by Sheryl Berk
“Joker costume? Are you doing some lame Batman dance?” Addison asked. “Who’s the Penguin? Your big sis, Scoot?”
“Hah! You’re not even close!” Gracie said, just as Scarlett and Rochelle dragged her away.
“Gracie, you almost gave it away!” Anya exclaimed. “This is why we can’t let you anywhere near our competition.”
Scarlett sighed. “Like I said. Loose lips.”
“Well, maybe they’ll think we’re doing a superheroes dance,” Bria suggested. “With comic book villains.”
“Maybe we should let them think that,” Rochelle said, raising a brow. “I mean, if they want to believe it, we can’t stop them, right?”
Liberty’s eyes lit up. “You mean feed them false info?” she asked. “I’m liking this already! Can’t you just see Justine switching their routine last minute to try and ruin ours?”
Anya considered. “I don’t think it’s right to lie, but Gracie did kind of tip our hand.”
“Exactly!” Liberty said. “We’re just covering our tracks. Toni would totally approve of a little white lie to protect ourselves.”
“I don’t know about that,” Scarlett hesitated. “But I guess we don’t have much of a choice, do we?”
Liberty took Gracie by the shoulders. “Okay, we need you to blab a little secret to Mandy.”
Gracie looked confused. “But my lips are zipped, remember?”
“Unzip ’em!” Liberty insisted. “This is what you tell her: you’re the Joker, Scarlett’s the Penguin, and I’m Batgirl.”
“How come you always get the biggest role?” Rochelle asked. “Tell her I’m Batgirl, Liberty is Robin, and Anya is the Penguin.”
Bria raised her hand. “What am I? Chopped liver? I wanna be Batgirl!”
“It’s not like this is for real!” Rochelle reminded her.
“Huh? I don’t get it,” Gracie said. “Why am I telling Mandy this?”
Liberty gave her a shove in the direction of City Feet. “Because we want them to think it’s our group routine. Got it?”
Gracie nodded. “Got it.” She went up to Mandy and tapped her on the shoulder.
“I have something to say to you,” she began, then hesitated. It was hard to remember everything her teammates had told her! “Okay, Scarlett and Rochelle are penguins with baseball bats and Anya and Bria are chopped liver—oh, and I’m joking. Or something like that . . .”
Mandy looked confused. “I don’t get the joke. Is it a knock-knock?”
Gracie smiled. “Oh! I know a great joke! How do you make a tissue dance?”
Mandy thought for a few seconds. “I don’t know. How?”
“You put a little boogie in it! Ha-ha!” Gracie was cracking up—and planning on telling another joke—just as Liberty stepped in to break up the conversation.
“Okay, Gracie. Time to go! Hope you didn’t let the cat out of the bag.”
“Cat? You said it was a bat!” Gracie complained. “Would you people make up your minds?”
Liberty ushered the little girl back to the Divas. “Mission accomplished,” she said, patting Gracie on the back. “They were chattering away, so I’m sure Mandy will go running back to Justine with all the info.”
As the Divas had predicted, Mandy couldn’t wait to report the news to her teammates. “I know what dance the Divas are doing,” she said, tugging on Phoebe’s sleeve. “They’re doing a baseball number with chopped liver.”
“What?” Phoebe asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“No, it’s true!”
“Are you sure?” Addison asked her. “Maybe you got it a little mixed up. Like in that game telephone when the message gets all garbled?”
Mandy stamped her foot. “I know what Gracie said! She said they have bats and the song is called ‘Penguin Boogie.’”
“It sounds bizarre,” Regan weighed in. “Are you sure Gracie wasn’t pulling your leg?”
Mandy stared down at her sweatpants. “She didn’t pull my leg. She just tapped me on the shoulder.”
“Then again, it could be really creative,” Addison pointed out. “I wouldn’t put it past Toni and her Dance Duds. Our group dance is kinda predictable. We better tell Justine.”
Family Crisis
In the middle of Anya and Rochelle’s duet rehearsal, Mrs. Bazarov burst into the room.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s an emergency,” she said. Anya could tell from her eyes that she’d been crying.
“What is it, Mom?” she asked, running to her. “Is everything okay?”
“No. It’s your brother. He was in a car accident and he’s in the hospital.”
“Is it bad, Felice?” Toni asked gently.
“He has a concussion, some broken ribs,” she replied. “My husband says they’re doing scans right now to make sure there’s no internal bleeding. He was so excited to get his license . . .”
Anya felt like everything was happening in slow motion. What if Alexei needed surgery—or worse? “We have to go home to him, right now!” she cried. “Please, Mom!”
Rochelle gasped. “But Anya! The competition!”
Anya turned to Toni. “I don’t know what to do,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I don’t want to let you or the Divas down, but my brother needs me.”
Toni hugged her. “Of course he does. And you’re not letting us down. We’ll make it work.”
“Really? You’re not mad?” Anya asked her coach.
“I’d be mad if you didn’t show loyalty to your family,” Toni replied. “Isn’t that what I always teach you girls? Loyalty first?”
Anya nodded and raced out of the studio with her mom to catch a flight back to L.A.
Rochelle sat in the middle of the rehearsal room floor, stunned.
“You thought I was going to make Anya stay and see the competition through, didn’t you?” Toni asked her.
Rochelle shrugged. “It was just really nice of you to let Anya go. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Good. Because you’re going to do this entire magic duet as a solo now.”
Rochelle gasped. “It doesn’t work as a solo; it’s meant for two people!”
“It will be meant for one person when I get through with it,” Toni said, her voice trailing off in thought. “I wonder where I can rent a couple of doves for a few hours . . .”
Four hours later, Rochelle reappeared in the room where the rest of the girls had been trying on their card costumes and warming up.
“You look like you’ve been through a war,” Bria said, noticing Rock’s tangled hair and wrinkled shirt. “Ew! What’s that gooey white stuff on your shoulder?”
“Dove poop,” Rochelle said, collapsing on the floor. “But it’s not as bad as when they nip you with their beaks. That really hurts!”
“I don’t wanna know,” Scarlett said, and sighed.
“This sounds like a last-minute Toni extreme dance makeover,” Bria said. “If you look this bad, I can’t imagine what Anya must look like.”
“Anya’s gone,” Rochelle said.
“Gone?” Gracie asked. “Where did she go? To the bathroom?”
“Probably to shower off the dove poop,” Liberty said, smirking.
“No. She’s gone home to L.A. for good,” Rochelle replied. “She was planning on telling you guys after the competition, but her brother was in a bad car accident today. She and her mom flew home to be with him at the hospital.”
“That’s awful! But I don’t get it,” Bria replied. “You said for good. You mean Anya isn’t coming back to Divas? Ever?”
Rochelle shook her head. “Her parents decided they wanted the family to be together in L.A. That’s the secret she was keeping till after this weekend. This was going to be her last competition.”
Scarlett shook her head. “I can’t imagine Divas without her. What will we do?” She looked at Liberty who—for the very first time—was speechless.
“What?” Liberty asked her teammate. “What do you want
me to say? I’m not happy about it either. Anya was the best ballet dancer we’ve ever had.”
“She was the best friend we’ve ever had,” Bria said. “I can’t believe this is happening!”
Just then, Toni barged in. “I take it that Rochelle has shared the news with you about Anya’s quick departure,” she said. “So we have our work cut out for us.”
Liberty suddenly stood up, furious. “That’s it? We have our work cut out for us? One of our Divas is gone and that’s all you can say?”
Toni’s cheeks flushed. “I know you’re upset that we have to redo the group dance, but I will not tolerate that tone of voice from you, Liberty.”
“But Anya’s never coming back!” Gracie piped up. “I miss her already!”
Toni looked shocked. “You’re telling me that Anya is leaving Divas?”
“She told Rock,” Scarlett explained. “She was going to tell us all after Smooth Moves. It’s not her fault. Her parents won’t let her live in New Jersey anymore.”
“I see,” Toni said simply. “Well, we’ll deal with that once the competition is over. Anya wanted it that way, and we owe it to her to win.” She turned to Liberty. “Don’t you agree?”
Liberty stared down at her feet. “Fine.”
“Okay, then,” Toni said, clapping her hands together. “Time to reshuffle this ‘House of Cards’ dance.”
Making Magic
The next morning, bright and early, the Divas, their moms, and Miss Toni all reported to the Las Vegas Convention Center. “Game faces on,” Toni insisted as they walked backstage to their dressing room. “I know we’re all sad about Anya, but that is not going to get in the way of our dancing today. Do I make myself clear?” The girls all nodded sadly.
Toni checked the program. “Preteen solos at 10:00 a.m. Scarlett. Get changed and run your routine.”
“Have you heard from Anya at all?” Scarlett whispered to Rochelle.
Rochelle looked worried. “I tried texting and calling but she doesn’t answer. I hope everything’s okay.”
Scarlett climbed into her costume: a white chiffon dress spotted with black dots. “You look like 101 Dalmatians,” Gracie told her sister. “Are you supposed to be a puppy, Scoot?”
“I’m supposed to be rolling the dice,” she said, demonstrating a graceful turn.
“Make sure you extend those arms,” Toni instructed her. “And keep the movements flowing. No breaks between.”
Finally, the announcer summoned her to the stage: “Performing a modern routine, here is Scarlett dancing ‘Superstition.’”
As she took her place on the stage, lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling, waiting for her music to begin, Scarlett couldn’t help thinking about Anya. She saw her sitting in a cold hospital waiting room, ringing her hands and worrying about Alexei. Scarlett knew how worried she’d be if Gracie was ever hurt. Her mind wandered off, and before she realized it, she had missed her opening cue.
She quickly rolled on her stomach and stretched her hands out to the audience. Maybe the judges wouldn’t notice she was a few beats behind. The music was slightly haunting, with whispers of wind and hints of chimes in the distance. She got on her knees and stretched backward, twisting from side to side in one graceful, fluid motion. She poured her heart and soul into the dance, letting all the sadness about Anya leaving pour out of her.
“Whoa, she’s killin’ it!” Rochelle said, watching from the wings.
For her last move, Miss Toni had told her to “be a wave crashing across the sand.” So she rolled across the stage, letting the layers of her skirt fall around her like the foamy water. The judges were mesmerized. Finally, she kneeled, hugged her arms around her shoulders, and bowed her head as the lights dimmed to black. It was a good thing the audience couldn’t see her face—there were tears streaming down her cheeks and her bottom lip was quivering.
“Good job,” Toni said as Scarlett raced backstage and dabbed her eyes with a layer of her skirt. “You were in the moment, and it showed.”
Scarlett nodded. “I just can’t stop thinking about Anya,” she said. “I feel like there’s a big hole in my heart.”
“I know,” Toni whispered to her. “We all feel that way. And you did the right thing. You found a way to channel the emotion into your dance.”
Next up was Rochelle with her rechoreographed routine without Anya. Toni handed her a top hat. “Keep it together,” she warned her. “Smooth and controlled.”
Rochelle checked her pockets and her jacket sleeves to make sure all her props were in place. “I’ll do my part,” she assured Toni. “But I make no promises for your little feathered friends.”
“Performing a Broadway-style routine to Pippin’s ‘Magic to Do,’ please put your hands together for Rochelle!” the announcer said.
“Here goes nothing,” Rochelle whispered into her collar. “Doves, do your best!”
She shimmied across the stage dressed as Leading Player in a top hat, black leotard, and tuxedo jacket with tails. As the voices on the track crooned, “Ooh, ooh, oooh,” she wiggled her hips and twirled a magic wand in her hand. With a wave, it suddenly sprouted a bouquet of flowers. The audience applauded as she tossed it to the front row. Next, she did a series of fouetté turns and the doves flew out of her hidden jacket pockets. Another dove popped out of her hat as she took it off and tipped it at the judges.
“OMG! That is sick!” Bria cheered from the wings. “Go, Rock!”
Suddenly, she reached above her head and grabbed a trapeze that appeared from the ceiling. She flipped upside down and twirled high above the stage, hanging upside down by her knees.
As the trapeze lowered, she descended into a split and ended her routine by waving her wand at the judges. In the blink of an eye, the wand vanished in thin air. The audience jumped to their feet and applauded wildly.
“That was amazing!” Scarlett said, hugging her friend as she came off the stage. “I’m calling you the Wizard of Rock from now on!”
Phoebe was waiting for her turn and overheard them. “Don’t you mean the Wizard of Pathetic?” she asked, smirking. “I have a Broadway dance solo, too. And it’s gonna blow yours away—literally.” She strutted out onstage as the announcer read, “Please welcome Phoebe, performing ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’ from Mary Poppins . . .”
Rochelle stuck her head out from behind the curtain to watch. Phoebe’s costume was an intricate dress made of individual handkerchiefs in shades of blue, white, and silver. She twirled and swirled around the stage, holding a kite magically suspended by an invisible wire.
“She’s gooood,” Bria said. “Really good.”
“Please, don’t rub it in!” Rochelle said, covering her eyes with her hand. “If she flies up in the air like a kite, I’m gonna lose it.”
Phoebe did a graceful arabesque, then—just as Rochelle had feared—flew up, up, up to the ceiling where she performed an aerial ballet thirty feet above the ground. The judges craned their heads to watch.
“It’s Vegas. Justine is pulling out all the stops,” Toni said with a sigh. “Hopefully the judges will see past all the smoke and mirrors and appreciate our technique.”
“Or not,” Liberty said, motioning to the panel, who was applauding every move enthusiastically. “We’re doomed.”
“Not yet we’re not,” said a voice behind them.
“Anya!” Gracie squealed, running to hug her teammate around the waist. “You’re back!”
All the girls gathered around her.
“How’s your bro?” Rochelle asked. “Is he okay?”
“Alex is fine, thank goodness,” Anya replied. “Just some bumps and bruises and two broken ribs. But he’ll be good as new.”
“Which is why I let Anya come back,” Mrs. Bazarov said. “We caught an early flight this morning from L.A. She didn’t want to leave her Diva family when they needed her.”
“I brought my costume,” she told Toni. “Can I still be in the group dance?”
Toni tapped
her finger to her lips. “I’m not sure . . .”
“What? Are you nuts? City Feet is creaming us!” Liberty shouted.
“What she means is we have a much stronger routine with Anya in it,” Scarlett said, putting her arm around Anya. “Wasn’t that what you were trying to tell Miss Toni, Liberty?”
“Fine, what she said,” Liberty said grumpily.
“I wish you had been honest with me, Anya,” Toni said firmly. “I don’t like surprises.”
“I wasn’t trying to surprise anyone,” Anya insisted. “I just didn’t know how to tell you all that I was moving back to L.A.”
“Honesty is always the best policy,” Toni replied. “But there’s no sense in discussing that now. Get into your costume. We have thirty minutes before Junior Group dance is up.”
“Hooray!” Gracie cheered. “Anya’s back!”
The Divas were up fourth, right after Razzmatazz, Pink Ladies Rock, and City Feet.
“I don’t get it—what’s with the leopard-skin togas and the clubs?” Bria asked, watching the Razzmatazz boys race past her onto the stage. The tallest one was pounding his chest and yelling, “Yabba dabba doo!”
“They’re doing a routine to The Flintstones theme,” Rochelle explained. “Though why, I have no idea.” The choreography was certainly primitive, with each of the boys walking on their hands and hopping around the stage barefoot. The last part of the routine consisted of them hoisting a giant rock over their heads.
“That was certainly interesting,” Bria commented.
“Remember what Miss Toni always says,” Anya reminded them. “The judges always give high points to boy dance teams.”
Next up was Pink Ladies Rock performing an acro routine dressed in pajamas to Katy Perry’s “Waking Up in Vegas.”
“Yawn,” Liberty quipped. “This number’s putting me to sleep.”
“That was a pretty impressive back handspring,” Bria noted. Just then, all six girls ripped off their pj’s onstage to reveal Vegas showgirl costumes in vibrant shades of red, orange, and gold. They pirouetted around the stage effortlessly, and the lead dancer did an impressive twenty fouettés in a row.
