Dance First (Dance Moms ALDC LA Fanfiction)

chapter uno

Harper grins apologetically and then squeals. "I bet you half my sweet stash that I'm going to miss you way more." She gives me her hand, displaying her friendship ring on her little finger and Olivia and I show ours as well. They chink together unceremoniously as a token of our friendship.

"On the bright side," chimes Olivia. "At least there's only one week left of this cast to go, and by the time you come back we'll all be able to dance together again."

I give them one last hug before I take my suitcase from Olivia's hands and walk to the door. Even through the tinted glass I can see cameras waiting in anticipation to click.

"Wish me luck!" I shout over my shoulder before opening the door wide onto the onslaught of paparazzi.

My mother stands beside the red Porsche, smiling and waving at everyone. She gives me a brief kiss on the head as a way of greeting. I throw my bags in the back and then hop in.

"How's it been so far?" She asks as we pull out of the car park. I watch the buildings of Ohio whizz past.

"Amazing," I reply. "I can't wait until December to go back though; Ms Crystal is so good! How's everyone else?"

My mom reaches into the glove box and pulls out an apple, munching on it while we pull onto a motorway. She sighs and smiles. "They all missed you of course. Eben has just got back from tour, Hiram is training for who-knows-what, and Finnie has just flown to Australia for some fashion movie. She might not be back in time for your birthday, though, so don't expect too much."

Our conversations continue about home - mainly about Eben and whatever mishaps he managed to accomplish on stage, making his fans and his TV show love him more. However, my mother doesn't seem to be completely with it, constantly throwing guilty glances out the window when she thinks I'm not looking.

An hour in I ask quietly, "What's wrong Mom?" Her eyes widen immediately as if she'd been caught doing something wrong.

"Well...I have some good news and some bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

I don't give it a second thought. "You know me, good news always first."

She smiles, part of her makeup cracking around her wrinkled eyes. "Okay, so you know your brother's TV show?"

I pause, eyes furrowing. I don't know where this is going. "Yes, you mean Life of Eben Ellery?" To be honest, when I first heard the name of his TV show I thought it was the least-original name ever, but I don't really care anymore.

She nods her head. "Well, they caught wind that you were coming back to LA and so... they've decided to extend their offer to you."

It takes me a moment to process. I shift in my seat to see her face better. "Wait, you mean to say that they now want me to be on it? Mom you know—"

My mom shakes her head and smiles. Her stellar grin reflects on her years as a professional. "I know dear, and that's supposed to be the good news."

I sigh; things were just starting to get good with my dancing and now I might not have as much of a chance anymore to do the one thing I love the most. "And what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is," my mother trails off slowly, contemplating whether it's really worth telling me. "You're not going back to Ohio."

My mouth drops open in disbelief. I might never be able to meet up with Harper again or receive helpful criticism from Ms Crystal or actually see Olivia dancing without her crutch. I just don't understand why; I was happy in Ohio. There was nothing wrong with it at all.