Showstopper (8 page)

Scarlett's face lit up. “Thanks! What is it?”

“It's a modern routine called ‘Superstition,'” Toni replied. “You'll dance barefoot.”

“Modern?” Scarlett whispered. “I'm not that great at modern.”

“Not being great has never stopped you before,” Liberty said, smirking. “Why should it stop you now?”

Toni mulled over the duet with Rochelle and Anya. “This is a very complicated Broadway routine with real magic tricks in it,” she said, facing Anya. “But I think you're ready for it. Anya, how do
you feel about pairing with Rochelle for ‘Magic to Do'?”

“Um,” Anya hesitated. “Miss Toni, I think I need to tell you something . . .”

Rochelle elbowed her. “Not now!” she whispered. “This is an awesome duet and we get to do it together.”

Toni raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Anya. What is it?”

“I, um,” Anya said, twirling a strand of her ponytail nervously. “I really like your lipstick. It's so pretty. What do you call that color?”

Toni looked surprised. “My lipstick? It's red,” she said. “And if we're done chatting about cosmetics, can we get back to the specifics of our group dance number?”

Anya nodded. “Sure. Thanks.”

Toni rolled out a platform consisting of three steps on all sides and placed it in the center of the studio floor.

“Think of a deck of cards being shuffled,” she instructed her pupils. “Gracie, you are front and center at the top. Rochelle, you stand in
front of her; Bria behind her, and Liberty and Scarlett on either side. Anya, the ace starts offstage in the wings.” She pointed to the right side of the studio.

The girls took their formation. “Now duck down like this,” she said, tucking Rochelle's head into her chest. “Gracie, you do a straddle jump over her shoulders like you're playing leapfrog.”

Gracie obeyed and landed a few feet in front of Rock on the floor. “The rest of you, stretch your arms up and to the sides. Then touch the ground and come up into a handstand.”

Anya waited patiently as Toni perfected each girl's balance and posture. Then Toni motioned for her. “Anya,
chaînés
,” she commanded. Anya spun gracefully until she reached the center of the studio.

Toni chewed on her pencil eraser. “Not bad. Not bad. The spacing is off, but I think it'll work. The question is, is it strong enough to win?” She went back to scribbling notes on her clipboard.

“My mom heard that Justine is hiring some big-time guest choreographer from Hollywood for the Smooth Moves competition,” Liberty reported. “The guy's unbeatable.”

“When you say unbeatable . . . ,” Bria asked.

“I mean he has
never
choreographed a dance that did not take home first place,” Liberty replied. “Ever.”

Rochelle groaned. “Thanks for the news flash, Liberty. That makes us all feel great.”

“I'm just saying what I heard,” Liberty defended herself. “I could be wrong—but then again, I'm
never
wrong.”

Miss Toni didn't like the sound of that. “We'll just have to beat the unbeatable then,” she said.

“How do we do that?” Gracie asked.

Toni crossed her arms over her chest and looked determined. “With no distractions. Each and every one of us must be focused and at the top of her game. Is that clear?” All heads nodded. “I'll be right back,” she said, “I think
I'm going to need to break out the trampoline . . .”

When their teacher was out of the studio, Rochelle breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew! It's a good thing you didn't tell her, Anya. Toni is really focused on taking Justine down. You heard what she said: no distractions. You can't tell her now.”

“Tell her what?” Gracie interjected.

“Nothing,” Anya insisted. “It's a secret.”

Gracie's eyes got big. “A secret? What kind of a secret?”

“Uh-oh. Now you did it,” Rochelle said. “Never say the word ‘secret' around Gracie.”

“Hey! I'm a good secret keeper!” Gracie protested. “Aren't I, Scoot?”

Scarlett shrugged. “It depends. If the secret is something
you
want to keep—like when you hid my favorite pair of leg warmers—then yes, you're really good at it.”

“See?” Gracie said. “I didn't even tell you that Miss Toni is helping me with my costume. Oops!”

“I can't tell you my secret, Gracie,” Anya replied. “Not now.”

Scarlett looked worried. “Are you okay, Anya? Something isn't wrong, is it?”

Anya didn't know what to say. She hated lying to her friends.

Gracie pouted. “Well, when can you tell us?”

Anya looked to Rochelle for help. “I don't know.”

“She can tell us all after Smooth Moves is over,” Rochelle suggested. She squeezed Anya's hand. “Right now, we have some Feet to beat.”

Viva Las Vegas

The Luxe Hotel was one of the fanciest and flashiest on the Vegas strip—and where Liberty's mother, Jane, had insisted her daughter and the rest of the Divas stay during the Smooth Moves competition.

“It's fabulous! Didn't I tell you?” Liberty asked as they climbed out of their taxis from the airport to check in. “Mom always stays here when she's choreographing one of Britney's shows.”

“It's really bright,” Bria said, shielding her eyes from the flashing multicolored lights surrounding the lobby entrance. “And ginormous.”

“It's obnoxious if you ask me,” Rochelle said.

“Well, no one did,” Liberty tossed back. “It was very nice of Mommy to make sure we all had suites with king-size beds and Jacuzzis. Did I tell you that Selena Gomez stayed in my room last weekend?”

Toni held up her hand before the argument could escalate. “It was very kind of Jane to arrange for our hotel stay,” she said. “And I'm sure the rooms are lovely. But we're not going to be spending any time in them today. We need to get to the convention center to rehearse.”

Liberty made a “boo-hoo” face. “Aww! I was really looking forward to lying around the pool and soaking in the hot tub. Mommy arranged for a private cabana and everything!”

“The pool can wait,” Toni insisted. “Unless you all feel like losing tomorrow.”

Rochelle shook her head. “Not a chance. Whatever City Feet is bringing, we can top it.”

Toni sighed and handed her luggage to the bellhop. “Let's hope so. You never know what tricks Justine has up her sleeve.”

It was tough dragging the girls out of their posh suites, but they all knew there was little time to waste. When they got to the Las Vegas Convention Center, it was already packed with dance teams pouring in from all over the country.

“Stay here,” Toni instructed them. “I'm going to pick up our paperwork and badges. And remember: no talking to the competition.” She tapped Gracie on the head. “That means you. We wouldn't want to give anything away.”

Gracie frowned. “Why does everyone think I can't keep a secret?”

“Because you can't,” Scarlett reminded her. “You have loose lips. Remember when we got Mom those new headphones for her birthday and you spilled the beans a week early?”

“You didn't say it was a secret,” Gracie insisted. “You just said ‘Keep it under wraps.' So I wrapped the headphones and gave them to her.”

Rochelle chuckled. “That's classic!”

Bria hushed them all. “Don't look now, but we're being scoped out. They look pretty fierce.” She motioned to a group of boys wearing tuxedo jackets with their team name RAZZMATAZZ written on the back in gold sequins.

“As if!” Liberty replied. “They have no taste in fashion, so they can't possibly be a threat to us.”

“What about them?” Anya pointed to a group of six girls in pink hoodies that read PINK LADIES ROCK.

“Boring!” Liberty said, yawning. “Honestly, I don't see one dance team here that stands a chance of touching us.”

But she spoke too soon. Suddenly, the City Feet team was standing right behind them.

“Oh, look! It's the Dance Duds!” Regan said, laughing. “Ooh, I'm scared! NOT!”

“Wow, does someone smell LOSER in the air?” Addison asked.

Rochelle gritted her teeth. “And look who we have here! Justine and her four dwarfs: Ugly, Nerdy, Dumpy, and Cranky Pants.”

“Which one am I?” Mandy piped up. “I wanna be Cranky Pants—that sounds like the best one.”

Liberty rolled her eyes. “If you're talking about the best, then clearly you mean our team—not yours.”

Scarlett stepped between them. “Guys, please! Cool it! Toni said no talking to the competition.”

“Yeah! I'm not allowed to tell you our secrets,” Gracie said, pointing a finger in Mandy's face.

“What secrets?” Mandy asked. “I bet our secrets are better than yours!”

Phoebe put a hand over Mandy's mouth, and Scarlett clamped her hand over Gracie's. “Zip the lip!” she warned her little sister. “Do you want Toni to kill us?”

Gracie shook her head. “Uh-uh.” She turned to face the Feet. “I'm not telling you anything about my joker costume. So there!”

“Joker costume? Are you doing some lame Batman dance?” Addison asked. “Who's the Penguin? Your big sis, Scoot?”

“Hah! You're not even close!” Gracie said, just as Scarlett and Rochelle dragged her away.

“Gracie, you almost gave it away!” Anya exclaimed. “This is why we can't let you anywhere near our competition.”

Scarlett sighed. “Like I said. Loose lips.”

“Well, maybe they'll think we're doing a superheroes dance,” Bria suggested. “With comic book villains.”

“Maybe we should let them think that,” Rochelle said, raising a brow. “I mean, if they want to believe it, we can't stop them, right?”

Liberty's eyes lit up. “You mean feed them false info?” she asked. “I'm liking this already!
Can't you just see Justine switching their routine last minute to try and ruin ours?”

Anya considered. “I don't think it's right to lie, but Gracie did kind of tip our hand.”

“Exactly!” Liberty said. “We're just covering our tracks. Toni would totally approve of a little white lie to protect ourselves.”

“I don't know about that,” Scarlett hesitated. “But I guess we don't have much of a choice, do we?”

Liberty took Gracie by the shoulders. “Okay, we need you to blab a little secret to Mandy.”

Gracie looked confused. “But my lips are zipped, remember?”

“Unzip 'em!” Liberty insisted. “This is what you tell her: you're the Joker, Scarlett's the Penguin, and I'm Batgirl.”

“How come you always get the biggest role?” Rochelle asked. “Tell her
I'm
Batgirl, Liberty is Robin, and Anya is the Penguin.”

Bria raised her hand. “What am I? Chopped liver? I wanna be Batgirl!”

“It's not like this is for real!” Rochelle reminded her.

“Huh? I don't get it,” Gracie said. “Why am I telling Mandy this?”