by Sheryl Berk
“I don’t get it,” she said. “I always solo at Nationals.”
“You mean you always used to solo,” Liberty corrected her. “Miss Toni obviously has a new favorite dancer in the house.”
“Cut it out, Liberty,” Rochelle warned her. “This isn’t a contest to win the teacher’s-pet title.”
“It isn’t?” Liberty asked innocently. “Gee, maybe that’s because none of you are winning? Just saying . . .”
Scarlett hated to admit it, but Liberty had a point. Miss Toni had never quite forgiven her for the slipup at Feet on Fire, and Toni’s word was final. Liberty and Gracie were the soloists.
She was glad to be dancing with Bria and Rock, though. Their trio was a spicy contemporary dance called “House of Cards.” Each of them was dressed like a suit in the deck: Bria was clubs, Rochelle was hearts, and she was diamonds.
The group number was equally exciting. Miss Toni called it “The Untouchables,” and the girls played old-time gangsters robbing a bank. The music sounded like a tense staccato piano from a silent movie, and their costumes were all black, white, and silver. In the end, Gracie—the long arm of the law—arrested the bad guys (her little sis loved that part!) and rescued the loot.
“TTFN—that means ta-ta for now!” Liberty said. “I’m off to a private session with Miss Toni to run my solo.”
“TTFW—that means too tacky for words,” Rochelle called after her, “which is how I’m sure you’ll dance tomorrow onstage!”
The Convention Center in Atlantic City was one of the biggest venues at which the Divas had ever performed.
“It says the competition is in Exhibit Hall D, and our rehearsal room is off Hall C,” Bria said as she read the floor plans.
“It’s so big!” Gracie looked at the giant windows and sky-high ceilings.
“Let’s get a look at the space,” Miss Toni said, ushering them into the main exhibit hall. None of the girls had ever seen anything like it: there was bleacher-style seating—enough for thousands of people—and a stage the size of a small football field.
“This is crazy!” Scarlett exclaimed.
“Totally!” Liberty added. “I’m going to look like a flea to the people sitting in the back row.”
“I told you all this was a huge venue,” Toni said. “Bigger than any of the other Nationals we’ve competed in. I hope it’s sinking in now.”
Rochelle nodded. “I feel like a rock star.”
“Good,” Toni replied. “Just perform like one today.”
The girls spent the morning running through their complicated choreography. Thankfully, Miss Toni didn’t switch things up. “I want to spend the last hour working on the solos,” she told Liberty and Gracie. “The rest of you, take five.”
They decided to stroll around the lobby, scouting out the competition as it rolled in on buses from around the country. Bria spotted some of their old rivals, but it was Scarlett who saw Mandy and Anya first.
“They’re baaaack,” she said.
“Anya is registered for a Senior Solo,” Bria said as she checked the program. “So at least City Feet isn’t lying today.”
“Not that we know of,” Rochelle pointed out.
Scarlett checked the program to see what else City Feet was dancing. It was no surprise that Mandy had an acro routine and that Anya was performing ballet. Then she read the name of their group number: “Frenemies Forever.”
“What do you think this means?” she asked the girls.
“Ick! You don’t think Justine is trying to embarrass Toni in front of everyone, do you?” Rochelle asked.
Just then, another person caught Scarlett’s eye: Justine. She was standing in the lobby, checking her watch and sipping a cup of coffee.
“She looks like she might be waiting for someone,” Rochelle said.
Scarlett remembered the e-mail they had sent. “This is terrible. She and Toni cannot have a showdown right before Nationals!”
“All we have to do is keep Toni away from her,” Rochelle explained. “If Toni doesn’t show up in the lobby, Justine will just assume she changed her mind.”
Bria tugged on Scarlett’s elbow: “Don’t look now . . .”
There, walking down the hall and just steps away from colliding with Justine, was Miss Toni.
“Quick!” Scarlett said, grabbing her friends. “Hide!”
They ducked under a table covered in leotards and tutus. They could hear everything but hoped neither of the coaches would catch them eavesdropping.
“Toni. You wanted to talk. So I’m here,” Justine said.
“What on earth are you talking about?” Toni grumped. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Then why did you send me an e-mail?”
Scarlett gulped and braced herself for Toni’s reaction.
“E-mail? I didn’t e-mail you. I told you twenty years ago I never wanted to speak to you again. And I meant it.”
Scarlett held her breath, waiting for Justine to fire back.
“Are you really going to hold a grudge forever?” Justine asked. “I said I was sorry. It’s ancient history. Can’t we just be friends?”
Scarlett peeked out from under the table to see Toni’s reaction. She didn’t look angry. In fact, she looked a little sad.
“When we both were asked to audition for the lead in Swan Lake, you told me it was rescheduled. You made sure I couldn’t show up for the tryout,” Toni said.
“I was scared you were going to beat me. I knew you would; you were better than I was,” Justine said softly. “I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
Toni shook her head. “You ruined my chances of becoming a principal dancer at ABC, and you ruined our friendship. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to find three girls from my team for rehearsal.”
“Poor Toni.” Scarlett sighed.
“Poor us!” Rochelle said. “She’s going to kill us if we don’t get back into rehearsal!”
As they crawled out from under the table, Miss Toni was standing right there, hovering over them.
“You girls have some explaining to do,” she said sternly. “But we don’t have time now. Get inside—we have only forty-five minutes before the start of the competition. And I am not letting Justine beat us again.”
The Divas rehearsed the group routine a dozen times in the dressing room until Scarlett’s calves were burning.
“I want it clean and sharp!” Toni commanded. “Liberty, your arms need to come over your head straight. And Bria, you need to run farther downstage, over there. A six and a seven and an eight . . .”
Finally, it was time to get changed into their costumes.
“I don’t need to tell you how important this competition is for us,” Miss Toni told them. “There are going to be some very important people watching in the audience: talent scouts, agents, Broadway producers. Give it a hundred and ten percent tonight.”
Scarlett was sure that Justine was giving her dancers a similar speech. She felt like all the girls were caught in a tug-of-war between the two dance coaches. Back in the dressing room, there was even more drama brewing.
“Scarlett, you have to help me!” Rochelle dragged her over to a corner where an argument was taking place between Rochelle’s and Liberty’s mothers.
“Honestly, you cannot tell me that you think Zumba is an art form!” Jane Montgomery was saying. “It’s a complete waste of time. I would never call it dance!”
“I didn’t ask you!” Rochelle’s mom protested. “I simply said I was going to teach a Zumba class at Rock’s school.”
“Well, if you don’t want a professional opinion . . . ,” Jane said. She stormed off to unzip Liberty’s costume from its garment bag.
“See what I mean?” Rochelle said. “It’s getting ugly in here, too!”
“Relax.” Scarlett patted her on the back. “Everyone is just a little tense because of the competition.”
“Oh my gooshness!” she heard Gracie exclaim. Gracie was hovering around Liberty’s costume rack, hop
ing to see her solo costume unveiled.
“Is that for real?” Rochelle gasped when she saw Liberty dressed in a gold lamé leotard covered in dangling strands of nickels, dimes, and quarters.
“The money on it? Yes. It’s real,” Liberty replied. Her solo was called “Jackpot,” and Liberty looked like a human slot machine.
Scarlett cracked up. The costume was truly over the top.
“It’s kind of heavy,” Liberty complained as her mom secured the straps.
“Well, it’s made of coins . . . What did you expect?”
“I can’t really move very well in it.” She tried to lift one of her arms, but the entire sleeve was dripping in coins. “Mom, this is crazy! It weighs a ton!”
Her mother hurried her out the door. “Deal with it,” she said. “You think Katy Perry complains when they dress her in cupcakes? We all must suffer for our art.”
Liberty was the last dancer up for Junior Solo. A girl from Move Manhattan went before her—and she had already set the bar high with a nearly flawless lyrical routine.
“Next up, Liberty from Dance Divas, performing a contemporary dance, ‘Jackpot.’”
Liberty walked out onstage, the coins on her costume clinking and clanking with every turned-out step.
As the music began, she darted back and forth, then spun out into an arabesque turn. A quarter went flying off, landing in a judge’s lap.
“Oh my gooshness!” Gracie squealed from the wings. “She’s losing her money!”
Another coin landed with a plunk on the stage as she did her grand jeté; two more as she chaînéd across the floor.
By the time the dance was over, Liberty’s costume was certainly lighter. The audience was digging under their seats trying to gather up all the spare change.
“Was that supposed to happen?” Bria asked.
“Let’s hope the judges think so,” said Liberty’s mom, mopping her brow with a pink silk scarf.
Liberty stormed offstage. “I am humiliated!” she wailed. “My entire costume fell apart!”
“Wow,” said Mandy, making her way toward the stage for the Petite Solos. “Thanks for the change for the candy machine!” She waved a handful of coins under Liberty’s nose. She was dressed in a green velvet jumpsuit for her acro solo, “Leapfrog.”
Liberty gritted her teeth. Scarlett was afraid Liberty would do something they’d all regret, so she held Liberty’s arm and said cheerfully, “That was so cool! How’d you time the coins to come off at just the right moments like that?”
“You mean, it was on purpose?” Mandy asked.
Liberty picked up where Scarlett left off. “Of course. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to rehearse that routine?”
“It was coin choreography,” Scarlett added. “Which is pretty cool, don’t you think?”
Mandy nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess . . .” Then she hopped off to perform her dance.
Liberty looked down at her tattered costume. “Thanks for not making me look any more stupid than I already do,” she told Scarlett.
“On the bright side, your turns were amazing,” Scarlett said.
“And the judges probably appreciated the tips!” Rochelle chuckled.
Chapter 17
Sister Act
Gracie checked her ballet slippers one last time, making sure her Lucky Stars were tucked neatly inside.
“Remember, you’re not alone.” Scarlett hugged her one last time. “We’re right here!” Rochelle, Bria, and Liberty all gave her the thumbs-up.
A voice over the loudspeaker boomed: “Performing an acro routine entitled ‘Watch Out, World—Here I Come!’ please put your hands together for Gracie from Dance Divas!”
Gracie skipped out onstage and took her position: hands on her hips in a sassy, playful pose. As the music started, she kicked up her heels, wiggled her butt, and did a split while blowing kisses to the judges.
So far, so good, Scarlett thought. Then she noticed Gracie was still sitting on the floor. She stared at the audience, glassy-eyed and terrified.
“Here we go again,” Liberty said.
Scarlett thought quickly. She skipped out onto the stage and twirled around Gracie, pulling her up under her arms to a standing position.
“Gracie, I’m right here!” she whispered in her little sister’s ear. “Snap out of it!” As soon as she saw Scarlett by her side, Gracie was fine. Together, they improvised a dance around the stage, leaping and twirling and playing off each other, just like they sometimes did at home in their living room.
At the end, Gracie did her back walkover and the crowd broke into thunderous applause. Their duet was a smashing success!
After almost all the single, duo, and trio performances, it was time for City Feet to take the stage for the group number. The Divas sat right up front to watch (and maybe to psych them out just a little).
The dance featured Phoebe and Mandy, dressed like ballerinas, having a tug-of-war in the center of the stage. The rest of the team danced around them, taking sides and encouraging them to tear at each other’s tutus till they were both in shreds. Then one ballerina—Mandy—let go of the rope. She extended a hand, and Anya took it. The dance ended with the girls, arm in arm, strolling offstage.
“It’s weird,” Bria whispered. “I don’t get it.”
“Do you think Toni does?” Scarlett asked. She glanced at the seat Toni had been in all afternoon. It was empty.
“Be right back. Forgot something in my bag,” Scarlett said, squeezing past the girls in their seats. She ducked out the door of the main stage and looked around the lobby. There, just as she had hoped, was Miss Toni.
“You missed City Feet’s group dance,” she said softly to her teacher.
“I saw it,” she replied. She patted the ledge where she was seated so Scarlett would join her.
“Justine and I were once as close as sisters,” she explained. “We would have done anything for each other—just like you did today for Gracie.”
Scarlett gulped. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You did the right thing—even if your choreography wasn’t so polished,” Miss Toni said, and smiled.
“Do you think you will ever be friends with Justine again?” Scarlett asked.
Toni shrugged. “I don’t know. But she taught me a valuable lesson back at ABC. She taught me the meaning of friendship.”
Scarlett looked puzzled. “I thought she stabbed you in the back at the Swan Lake audition?”
Toni nodded. “She did. And I knew I would never do that to a friend. No matter how much I wanted to win. I try to teach that to you girls all the time. A team is only as strong as the sum of its individual parts.”
Scarlett nodded. “City Feet’s dance was pretty amazing.”
“My Divas are pretty amazing—and I don’t just mean on the dance floor,” Toni said softly. “Thanks for trying to patch things up between me and Justine. Let’s just say it’s a work in progress.” She stood up and headed for the main hall.
“You coming?” She winked at Scarlett. “I hear there’s this team called Dance Divas that’s about to perform.”
Scarlett smiled. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world!”
Chapter 18
Cop and Robbers
Scarlett adjusted the brim of her silver sequined fedora. “Do I look like a gangster?” she asked her mom backstage. She made her toughest bad-guy face.
“You look great!” her mom said, chuckling. “You, too, Gracie.”
Gracie was wearing an old-fashioned “cop” costume, complete with a police hat and a shiny silver badge pinned to her black velvet leotard. Both Liberty and Bria were dressed like “gangster molls” in white-fringed flapper dresses and short black-bobbed wigs.
“You guys look like Bonnie and Clyde.” Rochelle’s mom gushed. She made sure Rochelle’s pin-striped suit jacket was buttoned over her leotard. “I love it!”
Behind the curtains, Miss Toni rolled their props onto the stage. Th
ere was a bank-safe door and bags of money that were stuffed with fake dollar bills.
“Watch your legs on the back attitude,” Toni reminded them. “And I want to see emotion in your faces—not just in your bodies. Clear?”
Scarlett heard the emcee announce their number: “Please welcome the Dance Divas performing a Broadway-style dance entitled ‘The Untouchables’!”
Red lights flashed and sirens shrieked as Scarlett and Rochelle raced onstage and “stole” bags of money from the bank safe. They leaped across the floor, narrowly “escaping” Gracie, the policeman, who cartwheeled from one end of the stage to the other.
Liberty and Bria pirouetted in perfect synch, their fringed skirts spinning wildly. At the end of the number, the four girls burst out of the bank safe and fired confetti cannons at the audience. A net suddenly fell from the ceiling, “capturing” the criminals. Gracie did a front walkover and raised her hands over her head in victory.
The audience jumped to their feet in a standing ovation. “That was awesome!” Rochelle said breathlessly as they took their bows. Scarlett agreed. It was by far the best dance routine the Divas had ever performed. But would it be enough to beat City Feet?
The judges deliberated for thirty minutes before summoning all the contestants to the stage to announce the results. Scarlett felt strangely calm. She knew they had done their very best, and that meant more than any trophy or title.
“In the Petite Solo category, first place goes to ‘Leapfrog,’ by Mandy Hammond from City Feet Dance Studio!” Mandy hopped back onstage and claimed her prize.
Scarlett saw the disappointment on Gracie’s face.
“She probably has warts, Gracie,” she joked. “Get it? Frog? Warts?”
Anya took first place for Teen Solo. That was two top titles already for City Feet.
“Next up, the Junior Solo awards,” said the announcer.
Liberty hung her head. “I’m never gonna win,” she said. Scarlett had never seen her act humble.
