The Divas filed out behind the studio. “This is an awesome spot,” Bria declared, smudging soil across her cheeks and forehead. “Who knew? We never get outside the studio!”

Anya agreed, jumping in a huge pile of crunchy, colorful fall leaves. “In L.A., we never get to see the leaves change like this. I’m lovin’ this!”

J. J. whistled through his teeth to get their attention. “Okay, let’s focus. Rub some dirt on your faces, your leotards, your tights. Worms are not clean, so let me see it.”

They shot for over two hours, creating a grand finale where Bria rolled down a hill and landed in a pile of leaves.

She stood up, faced the camera and rapped: “Worms eat food scraps—so I’m your friend. It passes through my body and out my tail end. This compost is used to grow plants—so true! They call it ‘vermicompost’ and it looks like goo!”

“EWWW!” the rest of the Divas screamed in the background. Then they raced down the hill and tackled each other.

“Okay! That’s a wrap!” J. J. called. “Nice job, girls.”

Bria was laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath. She had leaves in her hair and dirt all over her face. “That was amazing. Thanks, everyone. I’m going to do the edit tonight and show Ms. Moran in the morning. Cross your fingers she likes it!”

Scarlett held up her hand with her fingers crossed. Then she caught a glimpse of her watch.

“Guys, it’s six twenty! We’re twenty minutes late for group rehearsal. Miss Toni is gonna kill us!”

They raced back inside and directly into studio 2, where Miss Toni was already rehearsing with Liberty.

Rochelle took a deep breath and braced herself. She knew this wasn’t going to be pretty.

Toni spun around and stared. For the first time since they’d known her, the Divas’ dance coach was completely speechless.

“OMG!” Liberty gasped. “Did you guys go mud wrestling?”

Bria thought quickly. “No, we were actually practicing out back. Um, you know, the Little Tramp and all …”

Scarlett picked up where she left off. “Right! We were just getting into character.” She smudged some dirt across her upper lip to look like a mustache. “See?”

Toni still looked stunned. “Rochelle, do you have anything to add to this?” she finally asked.

“Um, well, in dance and life, authenticity is everything,” she replied.

Toni raised an eyebrow. “Was J. J. perhaps involved in your authentic Little Tramp rehearsal?”

Gracie smiled. “How’d ya know?”

Toni put down her clipboard and marched toward the door. She looked furious. “I’m going to have a few words with him. In the meantime, I expect you all to clean up yourselves, then my dance studio floor.” She pointed to the black smudges and piles of dirt they’d scattered around.

“Uh-oh,” Gracie said. “J. J. is in trouble!”

Miss Toni still wasn’t back by the time they’d washed up, put on new leotards and tights, and returned to the studio.

“Do you think she’s gonna fire him?” Bria whispered.

“Miss Toni’s been mad at me tons of times and she always gets over it,” Rochelle said.

Apparently, she was right. The door opened and J. J. walked inside.

“So,” he began, “Miss Toni has asked me to take over the rehearsal for tonight.”

Scarlett raised her hand. “How come?”

“I’m not really sure,” J. J. answered. “Something about ‘having to connect more with the material.’ She went off to do some research, I guess.”

“This is all my fault,” Bria said, staring down at the floor. “I made Miss Toni mad at us.”

“You want my advice?” J. J. asked. “I think you should just nail your routine and let Miss Toni cool down.”

Rochelle bristled. “We took your advice before and look where it got us!”

“We don’t really have any other choice,” Anya pointed out. “The competition is two weeks away and we don’t even know the whole choreography.”

“Exactly!” J. J. said, studying Toni’s notes. “So let’s clean up those jetés before she comes back.”

“Jetés? What do you know about jetés?” Rochelle asked. “I thought you didn’t know anything about ballet.”

“I guess Toni’s rubbing off on me,” he said with a wink. “Let’s take it from the top.”

The next day, Bria came to school an hour early to meet with her science teacher. She could hardly sleep, she was so nervous.

“Bria?” Ms. Moran asked. “What are you doing here so early?”

“I um … I … well …,” Bria stuttered.

“This has to do with your test grade, doesn’t it?” her teacher said, sighing. “I tried calling you at home last night, but your mom said you were at your dance class.”

“I know. I’m sorry. But let me show you something!” Bria pleaded. She opened her laptop and the worm video started playing. Ms. Moran watched it intently. “I can’t believe you did this,” she said.

“I did. I really did!” Bria said. “I do know the material, I swear! I just panicked on the test. I’m not sure what went wrong.”

“I know what went wrong,” Ms. Moran assured her. “There was a computer error. When I saw the F, I knew something was wrong. I went back and marked your test again by hand. I changed your grade last night. You didn’t fail, Bria. You got an A minus.”

Bria’s eyes lit up. “I did? I didn’t fail?”

“No, you didn’t fail. But I do think I’ll have to change your grade again.”

Oh no. Bria’s mind began to race. Her teacher hated the video. Now she really was going to fail her.

“Please,” Bria said. “Can I do it again? I promise I’ll do better next time.”

Ms. Moran looked puzzled. “You mean an A plus isn’t good enough for you?”

“An A plus?” Bria gasped. “Really?”

“Anyone who goes to this much effort to show me she understands earthworms deserves it. My favorite part was the compost goo. Do you mind if I use this for future classes?”

Bria couldn’t wait to get to the studio to tell her friends the great news.

When Bria arrived a few minutes before class started, the dressing room was surprisingly missing all the Divas. So she changed into her leotard and went to look for them. There was a large note on the studio door in Miss Toni’s handwriting: Diva Competition Team: Please meet at 111 Alton Street.

“Need a ride?” a voice asked. It was J. J.

“Where are we going?” Bria replied. “And where is everybody?”

“Toni decided to take you girls on a little field trip today. The rest of the gang is there already, but Miss Toni asked me to stay behind and give you a ride when you arrived. We better hurry. Food’s getting cold.”

“Food?” Bria asked, grabbing her bag and trailing after him to the parking lot.

J. J. nodded and opened the car door. “Yup. You’ll see.” He made the lock-and-key movements over his lips again. “Miss Toni swore me to secrecy.”