The Road to Nationals (A Dance Moms Fic)

Chapter 9: The Candy Apples Strike Again

That friday, the bus had just left the parking lot of the Abby Lee Dance Company and was on it's way to phoenix and there, the girls would compete at Starpower and they would arrive at a hotel for the night since the competition was the next day.

On the bus, Connor was in his usual seat, sitting next to Abby like he usually does as the girls and their moms were in their seats as well. Brookie sat with Mackenzie, Chloe sat with Paige, Kendall sat next to Nia, Brooke sat with Maddie, Melissa sat with Gianna, Christi sat with Holly, Jill sat with Hollie and Kelly was across from Jill and Hollie while Jim was driving the bus and during the bus ride, Jill walked to Abby and Connor.

"Abby, Connor, i have some gifts for you and before you ask why i'm doing this, i'm not doing this to bribe you two to get Kendall ahead, i'm doing this as a token of gratitude for letting me and Kendall be a part of the team." Jill told them as she handed them the gifts.

"That's really nice of you, Jill." Abby stated as Kelly rolled her eyes.

"Let's see what's in them." Connor stated as he and his mother were handed the gifts, he opened his gift and in it was a Men's watch made by Fossil, it was a stainless steel Chronograph watch with a black silicon band and for Abby, the gift she got from Jill were some chanel sunglasses.

"Thanks, Jill." Abby said.

"We really appreciate the gifts you gave us." Connor told them

"If i wanted to give Abby a gift, i'd give her a membership to Jenny Craig." Melissa stated to the other moms, who agreed that Abby needed to lose weight, but Christi thought it wasn't funny because she knew that Connor would not like it whenever he heard someone talk about his mother's weight.

"Or a membership to weight watchers." Kelly stated.

"One of those two gifts would be the gift that would keep on giving." Holly agreed as the girls were just sitting in their seats either looking out the window.

"Little Brookie?" Mackenzie said.

"Yes, Kenzie?" Brooke K replied to her friend

"Do you think Maddie might be back in favor with Miss Abby and Connor one day?"

"I don't know, it seemed like last season before nationals Maddie was in their favor, but when she placed ninth, she fell out of favor and Chloe stepped up to the plate." Brooke K said.

"But i've got to admit, Chloe has been stepping her game up and her mother hasn't had any fights with Miss Abby and Connor, but my sister will have to adjust to not being the favorite." Mackenzie admitted while Chloe and Paige were just chattering.

"Kendall, i have a question." Nia said.

"Ask away, Nia." Kendall stated.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Yes, i do. I have two older sisters named Charlotte and Ryleigh, what about you?" Kendall said.

"II have two brothers named Evan Jr and William." Nia told her. "I think we'll meet them at one point."

"Most likely on Thanksgiving, where will it be?"

"Before you joined the team, we usually held it at Abby's house, but we don't know where it's gonna be at this year." Nia admitted as Chloe and Paige were on the laptop looking at videos of bloopers and they were laughing.

"I love watching bloopers, they make me laugh." Paige chuckled.

"Me too." Chloe added.

Meanwhile, Maddie was talking with Brooke H about the competition.

"Brooke, with the solo that Miss Abby and Connor gave me, do you think that it might get me back in their good books?" Maddie asked her with a worried tone.

"Who knows? I remember when i was the favorite of the studio, i was on time and was ready to work but when i was 13, i got a little moody and then you took the mantle of being the top dancer of the studio." Brooke told Maddie.

"Yeah, but at Nationals last year, i knew how you felt when i placed 9th with my solo and Chloe placed 1st." Maddie admitted.

Up in the front of the bus, Abby and her son were on the laptop and were listening to music and the song that was playing was "Surfin Bird" by the Trashmen.

"Mom, i've got a question." Connor said to Abby.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Abby lovingly asked her son.

"Since Thanksgiving is almost here, i'm just interested in knowing where it's gonna be held at this year, is it gonna be at your house or my house?"

"Last year, we held it at my house." Abby stated. "So this year, we'll hold it at your house, how does that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." He replied he heard his cell phone ring, he took it out of his pocket to see who was calling him.

"Who could be calling him?" Holly wondered.

"Who knows?" Hollie stated as she saw him answer his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, you little numbskull." The voice over the phone was Cathy.

Connor groaned under his breath covered the phone up and looked at his mother. "It's the dreaded rotten apple." He whispered.

"Oh, no." Gianna fumed, now they were gonna have to deal with Cathy and the Candy Apples for a second straight week.

"Better believe that." Melissa told the assistant choreographer.

"Don't give her any information that we have, that is between you, me, Gianna, the moms and the girls." Abby told him strictly as he nodded. "Why is she calling your phone?!"

"I don't know, i should have blocked her number when i had the chance." Connor then uncovered the phone and put it back to his ear. "What do you want you dingbat?!"

"Well, you little loser, the reason why i'm calling you is because me and my apples are headed to a competition and that competition is in Phoenix where you're gonna beat and this won't be like last time, this time we're gonna beat you and you better tell Abby that Kerisa and Taylor are gonna have solos against Maddie and Chloe!" Cathy exclaimed over the phone.

"UGH!" Connor groaned, then he hung up because he was tired of Cathy harassing him, his mother and the girls as Abby had a concerned look on her face when she saw that her son had a very upset look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Abby asked.

"Cathy just told me that she's headed to the same competition that we're headed to and she has Kerisa and Taylor compete against Maddie and Chloe and her group dance will go against our group dance." Connor told his mother.

Abby's concerned expression turned into a frustrated look as she started to rub her temples as she was now agitated like her son was.

"Now we've got to face those crab apples again!" Abby fumed.

"It's gonna be a neverending story when we face Cathy." Gianna added.

"Miss Abby, Connor, have faith. We'll beat Cathy like we have done before!" Chloe vowed.

"Yeah, we're gonna chop that apple tree down!" Pauge added.

"See, the girls know they can beat Cathy." Gianna assured her boyfriend and chief choreographer.

Abby and Connor's mad looks were replaced with smiles on their faces after hearing the comments from the girls that they were gonna beat Cathy.

At around 9:00 PM, the bus pulled up to the Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Phoenix, Abby and Connor were the first ones to get off the bus, then Gianna was next, the moms and the girls got off after them, they grabbed their luggage and headed inside of the hotel and checked in, they took an elevator to the 8th floor and entered their rooms.