On Pointe (9 page)

“Yeah!” Anya and Bria said in unison, piping up.

None of this appeared to bother Addison. “Say what ya want … but I'm the star of
A New Jersey Nutcracker
.”

“There's only one star here, and that's Gracie,” Scarlett said, sticking up for her sister. “I've never seen anyone dance it better—not even Gelsey Kirkland.”

“Or Barbie!” Bria added. “Just sayin' … She had a
Nutcracker
DVD, too.”

“Whatevs,” Addison tossed back. “We'll see who gets more applause on opening night.”

Gracie turned to her teammates. “Thanks, guys, for sticking up for me.”

“Are you kidding? What are Divas for?” Anya said, giving her a hug.

“Did you really mean what you said, Scoot?” she asked her sister. “About me being a star?”

Scarlett smiled. “Of course I did. I'm so proud of you, Gracie. And I'm sorry if we were bad sports in the beginning. But I want you to know we all have your back now.”

The rest of the girls nodded. “Don't let evil Addison get to you,” Rochelle warned her. “She's just jealous. I guess we all were a little.”

“That's okay,” Gracie said. “I forgive you. And I'm sorry if I was a little show-offy.”

“A little?” Anya gasped. “Your head was so big, it was …”

Olivier appeared in the wings carrying his giant papier-mâché Nutcracker head under his arm.

“Bigger than that!” Anya said, pointing to the mask.

“I know, I know,” Gracie said, sighing. “Liberty just kept telling me I should act like a star. I guess I was acting more like a brat.”

“Yeah, demanding only pink M&M's in your dressing room was a bit much,” Bria added.

“How about the time you interrupted the rehearsal for an Instagram break so you could post for your fans?” Anya giggled.

“Oh, and how about the time I told Mr. Minnelli he had to make Liberty my understudy,” Gracie blurted out.

“Wait! Hold on! You did
what
?” Rochelle asked her.

The girls were suddenly speechless. Of course that had been Liberty's plan all along—to steal the role away from Gracie!

“There is no way you are going to miss a single show,” Scarlett told her.

“What if I get sick? Or panic? Or there's a giant tornado that sweeps me away to Oz?” Gracie asked her. “Auntie Em! Uncle Henry!”

Scarlett put her arm around her sister. “We'll make sure you're the one and only Clara. It's like the mailman's motto: ‘Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night'—or something like that—will keep Gracie from dancing tomorrow night!”

Bria held up her phone. All day, she'd been checking a weather app that was tracking a nor'easter heading toward New Jersey. It was now flashing a red alert. “Um, how about a blizzard?”

After the dress rehearsal, Bria checked the weather app again. “It really doesn't look good,” she told her friends. She pointed to a big blue spot on a map of the tristate area. “The blue color is the blizzard approaching. And it's right over New Jersey.”

“What if we're snowed in tomorrow? What if no one can get to the theater?” Anya asked.

Miss Toni found them in their dressing room. “The show must go on,” she said simply. “I spoke to Mr. Minnelli, and he says that unless the roads are closed or it's too dangerous to drive, he'll open tomorrow night.”

“To an empty house?” Scarlett asked. “Anya's
right. What if no one wants to come out in the snow?”

“I promise I will be here,” Toni assured them. “So that's one eager audience member you can count on.”

“Did you like the dress rehearsal?” Gracie asked her nervously. “Did I do okay?”

Toni smiled. “You did more than okay. Your
arabesques
were glorious. Marcus has really done amazing work with all of you.”

“So you don't hate him?” Gracie blurted out.

“Hate him? No, I don't hate him. We're very old friends. Justine, on the other hand … she's another story.”

The next morning, Gracie jumped out of bed at 6:00 a.m. and ran to the window. The whole street was blanketed in snow.

“Oh no! The nor'easter is here!” She raced into Scarlett's room and shook her awake. “Scoot! It's a blizzard! It's really bad.”

Scarlett peered out the window. It would have been a beautiful winter wonderland if it weren't for the gusts of wind banging the shutters and bending the branches of the trees nearly in half.

“Do you think they'll cancel the show?” Gracie asked her.

“I don't know,” Scarlett answered honestly. “It looks like it snowed all night.”

Just then, her phone rang. “Are you seeing this?” Rochelle asked her. “Did it have to be today of all days? Why couldn't it have waited until Monday?”

“It's just flurrying now,” Scarlett replied optimistically. “Maybe it'll stop.”

Her mom appeared at the bedroom door. “The worst is over,” she reported. “But there's over a foot of snow on the ground. I'm not sure we're going to be able to dig out of this and get to Paramus.”

Gracie tugged on her mom's robe sleeve. “Please, oh pretty please with ketchup on it!” she pleaded.

“It's not up to me, honey,” her mom explained.
“The plows have to be able to get through and clear the roads. It's over thirty miles from here to Paramus. I don't know if we'll be able to get to the playhouse.”

“We can leave right now!” Gracie suggested. “I'll get my dance bag.”

Scarlett stopped her. “Gracie, we can't drive out there right now. It isn't safe!”

“We just have to sit tight,” their mom said, “and hope for the best.”

Gracie sat on the living room couch most of the day, watching out the window for a snowplow to arrive and rescue them. It was two o'clock, and the cast was scheduled to report to the theater for hair and makeup by four.

“I could shovel the street in front of the garage,” she offered. “Mom could get the car out then.”

“What about the rest of the thirty miles to the theater? Are you going to shovel that, too?”
Scarlett asked her. “It's a nice idea, but it's not going to help.”

Gracie pouted. “This stinks.”

“Why don't you go outside and make a snowman?” her mom suggested. “It's no use waiting around in here. You might as well have some fun.”

Gracie pulled on her snow boots and bundled up in her ski jacket and pants. When she took her first step outside on the lawn, she sank in up to her knee.

“It's really deep!” she called to her mom and Scarlett inside. She grabbed a shovel and began scooping together two large balls for the body and head of her snowman.

Scarlett came outside to help and pass the time. “What are you going to name your snowman?” she asked her sister.

“It's not a snowman,” Gracie replied. “I'm making a snowcracker.”

Scarlett smiled. “I think that's a great idea. Need a hand?”

Together they shaped the balls into rectangles.
“That's way more Nutcracker-like,” Scarlett said. They put rocks on his body for buttons and an upside-down pail on his head for a military helmet.

Their mom came outside with a bag of green and red tinsel. “I thought maybe your snowman could use some bling,” she said.

“Oooh, I love it!” Gracie said. As she wrapped a red shiny tinsel scarf around her snowcracker's neck, she almost forgot how sad and anxious she was about the storm.

“All we need to do now is his face,” Scarlett said. “I think I have a great idea.”

She dashed in the house and returned with an armful of food: two lemons for his eyes, a banana for his mouth, and a frozen hot dog for his nose.

“Oh, Scoot! It's awesome!” Gracie said, hugging her. “This is the best snowcracker anyone has ever made.”

“I agree,” said their mom, who had come outside to see their creation.

“Now you gotta name him,” Scarlett told her. “Make it a good one, Gracie.”

Gracie scrunched up her nose—which meant she was thinking super hard.

“It's a girl—she's too pretty to be a boy,” Gracie finally said. “I'll call her Crackerella.”

Scarlett and her mom both applauded.

“And now that Crackerella is all finished, I say we go in and warm up with some hot cocoa,” her mom said, ushering the girls in the house. “I can't feel my toes!”

Just as they had gotten out of their wet clothes, the phone rang. Scarlett and Gracie heard their mother talking.

“Yes, we'll do our very best to get there. I understand.”

They raced into the kitchen to see who had called. “It was Mr. Minnelli,” she told them. “He said the show is still going on.”

“Yipperooni!” Gracie jumped up and down. “I knew they wouldn't cancel it.”

“But I told him we couldn't promise that we'd
be able to get to the theater,” her mom added. “He said not to worry, to just be safe. He has an understudy for Gracie who can go on tonight if we can't get there.”

“Liberty!” Gracie and Scarlett shouted at the same time.

“Yes, apparently she stayed overnight at a hotel down the block from the Paramus Playhouse just in case.”

Gracie's cheeks flushed. “She is so sneaky! She did this on purpose!”

“Gracie,” Scarlett said, trying to calm her down. “She didn't make it snow. She just took advantage of the situation—and you.”

Gracie turned to her mom. “We have to get there. Please, there has to be some way.”

Her mom shook her head. “I'm so sorry, honey bunny. Unless someone shows up with a sled and a few Siberian huskies, I don't see how. My car just can't make it in this kind of weather.”

Scarlett called the rest of the team, and they were all in the same snowed-in situation.

“I know I said I didn't love playing a mouse at first,” Anya told her, “but now that we can't get to the theater, I'm really sad. Minnie kinda grew on me.”

Hayden and Rochelle were equally disappointed. “All that work, all those hours rehearsing!” Rochelle exclaimed. “And now we're missing our opening night!”

It was 3:45 p.m. and Gracie had just about given up all hope.

“The snow will be cleaned up, and you'll be able to do the show tomorrow night, honey,” her mom said, trying to be positive.

“But I'll never have another opening night as Clara.” Gracie sniffled. “It won't be the same. Liberty gets to have it, not me.” She was about to go up to her room and mope when the doorbell rang. It was Miss Toni and Marcus.

“The highways are pretty clear,” Marcus told them. “And Toni called in a favor. We've got a minivan with serious snow tires.”

Toni blushed. “A lot of people owe me—this
one just happened to be a former student with a dad who owns a car dealership.”

“We've got Olivier, Rochelle, Hayden, Bria, and Anya. Are you girls ready?” Marcus asked.