"Finally, overall high score, junior groups!" Abby exclaims as we form a line, "Let's move on to the pyramid."

Quick recap. The group was first, same as Kenzie's and Nia's duet. My duet with Giselle, well, Giselle's duet was second. My dear mother still isn't back and I miss the Sour Bananas bothering us, somehow.

"First we have Brooke. Probation. No solo this week." Abby reveals, "Paige. Same thing. Brooke, Paige, you didn't do your routines. Nobody got to see them."

"They didn't not to their solos because they weren't prepared." Kelly speaks up, "They didn't do their solos because of the unfair treatment."

"Well, regardless, it doesn't matter." Abby says, "Chloe. Last Monday, you went to the doctor, then you went to the movies. That's ridiculous. You need to be in class, not at the movie theater." She reveals the next headshot, "Giselle. Right from the top to the bottom in one week. I don't really blame you, you lost your duet partner and had to perform with your sister, with whom you hadn't rehearsed with prior to performing."

Giselle sighs as Abby reveals the next headshot.

"Mackenzie, did a great job, but it still wasn't your best. You need to be in more ballet classes." Abby explains, "Nia. You're here because you worked very well with Mackenzie. I gave you a role, you were the ringmaster in a circus. Some may say it's a little immature for you, but I love the fact that you embraced it, that you had fun with it, and that you were entertaining to the audience."

Both Nia and Holly smile.

"Second of the pyramid, we have Maddie." Abby continues, "Maddie, you stepped out on stage, you started your routine, and your music skipped. You didn't let it get the best of you, you stayed out there, you kept going, and you finished without missing a beat. You really had the audience behind you. So I don't know what happened with the CD. It was just scratched, but, we need to move on."

I was starting to think the moms were actually jealous of Maddie. Especially because they looked thrilled for Giselle and Chloe when they were on the top, but Maddie gets to the top and they're all quiet and definitely judgmental.

"And on the top of the pyramid, we have Genevieve." Abby reveals, "You were first place with your solo, you worked really hard on it and it paid off. You also decided to perform the duet with Giselle when Brooke over here failed to show up. Really nice work."

Genevieve

Maddie    Nia    Mackenzie

Giselle   Chloe   Paige   Brooke

"Now, this week we will be attending Energy Dance Competition again. It's in Waterford Township, Michigan." Abby announces, "Last week, when I called to enter the routines, Gina, the owner, she told me there are two studios specifically coming to beat the Abby Lee Dance Company."

Genevieve: Ooh, we've got company. Get it? Company, because there's more people there besides us. Abby Lee Dance Company? I groan, Whatever.

"Let's talk about the group number. It's called "Silver Spoon"." Abby continues, "Silver meaning the finest quality flatware. Meaning the luxuries of life. The country club, uh, the finest schools, so this is a pretty dance. We also have a prop. We have a big, giant spoon, and you pass the spoon around throughout the routine."

Are we gonna eat out of it?

"I want to talk about the rest of the numbers." Abby says, "Maddie, you and Chloe will be doing a duet. It's called "Inside Of Me" and you need to work together. You need to be a team. I want to see that teamwork once again. Understood?" Moving on, "Nia. You're going to have a solo this week. It is called "Bound". It means you're being held back while you're trying to chase your dream." Nia smiles, "Mackenzie, you're doing a solo. Your dance is called "Daisy Chain". You're like a flower, and you're thinking: he loves me, he loves me not. he loves me, he loves me not, and it's not Justin Bieber, it's the judges. Understood?"

Why not?

"Maddie, you will be doing "Helen Keller". You will be deaf, you will be blind, and you will be mute. So you need to be in character and you need a rag doll to bring to rehearsal." Abby finishes.

~~~

The group dance looked cute, and we performed to The Sims 3 music for some reason. It was weird, along with the fact that we're dancing with a giant spoon.

After Abby told us to stop rehearsing for the millionth time, Chloe and I held the giant spoon up in the air, with Nia soon joining to help us.

"I'm trying to find something that's not so heavy." Abby says and leaves studio "A", "For them to work with."

"Gimme," I say.

"What?" Nia asks.

"The spoon." I answer, "Let me hold it."

The two of them let it go, making me hold the spoon as a dumbell.

"Heavy?" Brooke asks as they all walk over to me.

"Feel like an olympian." I comment as I struggle to continue holding it, "I can't feel my arms."

"What's going on?" Gianna asks as soon as she walks into the room.

I shriek and let the spoon fall to the floor, making a really loud noise.

"Sorry." I apologize.

Abby walks back in, sitting down on a prop.

We then started dancing with a trophy instead.

~~~

"I don't think a yellow dress looked good on a blonde girl," Maddie comments as we try on our group dance costumes.

"My exact thought." Brooke agrees, "But we have four blondes."

"Hey!" Giselle complains.

"That's mean." Chloe continues.

"We're not that many," Paige adds.

"Blonde hair is cute." I finish.

Brooke and Maddie share a knowing look as Nia walks back into the dancer's den.

"Is Kenzie done?" Maddie asks.

"Nope." Nia answers, "We gotta get ready."

"You're the only one who has to get ready." Chloe points out.

Nia and Brooke were wearing pink dresses. Maddie and Giselle were wearing yellow dresses. Chloe and I wore blue dresses and Paige wore a green dress.

"Is that all we have?" Abby asks as we walk into the room.

She was probably asking about the other green dress.

Kendall, who is, under a contract, with the Candy Apples because of Dance Moms, is going to perform with us in an off-show performance of the same dance. She's wearing the other green dress and matching Paige.

We all got into our formation and looked at ourselves in the mirror.

"Paige." Abby says, "Put the pink on, what your sister has on."

The Hyland sisters then switch dresses. It was obvious that the pink dress was too big for Paige.

"Giselle, switch yours with Paige's." Abby continues.

They then switched, with Paige now wearing a yellow one and Giselle wearing a pink one.

"Brooke and Genevieve, switch," Abby tells us.

It fit me perfectly.

Abby: So, the obvious choice was to take Genevieve, who starts the routine stage left all by herself, and put her in the different color. She has to wear the green dress.

It ended up like this: Paige and Maddie wore yellow, Giselle and Nia wore pink, Brooke and Chloe wore blue and I wore green. Meaning that I'll be wearing green with Kendall.

My favorite part of the costume is watching it flow when I turn. My least favorite part is the moms being annoyed by it and not even having my mother there to defend me. Even if the one they're attacking is Abby.

~~~

"Okay, ladies, we're gonna go for the group." Abby says, "Moms, we need to get the hair done."

"Well, Paige gets to put her big costume on." Kelly comments.

"It's unfortunate, 'cause I thought the green looked great on her." Holly adds, "You know?"

I tried to ignore their conversation as Gianna finished working with my hair.

"I just wish she'd give my kids more chances." Kelly continues, "I mean, why is it always the same kids?"

"Kelly," Melissa says.

"No, because it's always Maddie or Evie. Now Evie has yet another special part and Paige is just thrown in the back." Kelly complains, "How many more special parts does the same little girl need? When is it enough for Abby to admit that Genevieve is the favorite out of all of our kids? How much longer do we have to watch her get special treatment--"

"I don't know." I suddenly interrupt, my voice breaking, "I won't do it."

"Eves." Christi says, "She didn't mean that."

"Wait, what are you not doing?" Gianna asks.

"Performing." I stand up from my seat, "I'm not performing."

"Genevieve." Kelly says, "I didn't mean--"

I just walk out of the dressing room, starting my way down the hallway.

She wants Paige to have the special part.

It's not my fault that Abby gave me the green costume.

Maybe if I don't perform, they'll be happy.

As soon as I felt the first tear, I just wiped it away and took a deep breath, calming myself down.

"Why aren't you ready?" I turn face to face with Abby.

"I don't wanna perform." I admit, trying to act "tough" and not "being a crybaby".

"Why?" She asks.

"The moms are mad about the costumes." I explain, "And Kelly started talking about me--"

"Of course it's Kelly." Abby comments, "It always is."

"So I decided I'm not going to perform so that Paige wears it and they're happy." I finish.

"Look at me." Abby says, "Why are you listening to a word they say? They don't care about you. They know how much you're capable of, and they hate it." The two of us start our way back to the dressing room, "So you just go in there, ignore them, and perform. Because the ones you should actually be worried about are the judges. Not some moms who can't keep their mouth shut."

Abby: Why are the mothers so jealous of a nine-year-old girl?

I walk back into the dressing room and take my costume, which is also the only one left.

Abby: Simple. They know that she's a threat, she can take anybody's place at any time, and they're scared of that.

As I changed into the costume, I could hear Kelly and Abby arguing.

Again.

I didn't really talk with any of the girls, even if they didn't have the fault.

It's just like what Abby has told me: "If you have to stop talking with Maddie or Chloe just so you can focus on dance, be it.", in this case, the moms. This isn't Kindergarten, this isn't about making friends. This is about being the best.

And I wanna be the best.

Abby trusts me, she thinks I can be the best, so what's left? Do it. Be it. Become the dancer she wants me to be.

Don't care about what the mothers say, what my mother says, and if it ever happens, don't care about what the girls say.

It's every girl for herself, and I'm not going to win titles for keeping my mouth shut to avoid conflict.

I stood on the wing as I held the spoon, waiting to finally go in.

"Judges, please welcome to the stage entry number 53, "Silver Spoons"." The announcer says and the music starts.

Chloe is the first to go on stage, followed by Brooke, Maddie, Paige, Giselle, and Nia. Finally, I put on a fake smile and go onstage.

I felt like I did pretty well, even though we placed second.

The next day, the soloists performed, with Maddie being fourth, Nia being ninth and Kenzie being first and winning a title.