"Have you guys seen Christi, is she out there? Is she coming?" Jill asks as we all stretch in the Dancer's Den.

"I think she's mad at me 'cause I said something about the hat." Kelly tells Jill.

Mommy comes inside and sits beside Jill.

"Which is crazy." Jill comments.

"It is." Holly adds and chuckles.

We all walk into studio A.

"All right. Last week, you walked in here and you were losers. Fourth place. Today you're winners. You walk in here like, 'Whoo-hoo, we won!' and that's all fun and dandy but, let's be realistic. You won by a tenth of a point. I don't want the Abby Lee Dance Company to be just one tenth of a point." Miss Abby tells us.

Kendall

Melanie   Maddie   Nia

Paige   Mackenzie   Chloe

Chloe's headshot had written Suspended on bold, black letters. Paige was visibly upset, what about their twin power? There can't be twin power with only one of them. 

"This weekend, we are going to Star Power International Talent Competition in Detroit, Michigan." Miss Abby announces, "Is there a studio from Ohio going all the way to Detroit? Yeah, there is. Cathy is coming back for you. We have a group routine. Everybody's in it. Kendall, you will be doing a solo again this weekend. Paige, I'm going to give you a duet with Nia. Now, last week, you thought your good wasn't good enough. This is your chance. Don't blow it. I have one more routine left. Maddie, you will be doing a solo this week. Don't be so elated. It's like a default. Like, by process of elimination. I need somebody that's going to win! You bet that that boys group, one of those boys are doing to be doing a solo."

After pyramid, we go back to the Dancer's Den. Paige and Nia started their duet rehearsal. I didn't know where neither Kendall or Kenzie were, Maddie was listening to some music, and Brooke was writing something for school.

"Psst" I hear someone say and I look over to the door, it was Kenzie, "Melanie, come on!"

We go to studio B and I notice a lot of makeup stuff. Kenzie locks the door.

"One of your makeup tutorials?" I ask as I sit down on the floor.

"Yeah." Kenzie answers, "But right now I need someone to do the makeup on."

She starts recording and talking as she does my makeup. Once she finishes, it looks really good! When she finishes recording, she takes all of the makeup off. Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. I help her put all the stuff on her dance bag and open the door..

"It's time to go home." Mommy tells us and we all leave.

•Two Days To Competition•

"One, two, three, a-four, a-five, six, seven, eight, A-one. " Gia counts as we practice.

"Don't let your feet fly around." Miss Abby tells us.

The music was really boring to be honest. On one of the drops I do it way too hard and I fall, hitting my head.

"Are you okay?" Kenzie asks.

"Stop everything." Everyone stops dancing, "Melanie, you okay?"

"I'm okay." I lie as I stand up, putting a hand on my head.

Who am I kidding? It hurts a lot.

"Okay, let's go again from top." Miss Abby says and we start again. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight."

The hit was too hard. My head hurts.

I run out on the middle of it. I get to the Dancer's Den and sit down. Everything's moving. I see Mommy as she enters and kneels down on front of me.

"I feel dizzy." I start crying from the pain.

"Do I have to take you to the ER?" Mommy asks.

"I don't know." I tell her.

"Melissa, take Melanie to the ER to check it out and if everything's okay you come back later." Miss Abby enters the Dancer's Den, "We can use the extra time Maddie and Mackenzie are here for their privates."

She leaves and I put my street clothes over my dance clothes. The two of us start our way to the car and leave.

~~~

Once we were back, all of the cars were still there, maybe we're early than we expected?

"Are you sure you can dance, Mel?" Mommy asks as the two of us walk inside.

"I'm sure." I assure her, "Hopefully Miss Abby won't be mad."

"Why would she?" Mommy looks at me confused.

"I don't know, she got mad over a hat." I tell her and she laughs, "She could get mad over anything at this point."

I go to the Dancer's Den and take my street clothes off. I enter studio A and everyone stops dancing.

"What did the doctor say?" Miss Abby asks.

"He said that there was nothing wrong." I tell her, "But that I should rest my hear a little bit."

"All right." She says and another girl comes over, "Melanie, this is Sophia, she has danced here a couple of times and she and her mom arrived like 10 minutes ago."

I smile at Sophia and go back to my position.

•One Day To Competition•

At school the next day, most of the first graders and some second graders were playing tag. I was one of the first graders.

"Okay so, Terence is!" A girl in my class, Martha says and runs away.

We all run away and I run into Maddie, who was holding some books.

"How are you?" Maddie asks.

"Good." I answer as I catch my breath, "What are you doing?"

"I just need to give these books to some kids, the teacher sent me to do this." Maddie answers and notices my breathing,  "Remember not to get too tired, because of dance after school."

"I know." I run away, "Bye!"

I find Gabrielle and Marine, another two girls of my class.

"He's near." Marine tells us.

We see him and start running, he soon notices and runs after us. I run as hard as I can as he catches Gabrielle. When she's about to touch me, the bell rings. So early? She looks at me confused at me and we stay there. It suddenly hits us that the bell was for the kindergarteners, who go back to class earlier. I run away and she follows me.

"Look out!" I yell as I run between Kenzie and her friends.

Gabrielle speeds up and touches me.

"Tag!" She yells and runs away.

About 10 minutes later, the bell rings, and I end up being tag for the rest of the time.

~~~

Back at the studio, Brooke, Kenzie, Maddie, and I were all in the dressing room as Nia and Paige were rehearsing their duet.

"Did Gabrielle catch you?" Kenzie asks.

"Who's Gabrielle?" Brooke looks over to us.

"A friend from school." I tell her and look over to Kenzie, "And yes, she did, after that I couldn't catch anybody though."

Kenzie starts stretching and I sit down beside Maddie, that is putting her hair into a bun. Kendall comes in crying and ignores us. Maddie and Nia try to calm her down as Paige, Brooke, Kenzie, and I talk about random things. After a while, we go inside and rehearse the group dance. We had the hats on, and I gotta say it, they're really comfy. 

"Maddie, move out. Move out. Now listen to me. Sophia will be doing a solo." Miss Abby says when we finish, "They don't know you, they haven't seen you. Cathy doesn't know anything about you, but I only entered two solos. So Maddie or Kendall might not be dong a solo."

What if she doesn't give Sophia a solo? You know, honestly, I really wanna see her dance.

"You're all dismissed for the night." Miss Abby tells us and we all go back to the Dancer's Den.

I put my jacket on and start my way to the car.

"Wait for me!" Kenzie runs up to me and we get in the car.

•Competition Day•

"Everything is serious, okay?" Paige tells us and we all nod, "No smiles."

"Good luck, ladies. Have fun." Someone backstage tells us.

"All right, judges, up next, let me introduce number 88. Please give it up for 'Avalanche'." The announcer tells us and we all go on stage.

Now I just have to remember not to fall. We start dancing two the music and I just let loose. On the middle of the routine, Kenzie and I have to run out, and when we did it was funny. 

~~~

Maddie placed first and the group placed third. Kendall didn't place today. At least I didn't fall, because that would have been a chaos. 

I really, really wanted the group number to win first place, but well, this just isn't our day.