solo. Everyone except Brooke is in the group dance. It's called 'Bad Apples,' and you'll have to go back in time. Moms, get ready to buy rats and snoods."

Yeah, I didn't know what those were. I giggled at the words to Ursula.

The cameras turned off, and Maddie and Paige were going to be competing unaired solos that they already knew. "I won't forget this one," Paige reassured Abby jokingly, and she actually laughed in response. We were also told that we needed to be performing our dances twice, one for the judges and one for the camera.

I was only doing ballet outside of competition dances this week, and Nyssa committed to being there the whole week so that I could perfect my YAGP dances as much as possible. They were actually in great shape, and we were going over the finer details, which would have to be there in order for me to place within the top 12 in Juniors. I enjoyed working with Nyssa, as she knew to just give corrections and let me work- I was my own biggest critic when it came to ballet.

I was called in to learn my solo right after pyramid, as most of the others had classes until group rehearsal. "Okay, Joanne, I'm going to challenge you this week," Abby told me. "Your solo is called 'Tainted,' and it's a little scandalous. You're good at playing dark characters, so I want to use that. Imagine that you were in a relationship but it ended badly- cheating, something like that. You loved this person deeply, and now you're angry. The biggest challenge will be telling the story through a Jazz dance."

I was in love with this solo right away, as it was powerful, very technical, and had lots of sharp movements. There was one section where I did a Russian switch leap right into six Italian fouettes, off-pointe, then kicked my left leg up and slid to the floor, imitating getting my heart broken.

"Do you have a bad leg?" Abby asked me.

"Yes, my right leg, but I've worked on it," I replied. "I can do some turns and things on it, but not nearly as much as my left."

"Hmm. Well, then, do a penché into a front aerial on your right side at the end, during the really dramatic section."

I was quite sore by the end of solo practice, especially since I'd been on pointe before that, but luckily the group dance was quite simple. "I need to see you do well with an easy dance," Abby demanded. "Last week wasn't acceptable. Ugh, Maddie, you're sickling. Chloé, you don't know what you're doing there, figure it out. Kendall, I need face from you."

Abby continued to bark orders at us, but the group was already going better than last week. I was not the lead, Paige was because she was the best Musical Theater dancer in the group, but I had a solo section where I did fifteen á la secondes into a split leap. Jill caused more trouble, bursting into the room in a huff. I was getting the sense that she wasn't actually being put up to this, it was just her personality. Kendall, on the other hand, looked absolutely mortified.

"Abby, Kendall should get that part, not Joanne. She gets enough of your time and attention, and she doesn't even deserve it!"

I just rolled my eyes. Abby was spitting mad and turned to Kendall, who shrunk away. "Kendall! Can you do fifteen turns into a split leap?"

"I can do five into a split leap," she offered. "It's Joanne's part, though, I'm fine just being in the group."

"See? Kendall is happy where she is, as you should be. Your kid can be a great dancer, don't ruin it for her," Abby threatened Jill, who left the room, chastised.

The week continued in a similar fashion, and I was beginning to legitimately dislike Jill. There were more shenanigans to come, though, and we ran into the Candy Apples as we approached our dressing room at the competition. Initially we all said hello nicely, but then the producers wanted the drama and we had to redo our walk into the hallway.

"Oh, look who it is!" Cathy crowed, clearly enjoying herself. "The Wicked Witch of the West. Come to lose?"

"You wish," Abby scoffed. "Who are these kids? Do they even go to your studio?"

"They do, in fact," Cathy sniffed, then pointed to a tall girl. "This is Erika. She's against Joanne today, and I'd watch out if I were you."

"Hello," I offered as blandly as possible. "It's nice to meet you, Erika."

"Hmf. You won't be so nice when she snaps your winning streak. This is Opal, and she's going to make applesauce of Brooke," Cathy continued, pointing to a dark-haired girl that I'd definitely seen compete before. She was also definitely fourteen. I wondered how big of a paycheck she was getting to put herself in a position to be disqualified.

I slipped into the dressing room to start getting ready for my solo, uninterested in the argument brewing outside of the dressing room; I also wanted to be away from the cameras.

Once the group competition rolled around, we watched the Candy Apples go, and the younger ones looked worried.

"They're old," Nia griped as they did a turn section together. "Teenager old, how are we supposed to beat them?"

I turned Nia away from the stage firmly. "By not worrying and doing your best," I said to her. "You can't control anyone else but you, right? So be the best you can be and what happens, happens."

Nia nodded, looking more reassured. We went onstage and didn't make any sloppy mistakes, doing the best we could. Hopefully it would be enough to win."

"Didn't those girls look old?" My aunt asked while doing my hair for my solo. "I mean, they looked around Ursula, Brooke and Joanne's age, and we've been having one of them sit out."

"Yeah," Christi chimed in. "I'm a little worried."

"Well, don't be," Abby snapped. "Cathy's looking for a reaction. Joanne, Brooke, you need to go out there and be perfect. You hear me? You'd better not let those rotten apples beat you."

We both nodded a bit halfheartedly. I just wanted to do my solo well, as I really loved it. Maddie and Paige were up before Brooke and I, performing well. Erika turned out to be lovely and we chatted, though soon enough it was her turn to go onstage. She was a strong dancer and her solo was good, but I thought that the music let her down- if you're going to have rap in a piece, make sure it's not soft Lyrical. Opal went on after her teammate and would have given Brooke a run for her money if she weren't in the wrong age category, performing powerfully to a Contemporary routine that showed off her flexibility. Brooke performed next, emoting well in her Bible-themed solo (I was a little offended about the rhinestone apple prop, I had to say).

"This is entry number fifty- eight, Joanne with 'Tainted!'" I entered the stage joyfully, and danced happily when the music started. I did the transition to heartbreak and anger well, making sure that I didn't sacrifice technique for performance. I left the stage still in character and was a bit out of breath, especially after the second performance. .

"That was amazing," Opal gushed backstage. "I love your dancing so much."

"Oh- thank you. I really liked your solo, you're a great dancer," I offered. Just then, two competition directors approached, Opal's mother in tow. Brooke and I looked at each other warily.

"These two are in the wrong age category," Opal's mother said, pointing at us.

"Yes, I'm twelve and competing in the 14-16 age category," I told the directors. "Brooke is thirteen but qualifies as twelve because of her birthday."

"Miss Ziegler is not an issue. Miss... Hyland, we'll need proof of that," one of the competition directors said, making Brooke shrug. That could be done. "Miss Lyons, we have proof of you competing as a 14-year-old in other competitions."

So this is why the cameras were on us. "I am fourteen," Opal said, looking guilty. Her mother glared at her, and she stared back.

"Okay, so you were entered in a younger age category," the second competition director confirmed. "Thank you for telling us."

"Opal's fourteen," Brooke told the mothers when we got back to the dressing room. "They- the competition directors- were questioning mine, Joanne's and Opal's age. I need some sort of proof of my age and Joanne's good to go."

"Really? Joanne's age? I'd bet most of these dancers know that she's dancing up," Abby scoffed. "Well, you don't need to worry about Opal, Brooke, she'll be disqualified. Kelly, can you deal with her proof of age?"

"I'll go talk to them," Kelly sighed. "I can get her birth certificate faxed."

In the end, Opal was unfortunately disqualified while Erika got second and I won the 14-16 age category. Brooke won her category, Maddie won the Petite category, and Paige finished a close third in the 10-12 category. The Candy Apples' group dance was second and we won, much to our delight.

AN: YAGP finals 2011 up next!