Leading Ladies

XXVI. Worst Birthday Ever!

"Here comes Johnny Appleseed..."

Elsa marches into the room with the rest of the girls. "Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop-"

"Come on," Abby waves the moms in. "Chop, chop. Chop, chop, moms. Get in here." She waits for the moms to line up on the side before speaking. "I wouldn't say it was a brilliant weekend, but I would say it was successful.

"We set out to beat Cathy, the wicked witch of the west, and that's what we did. We beat her hands down in every single category. You kicked the apple tree down. With that said, I want to get through the pyramid quickly because we have tons of work to do. On the bottom of the pyramid... Paige."

No surprise there, Elsa thought. After the stunt Kelly and Paige pulled last week, this was expected.

"You beat Kendall. I'm thrilled with that. You made the top ten, but you need to do the choreography you were told to do," Abby turns slightly to Kelly. "You got that, Kelly? You don't change Abby Lee's choreography. Come on.

"Moving on, Mackenzie. You've greatly improved, but if you're gonna be in the dance, and you're gonna know the choreography, you have to pull your weight. Understood? Next... Brooke. You are off probation.

"Moving up the ladder... Nia. You have really matured. Less than six months ago, you were sitting in a dressing room in your Dad's eye, bawling your eyeballs out. I don't ever want to see that again. That little kid is gone."

Elsa smiles at that. Sometimes she felt like Abby still saw Nia as the weak link of the team, the same as Mackenzie, but Nia has become such a great dancer, in her opinion. She's at the studio more than some of the other girls.

"Next, we Bianca," Abby says. "You worked well with the older girls; the way you danced, I thought you were one of them. Next, we have Sabrina. During rehearsal, Brooke's back was hurting, and you raised your hand to take some of the burdens from her, and I thought you were better."

Elsa winces. Abby didn't have to say that; it was to get under Kelly's skin. She, her sisters, and their Mom would really appreciate it if Abby wouldn't do that.

"Moving on. Maddie. You had a big victory last week; all you had to worry about was the group dance. You were excellent," Abby compliments the nine-year-old. "You were right on time with the music, and I'm proud of you for that.

"Next, we have my Angry Bird, Chloe. Chloe, you won the costume award for the entire competition, and you made the top ten. Congratulations. I'm very proud of you. I think you could have had a lot more confidence when you started the dance, but when you finished, you certainly made up for it.

"And on top of the pyramid is Elsa. You made sure that all the time spent in the studio was not wasted because you were close to perfection on that stage. Your technique was there, the lines. You were beautiful."

"Thank you," Elsa smiles slightly. Last week was difficult for her because her nerves ate at her for the first time in a long while. Losing to Maddie was a punch to her ego, and winning Saturday was a rush.

"Moving on. This week we will be attending the Starbound Talent Competition in Atlanta, Georgia," Abby announces. "We're gonna go to sunny skies and hot weather. Moms, I might even sit on the veranda and have a mint julep with you."

"Oh, aren't we lucky," Kelly laughs.

"Lucky us!" Holly agrees.

"The last time we attended Starbound, you lost by one-twentieth of a point to that Wicked Witch of the West," Abby reminds the girls. "and I have never lived it down until this weekend. The behavior by Cathy was out of control. The whole competition was a fiasco. That's not gonna happen this time. Do you understand? All the numbers that we're going to do are going to be off the chart."