DANCING THROUGH LIFE, dance moms

Chapter 8: Solo Week!

"Alright, girls. St. Louis. What happened?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

We all stayed silent, not wanting to answer.

"I entered four routines, and only one of them placed. Do you girls know how embarrassing that is for me? It's my name and my reputation on the line every time I send you girls out on that stage. And you'd better not screw up again. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Miss Abby." We all mumbled. (A/N: holy shiznet i almost wrote "yes, miss hannigan" like that orphanage lady from annie and now i'm imagining abby singing "little girls" from annie and it TOTALLY WORKS SINCE IT SEEMS LIKE SHE HATES THOSE KIDS SOMETIMES LOL)

"Good. Now, onto the pyramid. On the bottom of the pyramid, we have..." Abby paused for dramatic effect. "Mackenzie. You didn't dance this weekend. There's nothing to critique you on." Abby shrugged. Mackenzie nodded, smiling her little gap-toothed smile.

"And next we have...Chloe. Chloe, you were at the top of the pyramid. You're a beautiful dancer, and you could've shined in that trio. But when the music started, you were about a foot away from where you were supposed to be." Abby said.

Chloe nodded. "Sorry." She whispered.

"I don't need you to be sorry. I need you to learn from your mistakes and do it right the next time. Understand?" Abby said.

Chloe nodded again.

"And next, we have...Kendall. Kendall, you were a part of the trio that didn't place last week. Maybe if I hadn't put you in it, that trio would've won." Abby shrugged.

Kendall frowned and Abby moved on to the next picture. "And next, we have..."

"Hailey," she said removing the white paper off of my headshot. "You didn't really stand out to me in the group dance. You didn't pull my eyes in a negative way, but I'm used to you pulling my eyes in a positive way. However, as of right now, you and Kendall are both off probation." She smiled.

I grinned and hugged Kendall. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom let out a sigh of relief, and Jill fist pumped the air. I laughed at that.

"Moving on up, we have...Nia!" Abby said. Nia smiled. "Nia, you were good in the group routine. You might have been better if your mother had let you keep your featured role, but you've started pulling my eyes in a positive way, and I'm excited about that."

"Next we have...Paige!" Abby said. I looked at Paige, who was grinning from ear to ear. She was so close to the top of the pyramid! "Paige, I thought you were great in the group dance. You weren't in anything else, but you did a very nice job."

"And next is...Maddie." Abby said, removing the last slip of paper on the middle row. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Melissa give Abby a confused look. I was somewhat confused too. Why would Payton be at the top of the pyramid over Maddie? Maddie won her solo and the group dance didn't even place.

"Maddie, your solo was great. You beat every other dance in your division." Abby said. Maddie gave a half-hearted smile, still wondering why she wasn't at the top. Payton was standing at the end of the line, smiling like a coyote. (a/n: lmao smiling like a coyote isn't a thing is it-)

"Well. We're gonna give them what they want. On top of the pyramid is..." Abby trailed off.

She ripped the piece of paper off of the mirror, and my eyes widened. It wasn't Payton at all.

"Brooke."

The studio door opened, and Brooke burst through the door, grinning from ear to ear. We all ran to hug her - all of us except Payton, that is.