Jeté to Stardom

16. Jill On the Rampage

"And pile. Front, side, back. Foot, foot, foot, up. Reverse it, back, two, three, up. Fondue, take it to the side. Press, pointe. Tendu plie, up. One, up, brush, breathe. Keep yourself lifted and breathe, girls."

Following along with the instructor, Lux bends forward in a baby port de bra before coming back up and kicking her right leg in a grand ronde jambe.

With homeschool came a lot of free time, so Lux and Niva convinced  Mama to let them come to dance early instead of being stuck at home waiting to leave for dance.

Now they have ballet private for an hour to an hour and a half before rehearsals.

"Bow and stand. That's it, good job, girls."

"How are they doing?" Abby walks into the room.

"They're doing good," the ballet instructor tells Abby. "They're quick learners, and they are developing at an impressive rate."

Face flushing, Lux shares a grin with Nova. She was glad to know that she wasn't wasting the instructor's time or her parents' money.

"That's good to know," Abby's eyes trail over to them. "Now, girls, you need to keep working hard in class because any moment now, I'm going to give you a ballet routine, and I expect you to win."

"Yes, Miss Abby," Lux nods.

"Take a moment to breathe, and I'll call the others in for pyramid."

Grabbing the barre, Lux and Nova help the instructor slide it back to the wall before standing in line.

"Ladies, let's go! Come on!" Abby claps.

Lux waves at the girls as they walk in. She happily accepts the hug from Chloe when the blonde gets close to her.

"What's with your shoes?" Abby asks.

Turning her head to the left, Lux saw that Jill was wearing boots. It probably wouldn't be a big deal to ordinary people, but at their studio, it was.

"I didn't think you'd mind. I'm on my toes," Jill placates.

"The floor is sixty-eight thousand dollars," Abby warns her before moving on. "Alright, first I want to talk about last week. I must say I'm a little disappointed. We were outdanced. It's that energy level. You can't have a bunch of slugs on stage.

"This weekend, we will be attending Dance Explosion in Secaucus, New Jersey. You're gonna get some heavy hitters there, I'm telling you right now. I'm gonna start with the pyramid."

Abby rubs her hands together. "And first, I have Kendall. Kendall, I thought you did a nice job. You're here because your mother is way too needy."

"Abby, that's ridiculous," Jill says.

"'Why isn't she doing a solo?' 'Why isn't she doing a duet?' 'Why doesn't she have a special part?'"

"And that's needy?" Jill questions. "That's inquisitive. Why doesn't she have a solo? You're punishing her for something I did."

"Bingo!" Abby points at her. "There you go!"

Lux was glad when Jill didn't say anything after that because Kendall looked like she wanted to cry. If Kendall started crying, then Abby would really go in on her.

"Moving on. Nia. Once again, I need to see energy. I need to see excitement. Next, we have Brooke. You're back, but is Brooke really back? Moving on. Paige, great job in the tuck. I just need to see you do that throughout all of your dancing.

"Moving on up the ladder. Maddie, you danced well. I expect more from you. Chloe, same thing. Great performance onstage; you just need to learn to pick up quicker. Nova, good job on your solo. Lux, you won, and I'm proud of you.