The Competition: Sabotage!

The girls learn that some people will do whatever it takes to get ahead.


At 2 am, Tori awakes to the sound of someone banging on the door. She groans and slips out of bed. She opens the door and sees Ms. Jules frantically standing before her.

"Tori! They're ruined!" Ms. Jules exclaims.

Tori tilts her head to the side in confusion. "Huh?" she says.

Ms. Jules puts the box down and takes a costume out of it. The once adorable costumes are now torn, and they have black stains on it.

Tori squints and takes a closer look at the costume. "What happened?" she asks.

Ms. Jules shrugs. "I don't know! But I need all the kids to get up so I can find new group costumes for them!" she tells Tori.

Tori puts her hand in front of her, like she's signalling someone to stop. "It's 2 in the morning! How are you gonna find seven new costumes at this hour?" she says.

"I'll figure something out! Just get everyone up and ready to go costume shopping," Ms. Jules instructs. Before Tori can react, Ms. Jules is already pounding on Cat, Jade, and their kids' door.

Tori stands in the doorway, confused. She quickly shuts the door and flicks the lights on. "Guys! You have to get up! Ms. Jules needs us to get dressed," she announces loudly. Eden and Mackenzie groan and shield their eyes from the light. Trina gets out of bed and yawns. Nancy and Kelsey remove their matching eye masks and angrily glare at Tori. "Tori, it's like 2 am! What could Ms. Jules possibly need!?" an annoyed Trina questions. Tori explains the costumes being ruined and starts getting her daughter up and dressed.


The mothers and the girls meet Ms. Jules in the lobby of the hotel at 2:30 am. The girls struggle to keep their eyes open as Ms. Jules explains their predicament. "All the stores are probably closed! How are we gonna find new costumes?" Cat asks. Jade shrugs. "It's Vegas, there's bound to be something open," she says. The mothers use their PearPhones and try to find somewhere to get costumes at, while the kids sleep on the couches in the lobby.

Finally, Trina finds a store called Dance 24/7.

Ms. Jules calls three taxis, and she splits everyone up. She rides in the first taxi with Kelsey and Nancy. Cat, Jade, Abby, Brooke, and Gabbi ride in the second cab, and Tori, Trina, Addie, Eden, and Mackenzie ride in the last cab. Within 20 minutes, all three cabs arrive at the shop.


The mothers and girls search for possible new costumes, while Ms. Jules asks if the store has the original costume in stock. Since the store doesn't carry the same costume, Ms. Jules joins the mothers and searches for a new costume.

Eden, Mackenzie, and Addie find sparkly bra tops in various colors. They call Ms. Jules over and show her their discoveries. Ms. Jules looks at the tops and calls the rest of the group over.

"Eden, Mackenzie, and Addison found these tops! Each of the girls will be a color of the rainbow," Ms. Jules announces to the mothers and girls. She lists the girls' names and their colors.

Brooke: red

Kelsey: orange

Mackenzie: yellow

Abby: green

Addie: blue

Eden: purple

Gabbi: white

Ms. Jules hands each girl a top and asks them to go to the fitting rooms, so they can try it on.

When all of the girls come out of the fitting, Ms. Jules makes them line up in rainbow order.

"Did you all bring a pair of black dance shorts?" Ms. Jules asks.

"Yes," all of the girls say.

Ms. Jules always makes her students bring at least one pair of black shorts to competitions. She makes them bring black shorts in case there are any costume problems. She chose black, because it looks good with any color.

The mother pay for the costumes, and everyone takes a cab back to the hotel.


By the time everyone gets back to the hotel, it's 5:23 am. The competition is today. Ms. Jules lets the girls rest until 9:30 am. At 9:30, the girls will go back the ballroom and rehearse in their costumes. They'll rehearse for a few hours, rest, then head to the competition.

The girls arrive at the competition in their bus. Fans and paparazzi are gathered behind velvet ropes. Between the ropes, there is a walkway for the girls to enter the building. The girls hear their names being shouted from every direction. They look around, smile, and wave.

When they enter the building, the girls and Ms. Jules check in, while the mothers find the dressing room. The girls and Ms. Jules come back to the dressing room. Ms. Jules holds a schedule in her hand. "Alright! Solos will be performed first. Then duets and trios are next. And finally, groups of four or more are performing last," she announces. She looks at the schedule again.

"Gabrielle, your solo starts off the entire competition. Addison, you will perform right after Gabrielle. After Addison, Mackenzie is performing, then Abigail, then Brooklyn, then Kelsey, and finally, Eden will go last," Ms. Jules reads from her schedule. She tells each what their solo entry number is. The entry numbers are based on when each dancer performs. The group has an hour and a half before the actual competition begins.

Ms. Jules has her students warm up and run each of their routines once, before allowing them to change into their costumes. Once the girls run their solos, they start getting ready.

Jade swipes her finger through a container of brown face paint and smears across Gabbi's cheek. She blends the paint into her daughters face a bit, before applying more paint. After she finishes making Gabbi's face appear dirty, Jade washes her hands. She helps Gabbi change into her solo costume and styles her hair. She then helps Brooke put on her costume. Since Brooke isn't performing anytime soon, she doesn't do her makeup yet.

Gabbi shows Ms. Jules her costume, makeup, and hair. Her costume has champagne colored sleeves and laces up in the front. The bottom is tattered and torn. Her dark hair is half up, and it's messily tied with a grey ribbon.

The other mothers finish getting their children ready. When all of her students have their costumes on, Ms. Jules makes an announcement.

"Girls, do you remember when I left the room for a moment to talk to someone during rehearsal?" Ms. Jules asks. The girls nod. "Well, I was talking to a man who is creating a new reality television show. The show is going be to called Just Dance. They are considering featuring our studio on the show. The creator, Bryan Delmar wants to interview you girls to get a feel for your personalities and film your dances. I just need your mothers to sign these permission forms," she continues. She passes out the forms.

Everyone except Tori and Jade are excited by the news. The kids cheer and chatter happily, while their moms sign the permission forms. Tori and Jade exchange looks, remembering the time that they were featured on The Wood. "Girls, nothing is real about reality TV," Tori says. The kids stop cheering. They look at Tori. "What do you mean?" Addie asks. "Your Aunt Tori and I were going to be on a reality show called The Wood. The people who worked for The Wood edited what they filmed to make us look bad," Jade explains. "Also, being in the public eye is a lot to handle," Tori adds. The kids (minus Kelsey) are already very well-known due to their parents and their performing. "Please let me do it! I can handle it," Eden begs. Brooke and Gabbi look at Jade. "Please, mom!" Brooke pleads. Tori and Jade look at each other. They both sigh and reluctantly sign the forms. They figure that the chance of the studio actually being featured is very low.

Ms. Jules reads a text on her PearPhone. "The creator and camera man are coming to interview the girls in five minutes," she says.


The mothers and kids line up in the hallway for their interviews. Ms. Jules has the girls practicing their dances at one end of the, while interviews take place at the other end. Halfway through the interviews, the kids' fathers show up. The mothers fill them in on what's happening. When Gabbi starts her interview, Kelsey walks up to Ms. Jules. "Ms. Jules, can I get my chapstick from the dressing room?" Kelsey asks. Ms. Jules gives her permission, but tells her not to disrupt the interviews. Kelsey skips to the dressing room.

In the dressing room, Kelsey heads straight to her bag. She takes out a plastic bag. Inside the bag, there is a stick of butter and a smaller bag containing a sponge. Kelsey takes out the sponge, which happens to be full of cooking oil, and squeezes the excess liquid out of it. She sets the sponge down on top of its bag. She grabs Gabbi's dance shoes and brings them to her bag. She wipes the oily sponge on the bottom of the shoes, covering it in slippery oil. She puts the sponge away and takes out the butter. She smears butter on the bottoms of Gabbi's shoes, so that they'll be extra slippery. She puts her stuff back and returns Gabbi's shoes to where she found them. She washes the oil and butter off of her hands and puts some of her chapstick on, before leaving the dressing room.


There are ten minutes left before the competition begins, so Ms. Jules takes Gabbi and Addie backstage. The rest of the girls and parents sit in the audience.

"Okay, girls! When the announcer says your name, number, and dance, go on stage. Remember: straight legs and pointed feet!" Ms. Jules tells her students backstage. Gabbi and Addie nods. They hug Ms. Jules, before she goes back to her seat in the audience. "Good luck!" Addie says to Gabbi. "You too!" Gabbi responds. They hug and watch the announcer speaking on the stage.

"Hello! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Showtime Dance Competition. At this competition, solos will be performed first. Next will be the duets and trios. And finally, group routines with four or more dancers will be performed last. To start us off, please welcome contestant number one, Gabbi with Castle on a Cloud!" the announcer says. He exits the stage, and the lights go out in the audience and on stage. Gabbi enters the stage and gets into her starting position. The lights come up on the stage and her music starts to play.

There is a castle on a cloud. I like to go there in my sleep.

Gabbi begins her dance. Her facial expressions convey sadness, but also hopefulness to the audience. She gracefully pirouettes on the stage. The stage is much more slippery than Gabbi had expected it to be. So, she pays extra attention to keeping her dancing graceful and balanced. She continues to dance beautifully. The audience watches silently.

Gabbi sashays across the stage and gets ready to do a front aerial. She does a small hurdle to get more momentum. She begins to her front aerial, but slips during the takeoff. This causes her aerial to be sloppy and unbalanced. She falls during her landing, and her shoulder ends up in an awkward position, taking most of the impact.

The audience gasps. Everyone becomes silent again. An obnoxiously loud laugh erupts from someone.

Despite the numbness in her shoulder, Gabbi manages to get up and resumes her routine without missing a beat. The audience applauds when she gets up and continues dancing. She holds back the urge to cry in pain and finishes her dance. The audience claps and when the lights go out on the stage again, she hurries backstage.


Beck and Jade meet Gabbi in front of the door that separates the hallway from backstage. Crying, Gabbi runs into her parents' arms. Beck scoops his daughter up into his arms. Gabbi wraps her tiny arms around Beck's neck and whimpers. "I'm sorry, mommy and daddy!" she cries. Jade strokes her daughter's hair. "Why are you sorry?" Beck asks. "Because I fell and messed up my whole dance. And now you're embarrassed that I messed everything up!" Gabbi replies. "Oh, honey. We're not embarrassed at all! You did wonderfully. Even though you fell, you got right back up and finished dancing. We are so proud of you!" Jade tells Gabbi.

Gabbi begins to cry more. The adrenaline that numbed the excruciating pain in her shoulder is wearing off. "My shoulder really hurts!" she whimpers. "Which shoulder?" Beck asks. "Beck, the shoulder she landed on is obviously the one that hurts!" Jade sarcastically retorts. Beck rolls his eyes. He knows that Jade gets snarky and sarcastic when she's worried about their children. "I meant does her left or right shoulder hurt," he says. "The right one hurts!" Gabbi says. Jade gently touches her daughter's right shoulder. "Ow! Mommy!" Gabbi screams, flinching. Jade apologizes and asks if she can move it. Gabbi nods, and Jade asks more questions.


Gabbi sits on Beck's lap in the dressing room. Jade holds an icepack to her shoulder. Addie had just finished performing, so everyone is coming back to the dressing room. The mothers begin getting their kids ready for their upcoming dances. "Listen up! Mackenzie, Abigail, and Brooklyn are performing next! There are quite a few dancers that are performing ahead of them, so you all have time to do makeup and hair and run your solos again," Ms. Jules announces.

After her announcement, Ms. Jules checks on Gabbi. "Hey, kiddo. That was quite a fall," Ms. Jules says. Gabbi looks at her dance teacher. "I'm really sorry that I fell. And I'm sorry for embarrassing you by messing up my solo. You can kick me off the team if you want to," she says. Ms. Jules kneels down in front of Gabbi. "Sweetheart, you don't have to be sorry! I'm not embarrassed, nor am I kicking you off the team. You're one of my best students. Everyone makes mistakes," she tells her student. Gabbi smiles a little. "Really?" she says. Ms. Jules nods. "Really." She hugs Gabbi, before walking around to see the other girls' makeup and hair. Jade kisses Gabbi on the cheek and hands the icepack to Beck. She walks away to find Brooke, so she can do her makeup.


Once Mackenzie, Abby, and Brooke have their makeup and hair done, they run their solos with Ms. Jules and get critiqued, before going backstage. The rest of the team sits in the audience.

"Up next, we have contestant number twenty-eight! Please welcome Mackenzie with Funky Fresh!" the announcer says from offstage.

Mackenzie enters the stage. She does her upbeat hiphop routine, making sure to fix the things that Ms. Jules pointed out. She finishes with one hand on her hip and the other hand in the air. The audience claps, and she exits the stage.

"Next up is contestant number twenty-nine, Abby with Dreamer!"

Abby enters the stage and waits for her music to start. When her song starts, she gracefully dances across the stage with fluid motions. She ends her routine laying on the ground, curled up as if she were asleep. The audience claps, and she leaves the stage.

There is one routine before Brooke's, so she is still backstage.

"Please welcome contestant number thirty, Callie with I Dreamed a Dream!"

All of the girls, except Kelsey, excitedly watch their good friend and former teammate perform. They clap and cheer when Callie finishes her dance.

"Next up is contestant number thirty-one, Brooke with Forget You!"

Brooke confidently steps onto the stage. Her music starts to play, and she begins to do her tap solo.

Kelsey tells her mother that she is going to the bathroom and leaves the theatre. Instead of going to the bathroom, she goes into the dressing room. She takes out her oil sponge and stick of butter, which had melted a bit. She goes around the room, putting cooking oil and butter on the bottom of everyone's jazz shoes. She puts a very small amount of butter on her shoes, so she doesn't seem suspicious. She puts her supplies away in her bag and goes back to the theatre.

On her way back to the theatre, Kelsey sees her mother, Tori, and Eden coming her way. Although she fears that they know what she was up to, Kelsey remains calms and neutral. She finds out that they were just going back to the dressing room getting ready for her and Eden's solos.


After getting ready, Eden and Kelsey head backstage. Kelsey performs first. Her performance was mediocre at best. She fell out of numerous turn sequences, but her tricks were executed well.

Eden is the last soloist to perform. She performs her solo very gracefully. When both girls finish performing, they meet the rest of their team in the dressing room.

When Eden and Kelsey enter the dressing room, Ms. Jules congratulates them on their solos.


The girls relax for a while the duets and trios are performed. They watch Callie perform in her trio. After watching Callie's trio perform, the girls get ready for the group dance. Each girl changes into her costume, and their moms do their makeup. Ms. Jules has the kids run the routine a few times. Since Gabbi's shoulder feels better, she practices with the group. Ms. Jules notices that the girls are slipping and falling as they practice, so she makes them take of their shoes and perform barefoot.


When everyone finishes getting ready and practicing, Ms. Jules takes the girls backstage. She tells them a few last-minute corrections and wishes them luck before heading to the audience. When the girls' routine is announced, they head onto the stage. Gabbi starts the dance when their music begins to play. She does a back handspring back tuck. When she returns to her starting position, the other girls start to dance. When they finish dancing, they get a standing ovation. They exit the stage and go back to the dressing room.