Jeté to Stardom

13. Brooke's Turning Point

Nova hums, her eyes going from the canvas in front of her to the window, where she could see Lux outside in their Mama's garden. Their homeschool teacher was outside with her in front of the window, so she also had an eye on Nova.

One of her favorite parts about homeschool was getting to choose what they want to do for activities.

And while Lux decided she wanted to draw, Nova went messier with painting. And it turns out she's pretty good at it.

Currently, she's painting her Mama's garden.

"I'm home!"

Nova grins. "Welcome home, Dom! Come see what I painted!"

"What'd you do?" Dom grins, coming over to her. He pats her head when he gets a look at her painting. "Nice. That's Luxie, isn't it."

"Hmm, hmm," Nova grins happily, glad that he recognized her.

"Look at you so talented. Dance and now painting. Where's Lux? "

She points outside.

"Okay," he waves at their homeschool teacher before slumping down on the couch in front of Nova. "I have so much homework."

She watches him take out his laptop before returning to her painting. Dominic is a senior now, and since he has fewer classes, he gets out of school early.

"Can I paint you?" Nova asks him.

"Of course," he smiles at her. "Just make sure you get all my handsomeness."

She giggles. "I'll try."

She lifts up her canvas and leans across her stool with a plan in mind before getting a new one. With a project in mind, she gets to work.

A few minutes later, she glances at the clock. Only three more hours till dance.

Even though she's homeschooled now, she still counts down the minutes until dance. Tata thinks it's hilarious.

A few hours later, the countdown is over, and she's in the den waiting for Abby to call them in.

"Girls, come on! Let's go!" Abby yells as the girls and moms walk in. "Let's have a big round of applause. I think we made applesauce, don't you?"

Nova giggles at the horrible joke, giddy over the fact that they had beaten Cathy, and in doing so, beat a couple of 14 and 15-year-olds. It felt good.

"Now the group won. They won the overall. But you know what? That was one competition," Abby moves on. "For this week, we are going to Starbound in New Jersey. When we walk in, you need to be those National Champions.

"All right. On the bottom... Nia. Simply because of the mistake in the choreography and that dance is easy. It's simple. Next, we have Kendall. You need to learn to read music, and you need to learn to hear music," Abby looks over at Jill. "I'm gonna keep her on probation. Until I hand her that jacket, she's still proving herself.

"Paige. I've seen you do the press better. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt; I thought you did an excellent job. Next, Mackenzie, this week, you are not in the group. You are going to do a solo. All right? Good girl. Next, I have Maddie. I want you to stop resting on your laurels; I want you to keep improving for the next twenty years. Not for one competition. Do you understand?"

Maddie nods. "Mm-hmm."

"So you impress them. I want you to impress me. Okay, next... I have Chloe. Chloe, you didn't do a solo last week, and you didn't have a duet. You were great in the group. People recognize you from the video, but I want them to recognize you for your dancing. Understood?