The Secret Friendship

Chapter Twenty

Chloe POV:

After some planning and organizing with Maddie, we decided to have a sleepover at her house the following weekend since Maddie got ungrounded. However, instead of it just being the two of us, we decided to make some phone calls and try to see if we could round up our old competition team for old time’s sake. Brooke was away at college so she was out of the question along with Kendall who now lived in a different state but we wanted to reconnect with Nia and Paige.

We met for ice cream one day after I got out of school and didn’t have dance to make the calls. I had a number for Paige but I hadn’t texted or called her in a few years so I didn’t know if it still worked. As I pressed the call button, I grew nervous because we hadn’t spoken for so long. However, if I’d never made the leap of faith to talk to Maddie again, we wouldn’t be sitting together in an ice cream parlor. When she answered, the butterflies in my stomach multiplied.

“Paige?”

“Yes. Who is this?”

“Chloe.” Her shout for joy nearly pierced my ear. We explained how we wanted a sleepover to reconnect our old team and she claimed she was available and would love to join us. One down, one to go. Nia was the trickier one. Neither of us had a number for her anymore but we did find the Frazier household number online and decided to give it a try. Someone who sounded like Holly answered.

“Hi, is this Holly?”

“Yes, it is. Who am I speaking with?”

“This is Chloe Lukasiak.”

“Chloe! That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time! How are you?”

“I’m great! I’m here with Maddie and we’re trying to get all the girls together again. Is Nia around?” A few minutes later Nia came to the phone and thought a reunion sleepover was an excellent idea. We were psyched to have a portion of our team back together under one roof. It would be perfect if Brooke and Kendall could come too.

Maddie POV:

“How much longer until they get here?” Mackenzie shrieked with excitement as we helped our mom put out snacks we’d bought earlier in the day at the grocery store. I hadn’t seen her so excited since she was a peppy ten year old.

“About half an hour!” It had been such a long time since we’d had a sleepover, especially with the girls. Though I contained it better, I was probably equally as excited as my sister.

Chloe showed up a little early with Christi in tow. Chloe carried in a tray of cookies she’d made for the event and unsurprisingly, Christi showed up with a bottle of wine. She and Mom hadn’t seen each other in years, but they greeted each other with open arms.

“Who says moms can’t party too?” Christi exclaimed, placing the wine on the counter. “I hope you don’t mind, Melissa but I invited Kelly and Holly over too.” Though I wasn’t sure how Mom would react to having more house guests, she seemed to think it was an awesome idea.

“Wow! I only thought I’d be seeing the girls today, but now I get to see my friends too! What a great day!”

The party was a big hit. It was really nice to see everyone again. We all gave big long bear hugs, caught up and traded stories. We reminisced on the good old times and forgot about all the bad times. In the long run, none of that mattered anymore. It was just nice to be together again, like a big old happy family.

Paige had quit dance after ALDC. She’d gotten several modeling gigs, but for the most part was just enjoying being a normal teenager. She’d joined the choir at her school and found a new passion for singing. Nia had gone on to dance at another studio, but gave it up a few years ago after a bad back injury. Brooke was away at Penn State for college. She was still dating her high school boyfriend Nolan and Kelly swore they were going to get engaged sometime soon. Like Paige, she’d also quit dance.

Before the night was over, I found Kendall’s number written down in an old notebook in my room, the first time she’d given it to me when she first came to ALDC. Miraculously, it still worked. We were able to Facetime with her and Jill for a while. Kendall still danced at a studio in Nebraska and she claimed the teachers were a lot nicer than Abby. It was nice to be reunited and they claimed they were here with us in spirit.

The moms went home about midnight but all the girls stayed over. We stayed up until three AM playing games and telling secrets like we used to do in the olden days. Though the years had isolated us from one another, it was like we’d never been apart. We were all sisters. No matter what life tried to throw at us, nothing could tear us apart. It was such a blessing to be together once again.

(This is the end of the story!! Hope you guys liked it! Let me know what you think & check out my new Mackenzie Ziegler fanfic!)