McKinna Maryen Ziegler had lived in the shadows for most of her life, letting her sister have the spotlight. Until an opportunity for a chance to be on a reality TV show sent her into a spiral of fame, friendship and favoritism.
People can only be t...
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"Let's talk about Woodbridge, Virginia. You were a tenth-of-a-point loser. It's time to cowboy up here. The Abby Lee Dance Company is somebody to beat. They're not thrilled that they won, they're thrilled that they beat you. You need to challenge yourselves more. If your leg's here," Miss Abby puts her hand at a height, "find a girl in class whose leg is here," she raises it further, "and go and stand next to her at the bar. Fight for it. That's how you get better. You have to want to win more than I want it for you. Now, I want to talk about this week, we will be traveling to Ohio."
Everybody made a unified groan at the thought of the Crabby Apples. Of course Miss Abby would set us up against them again.
"We may see Kendall and we might see Vivi-Anne." we all rolled our eyes. Of course, the two ex-members of our team. "All I know is that the Abby Lee Dance Company will be so hot that they are gonna become apple pie and your group is goona be like the 'a la mode' of dance. The name of the dance is 'Land Unforgiven'. It's about territory. We are going into Cathy's territory. We're gonna stick the stake right into that beef jerky. Everybody standing before me is in the group dance this week, but we are going to take a leaf out of Cathy's book. Just like the Wicked Witch of the West. She always brings older dancers in her routines. Let's fight fire with fire." Miss Abby begins pyramid.
"Brooke, you're still on probation. Next, we have Mackenzie. How did you get down there, what happened?" Kenzie looks down. "How many times did I tell you to spit your gum out?"
"So that is already nine times too many." Miss Abby says and I squeeze my little sister's hands. She proceeds to the top, where there are two headshots. "McKinna and Maddie, you both won titles last competition and McKinna, you shone in the duet. That's why you are both on top." McKinna Maddie Chloe Paige Nia Mackenzie Brooke Kelly, Paige and Brooke's Mom "Of course both the Ziegler twins are on top, because both of them are so perfect. Chloe was in the duet, why not make it three on the top? Paige was amazing in the group routine and Brooke is the eldest, so why are neither of them higher."
"Paige, you are no longer on probation. You have a solo, it's 'Tounge Twister', you know this routine, I expect you to win. Chloe, you also have a solo, called 'Angry Bird', it's contemporary, fiery and sassy. I also expect you to win. You will be good competition for each other. The last solo goes to McKinna, it is jazz, it is called 'One Bad Apple'. You haven't had a jazz solo since the start of the season, so this will be a challenge for you."
I'm really happy for Paige, to get her solo and be off probation, and I'm excited for Chloe, too, because contemporary is one of her best solo type. I am worried for me though, because I haven't done a jazz routine and despite jazz being one of my strongest styles, both Paige and Chloe both have very comfortable styles for their routines. But I am excited for the group dance, because I feel like we can win, especially with the elder girls, Auriel, Katherine and Nina, who we all know really well.
"McKinna, I want to work with you first on your solo, then we will do the group and the other solos. Girls, go to Studio C and warm up." Miss Abby tells the other girls and I'm left alone in the large studio. "Alright, Kinna. This is jazz, which is good because jazz is one of your best styles. I think you can beat Chloe, Paige, Justice and Kendall easily, but to do so, you're gonna have to crunch those Apples to their rotten core. Got it?" I nod my head. McKinna, Melissa's Daughter "Who says 'crunch those Apples to their rotten core'?" I laugh.
