Jeté to Stardom

34. Lair Lair Dance Mom on Fire!

"Come on, ladies, let's go."

Stepping into the studio the next day, Nova slides into the spot between Maddie and Nova.

"Alight. We went to Youngstown, Ohio, to In10sity dance; we won. We won. We should have won," just like the competition, Abby didn't look too happy about that. "You're national champions. Let's move on to the pyramid. I have Chloe."

Nova chews inside her cheeks, glancing wearily between Abby and Christi. I hope Abby doesn't say Chloe was horrible again. I don't want an argument the first day.

"Chloe, remembering your choreography, that is what you need to work on," Abby criticizes. "Write it down. Maybe if you write it out, it will sink in. Try that."

That was a lot nicer than I thought she was going to be.

"Next, Nia. Nia, you don't apply the corrections. That's what you need to do," Abby says. "Try writing them down. Next, Mackenzie. Mackenzie, when I took you out of the group, I gave you this cute little part to do, and thank goodness it was humorous because had they started timing our number, we would've been disqualified. And the Abby Lee Dance Company is not gonna get disqualified."

Frowning, Abby shakes her head. "You will not be in the group numbers going forward. Not until it's appropriate for you. Understood?"

Nova's heart sinks for Mackenzie. Poor Kenzie. It's not even her fault. We didn't get to practice with the red carpet. Of course, she's going to mess up.

"And Paige. You got the featured part. You had the big jump, the tilt, whap. You could have made that fabulous, but you didn't do that. You were given an opportunity, and instead of running with it, it was mediocre. Next Maddie. You were good. I notice you have the Sophia hard."

Turning to Maddie, Nova notices the bun. Oh yeah, Maddie usually wears a ponytail.

"How about we have the Sophia energy? The Sophia turns. And not worry about the hairdo. Next Kendall. You were in the front; you were given a correction a hundred times. Did you keep up with Sophia? I don't know.

"Next Lux. You're more comfortable showing yourself off in a jazz routine now, and you looked like a star on stage. Next, we have Nova. Your energy levels the whole routine even with the drama..." here Abby side-eyes the moms. "...was really high.

"And on the top of the pyramid is Sophia. Kind of a given. She won the high score overall nine- to 11-year-old, and she won the entire competition. She was the high score of the day.

"This weekend, we will be traveling to Greensboro, North Carolina. We will be attending Dance Troupe Challenge."

"Since Brooke's not on the pyramid, does that mean she's not going this weekend?" Kelly wonders.

"Well," Abby turns to Brooke. "I want to know, what happened over the weekend?"

"Well, Friday I was here," Brooke replies.

"Right," Abby nods.

"Then I went home. And then on Saturday, I went to my friend's house. And Sunday, I worked on a project all day."

"So you didn't come to rehearsal Sunday?" Brooke shakes her head. "You're 14. You've been taking ballet class since you were six and seven years old."

"But... Abby, if she's gonna do that, like, she spent the entire week learning the number with this group. Why wouldn't she just go away with us and compete the number?" Kelly argues.

Please don't start screaming. Nova closes her eyes. It's a mix of emotions for her. She's happy that the Hylands are back, but she doesn't think it's a good thing.