"This is nationals week!" Abby exclaims and everyone smiles, except me.

I tried really hard, but I just felt numb. I cried myself to sleep last night after the news.

"This year, 15 victories, out of 25 competitions," Abby tells everyone, "Now that's 10 competitions that the group did not win. The odds are not betting odds. I'm not gonna go to the racetrack and say, 'Ooh, yeah, I'm gonna bet on that pony'. No. That horse should be taken back and shot. You want to win, you want to be the best!"

Really Abby? Her way to explain what she 'did' with Nia winning last week.

"Word on the street, that other team will be performing as well." 

"We're gonna beat those BDA's." Mom adds.

"Saturday is our opening of the ALDC LA." We all clap, "Obviously, it's not gonna be finished. We have a lot to do--"

"This is huge," Jess says, "This is not a little dance studio in a strip mall."

Abby reveals the first headshot.

"JoJo, I'm correcting you, over and over and over on the same thing." Abby says, "You're not getting what I'm telling you is wrong. Next--"

She reveals the next headshot.

"Melanie," Mom looks at her confused, "You weren't here all of last week, and after that, you messed up with the prop on stage, but I think I overreacted."

"You did." Jess says and Mom nudges her arm.

Nia

Maddie   Kalani   Kendall

Mackenzie   Melanie   JoJo

"Now, solos. Maddie, I think it goes without saying, you'll be performing a solo at Nationals." Abby announces and we all clap, The name of your routine is 'Someone Special'. You are someone special."

"Thank you."

"Show everybody just how special you are." Abby says, "Next solo, it's going to Melanie."

Everyone claps.

"The style is--" There's silence for a moment, "Hip-hop."

Hip-hop? At Nationals? In general? Is she crazy?

"The name is 'WOW' and I'll bring in a choreographer to work with you."

I sigh in relief.

"One more solo," Abby tells everyone, "And I think, going into last week, I assumed that that solo would go to Kalani."

"We all assumed that." Jill says, "However, going into the solo you said whoever comes out on top gets the solo."

"No, I said 'might'." Abby 'corrects'.

"Well--"

"That's not. I don't think anyone's interpretation of what you said was the 'might'." Holly says.

"I think it should go to Nia." Jill agrees.

"No." Abby says.

What?

"It was head to head." Holly tells her, "It's been head. That was the challenge the entire time."

"When you're knocked out, you're knocked out." Jess adds, "Like, I took it for what it was worth."

"I agree with that," Kira says, "But I think in this instance, I don't agree because it was a competition judged by kids. As Kalani's mom, I do feel that it was not a fair battle as far as a kid judging."

"Last week we weren't dismissing it when we knew we were going into competition." Holly argues, "Regardless, I think honestly, Abby--"

"Actually," Kira defends herself, "I think that you're going way out of--"

"You shut up." Holly tells Kira, "You're said plenty. Can I just please..?"

"No, you've said plenty because--"

"No! This is the first time that I'm talking!"

"--You're sitting here, telling me that I took away your child's win."

They continue arguing and we just stand there.

"Nia's doing the solo." Abby says and we all clap, "It's called 'No Matter What', all right? The group routine takes place in a hospital waiting room. We have done amazingly well with our group routines at Nationals."

"We've won every time!" Kenzie exclaims.

"You better knock on some wood, alright? Spread apart, let's go, let's get the chair out."

~~~

"Hello hello." James say as I walk up to the middle of the studio, "Well, let's get working!"

Sassy facials, great movements, everything, everything is needed for Nationals, especially when your teacher gives you the least common dance style taught at her studio. But hey, at least it is well liked here in Los Angeles. 

I get into my starting position and dance, with James correcting me if I did something wrong, but it felt really good!

"You did really good," We high-five, "You should really think about taking some professional hip-hop classes."

"You think?" He nods, "Yes! I really want to do more hip-hop."

After my solo rehearsal, I had to wait for Maddie to finish with hers.

"Abby would literally win the award for weirdest person ever." Kenzie says as Mom starts driving home.

"Why?" Maddie asks.

"One day she hates Melanie, then she becomes the favorite," Kenzie says, "Mel messes up on Abby's eyes and yells at her, and then she has a national hip-hop solo, like, what?"

"Heard that you got an off-show nationals solo." Mom says.

"You did?!" I ask excitedly.

"Yeah, it's lyrical and it's called 'Dreamer'." Kenzie tells me, "Kalani also got a solo."

"After all the drama," I say, "That's so cool, it means that the only two that don't have solos at all are JoJo and Kendall."

Maddie nods.

"Real hip-hop sounds fun." She says, "How did it go with James?"

"Amazing." I answer, "I mean, I still have a lot to learn about hip-hop but with what I do know, it's a lot of fun."

We get back home and I go take a shower. While I finished, Mom was making the last calls before the move. Back at Pittsburgh, we were moving to a whole new house, it was exciting, but upsetting. Exciting because I've lived at that house almost my whole life. Upsetting because we won't be there to get the feeling, because we have to be here and once we get there everything will already be there.

After taking the shower, I go to sleep.

•Two Days Until Nationals•

"Kalani, be careful up there." Gianna instructs her as we practice the group dance, "More emotion, please."

We do the ending, that is all of us sitting on the big chair, and Maddie receiving bad news, so she covers her mouth, looks down, and runs off stage.

"Great, Nia, let's start with your solo now," Gianna says, "The rest of you can go take a break."

Kalani, Maddie, Kendall, and Kenzie run out of the studio 'A' while JoJo and I remain on the chair.

"We'll get up sooner or later." JoJo says.

We stay silent.

"More like later." I say, "You know what I want?"

"Ice cream?" JoJo asks.

"Of course." I tell her, "Can we go ask the producers?"

"And they'll let us?" JoJo looks at me.

"Perks of being the producers' favorite." I shrug as we both stand up and start out way outside.

Mission accomplished, it did work out and I ate some Fudge Brownie while JoJo ate some Birthday Cake.

"Ice cream, where?" Kenzie asks as soon as she sees us.

"Umm, somewhere that isn't here," I answer, "Sorry."

"Melanie, let's go over your solo."

"Take it." I give my ice cream to Kenzie, who immediately starts eating it.

I walk into studio 'A' and start with my solo.

"Can I ask something?" I ask as soon as I do the ending pose.

"What is it?" Gianna asks.

"Can I dedicate this solo to Madeline?" I tell her, "It's just, I would really love for her mom to see it, and if I win first place, dedicate it all to her."

"Of course." Gianna says.

~~~

30 minutes later, and we're back with the group dance, and Abby's here.

2 in 1.

Abby seemed to really like the dance so far, but it's only a matter of time until she starts yelling corrections,

"Okay Maddie, let's see what you have," Abby says, "Let's see you emotions?"

"Can I say something?" Mom asks, "Do you remember when you found out the first person you ever knew died? What you did?"

"Yeah." Maddie answers.

"Mrs. Miller."

And again, everything went silent on my world. Again, I start thinking, how do I lose everyone due to cancer. Madeline, Mrs. Miller, my grandma, all because of it.

"It's just hard to think about it." Maddie cries.

"Think about it," Abby tells her, "That's what you have to do, that's what actors do, they go back to some time on their life, that's what makes them cry. Not the lines that they're saying right now and there."

"Umm, Abby," We all look over to Mom, "I have to take Melanie to the Dancing With The Stars rehearsal for tonight's performance now, so we have to leave."

Forgot to tell you that, I have a performance tonight to Sia's 'Elastic Heart', I'm really excited.

"Sure, see you tonight." Abby says and we both leave.

Ya know, as usual, Abby's invited. The Zieglers and Abby.

~~~

"One last time." Joey tells me as I get up the bed on the set.

"If we keep dancing over and over again, I'm gonna be so tired at night, that I won't be able to perform." I tell him and he chuckles.

And another one bites the dust
But why can I not conquer love?
And I might've thought that we were one
Wanted to fight this war without weapons
And I want it and I wanted it bad
But there were so many red flags
Now another one bites the dust
Yeah let's be clear, I trust no one

You did not break me
I'm still fighting for peace

Well I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp
I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard
Yeah I may snap and I move fast
You won't see me fall apart
'Cause I've got an elastic heart

I've got an elastic heart
Yeah, I've got an elastic heart

And I will stay up through the night
Yeah let's be clear, I won't close my eyes
And I know that I can survive
I walked through fire to save my life
And I want it, I want my life so bad
And I'm doing everything I can
Then another one bites the dust
It's hard to lose a chosen one

You did not break me
I'm still fighting for peace

Oh, I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp
I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard
Yeah I may snap and I move fast
You won't see me fall apart
'Cause I've got an elastic heart

Oh, and I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp
I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard
Yeah I may snap and I move fast
You won't see me fall apart
No, 'cause I've got an elastic heart

And I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp
I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard
Yeah I may snap and I move fast
You won't see me fall apart
'Cause I've got an elastic heart

I've got an elastic heart
Yeah, I've got an elastic heart

At night, we were both getting ready, with that I mean hair and makeup, makeup's more for me, when I hear a voice and I quickly recognize it.

"Good luck out there." Sia tells us.

Joey gets really excited, but I manage to keep it cool. After all, we've talked plenty of times already.

"Thank you."

She chuckles and walks off. I look over to Joey with a confused look.

"Really Joey?" I ask.

"Hey, you're the one whose family has invited Sia over for even Christmas." Joey says.

"Sia was the one who invited us." I correct him, "But yeah, I get it."

"5 more minutes!"

"Oooh, let's go." We both get off our seats and start our way.

"It's showtime, again!" We hear Derek say.

We all get in our places.

"Right now we've got something truly incredible, we've got Julianne and Derek dancing to the music of our special guest, she is a 5-time Grammy nominee whose videos have exceeded more than a billion views online. Performing her current single, 'Elastic Heart', Sia."

The music slowly starts and we start dancing.

Once it is over, we all leave, and I'm greeted by Maddie.

"That was amazing!" She exclaims, "Do we go celebrate?"

"Can we?" I ask.

We managed to celebrate a bit, but we really didn't have time.

(Just found out that it actually happened on the 19 instead of 29 but I can't change it, so I'll keep it this way!)

•One Day To Nationals/ ALDC LA Grand Opening•

"I have to tell you, when I came in this morning, I cried."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, this place's amazing."

And now my Mom cries because of buildings, great.

I was looking at a whole banner that had my name and face on. Maddie, Kenzie, and Kalani also had theirs. I have not seen of the others though. I was fascinated, but why does my nose look that big? Probably because it's like triple the headshot size.

"Girls, let's go, game faces on." Abby tells us.

Kalani runs over to me and applies some pink lipstick to my lips.

"All right, let's get this door open."

People come flooding in as soon as Abby opens the door, you know what this means, meet and greet time!

"Who wants to take a class?!" Maddie yells and the crowd cheers, "Come in here! Melanie and Kendall will help!"

"And we're the sacrificial lambs." Kendall says and we laugh.

We walk over to Maddie and soon we start giving a whole crowd a dance class.

~~~

We all go to the trampoline room, where Abby is with the Moms.

"We did it." Mom says as soon as we sit down.

"I did it with a lot of help," Abby says, "Maybe not--Maybe not all of your help but, it is what it is."

"It's amazing." Mom adds, "With all of this, you're gonna be successful. I mean, that's my thought.

"New beginnings," Jill says, "It's all good."

"Yeah." Jess adds.

"Who wants to go eat some candy?" Kalani asks and all of us girls nod.

"Don't eat too much." Kira tells us.

"Fine." Kalani says and we all leave.

The rest of the day was a blast, but there's one more day left, Nationals day.

Do you want at what hour I went to sleep? 12:29 am, yes! Broke my record at LA! On the worst day.

•Nationals•
A

fter getting ready for my solo, Mom calls me. I walk over to her and we both leave the dressing room.

"Stacey." I say, "G-Glad you could make it."

"I'm really excited to see you perform today." Stacey tells me.

"I told her that you were going to dedicate your solo to Madeline." Mom tells me.

"At least, when I met her, she was very energetic, and really positive and happy," I tell them, "That's basically what hip-hop's about."

"Thank you so much." Stacey hugs me, and we all go into the dressing room.

I put the necklace on, the one that I bought with Madeline. Maddie starts practicing her solo as I help Kenzie with her makeup, when Jeannette and Ava suddenly come into the dressing room.

"Sorry," Jeannette starts, "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Well," Abby says, "Only an i**** would open the door when they hear music playing."

"Well, I didn't hear the music or else I wouldn't open the door, so." Jeannette tells Abby.

"We gotta get moving, thanks." Abby tells her.

"Okay, well, we're gonna go ahead and walk to the stage." Jeannette says, "Ava just wanted to say good luck to the girls."

"Okay, we got it." Jess tells her.

All of the moms, along with Abby and Gianna, looks bothered by Jeannette, so I'll be the difference.

"Thanks," I say softly, "Good luck to you too."

They both leave the dressing room and the girls chuckle.

"All right," Abby starts, "So this is it, this is Nationals. You're here, you made it to this point. You have a new video coming out, you have a music career, you have all this excitement coming, but you started as a dancer. So here you are, you need to make the most of this performance today." She looks over to me, "Melanie, you have two movies coming out, one of them comes out next week, people know you as a dancer and an actress, so you gotta combine the two of them today up on that stage." I nod as she looks over to Maddie, "And Maddie, you're the it girl. The it girl can't go onstage and be any less than 'it'. I don't want to get embarrassed and not win, I've now reached this certain level. I want to stay a winner."

We all go backstage, where Maddie, Nia, and I separate. I go over to the mini soloists.

"Melanie." I hear Jess say and I turn around nervously, "I've never apologized to you for what happened earlier this season, I really overreacted and you're a great kid."

"Thanks." I say.

"Good luck." She walks away and I sigh.

Now I've got three things pressuring me, the solo being dedicated to Madeline and having to be extra energetic, the fact that I need to win Nationals, and now Jessalynn's apology, this couldn't probably get any worse.

I look at the soloist that is on stage right now and start marking my solo.

"Melanie Victoria Ziegler."

What now?

I turn around and there it is, Mariella Linderman.

I cross my arms, same as her.

"Well, hello there, Mariella." I snap, "What solo did you steal this time?"

She laughs.

"Hip-Hop?" She looks at my costume, "Do you know that hip-hop never wins? Why aren't you doing a lyrical baby dance? Too scared?"

"I am not, I just want to show you that I can beat you in any style." I argue.

"Too bad, because I'll be the one to beat you today." Mariella argues back.

A girl walks up to Mariella.

"Mia?" I ask in disbelief, "You're here?"

"What? Did you think I couldn't do it?" She snarls.

"No, nothing like that." I tell her, "It's just that you left, and practically disappeared."

"Now I'm here to show Abby what she lost." Mia tells me. "And you too."

"I never did anything to you." I say.

"Mariella told me all the trash you talked about me." Mia says.

"Mariella!" I look over to her, "Why do you keep lying? Isn't it enough that you tried to ruin my whole life once, stole my dance, and made hate pages about me on every single social media?"

"I just want to see you crying back home in Pittsburgh when everything is ruined for you." Mariella snaps, "Because everyone will find out just how irrelevant you are."

I bit my lip and another girl walks up.

I recognize her . . . No way, she can't be . . .

"Scarlett?"