Chloe

Maddie   Mackenzie   Genevieve   Giselle

Kendall   Nia   Paige   Payton

"This week at Hollywood Vibe, Chloe, you will be doing a solo again. Maddie, you will also be doing a solo. Genevieve, I want you doing a solo 'cause it's been a while since the last one." Abby announces, "And, we're gonna do a trio, and the trio is going to be Chloe, Maddie and . . . Kendall."

Giselle: No offense to Kendall, but the last part of the trio usually goes to either Paige or Evie.

Genevieve: I don't really care that I wasn't on the trio, but I'm upset that Paige isn't on it 'cause it's usually the three of them.

"Kendall, you stepped it up from Apples last week, but now I need to see if you can hang with Chloe and Maddie." Abby explains, "Let me talk about the group dance. It's a contemporary lyrical routine. I am putting art on the stage. It's going to be about a bully. There needs to be somebody that's the bully. Nia, you are going to be the bully. Somebody has to be the bad guy."

Of course, take the sweetest girl in the room and make her be the bully.

Bravissimo, Abby.

"I can't imagine that." Maddie comments.

"But she's an actress; she has to act," Abby tells us.

"That's right." Jill agrees, "It's acting."

"So, you're gonna be my bully, yes?"

"Okay." Nia answers.

"You have to be big and strong and tough and nasty." Abby continues, "That leaves me with one more bit of news. I'm bringing in another member. A strong dancer, that can go up against our bully. Please welcome, Payton."

Right on cue, Payton walks into studio "A" and we all go hug her.

Payton's a bit older than Brooke. Maybe a couple of months, but she's a really nice person.

But the show likes to show the opposite.

After the pyramid and the group dance rehearsal, we started with the solos.

I was the first one in.

My solo is contemporary-lyrical and it's called "Moonlight".

The issue was that I couldn't get focus on the choreography, so I kept making the same mistakes over and over again. Thirty minutes later, it was still the same.

"Come over here." Abby tells me and I walk over to her, "What's up with you?"

"I'm a little distracted," I answer.

"You cannot come here like that." She continues, "You need to come in here and nail the choreography. You are the national champion. You are the only girl in this group that currently has a title. You can't just stop working hard and go back to being sloppy. You can't let Maddie get ahead again, or is that what you want? Do you want to go back to be the second-best, or do you want to be the best?"

you want what someone else has. you wish that the other person didn't have it at all so it doesn't feel unfair to you.

"Evie?"

i am used to being just behind Maddie all the time.

"Are you okay?"

i am used to knowing that everyone thinks that I am not as good as Maddie.

"Genevieve!"

could anyone ever beat Maddie Ziegler?

I start crying as I look at Abby, who keeps on talking.

"No, no, no, no. Suck it up!" She yells, "Genevieve, I am counting on you. You better go out there and not screw up, because if you do, you have no idea of how much that is going to ruin you. Do not let me down, understand?!"

"I understand," I say as I wipe my tears.

"Save those tears for the pillow." Abby tells me, "Don't turn into a crybaby!"

"I'm sorry." I look down to the floor.

"You better win that competition, Turner." She warns me, "You're dismissed."

I stand up and run into the dancer's den, where Riley and Kenzie were hanging out, playing with Melissa's phone.

"How'd it go?" Kenzie asks with a smile, still looking at the phone.

I stay silent as I sit down and try to catch my breath.

"Eves?" Riley asks, also looking at the phone.

"It's hot in here." I quickly say, "I can't breathe."

That was when both of them looked up from the phone.

"Evie?" Kenzie stands up, "Are you okay?"

"My-my head hurts." I cry, "My chest burns--"

Riley runs out of the room as Kenzie stands in front of me. She looked absolutely terrified; she was on the verge of tears.

Even if I couldn't breathe, I decided to stand up and start walking.

"Where are you going?" Kenzie asks as she follows me.

I run out of the room and run up the stairs to the viewing room, where Riley was trying to explain what was happening. Once they all noticed me, Melissa quickly stood up and sat me down where she was. Holly knelt down in front of me as Melissa hugged Kenzie, who was now entirely crying.

"Try to breathe with me, okay?" Holly tells me.

I slowly nodded as I continued crying.

She starts taking deep breaths slowly. I just closed my eyes as I listened to Riley talk:

"And we thought she was okay, but she didn't answer. Then she said that she couldn't breathe--"

I open my eyes and start following Holly, slowly controlling my breath.

"Where was she before?" Kelly asks.

"Solo rehearsal." Kenzie answers, "I heard Abby talking a little loud."

Once I finally controlled myself, I quickly stood up, just to feel dizzy and have to sit back down.

"I'm going to talk with Abby," Mom says as she stands up.

"No, don't talk to her." I grab her by the arm, "Please."

"What happened during rehearsal?" Christi asks.

I look over at her, and for the first time in months, she looked . . . concerned. Not mad.

"I-I couldn't focus on the choreo, so she asked me what happened. I told her I was distracted, and then she started yelling at me." I let out a shaky breath, "It was scary."

Mom hugs me as Maddie runs upstairs.

"What happened?" She asks.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I announce and start my way downstairs.

I could hear the moms telling Maddie and Chloe, who were right behind, what had happened.

"You can't just stop working hard and go back to being sloppy."

Instead of going to the bathroom, I entered studio "C", which was empty, and walked up to the middle of the room.

"I can't be sloppy." I say as I look at myself in the mirror, "She's going to kill me if I am."

I slowly got into the starting position, and singing the lyrics in my head, I continued dancing, over and over again until someone came looking for me.

For the next two days, my routine was simple:

Group dance rehearsalSolo rehearsal (includes not being distracted and not being a crybaby)Rehearsing my solo alone for the rest of the time I am at the studio

I went into the studio that Wednesday ready to start my routine, that was until Maddie grabbed me by the arm and ran up to the viewing room.

"What's going on?" I ask as I sit beside her.

"Guess who's here." Maddie smiles.

"You?" I ask.

"Of course I am here." Maddie sighs, "You know what today is, right?"

"A day?" I say, "Sorry, I'm just a little exhausted from last night."

"What were you doing last night?" Chloe asks.

"My private." I lie.

"And you haven't had another-- you know, panic attack?" Maddie asks.

"I didn't have a panic attack," I tell her.

"That was a panic attack, Eves." Chloe tells me, "Check it on the internet,"

"It was not." I say, "And I haven't had any of that again."

"If you say so," Chloe says.

"Welcome, welcome. How're you doing?"

"She's here," Maddie whispers as Paige rushes upstairs and to us.

"She arrived." She says.

"But who?" I keep on asking.

"The girl for the audition," Paige answers and sits next to Chloe.

We all watch as Abby, Gianna, and James all enter studio "A", followed by a girl.

"It's Annie," Chloe whispers.

The girl turns around to face the mirror and smiles.

"Okay, sweetie, so we're going to start with the choreography you brought," Abby tells her and she nods.

She tightens her ponytail as she gets into the starting position:

It's a narrow line I'm walkin'
Better watch my step
Cause we got everybody talkin'
And I can hear 'em say

It looked like a lyrical piece.

She was doing well. She was pointing her feet and doing adequate facials for the song.

"Now I get why they all wanted to be in there." Chloe comments, "Was that a fouette?!"

Just in time, the four of us watch as the little girl does four of those turns before moving on to the next step.

"Wow." Maddie smiles, "That is amazing."

Once she finishes, the four of us silently clap as Abby talks to the other two teachers.

"Now, we're going to put some music and let you improve."

"Oh, not Abby's improv breaks," I say.

Abby's improv breaks were probably the worst. At auditions, at least, she doesn't always use them, which is weird.

When you are an official student, she's going to yell at you for the smallest mistake.

There's no way to say this song's about someone else
Every time you're not in my arms I start to lose myself

"Ooh, it's upbeat." Paige says, "Guess she has to do some jazz or acro."

"Yup." Chloe agrees, "Hope she does well."

By the end of the song, Chloe's comment was stupid. The girl had nailed every single trick, leaving the three teachers visibly impressed. Once it ended, we all silently clapped again as she stood up and turned around to face the teachers.

"How old are you again?" Gianna asks.

"Seven." The girl answers.

"Kenzie's age." Maddie comments.

"And your birthday?"

"April 5th, 2004."

"Older than Kenzie," I comment.

"Interesting." Paige adds and we watch as the four of them leave studio "A".

We decided to go into the dancer's den, where some of the minis were hanging out.

We didn't know anything about the girl for the rest of the day, and Abby didn't comment either.

~~~

"Girls, I need everyone's attention!" Abby says.

I look over to her as I adjust my costume and Mom works with my hair, which was on a bun.

"This is Hollywood Vibe. These people are working professionals. They're from New York or LA. Even the person that puts you on backstage. Chances are, come Monday, they are working at some studio or some talent agency or some casting agency." Abby continues talking, "This is important. It can be important to you for the rest of your life, let alone me."

I start going over my solo as the rest got ready. Maddie walks up to me and I stop dancing.

"Did you see that?" She whispers.

"See what?" I whisper back.

"Jill literally just bribed Kendall with money." Maddie continues whispering.

I look over to the Vertes duo, and there it is.

"Weird." I whisper, "When did it happen?"

"Right now." Maddie answers.

"Jill, Leslie, don't forget. Your girls are still on probation." Abby tells the two of them, "So we need to see how this goes and you two are kind of on probation, too. You go right along with the student."

Maddie and I share an amused look before going back to go over our respective dances.

Maddie: I'm nervous about my solo. I want to dance really well, beat Chloe and Evie, and get back on top of the pyramid.

Once we were backstage, I started going over my dance as I watched Maddie perform hers.

"You can't let Maddie get ahead again."

I decided to stop watching her and focus entirely on the dance. I made the counts in my head as I danced full out backstage. Once it was over, we both hugged.

"Next up is act number 13, this is "Moonlight"."

Everyone cheers as I walk onstage.

"You better go out there and not screw up."

I take a deep breath as I get into my starting position.

You, you've got that smile
That turns my world upside down
Yeah, you, you've got that face
That silky smooth complexion
And my affection for ya is at its peak

It's like I'm on a ride
And I don't want to get off

You, you're just so sweet
My favorite song on repeat
And when you take my hand
It's like I'm in a lovesick wonderland
A place where we forget the world

Oh life's the best when you're around
Together from sun up to sundown
And when the moon shines so bright
You grab my hand and you hold me tight
And I feel alright

It's like I'm on a ride
And I don't want to get off
I look into your eyes
And I'm about to blast off
It's standing in the rain on a warm summer's night
We're sitting in a cabin with only firelight
And I'm feeling alright
I found love under the moonlight
Whoa, oh oh oh
Oh oh
Under the moonlight, yeah yeah

I walked offstage while everyone cheered with big satisfaction. Abby looked happy, and that made me happy.

I might be able to win this thing, and then, she won't have any reason to be mad at me.

After all the solos were performed, we all got ready for the group dance.

It all became quick chaos: Payton forgot the dance, Jill was asking stupid questions and Maddie's pigtails were out of place.

"We should sneak out and do something else," Giselle comments as she tightens my ponytail.

"Where?" Paige asks.

"Somewhere fun." Giselle answers, "Do you think they'll notice?"

"Definitely." I answer, "And Abby's going to be mad at us."

"What's up with you caring so much about Abby all of a sudden?" Giselle asks.

"I don't wanna get in trouble." I lie, I am terrified of how she could react to us breaking the rules.

"I guess that's fair," Paige says.

After the group dance performance, the awards ceremony began.

"You better win that competition, Turner."

"Junior solo third place. Third place trophy going to act number six: "Pray"." The announcer says, "Second place junior solo goes to act number 12: "The Girl I Wanna Be". "

Everyone cheers as Maddie stands up and goes to receive the award.

"And, the first place winner, junior solo division is act number 13: "Moonlight"."

I sigh in relief as I stand up and go receive my award.

Abby's not going to kill me.

I sit back down and Maddie hugs me.

Chloe was first in the next category.

The trio didn't place.

Now, the group dance:

"First place trophy goes to "Rat Pack Girls"."

The group was first in another category, just like Chloe's solo.

To wrap up the horrible week, there was even more drama back in the dressing room.

"Don't turn into a crybaby!"