Jeté to Stardom

14. No One Like's A Bully

Holding hands with Tata, Lux skips into the salon. It's Sunday afternoon, and those are spent with Tata and Nova while her Mama spent time with her brothers.

"Hello, welcome to Girl Girl-- hi Luxie, Novie. You guys are here for your appointment."

"Yes, we are," Tata nods.

"This way," the attendant led them to the two tables in the back of the room. "Pink, right? Or are we doing something special today?"

"No, just pink," Lux sighs, eyes staring dreamily at the glitter blue nail polish.

"Of course. I'll be right back. Please get settled."

Lux takes the table to the right while Nova takes the right table. Her Tata pulls up a chair and sits in between them.

"How was this week?" he asks them.

"We lost," Nova says.

"Your Mama said you won the group."

"Yeah, but Chloe beat our solos," Lux complains. "I'm happy Chloe won, but I lost two times now."

"But you got second place," Nova points out. "I got third."

"You won the first week. I got third then."

"Oh yeah," she chuckles. "It still doesn't feel good."

"No, it doesn't."

"Winning isn't everything, you two," their Tata says. "You just have to try harder next time."

"Yeah," Lux agrees readily. If Abby gave her a solo this week, she would do her very best to win.
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"Congratulations on another victorious weekend," Abby claps.

Smiling slightly, Paloma claps along with everybody else. It always felt good to beat the Candy Apples.

"You won. However, I see things that I need to fix. Paige, you were okay in the group, but you know that you messed up that leap downstage. Kendall, on the grand jete, you did it crossing to the right, so we couldn't see if the hips were inline or not. Nia, you did a great job in the group dance. You did not pull my eyes negatively. But I want you to start pulling my eyes positively.

"This week, we are attending Hollywood Vibe. Those judges and the directors and everybody that runs Hollywood Vibe they are from L.A. or they are from New York City. They are looking for the next big thing. The next star. The next little kid to be in their video or their commercial. So you need to be on your 'A' game."

Paloma shook her head. Abby must forget how old the girls are because she seemed to find it okay to put so much pressure on them as if they were teenagers.

"On to the pyramid," Abby places her hand on the very last picture. "I'm not even going to discuss this. I'm moving on to Paige. You're gonna have to work back up that ladder. Next, I have Nia. You've been working very hard, but you still have to fix those technical issues. Kendall. Kendall, you're still on probation. Mom, it's a long process."

Paloma rolls her eyes as Jill groaned. It's her fourth week on the team; she should just be happy that Kendall isn't the last on the pyramid anymore.

"Mackenzie. You were the overall high score winner of the primary age division. You proved yourself with the group Apples, and you proved your solo. Maddie. Maddie, I thought you did a great job in the group and the solo; oh well, keep working. You need something to work for. Nova. New turn. You were shaky. Lux, I thought you were outstanding. But the judges didn't. And on top of the pyramid this week Chloe. You did something out there. You made your mother cry; she was brawling. Don't make me cry; make me smile."