Showstopper by Sheryl Berk Page A

“They’re doing a baseball number with chopped liver.”
    â€œWhat?” Phoebe asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
    â€œNo, it’s true!”
    â€œAre you sure?” Addison asked her. “Maybe you got it a little mixed up. Like in that game telephone when the message gets all garbled?”
    Mandy stamped her foot. “I know what Gracie said! She said they have bats and the song is called ‘Penguin Boogie.’”
    â€œIt sounds bizarre,” Regan weighed in. “Are you sure Gracie wasn’t pulling your leg?”
    Mandy stared down at her sweatpants. “She didn’t pull my leg. She just tapped me on the shoulder.”
    â€œThen again, it
could
be really creative,” Addison pointed out. “I wouldn’t put it past Toni and her Dance Duds. Our group dance
is
kinda predictable. We better tell Justine.”

Family Crisis

    In the middle of Anya and Rochelle’s duet rehearsal, Mrs. Bazarov burst into the room.
    â€œI’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s an emergency,” she said. Anya could tell from her eyes that she’d been crying.
    â€œWhat is it, Mom?” she asked, running to her. “Is everything okay?”
    â€œNo. It’s your brother. He was in a car accident and he’s in the hospital.”
    â€œIs it bad, Felice?” Toni asked gently.
    â€œHe has a concussion, some broken ribs,” she replied. “My husband says they’re doingscans right now to make sure there’s no internal bleeding. He was so excited to get his license . . .”
    Anya felt like everything was happening in slow motion. What if Alexei needed surgery—or worse? “We have to go home to him, right now!” she cried. “Please, Mom!”
    Rochelle gasped. “But Anya! The competition!”
    Anya turned to Toni. “I don’t know what to do,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I don’t want to let you or the Divas down, but my brother needs me.”
    Toni hugged her. “Of course he does. And you’re not letting us down. We’ll make it work.”
    â€œReally? You’re not mad?” Anya asked her coach.
    â€œI’d be mad if you didn’t show loyalty to your family,” Toni replied. “Isn’t that what I always teach you girls? Loyalty first?”
    Anya nodded and raced out of the studio with her mom to catch a flight back to L.A.
    Rochelle sat in the middle of the rehearsal room floor, stunned.
    â€œYou thought I was going to make Anya stay and see the competition through, didn’t you?” Toni asked her.
    Rochelle shrugged. “It was just really nice of you to let Anya go. That’s all I’m saying.”
    â€œGood. Because you’re going to do this entire magic duet as a solo now.”
    Rochelle gasped. “It doesn’t work as a solo; it’s meant for two people!”
    â€œIt will be meant for one person when I get through with it,” Toni said, her voice trailing off in thought. “I wonder where I can rent a couple of doves for a few hours . . .”

    Four hours later, Rochelle reappeared in the room where the rest of the girls had been trying on their card costumes and warming up.
    â€œYou look like you’ve been through a war,” Bria said, noticing Rock’s tangled hair and wrinkled shirt. “Ew! What’s that gooey white stuff on your shoulder?”
    â€œDove poop,” Rochelle said, collapsing on the floor. “But it’s not as bad as when they nip you with their beaks. That really hurts!”
    â€œI don’t wanna know,” Scarlett said, and sighed.
    â€œThis sounds like a last-minute Toni extreme dance makeover,” Bria said. “If you look this bad, I can’t imagine what Anya must look like.”
    â€œAnya’s gone,” Rochelle said.
    â€œGone?” Gracie asked. “Where did she go? To the