"Well, that was something."

"I'm sorry. You know, I thought he was gonna arrest me at one point."

"Nah, I wouldn't have let him arrest you. . . What happened to your face--"

"I wanna tell you something."

"Oh."

"I've been bitten."

"So have I."

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay-- I gotta tell you this one thing-- I gotta tell you this one thing-- and it's about the vigilante and the car thief-- all right?"

"Oh, okay."

"No, no, no, no, no. Don't-- no. Okay, no. Forget that. I'm gonna talk about that, I'm gonna walk about me, okay?"

"Aww." I frowned as I continued watching the TV. "Why does he look so cute?"

"Don't know," Sadie answered in the same voice tone as mine. "But he's so sad."

"I wanna hug him," I admitted. "He looks so sad. Like a kicked puppy."

"Eves, we're leavin--"

"HEY MADDIE!"

Maddie screamed in terror and I started laughing almost immediately. From the other side of the screen, Sadie also started laughing uncontrollably. As the two of us continued, Maddie took a deep breath ― calming herself down ― and walked into the room.

"Please stop doing that, Sades," Maddie begged, taking a glance at the phone screen before turning back to me. "And hey."

Sadie waved with a huge smile as I caught a glimpse of the screen. "Look!"

The there of us turned back to the screen just in time to see Peter and Gwen kiss. As Gwen attempted to comprehend that Peter was Spider-Man, he told her to shut up and continued kissing her. Then, they were interrupted by Gwen's mother, who told her that her father wanted her inside immediately. Out of embarrassment, Peter turned around, his back facing the older woman.

"I still don't get where your Andrew Garfield obsession started," Maddie admitted, still staring at the screen.

"What I don't get is how your obsession with him hasn't started yet," I told her.

"And your Spider-Man obsession," Maddie added.

"That one has existed for a long time." I pointed out. "For things like that." I pointed at the Spider-Man and Lizard figurines that stood on my desk. "The Lizard one scares me, but they're both gifts, so I gotta keep 'em together."

"I also helped her start with her MCU obsession," Sadie commented. "We were going to watch Iron Man 3 in theaters, but it was too late, so we're planning to watch a future movie that isn't the Thor sequel because we don't like him."

"We're thinking about the Captain America sequel that's coming out next year." I piped up. "But this movie's sequel is most likely coming out next year, so we gotta choose between the two."

"I also helped her find out what that movie quote you told her once came from. Well, she heard it when we watched it and remembered." Sadie explained. "The "end of the line" quote is from a deleted scene from Captain America: The First Avenger."

"A sad scene, to be honest." I turned my head over to my brunette best friend. "And even sadder that they took it out of the movie. Bucky and Elise were talking about starting a family, and now they won't be able to."

"You should join us!" Sadie exclaimed. "And I can meet you in person!"

"But we have to go now, right?" I asked, my excitement disappearing in an instant. "For the show."

"Sadly," Maddie admitted. "But my solo and your trio won, so Abby probably won't be mad at us."

"But she's gonna be mad at Nia." I grabbed the remote. "And Kenzie and the others."

"But you proved Kendall wrong." Maddie attempted to cheer me up. "And I wanna see you rub it in her face."

"Exactly!" Sadie agreed. "Show Kendall her place!"

"See?" Maddie smiled. "Kendall and Jill are gonna be mad, but who cares?" She turned around to leave. "Oh! And if you have a crush on Andrew Garfield and I have a crush on Zac Efron, we could go on double dates!"

"And even if we don't end up with Andrew and Zac--" I agreed.

"We can go on double dates still." Maddie finished. "Yay!"

We both fist-bumped.

"Rehearsals start early today," Sadie said. "Gotta go."

"Bye-bye!" Maddie sat down on my bed as I turned off the TV with the remote.

"Talk later!" I added as Sadie hung up.

FaceTime was really a miracle.

Along with Mom and Giselle, we went to the studio for the second week in a row. Barely starting off the season, the pressure was astronomical. Abby was way harsher on us than ever before, and some of the girls were barely giving it a fifty percent. Chloe, Brooke, and Paige aren't even studio members anymore, but they still have to come to film the show, even if their relationship with the dance teachers is basically nonexistent.

Even if I wasn't excited to go to the studio at all, I agreed with Maddie and Sadie. I wanted to rub my trio victory all over Kendall's face, and I would make sure to mention it at pyramid where everyone could hear it. Jill would probably ― and most likely ― make a mean comment, but Mom would quickly shut her down.

Another thing that made me feel better was the fact that Sadie and Maddie could be meeting in person soon. They've been two of the only people that have been there with me when I needed them the most, so I was over the moon at the thought of them knowing each other.

When we got to the studio, the three of us entered the studio, but for some reason, I had to look at my older sister twice.

Puberty was really playing a number on her.

Funny thing is that it skipped Zane, but hit Giselle.

Maybe something about it affecting girls before boys. That's why girls are mature, except Kendall. And Giselle. Mentally.

We started stretching while talking about what we did on our day off. I, for one, slept until nine in the morning. Then I had to wait thirty minutes because Zane couldn't hurry up in the bathroom. After two hours ― in which I ate breakfast and watched some TV ― I decided that I wasn't going to be able to stay home all day, so that's when I asked Mom if I could go over to Maddie's. It was a thirty-minute walk, and I decided to call Chloe to invite her to hang out. For the rest of the day, we helped Maddie as she started packing some old things to either throw away or donate. Maddie's eleven now, and she's letting it show.

The three of us were growing up and all, but we were still first, second, and third because we won them all.

Laughing at a lame joke Nia made, we all entered studio "A" when Abby called us in. As expected, she didn't look too happy, but I tried my best to not let it affect me. Standing between Maddie and Payton, my face went blank as I made sure my perfect bun hairstyle was actually perfect.

"One day, national champions. The next day, third place." Abby's voice echoed all over the room. "We cannot walk in there again mediocre."

Not a single person moved. Not a single person said anything. Not a single person did anything. It was a bit creepy, in all honesty.

"We will be attending the Believe Talent Competition in Columbus, Ohio. Now, you know who's gonna be in Ohio." Abby announced and I held back a sigh. Sour Bananas. "I bet Cathy's team is a better team. I'm sure she's been working on this number for weeks, and if you guys go out and dance like you did last weekend, she's going to win."

If the Abby from two competition seasons ago heard that, she would flip out, but as I said, that was years ago. Cathy was a good rival to Abby. I mean, she does hire choreographers all the time, but overall, she puts on good competition and helps Abby stay humble in some way. And nowadays, humble wasn't in Abby's vocabulary. Not that it ever was.

Continuing with the routine, Abby announced that she'd be starting off with the pyramid. Looking at the bottom headshot, she grabbed the covering. "Of course--" She pulled it off. "Payton." The girl's head immediately shot up, her eyes meeting Abby's. "For your behavior to be so ugly over your hair? I don't care if you're happy, or sad, or you're in pain-- I don't care! You go to that competition, and you are representing me."

This time around, I was the one who shot her a pity glance. I was starting to feel bad for the girl, and Abby was not going to go easy on her any time soon.

Payton didn't respond and Abby proceeded to reveal the next headshot. "Brooke. You missed a whole four counts on the floor. You just rolled over right in front of the judges." Oh, yeah, the hot jazz routine. "Nia. Good week, beautiful costume, pretty girl, did a nice job, but do you perform the choreography? Do you go out on stage like it's the last time you're ever gonna be onstage? No, I don't think so." Same as Payton, neither the girl nor the mother responded. "Mackenzie. Lots of fooling around in the dressing room. In everybody's way. We need to work on that. Understand?"

Kenzie nodded. "Yes."

Wow, a kid being a kid. What a crime. I can't believe it.

Abby revealed the last bottom headshot, and I had to bite my lower lip. "Kendall. You need to keep up with other people, and you also have to not do the same three steps while doing improv over and over again. You said you had what it took to beat Evie, but then what happened? Where did it go when you were actually going up against her?"

"I thought she was amazing," Jill spoke up. "She should have won over Genevieve."

Ah, Jill, always dreaming upon a star.

That's funny.

Out of nothing, I burst out laughing, taking all of the attention of both the people that were there and the cameras. Recovering my composure, I stood back straight as I shook my head slowly from side to side while looking down and placing my right hand on my face. "Good one, Jill." Once again, confidence took over. "Kendall said that last week, and then she messed up. The trio ended up winning without her, and the one dance she was in lost. That doesn't seem like star quality to me."

"Oh, Evie, Evie." Kendall sighed. "You're got nothing else to do besides laughing, right? I'm sure the trio won just because Chloe and Paige were in it. You weren't the reason they won, sweetie."

"Oh, I'm not taking any credit." I looked over at her. "I think their facials carried the dance, and I was just there to help them. I think Paige would have made an amazing lead. You're just bitter you weren't in the dance because with your brown hair, you would've been the obvious choice for a lead. In my case, any of us could have been because we're all blondes." Thinking of something, my eyes widened. "Oh! And I don't think you'd look good as a blonde, KK." I turned back to face the teacher, who looked far too interested in the conversation. "Just sayin'."

"And you looked ridiculous as a redhead." Kendall shot back. "Just saying."

"I know, but I was a redhead because I was on Broadway." I looked at her reflection in the mirror, which looked like she was looking back at mine. "You'd only be a blonde because you're overly jealous of me."

"All right, as entertaining as it can get, you two need to stop bickering at pyramid," Abby told us. "And Jill--" She turned her head over to the mother. "Evie beat Kendall because she proved she was the better choice for the trio. Kendall has already done trios in the past. It's not like I have anything against her. She just wasn't the one chosen by the majority."

Jill: Abby always makes sure Genevieve wins and then makes it seem as if I was the one who's at fault.

When she turned back to us, Abby revealed the first ― from right to left ― headshot in the second and middle row in the pyramid. "Paige, you were part of the high score-winning trio." She shrugged. "Could you have done a better job? Certainly." Paige nodded in agreement. "Chloe, you have the dancer's body. You have the look. Your technique shines through. You can nail it, no matter what."

Even though she wasn't freaking out, Chloe looked overly excited about her spot. Last week was a good one for her. She got to redeem herself from not being able to participate at nationals.

"Evie." Abby continued. "You won the lead in the trio and you led it to victory. In the group dance, even if most of your teammates were a hot mess, you pulled through very well."

I smiled, feeling the satisfaction kick in. Last week was all worth it.

Maddie

Giselle   Genevieve   Chloe    Paige

Kendall    Mackenzie   Nia   Brooke   Payton

"I told every single one of you over the break that this is not going to be another year of Maddie and Evie working their butts off and you all sitting around," Abby told all the girls. "Kendall. Evie. Now that you're always trying to prove to each other that you're the best, I think you'd like to have the opportunity to go up against each other with solos. No other dancers to depend on. No other dancers to hide behind. It's only you, your costume, and the music." This was getting exciting. "At the same time, like you claim that you can handle the pressure, you will be battling against Chloe for the number three spot." Abby looked at Kendall, then at Chloe. "You know how there's always a top three? I always say there's only one spot, and there is, but there's always the number two girl and the number three girl. This week, Maddie's the number one girl. Evie's the number two girl until she wins, then she'll be number one while Maddie's number two. There's still one more spot, and this week, you will show me that you have what it takes to be that third girl I can count on."

So I'm going up against Kendall and Chloe? This is going to be fun.

"Evie, Chloe, and Kendall, it'll be the battle of the pop stars," Abby revealed. "Chloe, your routine is inspired by Katy Perry. Kendall, you're gonna be an extreme individual like Lady Gaga." Both of them smiled as everyone clapped. "Evie, your routine is inspired by Taylor Swift--"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, grinning widely.

"I know she isn't an official pop star because her albums still go by country, but we're gonna use one of her few more pop-like songs for this one, and I think I'll let you choose because if I choose the wrong one, you and Maddie won't let me live it down."

For the second time in the day, Maddie and I fist-bumped, not even having to look at each other to know. At the same time we did that, everyone clapped, which surprised me. I guess we really going back to the beginning-- plus Kendall.

"Everyone will be in the group routine. The routine is called "Just Another Number"." Abby announced. "Each one of you is just another number. Easily replaceable."

As usual, she then dismissed the mothers as we started learning the group routine. When we were dismissed, we were, once again, all laughing at yet another lame joke the Frazier girl said. Apparently, she was telling them on purpose because she knew they were lame. She just wanted us to continue laughing and she felt happy about it. I helped Brooke stand up from the floor and we followed the rest of the girls. Less than five minutes later, Abby called the soloists in, and while Chloe put away her water bottle and Kendall did something else, I went ahead and walked in alone.

Abby's bored face switched instantly to a grin as soon as she saw me. I walked up to her as she sat on the prop. "So, you're back to being friends with the girls, huh?"

I looked at her with a semi-confused look. As I was about to ask her, I heard Kendall and Chloe walk in, followed by some of the camera crew. I walked up to the other two and we scattered throughout the room. Abby stood up and walked up to us.

She clapped her hands together. "Listen to me. It's the battle of the popstars." She then separated them. "Girls, pop stars are always trying to be number one on the charts, number one on the radio, number one-- video out there. That's what it's all about. So I'm trying to figure out who's gonna be my number one star." She looked back and forth between Chloe and Kendall. "Or should I say-- number three?" She put up three fingers with her left hand.

Abby: Kendall and Chloe are battling for the number three position on this team. Maddie and Evie are back and forth between being number one and number two. They've proved themselves time and time again. And with my open calls coming up, maybe that number three spot isn't good enough.

I sat down on Abby's usual sitting prop as Chloe started learning her solo. It's entitled "Hear Me Roar", and if you don't know what Katy Perry song has those words, have you ever been forced to listen to your local radio by your parents?

Sadly, as soon as the music started playing, I realized that the song wasn't the original, but rather a knockoff from the original, which featured a voice that sounded as if it was moaning at the beginning.

I also noticed that Kendall learned most of her solo way faster than Chloe in her whole rehearsal time. Her music was way faster than Chloe's, and it was entitled "Demand Applause". It was a knockoff to Lady Gaga's "Applause", which has been in my playlist rotation for a couple of months now--

Uh, at least since it was released two months ago.

Once her rehearsal time was over, both Chloe and Kendall had to stay as I learned my solo-- if I even had music for it.

"Okay, Evie, I gotta go deal with something real quick," Abby told me. "But grab Gia's laptop and go looking for the song, okay?"

I nodded and she left the room. As Kendall went over her solo, Chloe joined me on the prop as I started looking for the songs.

The three songs that were described as "pure pop" from Taylor's newest album "Red" were "22", "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", and "I Knew You Were Trouble".

What I'd give to do a contemporary-lyrical routine to "All Too Well" or "Everything Has Changed".

By voting ― only the two of us, but still ― we decided that I Knew You Were Trouble was going to be my solo music. It meant that I would have to be really energetic for the possibly contemporary jazz style of the dance.

It was about twenty more minutes without Abby, and I had no idea what she was doing. Thankfully, she came back and I informed her of the decision, deciding to leave out the part where Chloe helped me because then Kendall would hear it and Jill would start whining. Guessing right, Abby made up a contemporary-jazz piece for the music, and I learned it entirely within an hour and a half.

My solo was the highlight of my week. Abby and Gianna were having a hard time deciding if Payton should be performing in the group dance with the rest of us. Christi claimed that Kendall already knew her dance from a private, and Jill was all against Christi for obvious reasons.

When we arrived at the competition on Saturday, we were quite literally jump scared by Cathy and the Sour Bananas. With so many signs, it made me think why Dance Moms wasn't the Cathy show. I mean, she was the first person cast out of everyone, so why wasn't that the case?