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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Last week, I don't even want to get started on last week if I'm honest with you all. Pyramid. On the bottom, Mackenzie. Second in the solos? I taught you to be a winner, not a second place getter. Nia, Kendall shone in that duet. You? Next time it will be a solo, and you won't be the one getting it." Miss Abby raises her eyebrows as Nia nods understandingly, which I don't get. Kendall got all this extra practise from Jill sneaking around and Nia's getting the blame?
"Paige, I have you next. What else is there to really say? You don't stand out in the group, you're constantly in the back row. In season 1, you had potential. I've waited nearly three years for you to mature and become a star. Why am I still waiting? Alejandro, I've got you here. You're a better dancer than pretty much everyone here, except maybe my stars, so why are you on the bottom? This is unacceptable and in my opinion, you can blame it on your father. Antonio, I need you to step it up." Miss Abby reveals the next headshot, the first of the middle row.
"Maddie, you're here. You may have won with the duet, but really your twin carried you on her back. You're a superstar, you're a winner, so step up your game. Everyone wants to be you and in your position, so fight for it. Now, Kendall. You worked hard last week in the duet, there was barely a moment when I didn't see you rehearsing the duet with Gia or in the hallways or even the car park. I want this work ethic more."
I can see Holly rolling her eyes and straining not to snap at Abby and I get that. Poor Nia's on the bottom while Kendall is third on the pyramid? The biass is pretty clear.
"Next, last week's star, McKinna. You won with the solo, you won with the duet and you absolutely shone in the group dance. You have two National titles under your belt, but I don't feel like I can trust you. You forgot the ballet routine and you missed boot camp. I'm going to need more proof. And on top of the pyramid, Brooke, you were stunning in the group routine and you looked amazing. You were a leader and I could see the old Brooke was back with her passion for dance."
"This week we have a duet, three solos and the group dance. Our soloists are Maddie, Kendall and Brooke. Maddie and Kendall you both have contemporary routines respectively titled 'Uphill Battle' and 'Secrets and Lies'. Brooke, your routine is a acro-lyrical piece named 'Arm Yourself'. For the duet, I want an easy win, so I decided on," Miss Abby pauses.
There are four hopeful looks in the room, from Nia, Paige, Chloe and Alejandro. All three of them really have something to prove to Miss Abby. I'm happy for a break from the spotlight and Kenz is actually going to a three day hip hop/acrobatic masterclass with some of the older and younger kinds.
"Alejandro and McKinna, your duet is called 'Goodnight Saigon'. It is an emotional lyrical piece about a wife begging her husband to not go back to war. There will be a lot of turns and some ballet parts, so the two of you fit it perfectly. Lastly, the group dance is a hip hop routine called 'Don't Ask, Just Tell'."
On one hand, I'm thrilled that I've got a duet with Jandro! I love dancing with him. On the other, Chloe, Nia and Paige all really deserved to get the duet, and I wish Miss Abby would've given them a trio, but she didn't and I can't do anything about it.
She dismisses us all, bar Kendall, because she's working with the soloists today only. We all hop into the Dancer's Den and Maddie and Brooke excitedly discuss their solos, while Chloe, Paige and Nia fall into discussion quietly, leaving Jandro and I to talk amongst oureselves.
"It's cool we have a duet." Jandro smiles at me and I nod my head, but the overwhelming feeling of guilt is over me. I don't know why, I don't pick the dances, I know the reason we've got a duet is probably because the producers know the audience loves it when Jandro and I get a duet but I just feel bad for Paige and Nia and Chloe.
"Yeah, though it'll be weird playing a wife and husband. I mean we are only ten and twelve." I say, my eyebrows raised as I smile.
"Miss Abby's just predicting the future!" Maddie yells from across the room and I send her a death glare as everyone starts laughing their heads off.
"I've seen the way you look at Nick Dobbs." I whisper to her, making her blush a lot.
"Kinna!" she squeals and suddenly she's chasing me while everyone laughs.
-Two Days to Competition-
Today, mom is taking Kenzie to the hospital because she's hurt her foot a lot and can't dance, but she's going to drop us off at the studio because we have the duet practise and group practise today.
"Miss Abby's going to be so mad when she finds out Kenzie can't dance." Maddie comments. "Or will she be more mad that you aren't there watching? Who wants to place bets?"
"Five bucks that over the next two to three weeks she'll rip into both mom and Kenz." I shake my twin's hand as mom shakes her head dissaprovingly while Mackenzie laughs.
"Shush, you two, Abby has been very good to you and you need to be appreciative." mom scolds us as we hide our giggles.
Eventually, we arrive and mom drops us off, taking our little sister off to the hospital. I follow Maddog inside and get into the special shoes (they make our feet look really elegant or something according to Miss Abby, but no matter what she says I always feel so weird that she's looking at our feet) that I basically always have to wear.
"Alejandro, McKinna, we'll work on the duet first I think." Miss Abby tells us, so Jandro and I follow her, leaving the rest of the girls behind in the Dancer's Den. I'm super excited for this duet, but I still feel a little guilty because I always get duets with everyone and Chloe, Nia and Paige don't have anything this weekend.
It is a really beautiful duet though. The style is a classic lyrical and the storyline is all about a wife and husband fighting because he was injured in battle, came back home but is going back and the wife doesn't want to lose him.
Best of all, there is this super cool part at the end Miss Abby keeps hinting about, but she hasn't told us and I'm like dying to know.
"The last part of the choreography, is you two hug and hold hands but Alejandro will break it and walk away, looking back once, then McKinna, you'll fall to your knees and reach for him before falling to the floor, essentially kind of dying from heartbreak."
Honestly, I'd say that is more depressing than cool but anything to dance! We rehearse the duet about three more times, only slightly struggling with our signature three-split lift and a really hard turn sequence. Turns are normally pretty easy for both of us, but Miss Abby has us doing them really close to each other, so one, I'm paranoid about accidentally hitting Jandro and two, we then have to do a side grande battement opposite to each other, which is really hard when you're dizzy from turning... oops, I'm ranting.
McKinna, Melissa's Daughter "I'm in love with the duet, even though I feel so bad because Chloe, Nia and Paige only have the group dance this weekend and Chloe is suspended. Also, Miss Abby is being really weird about the group dance and I'm really craving some chocolate, anyone have any?" I suddenly lose track of my thought, a slightly common occurence when I'm not dancing.
