The Road to Nationals (A Dance Moms Fic)

Chapter 5: Competing

Five hours later, the bus arrived at the Kanbar Performing Arts Center in San Francisco and when it came to a stop, Abby and Connor were the first to get off the bus, then Chloe, Brooke, Paige, Nia, Brookie, Kendall, Mackenzie, Maddie, Christi, Kelly, Holly, Hollie, Jill, Melissa, Gianna and Jennine got off and grabbed their bags and headed inside.

They saw a short haired blonde in her mid 40's named Cathy Nesbitt-Stein and with her were six dancers and their moms, one dancer was a boy with orange hair named Justice McCort, a blonde haired girl named Taylor O'Lear, a brown haired girl named Sarah Parish, another brown haired girl named Erika Schrade, a blonde haired girl named Kerisa McCullough and a dark haired girl named Vivi-Anne Stein, who is Cathy's adopted daughter.

"Don't look at them, they just want to psych you out and try to intimidate you." Connor warned the girls as they walked right past Cathy, her Candy Apples dance team and their moms.

"Hey, Shamu. Are you ready to get creamed by my team of talented apples?" Cathy asked in a taunting voice

"Oh, whatever!" Abby retorted eyes. "You know you're gonna lose."

"That was then and this is now!"

"Cathy, for your information, my mom is not a shamu, she is a beautiful woman that raised me right and knows how to get the job done when it comes to dance!" Connor defended his mom. "And you're going down."

"Oh look who's talking, You should know that your mom is going to lose like the Clippers and Angels while we win like the Lakers and 49ers." Cathy sneered.

"Whatever, we'll let the dancing to the talking." Connor told her as they headed to their dressing room.

"Cathy is a pain in the butt." Jill told the other moms.

"We could tell you stories." Melissa said to her.

"Somebody needs to put her on decaf." Hollie added.

"Yeah, maybe she won't be as crazy." Kelly stated.

"She'll be as crazy even without caffeine or someone spikes her drink." Christi said as they walked to the dressing room that said ALDC and they entered.

"Group dance first!" Abby ordered as the girls sat at the makeup tables and their moms began to do their hair and makeup as she and Connor walked to the table where Kendall was getting her hair and makeup done by Jill.

"Kendall, remember what me, mom and Gianna taught you, this is about you getting an ALDC Jacket or you'll be taking regular classes, you got it?" Connor warned.

"Yes, i got it." Kendall said.

"Jill, you got it too?" Abby asked.

"Yes." Jill stated.

"The corrections that we've corrected, we want it fixed, because you are on probation and this will prove whether you get an ALDC Jacket or regular classes."

The girls all went to get changed into their costumes and five minutes later, they all came out wearing a great figure styile in kaleidoscope of fun color, the nylon/spandex, capri-length unitard had an attached confetti sequin mesh top that would sparkle in the spotlight, the top had a bound neckline and soft, comfortable spaghetti straps on their hands were black mitts and on their heads were sequin mesh covered headband.

"You girls look fab!" Hollie told them.

"All right, it's show time!" Abby barked as the girls all walked to the stage to wait for their routine to be called while Abby, Connor, Christi, Kelly, Melissa, Jill, Holly, Hollie, Gianna and Jennine all took their seats and in front of them were Cathy, Barb, who is the mother of Nicole, who is the mother of Taylor, Tanya, who is the mother of Justice, Kelli, who is the mother of Kerisa and Kim, who is the mother of Sarah.

"Coming up, we have the Abby Lee Dance Company with Run The Show!" The announcer said as Maddie, Mackenzie, Nia, Brooke, Paige, Kendall, Chloe and Brookie all came out to applause and as the girls were dancing, Abby noticed that Kendall was using her expressions and was dancing very well.

"Kendall's using her expressions and is on point like Chloe is, i think she proved that she has what it takes to be a member of the team. She earned her jacket, but i'm gonna tell her on monday." Abby thought to herself as the girls finished their group dance to applause and they headed off stage.

"Next up we have Candy Apples Dance Center with Fields of Gold!"

Justice was in a gold long sleeved button down shirt nad black pants while Taylor, Erika, Sarah, Kerisa and Vivi-Anne wore gold dresses and they started to dance.

While the Candy Apples were doing their group dance, Abby noticed that her son was looking suspicious about something as they were watching the Candy Apples.

"What's on your mind?" Abby asked.

"Mom, something doesn't seem right to me." Connor whispered. "I have a feeling that Cathy's kids, except for Justice are older than i think, i think they looked big in my opinion. Some of them are about as tall as you are."

"I agree with Connor." Gianna added. "I've been noticing the same thing."

"They do look about as tall as me except for Justice." Abby admitted as the Candy Apples finished their group dance and they headed to the ALDC dressing room where the girls were sitting.

Abby, Connor and the moms walked in and had grins on their faces, they had just witnessed the girls dance their hearts out.

"Girls, that was amazing!" Connor exclaimed as Abby turned her attention to Kendall.

"Kendall, i have a question for you, how did you use those expressions and dance in the group dance very well?" Abby asked her new dancer.

"Connor taught me how to use my expression in a group dance when me and Chloe spent the night with him last night after dinner." Kendall admitted to her dance teacher.

After hearing that, Abby walked over to her son and gave him a huge hug, she was really grateful to have a son like Connor in her life, even though he was her adopted son after his biological parents passed on, he was her son nonetheless and she was his mother nonetheless.

"Awwww!" The girls and their moms all said, they loved the fact that Abby and Connor had a unbreakable bond.

"I'm so glad that i have a son like you." Abby told him caringly.

"Thanks for helping Kendall." Jill said, then walked over to Connor and she gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"Aw shucks. It was nothing, Jill. I just love to help everyone in the studio." Connor replied.

"You're a wonderful helper, Connor." Brookie stated.

"That's why we love you." Melissa said.

"I love you all, too." Connor told them, then he had a serious look on his face as he turned to everyone. "Did you know that those dancers from Candy Apples except for Justice and Vivi looked old?"

"I do not think they were 9 and 10 years old, they looked older than that." Kelly added.

Then it was time for group dance awards and after that, the solo and duet dancing performances would begin so after the awards, it'll be time to get ready for the solos and places 10-3 were announced.

"In second place we have the Candy Apples with Fields of Gold!"

"And the overall first place winner is Run the Show by the Abby Lee Dance Company!" The girls all walked over to the announcer to get their award while Abby, Connor, Christi, Kelly, Holly, Hollie, Melissa, Jill, Gianna and Jennine all stood up and clapped.

"It's not surprising that we beat Cathy!" Abby cheered as she high fived Connor and the moms. "We made Apple Sauce out of those Apples!"

"But we have the duet and solos to worry about now and in order to have a clean sweep, we have to beat the Solos that the clean sweep can be completed." Connor added as they headed back to the ALDC dressing room to get prepared for the solos and duet.