VITORIA'S P.O.V
I woke not to an alarm clock like an average person would but to the sounds of dogs barking and scratches on the door. I was starting to think Eomma was right; nine dogs were too much.
"Vicente!" I heard Eomma yell.
"Yeah!?" came my twin's voice.
"Come open the back door so they can do their business and wake Vitoria up too." Eomma orders.
I lay still in my bed for a couple more seconds before groaning and getting up; I rub my face and open my eyes to see Vicente standing in front of my bed with a cup of water in his hands and a pout on his face.
I raise an eyebrow at him. "Really?"
"You know I can still toss this at you if I want," he warns me.
I scowl at him. "I dare you."
He smirks at me before dumping water all over my head. He cackles as he runs after my room, and I give chase. We ran down the stairs, passing by the living room. I took two couch pillows and tossed one at him, causing him to stop to try and block it, giving me enough time to catch up to him and start beating him with the other pillow.
"Oww! Oww! I'm sorry! Come on, stop it, these pillows are actually hard!" the pillow was snatched from my hand, but I just kept hitting him anyway. I heard a sigh before I was picked up by my armpit and separated from him.
"That's enough," Pai tells me sternly. "Vicente, go let the dogs out, and for pouring water on your sister, you're in charge of cleaning after the dogs for the next seven days."
"Ha!" I laughed while Vicente groaned.
Pai gives me a stern look. "You need to go put those pillows back where they belong, and for hitting your brother, clean up the trail of water you left." he glares at the both of us. "Now."
Vicente and I stuck our tongues at each other before walking the opposite way.
I returned the pillows to the couch, placing them precisely like Eomma did before taking a mop and cleaning up the water trail. Afterward, I head to my bathroom to clean myself off and prepare for the day. After showering, I returned to my room and sat at my vanity.
I pulled my hair in a high bun before putting on light make-up. I got up, walked over to my closet, and pulled out a white shirt; going to my dresser, I took out one of my many black leggings and a lavender lattice back sports bra. Once dressed, I grabbed my dance bag and ALDC jacket and went to the dining area. I placed my things on the couch and walked into the kitchen.
"It smells good in here," I complimented Eomma. "What are we having?"
Eomma smiles at me. "Since we start filming today, I decided to make a traditional Korean breakfast. So I made jajangmyeon, gimchi jjigae, galbi, spicy seafood salad, kongnamul bap, oi naengguk, yangnyeom dasima, and moo saengchae."
I lick my lips. "Yum. Do you need help?"
"Can you set the plate and place the water out?"
While I was setting the table, Pai, Vicente, and Daiane came down to eat. Pai places a kiss on Eomma's cheek. "This all looks really good. You went all out today."
"Well, I'm gonna have to deal with a lot of drama for the next few months. I need a lot of energy," Mom responds.
He chuckles before bending down to carry a sleepy Daiane to her chair. He took a seat beside her. Vicente and I helped Mom place all the dishes on the table before taking our seats.
"Are you excited to get back to filming?" Pai asks as Eomma passes him the rice.
I shrug, breaking my chopstick. "It's not like I stopped dancing during the break. I was in the studio three to five times a week. I did miss that one week in March, but I was working, so it's okay. It's gonna be weird, though, to have the camera on me when I haven't had it on me for the past three months."
"When is Unnie coming home?" Daiane asks. "I miss her."
"She said that filming will be done in three weeks if everything goes as planned." Mom answers.
That was another thing that was gonna be weird. Not having my Unnie at competitions with me. As much as Eomma encourages me before I dance, having Unnie in the wings always makes me feel more at ease.
"Jal meokkesseumnida," I say before digging in. (I will eat well.)
After breakfast, I helped Eomma get Daiane ready. The three of us said bye to the male members of our family before heading out. We dropped Daiane at pre-school and headed to the studio.
_________________________________________________________
"I've been gone for two months, going to dance studios that were in trouble. Seeing these problems firsthand with somebody else, I realized the mistakes that I have made, and I'm not gonna make them anymore. I want kids that want to be the best," are the first words from Abby's mouth when we walk into the studio.
Abby points toward the elect team. "And that's exactly why you guys are here," she gestures to us. "To push these kids to the next level. 'Cause There's always someone to take your spot. Now they're here; there right next to you. Maddie, Vitoria, come over with the winning team!"
Maddie and I slowly walked over to the Select team.
"Congratulations-- you guys are the winning team. Then again, you had three of the best dancers from the Elite team to lead you to victory. It was unfortunate that Sarah couldn't dance with the group. But I've had it with Mom smart-mouthing me and being rude...."
"No. You took something wrong that I said, and you put it on her shoulders, and it's not fair," Christy defends. "And I am your customer, and she is your student, and she deserves," she points to the Elite team, "to be there. And I do too." she waves a hand at the Select moms. "This is phony."
"There are two teams," Abby continues as if Christy hadn't said anything. "They will go head-to-head sometimes. I might need to pull a kid here and there and put them on this team. We have kids working. I mean, a lot of kids did things over the breaks. Maddie, tell us one of the things you did over the break."
"I went to LA, and I did a music video for Sia," Maddie said and was met with applause from all of us.
"Vitoria, you also did something really amazing over the break," Abby says; she gestures for me to speak.
"I was asked to model for Velveteen, and I did a spread for their upcoming summer collection," I told everybody, my cheeks reddening. I've done photo shoots before, but I never had to announce it to a group of people before.
"And we have Diana, who is still filming a movie right now, and who knows when she's gonna be back," Abby says as the applause dies. "What if Maddie gets called to do another video? Or a Movie? Or Vitoria as to model for another Magazine? Any of the girls. I'm gonna need to pull somebody from this team to go in there. You'll notice that Kalani is not with us, but I certainly don't want a kid whose mother choices her boyfriend over her own child," Abby says. "Maddie, Vitoria, please move over here with your Moms."
"I was just about to ask you, since Kalani's gone, would Maddie, Diana, and or Vitoria return to their original team?" Holly asked.
"Absolutely," Abby nods, Grinning. I hurry back over to Eomma and stand in front of her. As sweet as the girls in the Select team here, I like dancing with the Elite team, and this is why Eomma doesn't have to deal with Christy more than necessary.
"Let's get to the pyramid," Abby claps. "First, we have Kendall. You and Kalani went out on that stage and got beat by two girls that never shared the stage before, that never danced together but worked their butts off. Next on the pyramid: Nia. We've been doing this for four competition seasons; the very first season, I corrected you on your legs and your feet. I'm still telling you the same thing.
"And then next, we have Mackenzie. Mackenzie, you are my pop princess. You are-- it's all about you. But you need to continue to do dancing. You have seen firsthand what happens to other people when they slack off. And next, we have Maddie. You didn't wanna leave your team. Why I don't know. If you want to work professionally, you need to work with everybody. You'll dance when I say, with who I say, and you'll like it.
"Next, we have Diana. Diana is not here because she's working, but before she left, she was part of the winning duet with Maddie. Next, we have Chloe. Chloe, you did an outstanding job with your solo. You made it look great. Two of the judges had Kamryn higher, one of the judges had Chloe by a..." Abby whistles and raises her hand high.
"Oh, so you question the judges," Christi speaks up.
"Uh, no, I looked at the score sheets," Abby responds.
"Okay, well. There's a nasty little rumor going around that you pulled the judges in and wanted to know why Chloe beat Kamryn."
Abby shakes her head. "No, I wanted to see the score sheet. Chloe was great. Why are you arguing?"
Christi nods. "Okay."
"Moving on," Abby says. "On top of the pyramid-- all the judges had her higher. Vitoria. 'Hashtag Beautiful' was the title of your solo, and you were beautiful out there."
"Thank you," I smile as everyone claps for me.
"Alright," Abby says. "We are headed to Wheeling, West Virginia. We will compete at Sheer Talent. We have two group routines. I will start with you guys," she points to the Elite team. "All of you will be in the routine. It's contemporary. The name of the routine is 'Light as a Feather Stiff as a Board.' And now over here," Abby turns to the Select team. "This group will also be doing a contemporary routine entitled "The Rapture." Christy, do you want to explain what the Rapture is since you always have so much to say?"
"They won't be a part of it, so I don't think it really matters," Christy responds.
I gaped. That was cruel; she just said the rest of the Select Mom would live in hell on Earth while she went to heaven.
"Oh!" Jodie gasped, turning to Christy. "That was the most unChristian thing you've ever said in your entire life."
"Truth hurts," Christy tells her.
"We have three more routines competing this weekend," Abby says, moving things along. "Mackenzie, it's your week, babe. Number one on the pop charts, and you're doing a solo at Sheer Talent," we all cheered for a grinning Mackenzie. "You will do a jazz gymnastic routine entitled "Watch Me Fly." Abby turns to the other team. "Sarah, you're gonna go head to head with Mackenzie."
Tami raises her hands. "Why would Sarah get a solo against Mackenzie when she wasn't..."
"She didn't dance last time," Abby fills in.
"She deserves one," Christy says.
"I want to see Sarah on the stage before I cut her indefinitely," Abby answers.
"And lastly, the two of you will be going up against our undefeated solo champion: Vitoria," I raised my hands to the roof. "Vitoria, you will be doing a jazz contortionist routine entitled "Whiplash." Alright, I think that's it. I think we're ready to go. Let's get warmed up. Everybody is on the floor for right now. Moms head upstairs."
_________________________________________________________
MINSUH'S P.O.V
"Okay, those women...Ugh!" Christi complained as we stepped outside the studio.
"That was exhausting," Holly agrees.
Honestly, it really was Pyramid already takes up half the day; the arguments with Abby in conflicts between the Moms do not help the process.
"They're their own brand of crazy," Christy adds.
"But they're here, so somehow we have to make it work, to our advantage. I don't know what." Jill says.
"We just have to stay away from them," Melissa adds.
"I don't know how that's possible, seeing as our kids are gonna be dancing together for the foreseeable future," I tell her.
"Let it push the kids," Jill comments. "I mean, maybe, maybe, maybe Abby knows what he's talking about." She turns to me. "I didn't know Vitoria did a shot for Velveteen." she looks around her. "The rest of you didn't seem so surprised either. Am I the only one that didn't know this? When was this?"
I shrug. "Honestly, Jill, we don't talk outside of the studio unless it's to plan time for the girls to get together."
"I still think it would have been nice to have been told," Jill responds. "It feels like you're excluding me."
I resisted rolling my eyes. I don't understand why she was making such a big deal out of this. Melissa and I live near each other and consider her a friend. Holly and Christi texted and asked about my and my family's well-being, and they occasionally came over. Jill is the only one I don't communicate with outside of the studio; she doesn't make an effort, nor do I.
"If I made you feel bad, I apologize," I say, being the bigger person.
Jill nods. "That's all I wanted."
When it was time for the group to rehearse, we headed back into the studio and made our way into the viewing room.
"Hi. How are you?" Holly greets the Select moms. "Hello. Hello."
Christy leans over to talk to Christi. "Christi, I just wanted you to know that even though they don't have our back, I have your back, okay?"
Christi shakes her head. "I don't need them to have my back."
"Well, guess what? All they do is talk crap on everybody," Christy tells her. "And Jodi was saying that Abby was right about Chloe not supposed to beat Kamryn."
"I don't care what Jodie thinks because naturally, you're gonna think..."
"What I said was that it wasn't sabotaged," Jodie defends and cuts Christi off.
Christi tilted her head so that she could see Jodie better. "Were you in the room? Do you know what she talked about?"
"I don't really care what she talked about," Jodie responds. "She deserved to win. I'm actually shocked that Chloe and Vitoria placed higher than her."
"That is your opinion as her mother, and it's biased," I cut in before Christi could say anything. "The judges said Chloe and Vitoria were better than Kamryn. Deal with it."
Christi nods in agreement. "You know what? You're making yourself look like a really poor loser."
"No, I am not a poor loser," Jodie disagrees.
"That was definitely what it was," Christy says.
I really didn't want to hear her opinion. She was starting trouble by telling Christi this in the first place.
"She got beat, so what? Get over it," Christi adds.
With the tension increasing, Jodie and the rest of the Select moms decided it was time for them to take their leave.
_________________________________________________________
VITORIA'S P.O.V
Two days until the competition, I was excited about our group routine this week. It's a dark contemporary piece about a group of girls at a sleepover playing around with an Ouija board when Chloe-- the lead, becomes possed. I loved it; whenever Abby does darker pieces, Abby usually pulls me and Mackenzie out because it's too mature for us.
"Girls, you have to understand, you're going out there against a team that I put together. I created a team that works; they won the last competition. Was it because Maddie, Gabriela, and Vitoria were in the dance? Is that why they won? Are they gonna win this week without Maddie in the dance? Or is it a team? Is it teamwork? If it's teamwork, their team's looking pretty strong," Abby lectures us after group rehearsal. "Okay, everybody except Mackenzie and Vitoria is dismissed."
I sat in the back of the studio while Kenzie rehearsed solo. It's acrobatic, it's energetic, and it's Kenzie.
"You have yet to beat Vitoria this season, and now you're going against her and Sarah, who has beaten you already," Abby tells her once she is done. "What happens if you don't beat them this week?" Kenzie bites her lips in thought. "Do you realize how they, for the rest of their lives, are gonna go around saying they beat pop star Mack Z?" I rolled my eyes. I would never do that to Mackenzie. Abby snaps her finger. "You need to be off the chart. Go get a drink." Abby gestures for me to get up. "Your turn."
I was dancing to Selena Gomez's "Whiplash." I was playing a contortionist at a circus, but I was still doing a lot of jazz turns and leaps to make it all flow together as a jazz number. I loved it, and I think it would make me stand out because not everybody can do a chest stand and rotate their legs and go into a headstand with straight legs and...Well, you get the point.
"You are undefeated when it comes to solos," Abby told me once I was finished. "You're one of the best dancers on this team. You've beaten your sister, Maddie, Chloe, and Kamryn. Sarah and Mackenzie should be no problems for you."
I nodded in agreement. I love Kenzie, but I would be highly upset with myself if I lost to her and or Sarah after beating Chloe, Gabriela, Kamyrn, and Gabriela.
"Okay, you're dismissed," Abby tells me.
"Thank you," I told her before leaving.
_________________________________________________________
The next day I was in the den with the rest of the girls.
"The new team, they're amazing, and they have their dance together, but we just have to show them that we've been dancing together forever," Maddie says as we all change into our dancewear.
"We need to show them there is something special about knowing who you're dancing with," Chloe adds.
"You sound like your Mom," I told her.
She smiles at me. "Thank you."
"Okay, well, let's just go, run this dance because we have to win this week," Maddie says as we head into the studio. I took a step back in surprise when I saw that the Select team was still in there practicing.
"Come on, girls, let's go," Abby tells us as we walk in. "Why don't you come back here with me. I don't want you to warm up while they're dancing." the six of us made our way over to Abby.
I felt my stomach drop as I watched the Select ensemble run their group routine. They were terrific. How were we supposed to win now? Talent-wise, they're better than us, and choreography-wise, they're better than us.
"Guys, listen, I know you're all excited about the competition, and you're going away, and it's fun, but this it, this is your last rehearsal before you get on a bus and go to Wheeling. You got it? Yes," Abby tells us right before she dismisses the Select team.
_________________________________________________________
GABRIELA'S P.O.V
"You excited to be home?" Cristiano asked me as we picked up our bags from the luggage area.
I grin. "I am. Lucky for me, the girls were on break while I filmed, so I didn't miss that much because the girls also went on break." I hug him. "Thanks for staying in Canada with me."
He hugs me back. "You're welcome." Since Cristiano graduated early and had the spring semester off, he agreed to be my guardian while Eomma and Pai stayed in Pittsburgh with Daiane, Vicente, and Tori.
Together the two of us rolled our suitcases out of the airport to wait for the taxi. "Where too?" the taxi driver asked us as we got in. Cristiano gave him the directions, and we were on our way home. When we arrived home, the house was empty. Which wasn't a surprise to me; Eomma and Vitoria were at the studio rehearsing, Daiane was at pre-school, and Vicente was at Taekwondo practice.
"Do you think you can take me to the studio?" I ask Cristiano.
"We just got back," he tells me. "Don't you wanna relax a bit."
"Yes, but I wanna surprise everybody. I didn't tell them that filming wrapped up early, and they all still think I'll be in Canada for another two weeks, including Eomma and Tori."
He groans. "Hurry up and get changed before I change my mind."
I kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you!" I called to him as I ran up the staircase.
I wore gray and pink gradient ankle-length leggings with a pink crop top with keyhole cutouts in the front and the back. Over that, I wore a black jean jacket. I grabbed one of my dance bags and started packing everything I needed. I ran downstairs, where Cristiano was already waiting at the door. He passes me my sneakers, and I smile at him.
"Ready?" he asks me.
I grin. "Ready."
The whole ride to the studio, I bounced in the front seat. I had a fantastic time filming, the entire cast and crew were terrific, and I have many new big brothers and sisters. And I already miss them to death, but I missed the girls, the moms, and Abby. I didn't miss the drama, but you have to take the cons with the pros. I practically screamed when we pulled into the driveway.
"Somebody's excited," he tells me as he parks. "Didn't you talk to them every day?"
"Don't you talk to Antônio every day? Those that stop you from being excited whenever you visit him, or he gets to visit you?"
"Touche," he responds. "Tell Eomma and Tori I said hi."
"Okay," I replied, quickly getting out of his car and getting my bag. "Bye, Oppa!" I ran to the studio. I had just reached the door when Select Moms and their girls walked out. I greeted them all with a smile and hugs.
"Is anybody in the den right now?" I ask them.
"No, the girls are running the group dance right now," Kamryn tells me. This means that all the moms were up in the viewing room.
"Thank you," I tell her before entering the studio. I walked past the front desk, quietly tiptoed to the den, removed my jacket, and replaced my sneakers with my turners. I walked to stand B and looked through the mirror to see that the girls were rehearsing. Grinning, I walked through the door.
"Hi, Gabriela," Nia greets me before doing a double take. "Gabriela!"
The girls ran over and hugged me; we were so unbalanced that we laughed on the floor. "I missed you guys."
"When did you get back!?" Tori asks me. "You were definitely not home when we left."
"My flight came in a little more than an hour ago," I responded.
"Welcome back," Abby tells me.
I grin as I walk over and hug her and Gianna. "Good to be back."
"If you had come back earlier, I would have put you in the Select team group dance," Abby tells me.
I shrug. "It's fine. I want to rest the weekend before getting into the swing of things. I just couldn't wait to see everybody again."
"I think you're in trouble," Gianna chuckles. She was looking up at the viewing room.
"Come up here now, "Eomma mouths at me.
I chuckle sheepishly. "I better get up there." I left the study and made my way to the viewing room.
"You are in so much trouble," Eomma tells me.
I grin and hug her. "I missed you, Eomma."
She hugs me back. "I missed you too. But you were not supposed to be back for another two weeks."
I released her and went around hugging the other Moms. "I lied. Surprisingly we finished filming on Wednesday."
"Are you gonna come to the competition tomorrow?" Holly asks me. "The girls would love your moral support."
"And I would love to give them that moral support, but I am jet-lagged and wanna sleep for the next few days," was my reply.
"Does you're Dad knows you're home?" Eomma asks me.
"No, he doesn't," I answered.
"How'd you get here?" Melissa asks me.
"I convinced Cristiano to drop me off."
Eomma nods. "So my oldest son and oldest daughter decided to lie to me. Okay."
I kiss her on the cheeks. "Love you."
Eomma hugs me again. "It's good to have you back."
"It's good to be back," I told her, and it really was.
_________________________________________________________
VITORIA'S P.O.V
"Girls, you remember the last time we were at Sheer Talent. It was the incident with Kelly," Abby reminds us as we settle in the dressing room.
"I think we already had an incident. And they're still here," Jill comments. She looks over at the Select Moms, specifically Tami, and Christy. "She can't suspend her two youngest because you have all teenagers. You couldn't compete against us. If Abby didn't need you guys right now, you'd be gone. You two would be gone."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa!" Abby yells, calling attention to herself. "This is the Abby Lee Dance Company. I make the rules."
"You nervous?" Eomma asks me as she pulls my hair into a low bun. "You're going against Sarah and Mackenzie."
I sat still as she placed bobby pins in my head. "I little, but not as much as when I was against Chloe and Kamryn. I love Kenzie and think Sarah is a sweetheart, but I can take them."
"Mackenzie, Vitoria, if you're both done, then you need to go with Diana," Abby tells us.
Diana was one of the make-up artists we had when we filmed. Usually, our Moms or we do our own make-up, but we do have make-up artists for touch-ups and more dynamic looks that our Moms can't do. In this case, Kenzie and I were both getting our faces painted.
"Vitoria"
Kenzie and I stepped out of the changing room together.
"Ta-da! Whoo!" Abby cheers for us.
"Abby," Christy calls. "Vitoria gets this dynamic circus make-up, and Mackenzie gets the beautiful make-up, the beautiful portrayal of the bird flying." she gestures to her daughter. "You don't have any scary make-up on her. You put those two girls up here on this pedestal, and you put every other child that you don't care about down here, and that's it. You say, 'Who cares?'"
I felt sorry for Sarah; obviously, her Mom didn't learn from the last time.
"You are relentless," Abby tells her.
"Abby, I want to know what you are gonna do to help my daughter get through this day!" Christy demands from Abby.
"Getting rid of you would be number one for Sarah. That's the best thing ever," Abby responds. "Let's go, girls. Everybody heads out. Let's go."
"Judges up next, we have entry number 60, small wonder solo contemporary, "Scary Little Monster."
Sarah is a fantastic dancer, her technique is, and she nails her turns and leaps. The only thing was I didn't find her scary; her facial expression was not that great. She tried, but it looked off.
"Okay, Ladies and gentlemen, up next we have entry number 61, the junior solo acro/gymnastics, "Watch Me Fly."
"Love you," I quickly gave Kenzie a hug before she walked on. I watched Mackenzie from the wings and thought she did a great job.
"Next up, we have entry number 62, junior solo acro/gymnastic "Whiplash."
My music started, and I did a roundoff back handspring back layout onto the stage; I landed and winked at the judges. I could hear the audience cheer as I nailed my ten á la seconde into a straight scorpion turn. When my performance was done, I winked at the judges, and jazz walked off the stage.
Kenzie high-fives me. "You nailed it."
Nia comes over and hands me a water bottle. "You were so good."
"Thanks, guys," I told them as I whipped my mouth.
_________________________________________________________
MINSUH'S P.O.V
I was so proud of Vitoria; she did fabulous out there and got a standing ovation. I am a proud mother.
"They were great," Holly says as we walked into the dressing room. "All three of them did a really great job."
"They did," Jill agrees as the girls enter the room. Mackenzie, Vitoria, and Sarah lead them.
I gave Vitoria a huge hug. "You were so good out there." I personally thought she was gonna win, but I'm her mother. I'm biased.
She grins at me. "Thanks."
I gave her one more hug before I had her sit at her station; I started taking down her hair and braiding it for the group dance; once done, I tied a pink ribbon onto the end. Across from me, the Select moms were also helping their kids get ready for the group routine. Seeing their costume and hair, I knew it wouldn't be long before one of the Elite moms lost it. I was only slightly shocked when it was Holly.
"Look how these kids are dressed compared to our kids. Why is that? That..." she gestures to the Select team, who wore beautiful tan rhinestone dresses and had huge flower headbands on their hair, "competes with that." she gestures back to our girls, who were all wearing various forms of pink pajamas. "A ten-dollar off-the-rack set of pajamas. That flower cost more than the pajamas. I mean, I don't want to be patronized; I don't want to be like, dismissive, like, "Oh, it's fabulous. Be happy with your ten-dollar PJs."
I gasped when the girls started running the group routine, and Chloe fell. The girls are obviously intimidated to go up against the Select Team; it doesn't help when they hear Holly complain about the freaking pajamas. This is not the moment, Holly.
"You okay?" Christi asks her daughter. "You all right? You okay?" Crying, Chloe walks over to her. "Okay, okay, okay. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop." Christi grabs Chloe's face. "Look at me. Don't freak yourself out."
"All right, let's do this," Abby says. "May the best team win."
I held the door as we all left the dressing room. The moms headed back to the audience, and the girls ran onstage.
"Okay, judges, entry number 63 is a pre-teen group contemporary, 'The Rapture.'"
Like Jill said yesterday, the Select team is impressive, and their performance today just proved that. I just hope that our girls don't psych themselves out and still go out there and perform to the best of their ability.
"Entry number 64 is a pre-teen group contemporary, 'Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board.'"
The girls did an excellent job, Chloe played a possessed person well, and the other girls played their roles well too. I would be confident in their win if they were going up against any other team.
It was soon time for awards, and I was nervous.
"Okay, so these are the high score awards for overall solo," the announcer says. "In fifth place, we have entry number 69, 'His Kiss,' Haley. In fourth place, we have entry number 60, "Scary Little Monster," Sarah." I clapped for Sarah as she got up and accepted her award. "In third place, we have entry number 49, 'Blue Skies,' Kaley. In second place, entry number 61, 'Watch Me Fly,' Mackenzie." I cheered for Mackenzie as she got up. "And first place, we have entry number 62, 'Whiplash.'"
A grin lit my face as Vitoria got up and accepted her award. She was still undefeated.
"Yay, Vitoria!" I cheered for her.
"Up next, we have our pre-teen group," Now for what I was anxious about. "In third place, we have entry number 36, 'Little Red Hat.' In the second place, we have entry number 64, 'Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board.' The disappointed look on the girl's face as Chloe got up to accept the group award was heartbreaking. "And in the first place-- can I have a drumroll, please?" there was a beat of silence. "Entry number 63, 'The Rapture.'"
I was devastated for the girls.
Jill leans over to speak to Abby. "They're better dancers than our kids; they're gonna beat us every single fucking time."
When we arrived at the dressing room, an argument broke out between the Elite moms and the Select moms. While the two teams were arguing, I just packed my bags and headed to the elevator to meet my daughter.
"Congratulations," I told Vitoria, whose head was buried in my stomach. I run my hand through her hair. "Don't cry. You won."
"Not the group, though," she mumbled.
"No tears," Jill says as the elevator door opens again, and she steps out with Christi, Holly, and Melissa. We all comforted our children, and only a moment later, the elevator opened again.
"What going on?" Abby asks as she steps out.
"You have six really upset, sad children," Jill tells her.
"We just want it to be fair," Holly adds.
"Life's not fair," Abby responds.
"Life's not fair, but you know what? These kids deserve better," Holly tells her.
"It's sore losers," Abby says. "You don't like to lose."
Holly nods in agreement. "They have to stop being a doormat for everyone else who walks through the door..."
Abby waves her hand up. "Straighten your leg, point your feet, do what you need to do."
I had enough. "Abby, I respect you and appreciate the attention you have given my girls, but you know, and I know, this was not an even match-up."
I wouldn't have been as upset if it was the girls going up against another team or another studio, but it was Abby wanting to prove a point for the sake of our girls' feelings.
"Those girls came out in a gorgeous rhinestone dress while our kids were wearing flimsy pink PJs; Maddie is wearing a robe, for god sake. Congratulations to the Select team, they were amazing, but they had the advantage here. Most of them are older, and they are more experienced than our girls. It's not about being a sore loser; I'm just calling it a spade."
Abby presses the elevator button. "Well, you know what?"
"And you turn your back on the world?" Holly questions her. "You're just like "I'll just walk out?" Well, do whatever, Abby. That's a very cowardly way of approaching life."
Abby steps into the elevator. "I'm not a coward. You're wasting my time, and I'm not getting paid to stand out here and argue with you."
Holly directs her frustration to Maddie. "Maddie, stop crying. Stop crying." she looks at Melissa. "Tell her to stop crying!"
I hug Maddie to my side. "She's sad; she can cry. Calm down, and don't take your frustration out on her. Let her cry."
Holly huffs and turns away from me. I could hear Maddie sniffling at my side.
Next week was gonna be interesting.