In Royal Woods Park, Lola Loud and her plump pageant friend Jane Fitzgerald are on their way to ballet practice as they are wearing their typical ballerina attires and carrying their pink ballet bags. The ballet practice that they are headed, though, is different from the usual ballet practice that they usually attend.
"Ah, ballet. The most fun way to show off your skills, grace, and beauty while getting some good exercise," Lola told the readers. "As you all can guess, Jane and I are headed to ballet class, but what you all don't know is that we're not going to the practice we usually attend. We're actually going to attend tryouts for the upcoming Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship! Isn't that exciting?!"
"Exciting indeed!" Jane agreed, facing Lola. "Shouts out to Mrs. Dufresne, our ballet teacher, for recommending us to try out for the championship."
"You said it, Jane!" Lola then faces her attention back at the reader. "In case you're wondering why Jane and I were the only ones that Mrs. Dufrense recommended to join the championship? Well, because Jane and I are the top two ballet dancers in our class! With Jane being the top ballerina! And ooooh boy Jane knows how to dance!"
After saying that, the scene transitions into a flashback of Jane performing her ballet recital in front of her ballet class and Dana, and Lola wasn't lying or exaggerating when she said: "Jane knows how to dance." Jane performs every ballet move imaginable and never messes up not even once! She performs the assemblé, grande jeté, plié, pirouette, and tour en l'air gracefully. Then, she makes a leap and straightens both legs into a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn in midair before landing and twirling before stopping in an attitude position with her leg raised behind her body and bent at a ninety-degree angle. As the performance ended, the young ballerinas, especially Lola and Dana, all began clapping for Jane. Still remaining in an attitude position, she makes a bow at her class. The flashback finally ends there.
"Yep," the thin princess told the reader. "If Jane gets accepted into the championship, she'll definitely win for sure."
The two young ballerinas reached the gymnasium where the tryouts for the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship are supposed to take place. The gym is filled with, unsurprisingly, lots of little girls wearing their ballerina attires; many of them, to Lola and Jane's surprise, are diverse in body size and weight, and height with many of them being tall, short, thin, or chubby. They are also of different ages as most girls range from as young as four to as old as nine; this did not come as a surprise for Lola and Jane as the flyer Mrs. Dufresne showed them the other day did say that the people behind the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship are accepting girls between the ages of four to nine.
The ceiling of the gymnasium is decorated with a pink banner that states "Welcome, young potential ballerinas to the tryouts for the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship!" painted in white. There are also decorations of balloons that are of colors pink or white. Even the entrance to the gymnasium is decorated with an arch of pink or white balloons. Lola and Jane can't help but feel impressed by the decorations, feeling welcome to the tryouts.
"Woah. Look what they've done to the place," said Lola.
"You've said it girl. This place looks...amazing! If not, wonderful!" Jane commented.
"Excuse me? Are you two girls here for the tryouts?"
Lola and Jane are approached by a woman who looked about thirty years of age. She is wearing a blue, sparkly dress with a transparent long skirt that revealed the bottom part of her long, thin legs. Surrounding her waist is a black belt with a cornflower on it. She has white and grey hair with a style similar to Mrs. Dufresne. She is also of a slim, hourglass body type with slightly big breasts. Sure enough, she is pretty good-looking.
"Uh, yeah we are," Lola responded to the woman.
"Well, my name is Mrs. Damocles, your ballet instructor," the woman introduced herself, speaking in a French accent. "And you two must be Lola Loud and Jane Fitzgerald. I've heard from your previous ballet teacher that you two are the top of the class, especially you, Ms. Fitzgerald.
"You know, Mrs. Dufresne?" asked Jane, curious.
"Oui," confirmed Mrs. Damocles. "I've known her for about a month now since moving here to the United States from France, and we have so much in common! We both love ballet, beauty pageants, etc! We also teach ballet classes, and after hearing a lot about you both from Mrs. Dufresne I just had to welcome you both!"
"Wow!" Lola exclaimed.
"Awesome!" said Jane.
"You girls will love it here! Since this is a championship, you will compete with the other beautiful ballerinas for first place! Obviously you will bring out the best of your ballet skills as you leap through the air and feel the soft breeze blow on your face. The girl with the most impressive ballet performance will win first place, a trophy, and a trip to see a ballet performance in New York City!"
Words cannot describe the excitement Lola and Jane are feeling throughout every fiber of their bodies. It had been their dream to travel to the city that never sleeps. They can imagine themselves shopping in the malls and observing the famous landmarks of New York City. Jane is the most elated because not only is New York City one of the places she plans to travel to when she finally becomes an adult but is also the place where her mother and father met for the first time. This is the dream Jane always had, and it may become true if she wins the championship.
"I can't believe it! I'm going to New York City if I win the championship!" Jane exclaimed with utter excitement.
"I know! My family always wanted to go to New York! This is our big chance to finally go there!" said Lola.
"If you girls really want to go to New York that badly, then I suggest you two take the chance by trying out now. I'm curious to see how well you two ladies will perform."
And with that, she turns her back and walks away, but before fully turning around Mrs. Damocles shoots Jane a look of dissatisfaction for a split second before returning to a look of content. Jane, though it lasted for a very short time, took notice of the unsatisfactory look and grew confused. Lola, however, did not take notice as she is too excited to notice.
"Oh my gosh! This is like a dream come true! New York City! The city that never sleeps!" exclaimed Lola.
"That was weird," uttered Jane.
Jane's comment snapped Lola out of her elated state. "What was weird?"
"Was it just me, or did that lady just look at me funny?"
Lola was a bit puzzled by Jane's accusation. "What are you talking about? She looks happy to me."
"Yeah," the plump princess admitted, "but for a split second she gave me this weird look as if...she isn't too impressed with me."
"I didn't see any weird looks flash at you," reassured Lola. "Maybe you're just worried that you may lose the championship and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to travel to New York City, but don't worry Jane. You're one of the best ballerinas I've ever met! And a chubby ballerina at that! You'll do great!"
"Yeah. Maybe you're right," Jane finally gave in.
"Good! Now come on! We got tryouts to attend!"
Lola and Jane then began approaching the group of young ballerinas waiting for the tryouts to start. While on her way, the thought of Mrs. Damocles flashing her that look came back to Jane's mind. She could've sworn she gave her a look of dissatisfaction. Did she secretly despise her or something? If so, what did she do to make her dislike her? Jane tried to forget these thoughts, but they always come back. Maybe it'll be best if she just ignored them and not think it had something to do with her.