The New Dance Sweethearts

Double the Moms, Double the Trouble

"When is Unnie coming home?" Daiane asks. "I miss her."

"She said that filming will be done in three weeks if everything goes as planned." Mom answers.

That was another thing that was gonna be weird. Not having my Unnie at competitions with me. As much as Eomma encourages me before I dance, having Unnie in the wings always makes me feel more at ease.

"Jal meokkesseumnida," I say before digging in. (I will eat well.)

After breakfast, I helped Eomma get Daiane ready. The three of us said bye to the male members of our family before heading out. We dropped Daiane at pre-school and headed to the studio.

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"I've been gone for two months, going to dance studios that were in trouble. Seeing these problems firsthand with somebody else, I realized the mistakes that I have made, and I'm not gonna make them anymore. I want kids that want to be the best," are the first words from Abby's mouth when we walk into the studio.

Abby points toward the elect team. "And that's exactly why you guys are here," she gestures to us. "To push these kids to the next level. 'Cause There's always someone to take your spot. Now they're here; there right next to you. Maddie, Vitoria, come over with the winning team!"

Maddie and I slowly walked over to the Select team.

"Congratulations-- you guys are the winning team. Then again, you had three of the best dancers from the Elite team to lead you to victory. It was unfortunate that Sarah couldn't dance with the group. But I've had it with Mom smart-mouthing me and being rude...."

"No. You took something wrong that I said, and you put it on her shoulders, and it's not fair," Christy defends. "And I am your customer, and she is your student, and she deserves," she points to the Elite team, "to be there. And I do too." she waves a hand at the Select moms. "This is phony."

"There are two teams," Abby continues as if Christy hadn't said anything. "They will go head-to-head sometimes. I might need to pull a kid here and there and put them on this team. We have kids working. I mean, a lot of kids did things over the breaks. Maddie, tell us one of the things you did over the break."

"I went to LA, and I did a music video for Sia," Maddie said and was met with applause from all of us.

"Vitoria, you also did something really amazing over the break," Abby says; she gestures for me to speak.

"I was asked to model for Velveteen, and I did a spread for their upcoming summer collection," I told everybody, my cheeks reddening. I've done photo shoots before, but I never had to announce it to a group of people before.

"And we have Diana, who is still filming a movie right now, and who knows when she's gonna be back," Abby says as the applause dies. "What if Maddie gets called to do another video? Or a Movie? Or Vitoria as to model for another Magazine? Any of the girls. I'm gonna need to pull somebody from this team to go in there. You'll notice that Kalani is not with us, but I certainly don't want a kid whose mother choices her boyfriend over her own child," Abby says. "Maddie, Vitoria, please move over here with your Moms."

"I was just about to ask you, since Kalani's gone, would Maddie, Diana, and or Vitoria return to their original team?" Holly asked.

"Absolutely," Abby nods, Grinning. I hurry back over to Eomma and stand in front of her. As sweet as the girls in the Select team here, I like dancing with the Elite team, and this is why Eomma doesn't have to deal with Christy more than necessary.

"Let's get to the pyramid," Abby claps. "First, we have Kendall. You and Kalani went out on that stage and got beat by two girls that never shared the stage before, that never danced together but worked their butts off. Next on the pyramid: Nia. We've been doing this for four competition seasons; the very first season, I corrected you on your legs and your feet. I'm still telling you the same thing.