Two to Tango (10 page)

“They're just waiting for me to mess up,” she told Rochelle.

Rochelle knew she wasn't as good at pep talks as Scarlett, but she did her best. “You won't mess up. You're an amazing dancer,” she told Anya. “We're so lucky to have you on our team.”

Anya took a deep breath. “You mean that? Because I could totally understand if you guys didn't want me. I was with the enemy once, after
all. And Mandy, Regan, and Addison are pretty mean to you.”

“At first, we didn't want you,” Rochelle admitted. “But you've been a real team player. You saved our group dance.”

Anya smiled. “Thanks, Rock.”

Rochelle adjusted the veil one last time to make sure it was draped down Anya's back. “Now go out there and show them what Divas are made of.”

Anya's classical routine was mesmerizing.

“I don't even know what this ballet is about and this dance is making me cry,” Bria whispered. “Anya just pours her heart into it.”

Rochelle nodded. She watched as Anya stretched her arms to the heavens and twirled effortlessly across the stage
en pointe
. Her face showed pain and anguish—and also hope and faith. She ended—as Rochelle had directed—by picking up the vase and bowing deeply before the audience.

The crowd gave her a standing ovation. Rochelle saw that Toni sat stubbornly in her seat, refusing to rise.

“What's up with that?” Bria asked. “Toni looks mad. Did Anya do something wrong?”

Rochelle gulped. “I think I did. I changed a few details of her dance.”

“Rock, you didn't!” Scarlett exclaimed. “You know how much that freaks Toni out!”

“It was for her own good. It didn't make any sense!”

Scarlett shook her head. “It doesn't matter. Never mess with Miss Toni's choreography. No wonder there's steam coming out of her ears.”

Rochelle hoped that Hayden's routine would take her teacher's mind off her edited version of Anya's dance. He glided across the stage, smooth as silk, and twirled around the streetlamp before letting go of his umbrella. It floated up, up, up over his head. At least something worked! Then she noticed the umbrella hovering right in front of Hayden's face. The heavy curved handle smacked
him several times in the head as he did his
pirouettes
.

“Uh-oh,” Scarlett said, covering her eyes. “I hope he doesn't get a concussion.”

“He better not!” Liberty warned Rochelle. “We have our duet coming up.”

At the end of the routine, after beating Hayden up, the umbrella delicately drifted back down to earth.

“I'm so sorry!” Rochelle said, rushing to apologize. “I don't know what happened!”

“I've never had a rumble with an umbrella,” he said, rubbing his forehead. He had a huge goose egg that was already turning black and blue. “It packs quite a punch!”

“Here you go,” Liberty said sweetly, handing him an ice pack.

Rochelle growled. What else could go wrong today?

Rochelle braced herself for the two City Feet duets. She knew Justine would pull out all the stops, and she wasn't the slightest bit surprised when Mandy and Regan walked onstage wearing neon-blue-and-green tuxedos and sunglasses.

“What are they supposed to be?” Liberty cracked. “Disco penguins?”

The music started, and a blast of Korean lyrics filled the gym.

“Oh, no.” Bria gulped. “It couldn't be.”

Rochelle grabbed the program and read the name of the routine: “Gangnam Style Revisited.”

Mandy flipped and flew through the air, while Regan hopped up and down, pumping her fists. The craziest part was when the pair rolled a trampoline onstage and did
grand jetés
six feet in the air! They left the stage to thunderous applause, side-skipping to the sidelines.

“What did you think?” Hayden asked Rochelle.

Rochelle wanted to say she hated it—that it was lame and Mandy and Regan were awful. But she couldn't. The dance was undeniably cool and creative—a modern acro masterpiece.

She thought about how Miss Toni would handle it. How she would motivate the team rather than tell them their chances of topping it were slim to nothing.

“I think you and Liberty have to be even better than they are,” she said simply. “And I know you can do it.”

Hayden smiled. “I'd feel better if it were you and me going out there. But I'll do my best.”

Addison Walsh and Phoebe Malone from City Feet were up next. Rochelle read the title of the
routine: “Picnic in the Park” and hoped it would be more mellow than the last duet. But instead, the lights in the gym grew dim and a lone wolf howled over the loudspeaker.

“What in the world is that?” Bria whispered.

“Maybe Mandy turned into a werewolf,” Liberty suggested. “I always knew she was a little beast.”

Addison leaped onto the stage dressed in a gray furry vest and black unitard. Phoebe skipped in wearing a red hooded cape and carrying a basket.

“It's the Big Bad Wolf and Red Riding Hood,” Scarlett said. “I never saw that one coming.”

The dance was dark and dangerous, with acro choreography to match. Gracie hid her eyes every time the wolf pounced at Red.

“I hate this story!” she squealed.

“It gave her nightmares when our mom read it to us,” Scarlett explained.

Liberty shook her head. “Addison would give anyone nightmares.”

Suddenly, Phoebe flipped her hood inside out
and turned it into a superhero cape with a big letter
R
on the back. She took off after Addison, surrounding her with a succession of aerials and somersaults.

“Go, Red Riding Hood!” Gracie yelled. “Get the Big Bad Wolf!”

Liberty covered Gracie's mouth. “No cheering for the enemy.”

In the end, the wolf was left cowering in the corner while a triumphant Red did
fouettés
on stage.

“I liked the part where the evil wolf gets her butt kicked.” Liberty smirked.

“It was another great routine.” Rochelle sighed. “City Feet is going to be tough to beat.”

Liberty grabbed Hayden by the arm and pulled him forward. “They haven't seen us yet,” she said. “Right, Hayden?”

“Right. I got pounded by an umbrella. I'm not going to take a beating from City Feet, too.” Hayden tried his best to sound cool and confident, but Rochelle could tell he was unsure.

“I think City Feet should be very afraid.” She smiled. “Their numbers can't compare to ours.”

But she crossed her fingers as the stage crew began setting up for the Divas' duet.

Please
, she thought,
let this be awesome!

Hayden waited with Liberty while the school custodian climbed up the ladder to secure their white curtain panels to the ceiling.

“When I say ‘lights down,' go dark,” Rochelle instructed the person running the light board. “Got it? Then you shine the white spotlight right in the middle behind the curtains, so we see them in shadow.”

He nodded. “I got it.”

Rochelle limped over to the sidelines and hoped for the best. It was now out of her hands.

As the first bars of music began to play, Rochelle
signaled for the lights to dim. She cued the spotlight and the wind machine. Liberty and Hayden appeared as ghostly shadows against the white, flowing curtains. The audience oohed and aahed. It was magical. It was perfect. Rochelle just wished that the duet was hers.

As the crowd cheered, Liberty curtsied a dozen times and blew kisses. There was no arguing that she and Hayden were an amazing pair.

“You did it,” Rochelle told them. “Great job.”

“And you did it,” he corrected her. “You made that number run smoothly. It would have been a disaster without your direction. We would have been stumbling around in the dark.”

“I agree,” Toni said. For the first time that entire day, she actually had a smile on her face. “The duet was everything I imagined it to be. Just beautiful.”

Rochelle let out a huge sigh of relief. She had done
something
right.

The only thing she had left to worry about was the group dance. “We have a two-hour break. I
want to run it as many times as we can,” Toni told them.

“Ugh,” Liberty complained. “We know that dance backward, forward, and upside down! What could possibly go wrong?”

Rochelle didn't want to try and guess. “You know what my mom always says,” she told Scarlett. “When it rains, it pours.”

The girls found a quiet classroom to use as a studio. They pushed the desks and chairs back against the walls and took their places. Rochelle hit a button on her MP3 player and the sound track filled the air.

Toni watched with a critical eye, correcting every bent knee, slouchy shoulder, and sickled foot. Rochelle circled around the group, making sure everyone started on the same count of the music.

“What do you think?” Toni asked her. “Are they ready?”

The last thing Rochelle wanted to do was diss her Diva-mates. But there were a few things that still seemed off. She owed it to them to be honest.

“Bria and Gracie were a beat behind on the entrance. And Scarlett, your
assemblé
could be sharper.”

She then turned to Liberty. “You could get a little more extension on your
arabesque
.”

“What? It was perfect!” Liberty started to argue.

“I think those are very good notes,” Toni said, stopping her. “I agree with Rochelle one hundred percent. Anything else you'd like to add?”

Rochelle thought for a moment. “I just want to say that you've all worked so hard and no matter who wins or loses today, you should be really proud of yourselves.”

Toni smiled. “I couldn't have said it better myself. Except for the winning or losing part. You'd better win.”