I Won't Let You Close Enough to Hurt Me

Chapter 5

     Brooke got the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach all over again. She hated the pyramid. She was the oldest in the group, but was almost always at the bottom. All of the girls and moms walked casually into studio A and lined up in their usual spots.

     "Alright girls, let's get right to it," Abby barked. "Now, I'm not to happy with everyone's performances from last week. Some of the solos were a complete disaster. However, the group was close to perfection. Hopefully we can win first overall again this week. Now as for the pyramid..." Abby's voice trailed off.

     As Abby tore the first sheet of paper away from the mirror, Brooke's heart was pounding at a record speed. She had done pretty well in the group, but she hadn't had a solo or trio last week. She knew that if she was on the bottom row, it wouldn't be because of her performance; but being on the bottom was still embarrassing. But Brooke was saved, because Kendall was the girl in the very bottom spot.

     "Kendall, you're finally back on the ALDC competition team. But you have a lot of work to do. You have to prove yourself to me all over again, and until you do, you will remain at the bottom of the pyramid. Next, we have Paige. Now I understand that you are still having pain in your foot, but you were cleared by your doctor two weeks ago, so I don't want to hear that excuse anymore," Abby demanded. Brooke glanced over at her sister to see how disappointed she looked. Paige was close to tears, but Brooke knew that if she tried to stand up for her, it would just create more problems instead of solving them. So she kept her mouth shut as Abby moved on with the pyramid.

     Abby pulled off a sheet of paper revealing Mackenzie's picture. "Mackenzie, you continue to improve with your acro and tumbling each week, however I want you to do more than just that. I want you to focus on your ballet technique, because cute acro solos won't get you anywhere next year. And our last person on the bottom is Nia. Nia, you're a very hard worker. This week you were fabulous in the group. You had so much energy and spunk, but your solo was a different story. Your turns were sloppy, your legs weren't straight, and your feet weren't pointed. It was a mess," Abby stated. Brooke let out a sigh of relief after realizing that she wasn't on the bottom row.

     "Next, we have Brooke. You were fabulous in the group dance, but there wasn't much else to judge you on," Abby told her. Even though she wasn't on top, Brooke was happy. Abby had complimented her performance in the group dance, which was something that rarely happened to Brooke. "Chloe, you're next. Your solo was beautiful; you placed in the top five. But you had a few errors in the group choreography, which isn't like you. And on top we have Maddie. Your solo was flawless, and you really drew my eyes in the group number. Good job kiddo," Abby grinned. As much as the moms hated Maddie being on top all of the time, Brooke didn't mind. Maddie was a sweet kid that worked hard for her wins, and Brooke respected that.

     "Now for assignments. The group number will be a high energy jazz number called 'Superstar' by Clooney. Everyone will be in the group this week, even Mackenzie. Our two solos this week will be Maddie and Chloe. Maddie will be doing a lyrical routine to 'Skinny Love' by Birdy, and Chloe will be doing a jazz routine to 'The Lost Get Found' by Britt Nicole. There will also be two duets this week. The first one is a lyrical duet to 'Somewhere Only We Know' by Keane, and that will be done by Paige and Kendall. This is your chance to prove to me that you guys deserve to be higher up on the pyramid. Our second duet is to the song 'Turning Tables' by Adele, and that will be done by Brooke and a special guest," Abby said as she turned her attention to the door.

     Brooke's jaw dropped as both Brandon and Nick walked through the door.

Authors Note: Sorry if this chapter was a little boring! It gets better in the next chapter :)