Relevé to the Top

Chapter 17. The Runaway Mom

"Let's go, girls! Get in here! Shake the lead out," Abby yells impatiently as the girls slowly walked into the room. "Now Hollywood Vibe, last week. You did an okay job; I thought it could have been better. Moving on, this week, we are going to Fire & Ice, right here in Pittsburgh."

Lexie claps along with the rest of the team. Competitions in Pittsburgh mean they can spend a lot more time on the routine, which is always a bonus.

"And I have a reputation to uphold. It's much more difficult to walk in a competition against people you know than a bunch of strangers. Okay, let's get to the pyramid. I hate to do this, but..." Abby uncovers the last headshot to reveal Kendall. Slowly Jill shook her head. "Kendall, you are back on probation."

Head jerking from the pyramid to Kendall to Jill, and back to the pyramid, Lexie couldn't believe it.

"That's... ridiculous, Abby," Lexie thought. Jill sounded like she was on the verge of tears, while Kendall was already crying. "What more do you want from her?"

"Your head is distended. Your shoulders are hunched. Your ribcage is open," Abby lists off cooly.

"Are you kidding me?!" Jill fumes, hands resting on her hip. "You're kidding me, right!?"

"No," Abby sloughed off a lame shrug. "She doesn't make the corrections. I have been telling her since the audition about her posture, and it has not improved once."

"I can't even believe it. You know what? You should be on probation, not my daughter," Jill swallows her frustration before speaking again. "I don't even know why I'm here. You have nothing nice to say to her since the second we got here. You know what, Abby? She does a lot right."

"She turns like a top. But that's what good. I don't need to fix that," Abby admits.

"There's a lot of studios out there who would love what she does right. And you know what, Abby?"

"I hear that every day..."

Walking over to the line, Jill grabs her daughter's hand. "We are going to one of those studios." she tugs Kendall towards the door. "I'm not putting up with this crap anymore. We're done. That's it."

Abby shrugs and proceeds like Jill and Kendall didn't leave the studio. "Next, Paige. You were on the top. Now you're obviously not. You couldn't remember the trio. Unacceptable. Next, Brooke. Brooke, this whiney, mopey teenager crap has to stop. You are the role model, do me a favor, just smile."

Abby yanks the cover of the following picture. "Mackenzie. The tricks are stronger. They're better. But you need a few ballet classes. Next, we have Chloe. Once again, nice clean performance. Maddie. You redeemed yourself, no stupid mistakes. And next Lexie, I thought you gave a beautiful routine."

"Thank you," Lexie mutters, bouncing on the toes of her feet. There's only one more headshot left which means...

"And deservedly so for the first time, Nia is on top of the pyramid," Lexie lost it, screaming at the top of their lungs, before throwing herself at Nia. "You are on top of the pyramid because of your hard work and your determination all week long. To me, that's something more important than any trophy.

"Your mother isn't always here, but she does make sure that you are here. And you can see the improvement. This week you're gonna be doing a solo, Holly she's gonna perform, act and look like a princess. Like I tell everybody else, it's tough getting here. It's even more difficult staying here.

"Moving on to the group routine. We're going to do a dance. It's called 'Head Over Heels.' It's about falling in love and getting married."

Lexie smiles at her Mom as Mackenzie raises her hand. Abby always says she takes inspiration from the real world, and It was clear that this routine was about her Mom's new engagement.