The Moral of the Story: If you whine loud enough, your twin sister will make sure you get anything you want.
The Big Deal: Dance recital
Synopsis:
The twins’ ballet class is going to be performing Coppelia in a few weeks. Jessica is dying to play the lead, but Madame Andre seems to have eyes only for Elizabeth. Liz thinks the reason Jessica gets ignored is because she’s always dancing next to Amy Sutton. Jessica does this because she thinks Amy’s crappy dancing will make her look better by comparison, but Liz thinks Madame Andre is too busy criticizing Amy to notice how good Jessica is. Jessica could just go dance next to someone else, but the twins decide to make Amy a better dancer instead.
Naturally, Jessica bails on Amy’s first practice in the Wakefield basement, so Liz does her best to go it alone. Despite Liz’s best attempts to help out, Amy still sucks at ballet when her mother comes to pick her up. She does manage to do a plié correctly at the next class, and Jessica becomes filled with rage when Madame Andre compliments Elizabeth for helping Amy out. This somehow sparks a fight and now the twins aren’t speaking to one another.
On the day of the Coppelia audition, Liz and her mother go to the mall while Jessica stays home to put in some extra practice time. Madame Andre calls and says that for no good reason she’s changing the time of the audition from three to eleven. Jessica leaves a note for Liz and her mom, but she’s sure they won’t make it back in time and Madame Andre will have no choice but to give the lead to Jessica. She’s super pissed when Liz still manages to show up and audition.
Liz gets the part and Jessica’s life is totally ruined. She tells anyone who will listen how unfair Madame Andre is, but nobody cares. The stupid Coppelia doll disappears and Liz wonders if Jessica stole it, though how she would have stashed a life-sized doll under her tutu isn’t even pondered. Amy, who knows she sucks at ballet, offers to sit in a chair and take the doll’s place. Liz practices her solo every day while the rest of the class rehearses their part, and she finally sees that Jessica really is a much better dancer and Madame Andre was being unfair all along.
Liz pretends to hurt her ankle just before the recital, and she begs Jessica to go on and take her place. Jessica is only too happy to comply. Amy feels bad that Liz won’t get to dance at all, so she decides to dance in the corps and let Liz be Coppelia. Jessica dances beautifully, and when Madame Andre finds out it was Jessica and not Elizabeth, she chastises herself for being so blind. Amy confesses to stealing the doll and everyone goes back to the studio for a party.
Quotes:
“We need to leave for the Dance Studio in fifteen minutes.”
What an original name for a dance studio.
“I’m sure that nobody else has a chance against you,” Lila Fowler said confidently. “After all, you’re the only Unicorn in the class. Everybody knows that Unicorns are very pretty and veryspecial.”
I’m not sure Madame Andre cares about that.
Jessica, about the Mercandy house: Don’t those windows upstairs look creepy? They look like devil’s eyes, and they’re staring straight at us.”
Jessica and the number 37:
“Madame likes you three hundred thirty-seven times more than she likes me!”
The Cover: Look at the mug on Jessica! Liz is looking kind of smug, so I guess I’d be pissed, too.
