Jeté to Stardom

12. Return of the Candy Apples

"I think we should both wear the white shorts and red bra top," Lux suggests going through her shared closet with Nova.

"Hmm, and we can put our hair in a ponytail," Nova giggles.

"And we can wear the sam- Cosmo! No!" she quickly yanks Cosmo off her new pair of sneakers. "Bad boy!"

"What's going on in here?" Pouting, Lux turns to see Rafael leaning on the doorframe leading to the hall." Why are you yelling?"

"Cosmo was chewing on Luxie's new Nikes," Nova tells him.

"You mean like how Comet chewed on mine?" he arches an eyebrow at her. "Your pups need obedience training. Now, what are you little torments up to."

Lux blows him a raspberry. "We're not torment, or demons, or whatever you like to call us. We're angels. Sweet little angels. And we're gonna be identical tomorrow."

"News flash, you were born identical."

"We're going out of our way tomorrow to be more alike than usual," Nova clarifies.

"And you say you're not torments," he scoffs. "Anyway, Mamá said to come down for dinner."

"Okay," Lux agrees, putting Cosmo down on the ground. She didn't think she would torment the other girls and Moms. She figured it would be funny to see who could guess who was who. Usually, she and Nova do their hair differently and wear different colors; it would be cool to see who would get them right.

"Let's go! Come on, girls! Let's go!" At Abby's call, Lux stands with the rest of the girls as they walk into Studio A; the moms follow behind them.

"Okay," Abby shakes her head. "I want to start off talking a little bit about Dance Troupe in Greensboro, North Carolina. That was not the group on Lake Tahoe that just won a national championship. Obviously, cute still works in the Carolinas. Kendall, you did your solo scared to death. That face was not an Abby Lee Miller face, that's for certain."

"Well, Abby, that was her first time out," Jill cuts in.

Abby places a finger on her mouth. "Uh, shh. We don't get to talk. It's my turn. This weekend, we are headed to Columbus, Ohio. You know who lives in Ohio."

"Candy Apple!" Chloe cheers waving her hands in the air.

Lux chances a glance at her Mama; she wasn't surprised to see her frowning. Her Mamá really didn't like Cathy. Like really didn't like her. Lux couldn't say she liked her either after what she did to Chloe.

"We are going there, and she will be at the competition. I don't want any squawking between the mothers. You are all on the same team, and we're all gonna take a bite out of that big apple," Abby declares. "All right, we're gonna start with the pyramid. On the bottom... Kendall, you are on probation. That means that I'm watching you like a hawk. Do you understand me?

"Mackenzie, I keep giving you little parts. Your dancing is not up to where the rest of the girls are. When Maddie was seven, she could've done the choreography. Brooke, you knew the number, but the crying and the hysteria that's not a young adult. Paige, you did a nice job this weekend. Then, on the bus coming home, we told you to sit down thirty. Two. Times. I counted. That's thirty-one too many."

"Every single one of them was playing on the bus," Kelly objects.

"It doesn't make it right!" Abby shouts at her.

"So tell them, yell at them, too!" Kelly screams back.

Abby ignores her and returns to the pyramid. "Nia, I left you here in the same spot that you were last week. Maybe somebody from Nia's family could show up at the competition to watch her and clap for her. Moving on, I have Lux. I have no complaints. I thought the routine was great;  Chloe and Nova were just better this week. Next, we have Chloe. Chloe, you did a great job."