WHEN BIANCA WALKED into the studio this morning, abby sent her right to studio c instead of her tap private with maddie.
once changing into a dark blue leotard and back leggings over. she pulled her hair into ponytail and walked into the studio to see noah and one of the studio dance teachers eric.
"oh- hello." she said with a nervous smile.
"hey bianca. this week you two have a duet." eric told the two who cheered. "abby's gonna announce it at pyramid so act surprised. but it's called slow motion and it has a lot of styles in it. so let's get started."
they started opposite doing their own choreo until noah stood behind bianca and she arched back grabbing ahold of his thigh and she kicked up and noah flipped her onto his shoulder.
they had a lot of groves, some lifts, some flips and some hip hop and overall a really good and fun dance.
about an hour later the rest of the girls arrived and they went in the studio for pyramid. they were all happy that they didn't have another new member this week. "congratulations are in order. the tribal council won." and with that they went right to the pyramid.
Birdie
Maddie, Nia
Bianca, Mackenzie, Chloe, Kendall
"next bianca. you didn't have anything extra last week but your performance in the group was excellent."
"thank you."
"and on top of the pyramid is birdie. you were the overall winner of the competition. i put maddie in and you beat not only her but ava, kenzie and tea. you were beautiful." birdie held a bright smile as everyone applauded her.
"thank you." she said swaying side to side.
"this week, we are traveling to Sheer Talent in Wayne, New jersey. I have heard that cathy will be there. I know that gino will be doing a solo." with the mention of the boy everyone's eyes turned to maddie. "maddie, I had planned for you to do a solo against gino this week. The name of the routine is Fool Me Once. and he's going to go down in history as your first kiss. sorry." while maddie made a disgusted face, kenzie and bianca began to laugh.
"that was your fault." maddie said, pointing a finger.
"i know. That's why I said sorry." abby said with a laugh. "bianca. you have a duet this week. with noah. you won last time you competed together and your going to do it again. i know there's a candy apples duet in the works and you and noah are going to beat them, ok?"
"oh yes we will." bianca smiled with confidence while the moms laughed.
"now here's my big problem. maddie has to fly to miami this weekend. and now they don't want her coming in on sunday to work monday. they want her to come in on saturday. competition is saturday. so later this evening, I should know more, if not tomorrow, or even the next day. maddie, as you learn your solo, you will have two understudies, which is kendall and chloe. should maddie have to leave and not be there, one of you will go up against gino. see now i could've easily given it to bianca, but i want to see you rise to the occasion."
"If maddie were to leave, how would you choose between kendall and I?" chloe asked.
"whoever's doing the number right." abby said simply. "so you two better be right on top of it."
"The group routine, the name of the piece is Playing With Matches. maddie, you will have a lead in this group. if you're not there, the lead will go to bianca. this group routine is important, ladies. please do not let me down. I still am up in the air about nationals. because right now, the only one that's good and safe are maddie, bianca and birdie." with that the moms went out stairs and the group routine was in progress.
they got through it pretty fast and bianca honestly really liked it. even though maddie was the lead, abby gave bianca her own special parts. rehearsals were going good unti they weren't. maybe it was because the candy apples since abby was worse than usual.
"you on the outside? kendall, I keep telling everybody, you're improving. your legs are straight. you were doing this. you were doing that. for two weeks you were like, fabulous, right up there with maddie, bianca and birdie. you had it in you to be the favorite for two weeks and that's it? what gives, kid? maddie set over 100 weeks. and these two have done it for several weeks they're both undefeated! why can't you just all rise to the occasion and be like them? figure it out!"
bianca felt bad as abby yelled at the girls. sure it was nice that abby liked her but it wasn't fair the way she compared the three to everyone else. it was awkward for them and made the girls feel bad.
brianna sat upstairs beside melissa drinking coffee as they watched the group rehearse and the moms complain about abby. per usual.
"the kids are defeated every time they're compared to maddie, bianca and birdie. that doesn't make them work harder anymore. it makes them angry and feel like, why bother trying?" jill pointed out to the moms.
"I think we've said over and over is that inequity in how abby focuses on chloe, nia, and kendall, as far as the things that they do-"
"oh negatively." christi pointed out to holly who nodded.
"negative- and tends to say really positive things about primarily maddie bianca and birdie. i think it would be kind of interesting just do a quantitative
analysis and kind of mark."
"like a chart?"
"you know what hol. let's do it." jill agreed.
brianna rolled her eyes at this idea. abby's ways of teaching aren't going to change anytime soon. she didn't know what the moms thought this would achieve.
"so let's listen to abby and see how many times she puts everybody down." jill said and brianna exchanged looks with melissa.
"are we drinking every time she puts somebody down? because we'll be drunk." as abby began yelling at chloe, christi pulled her phone out. "you know what i'll start keeping track on my phone."
another hour went by and christi had been keeping count of all the put downs. "so far, right now, kendall is leading the pack with six. chloe and nia are tied at four. and there have been seven maddie praises, only one mackenzie. eight bianca praises and four birdie praises."
"nia, I'm not going to get on your case. it is not worth my energy. you are not worth my energy."
"that is so wrong."
"she said how many in less than five minutes?"
"you know why you're getting that reaction?" holly turned to jill. "because we've never added them up. you see them in black and white, you're like, this is ridiculous."
TWO DAYS TILL COMPETITION
bianca sat in studio a with chloe maddie and kendall while they all stretched. bianca was waiting for noah to get out of school so they could rehearse so for now abby had her sit in group rehearsals.
"are you nervous to go up against gino since, like, last time you were with each other, you kind of, like, kissed?" chloe asked making bianca start to laugh as she sat in her middle spilt
"i did not like that at all. that was the worst week of my life." maddie told her friends.
"she was forced into her first kiss." bianca said laughing.
"yeah! and not only that but i didn't want to kiss him. he's gross." maddie said and bianca hit her arm lightly telling her that there's two cameras in front of them. "sorry but it's true."
their conversation then moved onto the solo situation this week. "are you guys, like, excited to be the understudies this week?"
"yeah that's cool. I mean, because miss abby always talks about, like, they always have to know everybody's part and really be on top of it. so I think it's a good experience for kendall and I." chloe explained.
"I think the solo is yours because it has a lot of things, like-"
"well it is my solo."
"it is hers we're just learning it incase anything happens."
"so bianca, you and noah?" maddie asked, flipping the conversation on her friend.
"we're just friends. i promise. great guy but just a friend." bianca told the three.
"have you guys started your duet?" kendall asked.
"yeah we did yesterday. it's really good but i have to wear these." bianca groaned holding up her ballroom shoes.
"you've danced in those before though." chloe pointed out.
"yeah but there's some lifts and flips in it. i know noah won't drop me but these also are a pain to dance in."
"you're gonna do great." maddie told her.
"what about lucas?" kendall smiled, shimming her shoulders.
"ok that i don't know." bianca said, hiding her face as the girls screamed. "like we'll talk at competition and he flirts but something weird."
"maybe it's the rivalry?" chloe took a guess.
"maybe." the other blonde shrugged
"hey are you leaving anytime before nationals?" maddie asked.
"no we wrapped three weeks ago. we're having another wrap party the week of nationals though with some press so i have to see if abby will let me go to that."
"when does it premiere? is there a premiere party and are we invited?" kendall asked making bianca chuckle.
"i think it airs on disney- what is that?" bianca's eyes had trailed up to the viewing room where jill was setting up a huge whiteboard with all the girls names and tally marks by their names.
"my names not up there." maddie realized as they all stood up and gianna looked up as well.
"neither are mine and birdies." bianca said as the two exchanged looks. abby soon came in and started maddie's solos. noah was sent in and after putting her ballroom shoes on they began working on their duet in the corner.
they finished the duet but eric gave them the choice to add whatever they wanted to it. to make it more them and add some flash.
"what is that big sign up there? what is that?" abby asked gianna, noticing the board.
"i don't know. they brought it up there in the middle of rehearsal. and maddie and bianca went 'oh our names aren't up there'. it's not solos."
"how many times she cried and ran out of the room and acted like an idiot?" abby guessed. "no mackenzie would be higher."
"no, mackenzie would be winning." gianna said as the two began to laugh. all the girls attention went up to the board as chloe mouthed to her mom to take it down. none of them new what it was but none of them thought it should be up.
"ok i'm gonna let you three go. get some water. clear your brains. bianca and noah let's go then we'll start the group." abby said and the five nodded as she turned to maddie and bianca. "aren't you two glad you're not on that list?"
"we don't even know what it is." maddie told the women.
"me too. But whoever wasted the time it took to make those letters and to go buy that board should have spent that same amount of time on putting a brain in their kids' head and figuring out why they're I the big winner, why they're not on the ellen show. why they're not in a movie. better use of time."
COMPETITION DAY
it was the day of the competition and as soon as the aldc walked into the school where the competition was being held, cathy's voice rang through the schools ap system.
the girls got to the dressing room before the moms and began to get ready. bianca did maddie's hair for her solo and sewed her headpiece in for her. "b can you do one more pin?" maddie asked as the moms and abby walked in. of course they carried the whiteboard in with them.
"mhm." she nodded pinning it in the back. once done bianca sat beside maddie and started her hair. she curled it then slicked it back in a half up half down.
"bianca." birdie whispered coming over to the two and bianca hummed. "what's the board for?"
"wait birdie where have you been all week?" maddie asked since they had established what the board was for already.
"it's for all the times abby yells at them. we're not on it cause abby never yells at us. the moms are trying to made a point." bianca explained and birdie nodded.
"why would they wanna shine a light on it?" birdie asked. she thought it was weird. that just makes the girls feel worse. abby doesn't care what she says.
"no clue."
maddie and bianca then went behind the curtain where all their costumes were and began changing. bianca wore a red sparkling ballroom dress with sparkling fringe hanging from it.
noah was out with his dad changing for the duet. he wore a black dress shirt and dress pants. after both solos which only maddie did abby ran the duet in the dressing room, ignoring the mothers and the board. they practiced the lifts but soon enough they started talking about the board and bianca and noah didn't know if they should leave or not.
"come on guys, let's run it outside." gianna said pulling the two out of the room to rehearse.
"never witnessed one of their arguments before." noah said as soon as the door closed.
"you don't wanna witness it. they're crazy. all of them." bianca said making gianna laugh.
"alright let's run the lifts." once done the two walked backstage together holding hands. lucas saw this and got jealous but bianca didn't see him. they watched the cadc duet with gavin and mckenzie but that didn't bother them. it was ok.
"now welcome to the stage entry 143 Slow Motion"
the two walked offstage and hugged each other tightly. "that was so good." noah whispered.
"i didn't break my ankle on the ariel." bianca cheered while noah laughed. before the two could even make it to the dressing room both brianna and noah's dad stopped them for pictures.
~~
the girls than changed into their group costumes which were denim dresses with fire painted on the bottom. bianca kept her half up half down from before but just added a bow that matched the bottom of the dress.
they all marked the routine and abby called their attention for a pep talk. "and girls, pay close attention to what the mc says over the loud speaker." abby told the girls.
they all looked at each other confused but agreed either way. maddie then grabbed the matches and they all went backstage.
"now welcome Playing With Matches."
the girls go onstage and the routine did amazing and the match that the moms were worried about actually worked onstage. it was big but not too big.
the girls all stood together backstage as they waited for what abby was talking about. "attention. the performance Playing With Matches will not be adjudicated. i repeat Playing With Matches will not be adjudicated."
the girls all exchanged confused looks at this. "what does that mean?" kenzie asked the older girls.
"they're not judging our dance." chloe told her.
"was it the match?" birdie asked and all the girls shrugged confused.
they all turned to gianna who ran backstage to the girls. "girls, girls come here. the reason the group dance was pulled has nothing to do with you. it's how your mother's treated abby in that dressing room. i don't know what it was. and you guys don't know what it was, but that was the reason."
the girls were still left confused but upset that they weren't being judged. they did really to on their dance for them to be pulled.
before awards started all the girls through their team jackets on and went down to the audience to talk to abby. "why'd you pull it?" maddie asked first.
"because of your mothers' behavior. you know how it is. when one gets punished, everybody gets punished. and I have to put my foot down. ok?"
"yes."
"ok, go back."
the girls nodded and went onstage for awards and were joined with noah. they were all upset about the group routine but their was nothing they could do about it. in the solos gino got 2nd and maddie got 1st.
"now entering our preteen duet/trios. our top three. 3rd place is Tik Tok impact dance studio. 2nd place is Shinning Lights candy apples dance center. and first overall duet trio is Slow Motion abby lee dance company."
noah and bianca stood up with smiles as they went to get their award. they were handed a trophy and took a bow while pictures were taken. when they sat down the two hugged.
as they entered the junior groups the girls watched as all the moms stood up and walked out. the candy apples ended up getting fourth but the girls new they could've won.