Relevé to the Top

Chapter 7. Love on the Dance Floor

Lexie shifts her luggage bag higher on her shoulder as she follows the moms into their temporary studio for the week. She drops the bag on the side before pulling off her summer dress to reveal a blue bodysuit. Then she joins the rest of the girls in front of Abby.

"Alright, where's..." Abby spreads her arms out, looking around the room. "Cathy? Where's Vivi-Anne?"

Melissa shrugs. "Don't know."

"Right now, I am at the end of my rope with Cathy!" Abby fumes. She turns to the pyramid. "Mackenzie, you and Vivi-Anne were supposed to have a duet, but no Vivi, so you might be doing 'Summer,' by yourself. Chloe, you're gonna take a week off. No new solo for you. I think you need to work on your technique. I was happy with fourth place, but your mother wasn't, and I don't think you were either. Nia, I was happy with you; your mother was not happy with the choreography, so we're gonna work on that." Abby looks over at Holly. "Mom, I don't want any more altercations like Connecticut-"

"It's a conversation," Holly corrects.

"I don't want any more conversations like Connecticut. Lexie, I thought your performance was strong, it was dynamic, and I had no idea who would win between you and Maddie. That's what I like to see. On top of the pyramid is Maddie. You won. It was great; the costume was gorgeous; everything clicked. I don't want to see any more tears. You are at the top of your age, you did a beautiful job, won the title, and this is your year.

"Let's talk about the group number for this week's competition. The number is called 'Snapshot.' You're all models. So who modeled before?" Lexie raises her hand along with the rest of the girls. "You've all modeled, perfect. So you know what the runway is. What is at a fashion show? A photographer. I had a lot to think about over the last twenty-four hours, and I think we need to bring a boy in to be the photographer. What do you think?"

"Brooke," Christi teases from the side.

Lexie turns slightly to see Brooke making a face.

"I have a surprise for all of you," Abby says. "A big surprise. Here's our photographer," Abby reveals the headshot on top of Maddie's to be Brandon's.

"It's Brandon!" Melissa and Kelly scream from the side.

"He looks so weird," Paige laughs.

"Is he here?" Melissa asks.

Abby looks to the door. "Brandon! Diane!"

Brandon and his Mom, Diane, came strolling into the room. The girls screamed in excitement as they ran over to hug him.

"Brooke Brandon, you used to have a duet," Abby teases, causing the girls to giggle. "Well, guess what you're going to be doing some partner work. Brandon, You're not used to this pace that we've been. You have four days to pull this number together. It's not about laying in the sun; it's not about playing around; it's about the dance. Everybody five minutes to warm up and then choreography, let's go."

As the moms leave the room, the girls spread apart.

After running the group routine for almost two hours, the rest of the girls get a break while Lexie learns her solo with Beck.

"Your solo this week is contemporary," Beck announces.

Lexie smiles. "Of course, what else is new?"

"It's what you're good at; we want to win, so we're taking advantage of that. Unless you wanna do a jazz routine, we can do that too."

Lexie furiously shakes her head. "No, no, no, no. Contemporary is good."

"That's what I thought. As I said, you're doing a contemporary routine called where the 'Where the Leaves Fall.' You are not a turn queen. You excel at extensions and flexibility, but you've been working really hard on your turns, so we're going to add a couple to the end of your routine. You're going to do two a la seconde, two front attitudes, and two floats."