Relevé to the Top

Chapter 4. When Stars Collide

Monday morning Lexie carefully steps into the den. She was still reeling from the events of Saturday. While her mom had assured her repeatedly that it wasn't her fault, she still didn't feel okay stepping into the studio.

"Hello, girls," Kelly greets.

"Hi," Lexie waves back, dropping her duffel bag on the bench. She made conversation with the girls as she changed, but there was an underlying tension there.

It's really, really awkward, she thought.

"Girls, let's go! Come on, girls, let's go get in here!" Abby yells, breaking the tension in the room. Getting up, Lexie rushes out of the room and into the studio with the rest of the girls. She sits directly in front of Abby. "First, I wanna talk about last weekend. I was very disappointed. Every single one of you could have done better. Moving on, I want to forget about last weekend?" Abby turns the blackboard around. "What's going on this weekend?"

Grinning, Paige points at the board. "It's the ALDC Showcase!"

Lexie grins. The ALDC showcase is a chance for her to show off; instead of worrying about winning, she just gets to have fun on the stage.

Abby nods at her. "Yes, Thank you. Now moving onto the pyramid. We're gonna do the new routine Sugar Daddies at the showcase. Lexie, you won the overall high score at the competition. Boom, back on top you go."

Lexie mashes her lip together. She was happy she won, but she wasn't sure if it was a good thing after the previous competition. And I still don't know why Christi was mad.

"Nia forgot the solo, kept dancing, made it up, and went on finishing with the music. Chloe did a great job; there were some other situations," Chloe shots a quick look at her mom. "You're here; I want to see that attitude improve on stage. Yes? You never know who's watching you. Alright, I have a few surprises during the showcase" she turns slightly to the Moms, "I don't wanna pressure you, but in the audience at the showcase, there is going to be an agent coming to seek new talent and looking for new clients to sign. Yes?"

Lexie gives a wide grin, her eyes sparkling. A talent agent!

"Lexie and Maddie, you two will be doing a duet," grinning Lexie and Maddie hug. It would be their first duet together. Ever. "Moms, you are gonna be performing in the show as well. Cathy, you're gonna be the choreography."

"Whoo!" The girls cheered while all the moms beside Cathy frowned.

Ignoring them, Abby returns her attention to the girls. "Nationals are getting closer and closer. With every competition, you get better, and you get stronger, so this showcase is gonna be a nice chance to entertain rather than compete, but it's all leading up to national. Because we wanna do what?"

"Win!" the girls reply.

"You got it," Abby tells them. "Alright, Moms, go ahead, you're dismissed. Girls up with 'Sugar Daddies.'"

As they spread apart, Chloe comes over to her and Maddie. "I'm sorry about my mom."

Lexie shakes her head before hugging". "You don't have to apologize to us."

"Yeah," Maddie agrees, joining the hug. "You didn't yell at us."

Well, Christi didn't yell at us either, she just yelled about us, but it still wasn't Chloe's fault. Lexie knew you couldn't control adults. There was no way Chloe knew how her mom would react.

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The next afternoon, instead of being in class, Lexie could be found with the rest of the girls as they watched their mom have their first dance rehearsal for the showcase.