Authors: Sheryl Berk
Let's Rock!
To Debbie Kahn, my little sis, and the fifth Beatle
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3 These Boots Were Made for Dancing
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4 Toe Shoes Are a Girl's Best Friend
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6 A Little Help from My Friends
Liberty Montgomery skipped through the doors of Dance Divas Studio Monday evening and headed straight for the dressing room.
“Hi, all!” She smiled at her teammates. “Everyone having a nice day?”
Scarlett Borden, the Divas' unofficial dance-team captain, stared at her. “You okay, Liberty?” she asked, genuinely concerned. “You didn't fall and bump your head or something, did you?”
“No, silly! Why?” Liberty answered, beaming from ear to ear.
“Because you put the
diva
in Dance Divas,”
Rochelle Hayes said. Rock knew Liberty would never just bounce into a rehearsal all smiles without a reason. And that reason usually involved her getting a solo, a trophy, or bragging about some fabulous party her momâthe “big-time Hollywood choreographer”âwas taking her to. “You're never in this good of a moodâand frankly, it's freaking me out.”
Bria Chang nodded. “The only time I've seen you this happy was when you tripped Rochelle and she fell into the judges' laps at the Soaring Stars competition.”
“Don't be ridiculous!” Liberty said in a sing-songy voice. “Can't a girl be in a great mood?”
“Sure,” Rochelle said, raising an eyebrow. “But the question is
why
are you in a great mood? And which one of us is going to suffer because of it?”
Liberty smoothed her long blond hair back into a neat bun. “You'll see. I promised Miss Toni I wouldn't tell till class.”
So there it was! Liberty had a secret.
Rochelle gritted her teeth. “Spill it, Liberty. I hate surprises.”
“Oh, but you'll like
this
surprise,” Liberty said, batting her eyelashes. “You all will. Ta-ta! See you in the studio.”
She grabbed her toe shoes and twirled out of the room, leaving her teammates behind, stunned and confused.
Bria flipped open her laptop notebook. “Something's up. I'm so Googling!”
She typed in Liberty's name, then her mother's: Jane Montgomery.
“Anything?” Scarlett asked anxiously.
Bria scanned through the websites that listed Hollywood gossip and dance news. “Well, Mrs. Montgomery had lunch at the Ivy ⦠and she attended New York Fashion Week.”
Rochelle rolled her eyes. “I don't care about her mom's social life. I care that she knows something she's not telling us. That is never a good thing.”
“Well, I don't see anything that would make
Liberty so weirdly happyâunless her mom picked up some couture costume off the runway for her.”
Rochelle doubted it was that. “Liberty loves clothesâbut not enough to rub our faces in it. Whatever it is, it's BIG.”
Scarlett glanced at the clock. “There's only one way to find outâwe gotta get to class.”
When the girls entered the studio, their dance coach, Antoinette Moore, was also smiling. And Miss Toni practically
never
smiled.
“Okay, this is creepy,” Rochelle whispered. “I feel like I'm in a nightmare or a scary movie:
Horror in the Dance Studio
. Someone pinch me and wake me up.”
Instead, Scarlett dragged her over to the ballet
barre
. “Let's not jump to conclusions,” she told her friend.
“Maybe Mrs. Montgomery is buying Dance Divas Studio as a present for Liberty,” Bria suggested.
“I doubt that would make Miss Toni happy,” said Anya Bazarov, their other teammate ⦠She'd gotten to the studio earlier and overheard part of the conversation between Liberty and their coach while she was warming up. “All I know is that Liberty told her something and Toni hugged her.”
“Toni hugged her?” Rochelle gasped. “It's worse than we thought!”
The door burst open and Gracie, Scarlett's seven-year-old little sister, raced in. “I'm here!” she said breathlessly. “Sorry, Miss Toni. I got bubble gum on my shoe and it made it all sticky.” She held up the bottom of her ballet slipper to show off the wad of pink gum.
The girls giggled. Little Gracie was an amazing gymnast, but she had a knack for getting herself into messes!
Toni hated tardinessâand stepping in gum was no excuse. But it didn't seem to bother her today.
“Let me have that, Gracie,” Toni said, extending her hand for the ballet slipper. She scraped
the gum off with the back of a pen. “Watch where you're walking next time.” She winked.
“As for the rest of you â¦,” she began.
“Oh, boy. Here it comes.” Rochelle closed her eyes tightly and waited for the bomb to drop.
“I have some amazing news,” Toni continued, “which I think I will let Liberty share with you.”
Liberty stepped in front of the class. “So, you all know how my mom is a famous Hollywood choreographer who's worked with Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Britney ⦔
Rochelle elbowed Scarlett. Now this was more like it. Liberty was back to bragging.
“Well, she's working with this hot girl group called the Sugar Dollsâthere's Candy Doll, Sporty Doll, Baby Doll, Jazzy Doll, and Rag Doll.”
Rochelle raised her hand. “And this has to do with us how?”
Miss Toni frowned. “Rochelle, let Liberty finish.”
“Thank you, Miss Toni,” Liberty said. “So the Sugar Dolls are shooting a video in Hollywood,
and they need backup dancers. That's where we come in.”
Bria's eyes grew wide. “You mean we're going to be in a music video? Seriously?”
Toni nodded. “Yes, Jane called me last night and asked if we had time to fly out to California. There's a dance competition there in two weeks, so I don't see why we couldn't compete and then stay to shoot the video. It would be a great opportunity to get the Divas' name out there.”
“Woo-hoo!” Rochelle shouted. “We're going to Hollywood!”
“There's just one little, itty-bitty thing,” Liberty said, interrupting the celebration. “There's, of course, a lead backup dancer who will get a solo.”
Everyone was silent except for Gracie. “Ooh! Can I be it?” she said, waving her hand in Liberty's face. Gracie had stage fright most of the time she had to perform in front of a live audienceâbut not camera fright. “I really, really want to be on TV!”
“Unfortunately, that is not my decision,” Toni
explained. “Jane is going to audition all of you, and she'll choose the girl who gets the solo in the video.”
“And we all know who that will be,” Rochelle said, glaring at Liberty. “We don't stand a chance.”
Toni clapped her hands, meaning it was back to business. “Okay, so we have our work cut out for us. We have a major competition and a music video to shoot, and just two short weeks to prepare for both.”
Liberty stretched her leg on the
barre
. “Some of us are already prepared,” she said, smirking.
“Some of us already have an in with the choreographer,” Rochelle said, correcting her.
Toni shushed them. “No talking! Anyone who doesn't give me one hundred ten percent in this competition is not shooting the video. Is that clear?”
Gracie's hand shot up again. “I'm learning percentages in school, and it's only one hundred percent for a whole pie.”
Toni tried not to smile. “Thank you for the
math correction, Gracie,” she said. “Point taken. What I mean to say is that I want you to give it your all.”
If there was one thing Dance Divas knew how to do, it was give it their allâespecially when Hollywood was calling.
At their rehearsal, Miss Toni rolled in a TV and a DVD player.
“Anyone got popcorn?” Rochelle joked. “Maybe Milk Duds?”
“I hope it's
Brave
,” Scarlett whispered. “That's my fave movie.”
Miss Toni hit Play and an old black-and-white silent film popped up.
Bria looked confused. There was no talking, just some twinkly piano music on the sound track. “Nope, that's not
Brave
.”
“This gentleman is Charlie Chaplin,” Toni
explained, pointing to a short actor with a mustache, bowler hat, and cane. “He is my inspiration for our group number at the Electric Dance competition in L.A.”