Let's Rock! (7 page)

“Pushy is right!” Jane continued to rant. “You practically
pushed
me off the stage when we were dancing backup for Madonna!”

“Technically, you were showin' off—I just put you back in your place.” J. J. chuckled.

“Sound like someone else we know?” Rochelle whispered to her mom. “Liberty and Jane are two of a kind!”

“I won't allow him anywhere near my set—or my daughter,” Jane insisted. “He's trouble.”

“I may be trouble, but I won't give you any trouble,” J. J. promised. “Scout's honor. Your daughter will vouch for me. Right, Liberty?”

Liberty squirmed. She knew better than to disagree with her mother, but she had to admit that J. J. was a pretty great choreographer. “Well, he did kind of move me to the front of the group routine …”

“So there you have it,” Toni said. “There's nothing for you to worry about, Jane.”

Liberty's mom didn't look convinced. “Fine. Just keep your distance!” she barked. “Everybody to the limo.”

“Limo?” Bria asked. “Did she just say limo?”

“Is there any other way to ride?” Liberty replied.

“Uh, yeah … our usual team bus?” Rochelle said. “Remember? You're usually not that fancy.”

“I know it's a bit over-the-top,” Jane explained. “But it's Hollywood, darlings! I can't have our girls arriving in a bus to Electric Dance. Not when City Feet will be there trying to step all over everyone.”

The Divas were so excited, they'd almost forgotten about City Feet!

“I can't wait to see the look on Mandy's face when we pull up in a limo,” Liberty said. “I bet she cries.”

“Eat your hearts out, Stinky Feet!” Gracie said, laughing.

Not even Rochelle could argue with that. Anything she could do to shake and rattle the competition was fine by her. “Let's pull right up to the hotel lobby,” she suggested. “And honk the horn. We don't want them to miss our grand entrance.”

Toni made a time-out sign with her hands. “You know how I feel about us mingling with the enemy,” she warned them. “Don't look at them; don't talk to them.”

“Just wave from the limo's sun roof!” Jane giggled. “Come on—let's go!”

Waiting for them in the parking lot was the hugest pink stretch limo the girls had ever seen. “It's a custom Range Rover that seats twenty,” Jane boasted. “I borrowed it from Xtina.”

“Christina Aguilera? Your mom knows Christina Aguilera?” Anya asked Liberty breathlessly.

“Oh yeah, like, forever,” Liberty bragged. “I think she came to one of my birthday parties and sang that song from
Mulan
.”

“Yes! It was your sixth birthday—a Disney Princesses party!” Jane recalled. “You were so precious as Cinderella. Remember the glass slippers I had Manolo make for you?”

“If I didn't barf before, I'm going to now,” Rochelle moaned.

“No!” Bria said, squeezing her hand. “Not in the pretty pink limo. Don't ruin this for me! It's like a beautiful dream.”

Everyone piled into the car, where Jane had cupcakes and pink lemonade waiting for them.

J. J. raised a glass. “To our humble host,” he said, winking at Jane. “And to old friends.”

Jane made a shocked face. “Do not think for one minute you are my friend,” she said. “Beyoncé is my friend. Selena Gomez is my friend. But you? Never!”

Rochelle's mom tried to change the subject. “So tell us about this video. What will the girls be doing? They're so excited!”

Jane put down her lemonade glass and smiled. “Oh, it's divine. Literally. The song is called ‘Heaven Sent' and they're going to be little angels walking on the clouds.”

“What does my costume look like, Mommy?” Liberty asked. “I bet it's gorgeous.”

“Of course!” Jane said, playfully tapping her on the tip of her nose. “It's silver sequins from top to bottom.”

“The competition is tomorrow, and auditions for the video are on Friday,” Toni reminded them. “I expect you all to be at your best for both.” She pulled a third cupcake out of Gracie's
hand. “That means eating healthy and getting lots of sleep before tomorrow.”

“We'll be shooting all day Saturday and Sunday,” Jane added. “And of course, one girl will be the lead angel.” She looked over at Liberty and winked.

“So you'll be auditioning the girls for that lead part,” J. J. added. “To keep things fair and square, right?”

“Yes, technically it's an open audition,” Jane said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. “The Sugar Dolls' manager insisted. But I make the final decision.”

“So anyone can audition?” Anya asked. “There could be hundreds of girls there! Trust me, I went on a lot of open calls.”

“They can audition all they want,” Liberty said, licking pink vanilla frosting off the top of her cupcake. “But like my mother said, in Hollywood, it's who you know.”

It didn't make Anya—or any of the Divas—feel much better. Even Toni looked disappointed. “I
think we should concentrate on the competition,” she said. “Once you all win first place in your divisions, we can talk about the audition and the video. Until then, I don't want to hear another word.”

The limo pulled into the driveway of the hotel and honked its horn.

“We have arrived!” Jane announced. “Everyone out. Come meet your adoring fans.”

She'd arranged to have a group of paparazzi greet them—not to mention “extra” actors begging for their autographs and chanting, “Divas! Divas!”

“What is this?” Toni said, stepping out of the limo and shielding her eyes from the popping camera flashes. “Where did these people come from?”

“It's called buzz, Toni.” Jane took her aside. “It's how legends are born in Hollywood.”

Toni looked like she was going to lose it. “This
is ridiculous. I don't need all this attention going to their heads.” She pointed to Liberty and Gracie, who were blowing kisses to the crowd. “I need them to focus.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Toni caught a glimpse of her archnemesis, Justine Chase. She and the rest of the City Feet had come outside to see what all the commotion was about.

“Oh, this is gonna be good!” Rochelle said, tugging Scarlett's arm. “Can't you see the steam coming out of Mean Justine's ears? She is really mad!”

“Nice entrance,” Justine remarked. “Very subtle, Toni.”

“It wasn't my idea.” Toni nodded at Jane.

“Was it your idea to pay the actors to cheer for your team?” Justine continued. “So what's the going rate for fake fans?”

Mandy laughed. “That's so funny! The Divas have fake fans!”

Liberty stepped forward. “We couldn't even pay people to be your fans,” she said. “There's not enough money in the world for it.”

“Oh, nice one,” Rochelle said, applauding Liberty. The girl really had a gift for zingers!

“We'll have tons of fans when we beat you,” Phoebe told them. She struck a pose for the paparazzi. “Over here, guys. You should be taking pics of the real stars of Electric Dance!”

The photographers suddenly rushed at City Feet. Addison, Regan, Mandy, and Phoebe smiled and waved.

“Hey! Those are not your puppyrazzi!” Gracie protested.

“It's paparazzi,” Scarlett corrected her. “And they can have them.”

“Enough!” Miss Toni snapped. “Let's go inside and get to work.”

Toni had booked a small extra room for the girls to run their routines, but Jane had other plans.

“I got you the Crystal Ballroom.” She smiled. “It's much bigger and has such a wonderful ambiance.”

Toni sighed. “The room I booked would have done just fine, Jane,” she said. Then added through gritted teeth, “But thanks.”

Rochelle was the first one up for practice. She still had no idea what she was wearing for her solo. Toni loved to keep her guessing.

“So, am I dancing in this?” she asked,
pointing to her red crop top and shorts. “Or you got something else for me?”

J. J. carried in a black wardrobe bag and unzipped it. “I thought this would do the trick.” He pulled out a black leather jacket, black leggings, and a colorful graphic T-shirt—just like the outfit he'd worn the first day she met him. “Ya like?”

“It's so cool,” she said, trying the jacket on for size. “It rocks.”

“Then it's perfect,” Toni said. “Now let's hope your dance is perfect as well.”

Rochelle ran through the moves over and over, with J. J. shouting out the counts. When she was done, she collapsed on the floor waiting for Toni's feedback. Instead, there was silence.

“Well?” J. J. finally said. “Say something.”

“Good,” Toni replied. “It's good.”

Rochelle sat up. “Good? Just good? It's awesome! It's crazy amazing! It's gonna knock those judges out of their seats!”

J. J. nodded. “Couldn't have said it better myself.”

But Toni refused to elaborate further. “Let's just hope it's good enough to beat City Feet.”

The Divas had never seen a dance competition quite like Electric Dance. The teams pulled out all the stops: there were lights, there were tricks, and there were over-the-top costumes.

“What is that supposed to be?” Bria asked as a giant white marshmallow suit made its way past her. Three boys trailed behind it, in beige jumpsuits, wearing backpacks.

“I could be wrong, but I think it's
Ghostbusters
,” Rochelle said.

“Ooh, I love that movie!” Anya added. “
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!
”

Scarlett surveyed the backstage area. There were a lot of salutes to Hollywood—both old and new. She spotted a teen duet between “Scarlett O'Hara” and “Rhett Butler,” a group dance to a
Harry Potter
theme, and a Shirley Temple Junior Solo.

“What's with the giant lollipop?” Rochelle asked her. “And all those curls?”

“‘On the Good Ship Lollipop,'” Scarlett explained. “We have some serious competition here.”

Toni looked just as concerned, especially when she saw Justine and City Feet take their places in the wings.

“What is
that
?” Liberty asked, noticing the stagehands decorating the ceiling with giant gold rings. The girls were each dressed in a simple gray cloak.

“
Lord of the Rings
,” Toni said, and sighed.

Liberty studied the drab costumes and made a face. “Don't they have any mirrors at Stinky Feet Studios?”

“You know Justine always has a trick up her sleeve,” Scarlett said.

As the music thundered over the speakers, the girls burst onstage. Mandy reached up as a pair of gold rings floated down from the ceiling. She whipped off her cape to reveal a gold sequin leotard.

“She's going to do a gymnastics routine on the rings,” Anya marveled. “Wow. This is like Cirque du Soleil!”

Gracie pushed through the Divas to get a better look. “I can do that,” she said. “My gymnastics teacher taught me how.”