Chapter 51

The rest of the summer and early fall flew by, and I managed to both stay healthy and make major improvements in my dancing. Melody chose to keep the baby, a boy, and she and Braxton committed to learning all they could about being good parents. I would never have chosen to keep the baby, but that was her choice, and I supported her with it.

My first day back in the studio consisted of warm hugs, conversations about the "Skyfall" music video that had just come out, and a private with Nyssa before pyramid. Abby had us all line up, with Maddie returning to the team.

"We had a clean sweep at Nationals last year," she said sternly. "It was great. You all have continued to work hard over the summer, that's good too. We are going to In10sity Dance in Denver, Colorado this week, and you must win. This season, I cannot have all three older dancers in the group if I want a Junior group. We will be competing in Teen this week. As you all can see, Jill and Maddie are back. Maddie, you've made peace with Joanne, that's good. Jill, you have to be on your best behavior. Onto the pyramid. Maddie, you should have expected this, you weren't there for the last few weeks of the season. You're starting from scratch."

Maddie nodded, having expected the placement. "Thank you for allowing me back on the team."

"Next is Paige. You were hurt, you just had the group dance, I thought that you looked great in it. You were at Joffrey this summer and looked strong at boot camp. I just can't put you above anyone that danced twice at Nationals."

Paige shrugged. "Thank you, Miss Abby."

"Next, Nicaya. The trio won, the group won, but you have some technical issues to work on, yes? Next is Kendall, the trio won, it was great. You blended in the group, you need to start standing out more to get solo opportunities."

Jill wisely kept her mouth shut.

"Chloé. Good in the group, good in the trio, but you were always second last year. Fix that."

"I'll prove myself to you," Chloé said confidently.

"I'm glad to hear that. The first person in the middle is Brooke. You kept up with Joanne in the duet, and you stood out positively in the group. As with Chloé, though, you didn't win much against Ursula last year. When you're fifteen, you'll be a Senior, and up against Joanne. Step it up. Next is Ursula. You won the Teen category, and you were great in the group. I expect more from you this season."

Ursula nodded. "I'll give you more."

"Excellent. Next is Mackenzie! You did great in the group and your solo scored over 290 points. You proved yourself last year, but now you're getting closer to Juniors. You need to keep improving, yes? The second person on the pyramid is Nia. Nia, you were the top Junior last year, at Nationals and on this team. You need to keep that up now."

Nia smiled widely.

"But, on top of the pyramid, is Joanne!"

Everyone clapped for me. "There was no question about this. She won three national titles, has been working hard on her ballet, and the 'Skyfall' music video came out and went viral last week!"

"Thank you," I said.

"You need to keep raising your level. You know that. Now, onto assignments. I'm giving my three oldest a Lyrical trio, and Ursula's the lead. Maddie and Nicaya, you have a Contemporary duet taught by Joanne. Chloé, Kendall, Mackenzie and Nia, you four have solos. The group dance is called 'Angels and Demons,' and it's Contemporary with Joanne as the lead. She's religious and the best Contemporary dancer on the team. I need a win this week, a clean sweep of wins. Yes? Let's get to work."

The group dance was high-quality. I played an angel that was fighting against the others, the demons, and it showed off the collective improvement in technique for the team. I had a longer turn sequence with Chloé, Ursula, Maddie, Nia and Nicaya at one point while Mackenzie, Brooke, Kendall and Paige did handstands. Abby loved her Acro.

After group rehearsal, I started to work with Nicaya and Maddie. "Okay, you two haven't really danced together, so this may take longer to learn than normal. You have similar strengths, though, so it should be good. This piece is called 'In The End' and it's about two kids that are stuck somewhere, a cave or house, and they have to escape. It has some partner work and you'll need to be detailed and in sync. Let's start."

Maddie seemed more focused and quiet, and was clearly making an effort to be nice to her teammates. She helped out Nicaya when the other girl was struggling to get a move, and was looking like her old self dancing-wise. Nicaya, on her part, was a better dancer than the year before and picked up the choreography a lot quicker than the season before. "Good," I said at the end of rehearsal. "We'll continue to work on it tomorrow."

Abby had Brooke, Ursula and I in for the trio after that. "You three are my oldest. You're going to be moving on in the next few years, yes? It will happen to everyone. So, this number is called 'Drifting Away' and it's a beautiful piece- Ursula is leaving, and Brooke and Joanne are trying to pull her back. At the end everyone goes their separate ways. Ursula, I'm trusting you with this lead, don't let me down."

Ursula nodded. "I can handle it." Ursula did handle it, emoting well as she learned the stunning choreography. Brooke was the one that attracted the most criticism, but Abby didn't shout and actually gave good feedback, so it was a peaceful rehearsal. After that I ate dinner then practiced my YAGP pieces with Ursula, Maddie and Chloé.

Melody and I had gone to sleeping in separate rooms, especially with her pregnancy, and she'd clearly had a bad night because she was not at school and lying on the couch downstairs, looking miserable, when I went down for breakfast.

"Bad night?" I asked. She sighed.

"Morning sickness sucks. This baby's name should be Trouble."

I snorted. "Don't do that to your kid, please. Anything I can do to help you?"

"Reverse time?" "Yeah, not in my wheelhouse, sorry. Braxton will be here soon, though."

"To dance with you."

"Right, because that's how you met, you're welcome."

Melody was feeling better by the time Braxton and I got done with our practice, and she was able to do a half-day at school. Abby stopped me at the front desk. "What's this I hear about you having a nephew on the way?"

I rolled my eyes. "Melody's about three months along. She and Braxton weren't careful enough. I think she'll be a pretty good parent, but still, she's so young."

"At least you don't have that problem," Abby sighed. "I'd like you to help out with Mackenzie's solo today, at four. Have Gia show you the dance."

"I'll be in Studio A then."

I had my private with Nyssa, working on balance and extension, then did a short gym session before heading into Studio A. Kenzie grinned when she saw me. "Hey, Kenz! You're doing Contemporary this week."

"She's not performing with the level of intensity that I need her to have," Abby said. "Run through the dance, Mackenzie."

Indeed, Kenzie was smiling through the dance, which was about a girl who was being chased by a monster. "You don't look scared," I told her. "If you were really being chased by a monster, would you be smiling?"

"No," Kenzie said. "So I need to act?"

"Yes, that's right," Abby said. "How about Joanne shows you what it should look like?"

I ran through the dance, making faces full of fear, and Kenzie did a good job of copying those.

"Good work, keep practicing those faces," Abby said to Kenzie. "Joanne, please go get Maddie and Nicaya, I want to see the duet."

The two had done some work on it and were pretty clean. Abby pretty much ignored Nicaya, leaving me to give her a few corrections, while she was harsh with Maddie.

"Turn your leg out, Maddie, that's sloppy. What are you doing with your face? You're boring me! Sickled foot, I hate that. You need to be more extended. Have you gotten lazy? Because it looks like it."

"No, Miss Abby," Maddie replied, a hurt look in her eyes.

"Hmm, I don't believe you. Nicaya, you're pretty good, a few technical things. At least you have the emotion down. Both of you need to work on it."

"That wasn't bad," I told them in the hallway. "Maddie, you were a bit sloppy, I think you got nervous. Nicaya, you definitely have to improve your extensions, that will take your dancing to the next level. You were in sync, so that was good."

The trio was going smoothly, and Brooke was much improved emotionally, as being at Joffrey had given her an environment where she could get her passion back. She wasn't at Ursula's level technically, but she was getting there. Abby was pleased enough with the trio and the group.

Competition day brought an early plane ride and excited chatter; the team felt more whole with Maddie back on it, Jill was amenable enough if she and I avoided each other, and Nicaya fit in well. I knew that Nia and Ursula were happy to have another Black girl on the team.

The solos were up first. Nia would actually be competing in the Teen category and had a very hard dance, so I talked to her to help her get through her nerves backstage. She had a technical Lyrical piece, not much of a story, that was one step away from being en pointe.

"This is so hard," she worried.

"Yes, it's a challenging number. Abby wants to see you push yourself, you've made such big improvements, and you got ballet training over the summer. You can do this, believe in yourself, fake it till you make it if you have to."

Nia nodded, drawing herself upright. "I can do this."

She went out and excelled, moving with technical accuracy and fluidity. She was lovely to watch and I hugged her and congratulated her at the end. Chloé had a Jazz number, changing things up, and I thought that it was a hard piece with a lot of sharp movement and sass that she nailed. Kendall had pretty Lyrical and was pretty to watch. Kenzie went on and blew me away, emoting well and showing good improvement in her technique. Abby complemented the soloists while the duet and trio got ready.

"Mackenzie, you fixed the emotion, the legs were straight and the feet were pointed. You're starting to show me that you can handle mature numbers. Now you need to show me that in the group, it's a Teen number. Kendall, you were pretty, you did what you needed to do, I'm happy with you. I'm still seeing some technical issues, but you're much better than last year. Chloé, you were charming and sassy, you took that number and rolled with it. Good work. Nia, you were simply stunning. You were up for the challenge. Now, I need my trio and duo to be at the level of the soloists."

Brooke, Ursula and I performed before the Junior duet and it went off without a hitch. We worked well together and told a story. It was a well-choreographed piece, so I was pretty sure that we'd win the Teen division. Maddie and Nicaya were next. While Maddie was better technically, she didn't sell the routine, while Nicaya's commitment to the story made her impossible not to watch. There were a few moments where it was obvious that she was lacking in flexibility, though. She needed to keep working on that.

There was little time for feedback before the group went on. I was wearing white while everyone else wore black, similar to the Seven Deadly Sins group dance from 2011, but this choreography was much harder. We performed well both times, and I enjoyed the partner work with Kenzie and Brooke and the turn sequence, which I finished with a leg-hold turn while the others transitioned to the floor around me. It was an inspired routine.

Awards came around soon enough, starting with Duo/Trio awards.

"First place in the Junior Duo/Trio division, with a score of 283.7, it's 'In The End,' Nicaya and Maddie from the Abby Lee Dance Company!"

"First place in the Teen Duo/Trio division, the high score of all dances today with 293.8 points, winning the 'Beauty' Judges' award, goes to 'Drifting Away,' Ursula, Joanne and Brooke from the Abby Lee Dance Company!"

"First place in the Mini solo division, scoring 287 points, that's 'The Chase,' Mackenzie from the Abby Lee Dance Company!"

"Your first runner-up in the Junior solo category, scoring 285 points, is 'Speak Less,' Kendall from the Abby Lee Dance Company! First place in the Junior solo division, winning the 'Charmer' Judges' Award and scoring 290 points, is 'Sparkle,' Chloé from the Abby Lee Dance Company!"

"First place champion in Teen solos, scoring 292 points and winning the 'Passion' Judges' Award, is 'Blowing Breeze,' Nia from the Abby Lee Dance Company!"

"The first-place Teen group today, scoring 285 points, is 'Angels and Demons,' the Abby Lee Dance Company!"

"Woohoo!" Abby cheered in the dressing room. "A clean sweep. Everyone was great... except for Maddie in the duet."

I tried to control my reaction, but my aunt had no such qualms. "Abby, the duet won, she was great!"

"She was boring. The judges must have been watching Nicaya, she actually told the story."

"Nicaya and Maddie were equally as good," my aunt insisted.

"Not today, they weren't. Melissa, accept the feedback. Maddie?"

"I could have been better in the duet," my cousin said shakily. "I'll work harder."

"See to it that you do. We have a plane to catch," Abby said strictly. "Today was a good day overall."