Relevé to the Top

Chapter 9. It All Ends Here

"Hello ladies, come on in," Abby waves the girls in. Lexie stands between her sisters, waiting for Abby to start the pyramid. "Here we are in another studio, another week. We need to learn a new group routine. This is tough. We have to do it today, and there are props."

Lexie wasn't so confident about that; the last time they had props in a routine didn't go so well. Hopefully, this one would be easier to handle.

"Now I want to reflect a little bit on the past two weeks. I keep telling you guys you have been given an amazing opportunity. You've been hand-selected to go across the country and learn a new number each week and do these competitions. And you are not stepping up to the plate. I want to see energy, enthusiasm, fun. If you don't want to do it, there's probably a hundred other kids that would love to be in your shoes right now. So I need to see motivation. I want you to want to win. This is my reputation on the line; it's my name. But by now, it's also your names."

Abby turns her attention to the pyramid. "So, I'm gonna start now with Paige. Moving on -- Mackenzie. Nia. Next, we have Chloe. Brooke. Maddie. And back on top, we have Lexie. Lexie, you will be doing a solo. Maddie, you're doing a solo and a duet with Chloe. Chloe, you will also be doing a solo. Paige and Brooke, I'm giving you a duet. I want you to work together as friends. I do not want you fighting as sisters. If you waste time and energy bickering back and forth, you're never gonna get it finished. Everybody is in the group number this week -- even Mackenzie. Every single one of you is an important part of this puzzle. And in a group routine, everybody needs to pull your weight. And I'm telling you what: We need to win. All right, let's get to rehearsing, let's get moving."

Along with the rest of the girls, Lexie picked up her duffel bag and carried them over to the side. From the corner of her eyes, Lexie saw the moms sneak out of the room. Lucky.

If she was honest, she was a tiny bit sick of being in studios or ballrooms all the time. She wanted to go outside and play.

"Okay, ladies, the piece is called beautiful," Abby tells them once they were all stretched. She hands them all handheld mirrors. "It's not about how pretty you're gonna be in your costume, not how pretty your hair is, but what's on the inside. And it's about taking a good look in the mirror-- not at what you see but at the internal window. Are you getting any of this, Mackenzie?"

Lexie smiles amusedly at Mackenzie as she gives Abby a blank smile. "Uh, uh."

"Yeah. It's a little deep," Abby tells her. "Hold the mirror and cover your face." Abby begins positioning each girl. "Lexie, Maddie, you two will kneel in the center." she takes hold of their shoulder. "Your shoulders should be facing away from each other."

When everyone is positioned the way Abby likes it, she begins teaching them the choreography.

Later that they, after two hours spent on the group routine and a half-hour break Lexie stood with Beck in the other room they're renting, learning her solo.

"...One, two, three, fan, fan coupe, coupe, coupe. Run, run, run, c. Nice."

Her routine was a contemporary routine titled "What If?" and Lexie loved it. Even though she did well with her lyrical routine last week, contemporary really was her favorite genre. She would leave the lyrical to Maddie.

Her morale was also up from last week, so she felt pretty confident.

**oOoOo**

Three days before the competition, Lexie found herself seated beside Brooke as the rental van drove them someplace.

"Where are we going?" Mackenzie asks Abby for what felt like the umpteenth time.