Step It Up (5 page)

“The first duo is up,” Bria reported. “Sweet Peaches Dance Company from Marietta, Georgia. Their dance is called ‘Lion Queens.' ” She peeked out through the curtains and saw two girls dressed in fiery orange leotards with yellow sequins. One girl was swinging from a vine across the stage.

“Great,” replied Rochelle, “more jungle acts. Just what we need to compete with our monkey routine.”

“They're pretty fierce,” Bria added, observing the duet's explosive acro moves. “One of them just did an amazing back layout with a half twist!”

Rochelle shook her head. “I can't watch. It's only making me more depressed.”

“Next up,” the announcer said into the microphone, “we have Explosion DC from Washington, DC, dancing a lyrical duet to ‘Let It Go' from
Frozen
.” Two girls emerged onstage wearing silver wigs and white dresses covered with dangling icicles. “You see that?” Bria pointed out to Anya. “
That's
a costume. You don't hear them complaining about too many icicles, do you?”

Anya watched the girls
pirouette
across the stage. “Are they supposed to be abominable snowmen … or porcupines? I can't tell,” she replied.

“Nah, definitely chandeliers,” Rochelle piped up. “But they are pretty good.” She watched as one girl did a lively series of
chaînés
from one end of the stage to the other.

“Oh, I love this song!” Gracie clapped her hands. “It's from my favorite movie. But they need a snowman that talks.”

“How about snow?” Scarlett asked. White snowflakes suddenly floated to the stage. The whole auditorium was a blizzard!

“Oh my gooshness!” Gracie squealed. “I wanna make a snow angel!”

Scarlett caught her just in time before she raced out in the middle of Explosion DC's duet. “Chill out, Gracie!” Scarlett reminded her. “It's not real snow, and it's not your duet!”

Gracie wrestled free of her grip. “You are the meanest sister in the world, Scoot!” she shouted, then stomped back to the dressing room.

“That was a close one,” Bria whispered to Scarlett. “That Gracie is a handful. We could have been disqualified for sabotaging another team's routine.”

“Tell me about it!” Scarlett sighed. “Sometimes Gracie just leaps before she looks.”

The icicle-clad girls took their bows, then strutted past them. Rochelle peeked out to see the judges' reaction. “They seem a little icy,” she reported to her fellow Divas. “That's good news for us.”

The announcer stepped up to the microphone once again. “There will be a brief pause while we
clean up this snowstorm,” he said. “Then we will have City Feet performing ‘Rock and Roll.' ”

“Oh, goodie.” Liberty smirked. “Stinky Feet get to follow the slushy sisters.”

Mandy suddenly zipped by them on a pair of red sequined roller skates. “Make way, losers.” She giggled.

“Seriously? A contemporary dance on wheels? Is that even allowed?” Anya asked.

“Oh yes, it's allowed,” Regan said, watching her teammates take the stage. “It's never been done before—so I guess you could say we're making history here at Dance Fusion.”

“Did you say history—or mystery? Because the judges look pretty confused as to why Mandy is spinning in circles like some circus act,” Liberty said.

“Attagirl,” Rochelle told her fellow Diva. “That's the loudmouth Liberty we know and love.”

Regan looked out at the audience. They did seem a bit dizzy. The judges were also whispering
among themselves. As Addison played an air guitar, Mandy continued whipping around the stage, faster and faster. “I don't think she's supposed to do that,” she said. “She's going too fast.”

“Ya think?” Liberty said. “Maybe Mandy's a little confused. She thinks this is a roller derby, not a dance competition.”

Suddenly, a little voice screamed from the stage. “Help! I can't stop!”

Phoebe raced over to see what was going on. “OMG! I told Miss Justine this was a bad idea! That wood floor is really slippery after that snow number.”

Addison grabbed on to Mandy's elbow, trying to anchor her. But she was going too fast.

“It's Newton's First Law of Motion,” Bria said, recalling the last physics test she had crammed for. “A body in motion stays in motion …”

“Until it goes splat!” Liberty smirked. “Which is what Mandy just did right in front of the judges.”

The Tiny Terror was lying on her back with
her feet in the air, wheels still spinning, moaning in agony.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take a short break,” the announcer's voice broke through the last chords of the music. “Can someone please call a medic?”

Mandy slowly got to her feet. “No, wait. I'm fine! The show must go on!” She smiled sweetly and winked at the judges. She did an elegant
arabesque
on her roller skates, then faced the crowd and curtsied. The audience applauded wildly and gave her a standing ovation.

“I'm going to be sick,” Bria said in disbelief. “She just wiped out and they love her!”

“She wiped out on purpose,” Rochelle said, gritting her teeth. “She's trying to get the sympathy vote.”

“We wiped out a dozen times in our group routine. You think we'll get the sympathy vote?” Anya asked.

“No, because we didn't fake an injury. Look at her!” Liberty said. Addison was holding Mandy
around the waist as she rolled her gently off the stage.

“Aw, Mandy go boom?” Liberty asked as she skated by, cradling her elbow.

“For your information, she's really hurt!” Addison said. She pointed to a small purple bruise on Mandy's elbow. “Can someone please get us an ice pack? A doctor?”

“An Academy Award for Best Actress?” Rochelle offered. “ 'Cause that was the fakest fall I have ever seen.”

Justine pushed past the Divas to check on Mandy. “Are you okay, sweetie?” she asked. “Does it hurt?”

Mandy nodded her head. “Uh-huh. Addison pulled it really hard.”

“It was an accident,” her teammate insisted. “I was trying to help you brake—not
break
—your arm.”

“I'm sure the judges appreciate how you kept going, even in the face of a painful injury,” Justine said. “That's what a professional does.”

“And that's what a liar does,” Liberty said, challenging her. “Did you see how she played those judges? Just so they'd feel bad for her?”

“I feel bad for you—for all of you,” Justine said. “I think the whole Diva 'tude has gone to your heads. Yours, too.” She motioned to Toni, who came to see what was going on.

“Roller skates? Really, Justine?” Toni smirked. “So predictable.”

Rochelle elbowed Scarlett. “What does she mean?”

“Just like at ABC when Melissa Donovan threw her Sweet Sixteen party at RollerJam USA,” Toni continued. “Remember?”

Scarlett shrugged. “She's lost me. Some ballet school drama from back in the day.”

“She's lost me, too,” Justine replied. “I have no idea what you're talking about, Toni.”

“Really? You don't remember how you pretended to fall on your roller blades right in front of Marcus Sanzobar so he'd come to your rescue?”

“Now, Marcus I do remember—he dumped you for me.” Justine smiled maliciously.

“You weren't hurt back then, and I seriously doubt Mandy is hurt now,” Toni said. “At least, I hope not. Because if you purposely did anything to put one of your pupils at risk …”

Justine cut her off. “Nonsense! Mandy is an expert skater. The floor was just a little too slick. She'll be fine.” She ushered Mandy back to the dressing rooms.

“Do you believe her?” Rochelle asked their coach.

Toni sighed. “It doesn't matter if I believe her or not. What matters is what the judges think. And there's nothing we can do about that, is there?”

She adjusted the yellow banana headdress on Rock. “I want it clean, precise, flawless. Clear?” she said.

“Clear!” Rochelle and Liberty replied.

Toni nodded. “Then get out there and show them what the Divas are made of.”

The sounds of wild animals filled the auditorium: lions, tigers, and monkeys, oh my! Liberty and Rochelle took their places on opposite sides of the stage. As the music began to play, Rochelle performed a series of split rolls while Liberty did a chest stand, kicking her feet high above her head.

“So far, so good,” Anya commented. “They look great out there.”

The next part of the duet was the hardest: Rock had to roll across the floor as Liberty “dove” over her. On the last dive, her monkey tail got caught in the zipper of her costume. As she and
Rock stood up to do their simultaneous
fouettés
, the tail was wrapped so tightly around her chest that she could barely move her legs. She looked like a monkey mummy.

She turned her back to the audience and tried to fix it. “I'm stuck,” she whispered to Rochelle. “I can't move in this stupid costume!”

No matter how hard she tugged, the tail wouldn't come free. “Help me!” she said. Rochelle pulled on the tail while Liberty yanked on the zipper.

“What are they doing?” Bria asked. “Playing tug-of-war?”

All of a sudden, the tail released, and Rochelle fell backward, pulling Liberty down on top of her. “Get off of me!” she screamed. “You're ruining the dance!”

“I'm ruining it? Who just knocked me over?” Liberty shouted. They began wrestling on the floor, completely forgetting they were in the middle of Dance Fusion!

“Rock! No!” Scarlett called from the wings.
But it was too late. The music had stopped, and they were brawling on the floor. Liberty peeled all of Rock's bananas off her headpiece, and Rock tied her tail in a huge knot. Toni raced to the stage to break them up.

“Enough!” she barked, pulling them to their feet. Both costumes were in tatters. “Have you completely lost your minds?”

The girls stared out at the audience, who were staring right back at them.

She dragged them backstage, where normally she would have demanded they both turn in their Divas jackets had Justine and City Feet not been there listening to every word.

“We will discuss this later,” Toni told them both.

Anya and Bria were up next, and they were her last hope. Anya squirmed in her leotard. It weighed a ton thanks to all of the intricate beading Bria and her mom had stitched on it.

“Light, delicate, ethereal,” their teacher had instructed them.

The music was soft and twinkly—almost like a lullaby—and Bria and Anya twirled around the stage as if they were dancing on the clouds.

Gracie stopped moping long enough to sneak a peek. “Pretty,” she said softly. “Magicificent.”

Scarlett smiled. “Is that magic and magnificent rolled together?” she asked her little sister.

Gracie huffed. “What do you care? You're the meanest person in the whole world!” She went back to her corner.

“Oh boy.” Scarlett sighed. “This has been some crazy competition.”

Rochelle handed her a plastic banana—all that was left of her hat. “Yup, I'd say it was pretty bananas.”

At least things were going well for Bria and Anya's duet. They just had a few more minutes to go. Anya waited patiently in fifth position as Bria leaped around the stage. Anya noticed a long string hanging from the strap of her leotard.
Oh no
, she thought. What if Miss Toni or the judges saw it? She quickly gave it a tug—then
regretted it. All the beading on her bodice began to unravel.

The last part of the duet called for simultaneous
fouettés
—twenty-five of them in a row. As Anya began to spin, the shiny metal stars Bria had sewn on flew off her costume, pelting the judges in the face.

“Ow!” yelped one woman. She shielded her face with her papers, as if she was under attack.

Another judge got an eyeful. “I can't see!” he said squinting. “I think one of those things scratched my cornea!”

“Stop! Young lady, please!” the head judge begged Anya. “Your stars are a lethal weapon!”

Breathless, Anya stopped spinning. She looked down at her costume. Only a few stars remained on the blue velvet. “I told you,” she whispered to Bria. “Now do you believe me? This costume is a menace!”

“I didn't tell you to pull it apart!” Bria fired back. “You're the menace!”

The announcer ushered them off the stage, where they continued fighting.

“You can never admit when you're wrong,” Anya yelled. “Little Miss Perfect can't say these costumes were a stupid idea!”

Bria fumed. “That is so not true. You're just not a team player, Anya. You always have to have it your way.”

Toni did nothing this time to stop the fighting. She stood there silently, letting the girls go at each other. No one even noticed she was there until she cleared her throat.