Relevé to the Top

Chapter 10. Everyone's Replaceable

"Come on, girls, let's go! Moms, girls, get in here! Let's go!" Abby yells.

Skipping into the studio, Lexie stood between her sisters, Mackenzie to her right and Maddie to her left.

"Hello, ladies. How's it going?" Abby asks once the girls are lined up in front of her, and the moms are on the side.

"Good," Lexie responds with the rest of the girls. Her attention wasn't really on Abby. Instead, it was focused on the layer of pictures on the mirror. Is that the pyramid?

She hoped it is. It would be a lot better than the blackboard they had before; it was tough to turn, and it squeaked a lot. It was basically just annoying.

"Where's Holly?" Lexie's attention resumes to Abby. "Nia, where's your mother?"

"She's at work," Nia answers.

"Not gonna happen. She needs to leave work, leave the job, forget it, and be here with you," Abby says, her voice a sharp bite. "Yes? That's what's important. You want this; I know you want this. I know you love it. She had to love it for you."

Lexie glances at Nia before turning back to Abby. It wasn't Nia's fault Holly wasn't here, but if her Mom weren't here, she wouldn't like it either.

"Now, first of all, you're national champions. It was a great competition at Starbound. That's something to be proud of," Abby moves on. "Then we got to L.A. and did a video. People know who you are now from watching that video. You're a target. When you walk in, it's gonna be all about beating the Abby Lee Dance Company."

Lexie swallows before nodding. There's always pressure to win, but now that they're 'famous,' there was more.

"We all know that Cathy's not here because Cathy wasn't a team player. Where did that get Vivi-Anne?" Abby shrugs. "Nowhere. I'm gonna have an open audition, a casting call for a new dancer for the Abby Lee Dance Company. Tell everybody you know that we're looking for a new girl for this group. Maybe two new girls. Everyone's replaceable. Are you next?"

Why Miss Abby was doing this, Lexie didn't know. She liked how things were. She liked everybody in the group; they're her best friends, she didn't really want a new person on the team.

Abby moves on to the pyramid. "First, Mackenzie. You can't sit on the couch and eat chips. You're not six, and under you're seven and over. And I expect the same thing for you as Maddie and Lexie did when they were seven. Next Brooke. Brooke, why are you on the bottom of this pyramid? You had a great season, but then you took a break. You didn't show up to class. Paige, the same thing you can't take a vacation. New rule: dancing year-round!

"Nia, you want to win a title. It's all about a title. Every time I talk to your mother, it goes back to the title. Your mother could care less about you winning a title. She's not even here. Chloe, you're in the video. People recognize you wherever you go now. That's pressure. Maddie, you got second, so your second on the pyramid. And Lexie, you're on top of the pyramid because you won a national title."

Lexie smiles a bit as everyone claps for her. "Thank you."

She was expecting it; she thought for sure since Chloe got the lead in the music video, she would be on top of the pyramid.

"Maddie, Chloe, Lexie, and Nia," Abby points at each of their headshots. "You're going to be doing solos. Now, Maddie and Lexie, it's not going to be an easy win. It's nine and up, and you're currently on the younger side of the age group."

Competing against older girls is hard, but Lexie wasn't worried. She was pretty confident that she and Maddie would do well.

"This weekend, we will be attending Dance Troupes in Greensboro, North Carolina, and we're gonna do a new number called 'Sassy Dolls.' We have one week before the competition, and we don't have a routine yet. We're starting from scratch right now. This is gonna be crazy! Moms, I'm gonna dismiss you."