Chapter 56

Abby, driven by the loss to Studio Bleu, insisted that Pyramid be on Monday instead of Tuesday. She lined us up and glared us down. "I wasn't pleased with your performance. Third? Ten points off Studio Bleu? I guess you can't win without Joanne, she'll lead the group this week. It's called 'Pink Lemonade,' and there will be hats. Cathy and her Rotten Apples will be here this week. Moving onto the pyramid. On the bottom, Maddie, you went from best to worst with one dance. You got third, Kaeli beat you. No more solos for a while."

"Abby, she was beautiful in the duet and she beat Bella," my aunt protested. Abby glared at her.

"She lost, Melissa, so she is where she is. Next is Brooke, you were shaky with your solo. You won't be in the group so you'll have a solo again this week. You'd better improve. Nicaya and Chloé, you didn't look great in the group. I understand that acro isn't your guys' forte, but you needed to do better. Yes? Kendall, you were good in the group, I liked your performance. Your flexibility is improving quite a bit."

Kendall nodded happily.

"In the middle, Nia, you were a standout in the group. I just can't put you above anyone with an extra dance."

"She's above Maddie," my aunt complained.

"Yes, because Maddie got third, we've been over this. Mackenzie, you were beautiful in the duet, and you drew my eye positively in the group. This week, I'm challenging you with a solo in the Junior division. You must get top three. Ursula, you won the Teen division, and you led the group excellently. Joanne, you beat Braxton, you taught the solos, you did well. But on top of the pyramid is Paige!"

We all cheered for a thrilled Paige.

"You beat Bella, you beat Maddie, you beat Kaeli. As the judges said, though, you're still technically sloppy. So, something to work on. You'll be up against Mackenzie, so you'd better keep winning."

"Thank you! Where are we going this week?" Paige asked.

"We are going to On Stage America in Voorhees, New Jersey. The Crab Apples will be there. I also have a duet, with Joanne and Nicaya in the Junior division, and the trio will be with Joanne, Brooke and Ursula. You're all teens, so you're in the Teen division. Okay, Brooke, James will teach you your solo while the group gets going."

Abby handed out hats that had a seal to keep them on our heads, to avoid any of them falling. Once the cameras took a break, she let us know that Brooke, Paige and I would be going for titles so we'd do shorter versions of our solos as well. I would be doing my solo from the week before, so I wouldn't need too much time to go over it. The costumes would be pink, which was my only complaint about the dance; it was strong, competitive Musical Theater. I enjoyed two solo parts as the lead of the group, and blocked out Abby's intensity as much as I could.

Abby kept Nicaya and I back after the group, and we had an unwelcome visitor in Jill.

"Abby, this is silly. At Pyramid, you said that Kendall did better than Nicaya last week, so why shouldn't Kendall have the duet over Nicaya?"

"Because that's the choice I made," Abby rolled her eyes. "The more you open your big mouth, the less opportunities that Kendall will have. I hope that you understand that. Get out and let me teach." Once Jill had left, Abby explained the dance to us. "This is a Contemporary number called 'Stalker.' Joanne, usually you play the harder role, but I'm giving it to Nicaya, who will be the person who stalks and eventually kills you."

I wasn't sure why Abby wanted to kill her dancers in these numbers, but if it made the dances better, I wasn't about to complain. This was a strong, competitive piece that Nicaya was doing a great job with. After dinner, I joined Ursula and Brooke to learn the trio.

"I'm giving you Musical Theater. You three did a similar duet last year and I thought that Ursula and Brooke looked uncomfortable, even though you won, so I'm giving you a second chance. It's themed after the song in Mamma Mia where Donna, again played by Ursula, is being comforted by her friends."

This dance would have to be really good to win, but it had a few strong elements and could be very entertaining. Brooke looked way out of her element, though. I think that she was getting comfortable with more serious pieces. Oh well, it was just the first day of learning the dance.

Kendall approached Nicaya and I as I was leaving for the night, as the cameras were down and the producers had left. "I'm sorry that my mom interrupted your rehearsal. I'm fine not being in the duet."

Nicaya smiled at Kendall. "It's okay. She didn't even say anything hurtful about me, just that you did better in the group last week, which is true. I hope that you get an extra dance next week."

"Me too, hopefully I can get a solo so I can prove to Abby that I can win," Kendall said. "It's so competitive between us Juniors. It's just you, me and Maddie who haven't won by this point I think. We'll all need to step it up."

Nicaya nodded. At least it was friendly competition, I thought.

A few days passed and the dances, with the extra day, were coming along very well. At first there had been trouble with the hats falling but Kelly had come to the rescue with a way to make them stay on our heads. Brooke improved in the trio and Nicaya and I were having a good time with the duet. She was a great actress and very professional when learning dances.

Abby went berserk almost right away at the competition, because Cathy showed up with four boys. Two definitely didn't go to the studio, and one had been a contestant on AUDC.

"Hi, Joanne," Zack Torres said, coming up to shake my hand. "It's nice to see you again." [AN: Zack is now called Lennon and is transgender, but Joanne wouldn't have known that so I will be referring to her with he/him pronouns and as Zack.]

"You as well, Zack. Who's the rest of the team?" We were a bit away from the fighting, luckily.

"These are Bryant Culler, Gino Cosculluela, and Jalen Testerman."

"Nice to meet you guys. Good luck today."

"Joanne, don't talk to the enemy!" Abby called, and I nodded my head politely at the boys before heading into the dressing room to get ready for my solo. The second performance of it went well, and I stayed backstage to be with the other soloists, mainly Kenzie. She had a lovely Lyrical dance this week, and had a shot at beating Paige, who also was performing Lyrical. My little cousin's dancing had really matured in the past few months, and Maddie not being the favorite meant that she had the space to develop into her own dancer instead of a mini Maddie.

Brooke was up first, and I enjoyed watching her Contemporary routine that had cool new Acro tricks and great facials. It was a breakthrough in terms of Abby appreciating that she could do more than the moves she'd been doing for years, and her performance level was good. Paige went on and did well, then Kenzie performed one of the best solos that I'd seen her do. I was happy for all three of them.

I had a busy next few hours, as Nicaya and I's duet was only five numbers after the trio, which had to be the doing of the producers. It was ridiculous. Still, both dances went as well as they could. When I got back for the second, aired duet performance, Brooke seemed worried.

"Opal and Erika were really good," my best friend said. I frowned.

"Why aren't they in the group dance, then?"

Ursula rolled her eyes. "No idea. They said hello nicely, though."

"Yeah, they're nice, they're not the problem, all these tricks to win are," Brooke huffed. "Oh well. I thought that I did well."

"We all did," I agreed.

The group dance also went off without a hitch, and the crowd and judges really seemed to enjoy it. The next day, there were callbacks for the titles, which everyone on the team that was entered made. We did the one and a half minute versions of the dances and the producers filmed those to air. Finally, awards came around.

"First place in Junior Duo/Trios goes to Nicaya and Joanne from the Abby Lee Dance Company, 'Stalker!'"

Nicaya and I took the trophy and my aunt and Kaya looked thrilled.

"Your first runner-up in Teen Duo/Trios are Joanne, Ursula and Brooke from the Abby Lee Dance Company, 'Chiquitita!'"

I stood for the award, not too surprised or upset. Winning wasn't everything. Abby looked pissed, though, especially when Erika and Opal rightfully won.

"Your first runner-up in Junior solos, by three-tenths of a point, also taking the Junior Miss Onstage America title, it's Paige from the Abby Lee Dance Company, 'Starlet!'"

Paige accepted the award, looking a bit disappointed. Kenzie was practically strangling my hand.

"First overall for Junior solos, scoring 291.4 points for the second overall high score, is Mackenzie from the Abby Lee Dance Company, 'Just Breathe!'"

"Yay Kenz!" I cheered. Her smile split her face and she bounced up to get her awards. Abby's face was a mixture of surprise and delight, and my aunt was over the moon. Kelly, to her credit, clapped for Kenzie.

"First overall in Teen solos, also winning Miss Teen Onstage America, it's Brooke from the Abby Lee Dance Company with 'Liar!'"

"First place in Senior solos, also winning Miss Senior Onstage America with the overall high score of 294.6 points, it's Joanne from the Abby Lee Dance Company with 'On the Edge!'"

"Your first runner-up in Junior Groups goes to the Candy Apples Dance Center,

'Own It!'"

I was surprised that they'd placed that high. The dance wasn't hip-hop or cohesive.

"Your top Junior group today is the Abby Lee Dance Company, 'Pink Lemonade!'"

Abby wasn't too upset in the dressing room, luckily. "We almost got a clean sweep. Trio, what happened?"

"I think that we did well, but Erika and Opal did better. They also had Lyrical," I said. Abby nodded.

"It's weird that those two had a duet but weren't in the group," Holly said.

"I agree. You three understand that second isn't good enough," Abby said to us, and we nodded. "Paige. I liked your dance. It was good. Clearly not good enough. Congratulations, Mackenzie, I should have put you in for a title. You were wonderful. Nicaya, strong work in the duet. The group routine was charming, and the hats stayed on, so thank you to Kelly. Most importantly, we beat the Crab Apples. Let's pack up and go."