The flight to L.A. was five and a half hours, which was about five hours and twenty-nine minutes too long for Gracie.

“Are we there yet?” she asked, anxiously peering out the plane window.

“Not unless Hollywood is in the clouds,” her mother answered. “Honey, relax. We’ll be there before you know it.”

Gracie sunk back in her seat. Why did the flight have to take forever? And why didn’t Scarlett seem to mind? She was too busy reading some book about Old Hollywood.

“Did you know that one of Marilyn Monroe’s favorite actors was Charlie Chaplin?” she read out loud.

“Cool. Maybe we could do a duet dressed like both of them,” Bria suggested.

Rochelle looked back over her shoulder. Miss Toni was seated in the last row of the plane with J. J., studying her notebook of dance notations. “Somehow I don’t think Toni would go for us changing up her choreography.”

Bria shrugged. “I know. But it would be cool, don’t ya think?”

“I think it would be cool if you would all stop talking. I’m trying to catch up on my beauty sleep.” Liberty yawned.

Anya unfortunately had the seat next to her across the aisle. “The flight’s only five hours. You need a lot more time than that,” Anya muttered under her breath.

A voice came over the plane loudspeaker. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are making our final descent into LAX airport.”

“Yippee!” Gracie squealed. “We’re here!”

The girls gathered their luggage from the baggage carousel with Toni leading the way. “Okay, make sure you have everything. I don’t want to get to Electric Dance missing any costumes or dance shoes.”

Liberty had checked five bags—three filled with clothes, one brimming with hair products, and another containing enough makeup to stock a department store.

“And I thought I overpacked,” Bria’s mom whispered in her ear. “Compared to Liberty, I’m a lightweight!”

Just then, a voice came singing through the baggage claim area. “Darlings! Over here!” A blond woman dressed in a pink fur vest and huge black sunglasses made her way through the crowds.

Bria squinted. “Is that Lady Gaga?”

Rochelle sighed. “No, it’s Mommy Montgomery.”

“This way! This way!” Jane Montgomery instructed two limousine drivers wheeling luggage carts.

“Mommy!” Liberty screamed and raced toward her. Mwah! Mwah! They air-kissed on both cheeks. “I missed you so much!”

“And I missed my Libbylicious!” her mom said, hugging her.

“I think I’m going to barf,” Rochelle groaned.

“Thanks for the warm welcome, Jane,” Toni said as the drivers scooped up their bags. “And the ride.”

“Of course! It’s the least I can do for our dynamite Divas,” she replied. “I hope you’re all excited for your music video debut. I know the Sugar Dolls are excited to meet you.”

“Wow! We get to meet them,” Gracie gasped. “Yiphoo!” It was a funny word, but her combo of “yippee” and “yahoo” seemed to sum up what everyone was feeling.

Anya could barely contain her excitement. “I have always wanted to make a music video,” she told Mrs. Montgomery. “I must have gone on a gazillion auditions when I lived out here. I can’t believe it’s really happening.”

Jane nodded. “In Hollywood, it’s all about who you know,” she said, patting Anya on the head. “And you’re lucky enough to know me.”

J. J. stepped forward. “And you’re lucky enough to know me. How’s it goin’, Janie?”

Jane’s face went pale. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. “Jerome Fairbanks?” she gasped, taking off her sunglasses to get a better look. “What are you doing here? With my daughter’s dance team?”

“He’s our guest choreographer,” Toni jumped in. “I hired him.”

Jane stared. “You do know that he almost destroyed my career, right?”

“Hey, that was way back when,” J. J. explained. “I was a pushy kid. A new dancer breaking into Hollywood.”

“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.”