"go straight into the studio." mom says as we walk into Erins studio
we go into the studio and Erin has us all sit around her
"alright the group piece is called The Upside Down i don't know if you guys have seen the show Stranger Things but it's about experimenting on kids the ALDC especially is constantly getting experimented on they have different choreographers all the time they have different people we never know what team we never know who's going to be on the team..word on the street that Abby is back but i don't even know if she has a team i don't know what is going on" Erin says
"so Chloe is the mad doctor that is doing all the experimenting on you guys"
|Group Rehearsals|
we start to learn the group and it's very intrigual and Clara is going to be in the dance!
"you need to step it up and get your head in the game and be in the right spot to be able to succeed honestly how she just danced right now is not okay, yes i want to win so hopefully with another day of rehearsal that won't happen..we're going to run it one more time okay?" Erin says to Chloe
we run the group again and honestly it's really tough
these aren't the dancers i grew up dancing with.. everything's different
|One Days To Competition|
|Group Rehearsals|
"okay you're going to have a part in this dance did you know this? yeah..so the last thing we're going to see you onstage getting put on the gurney by the Mad Doctor what do you think about that?" Erin says to Clara
"it's not real though right?" Clara asks
i laugh
i love this kid,
"no" Erin laughs
Erin teaches Clara her bit
we run the routine with the music and i make sure to keep up
we finish the dance and i end the routine kinda close to the gurney like i'm reaching out for Clara before Chloe 'kills her'
sibling love!
|Competition Day|
we arrive at the competition and me and Clara walk hand in hand
we get to the dressing room
"early? to late and we avoided seeing" mom says
"our old teacher!" Chloe finishes
"thank god, i think i might genuinely ran for my life" i say
"wouldn't put it past ya kid." mom agrees
we put the makeup out in the dressing table and be and Chloe decide to run through the group routine since we're early
"will..you know be there watching?" i ask
"i'd assume so." Chloe nods
i groan
"but look i love you girls in this dance i think it's deigned for you" mom says
"if all the other moms ask if i was taking classes or whatever cause i guess she doesn't think i'm that good i mean." Chloe mumbles
"are you dancing like you were at eight years old but you're not at the studio for forty hours a week" mom says
"but it's like everyone always has opinions and most of them are you were doing better at seven or eight and i'm like..i wasn't put down then but now they're waiting for me to fail." i say
"i know it's hard but they don't get what has happened and i promise you, you have not regressed you aren't awful..none of you are." mom says
i nod
"this is where i need Kelly and a drink" mom adds
i laugh
mom and Clara with the MDP mom and Erin go to the audience for the solos from ALDC and us girls stay in the dressing room to practise the group dance
"i'm nervous to dance infront of Abby" i whisper
"i know..me too but remember all those times you did and you did really good." Chloe whispers
"yeah." i nod
"you're going to do that again..and i know you came off doubting yourself everytime but you won't need to do to that anymore..she isn't your teacher." Chloe hugs me
i nod
"and she isn't yours either." i say
Chloe laughs
"yeah i guess i need to take my own advice." Chloe nods
"you do..i do, it's hard" i say
"i know but we can do this" Chloe high fives me
mom and Clara and everyone else soon come back nod we get ready for the group dance
group costume: (the patients costume)
"alright guys listen i want you to remember what this is about it's called the upside down based of the show Stranger Things experimenting on kids okay here we go." Erin says
we run through the group routine before heading backstage
two years ago i danced infront of Abby for the last time.
did i know it was my last?
no,
but she was awful to me and now it's time to show her i came back and i'm better than ever.
"alright judges we're going to go ahead to move on to entry number 33 The Upside Down." the announcer says
"don't forget to act Clara" i whisper quickly before walking onstage
the music starts and we all start the number
i make sure everything is on time and that my technique is flawless
i have a section with Chloe and she lift me up and spins be around then i go into a aerial
we continue with the dance then Clara comes onstage and Chloe grabs her and puts her on the gurney and i run and reach out then the dance ends
we exit the stage and i take a huge breather
i did it, i danced infront of Abby.
we all do a group hug
and then i give Clara a huge hug
"you did it! you danced on dance moms!" i give her a high five
|Awards|
for the ALDC solos
Liliana won the overall duo/trio/ solo award
"next we have teen group." the announcer says
"first place in teen group category goes to..entry number 33 The Upside Down"
i cheer and we stand up to get the award
we sit back down and i give Chloe and Clara a high five
after award and and Chloe sit on this red couch in the hall
"it feels so great to win..two times in a row" i say
"we won thirteen times before." Chloe says
"true..we did." i nod
"hey there you guys are..congratulations" mom says
"thank you" i say
"how did i do?" Chloe asks
"oh my gosh you were great you both were great like in my heart there's little i like more in this world than watching you guys dance" mom says
i smile
"are you guys getting emotional?" mom asks
"no!" i answer slightly too quickly
"i mean MDP they've been really amazing but now that the girls have left ALDC maybe next week we could dance with them." Chloe says
"they've been our team for years and yes it's changed but again i've known Nia since i was born, and even though they've left i've known all those girls since i was literally born like there's photos of two or three year old Paige next to me." i say and i wipe my eyes
"that's true." mom nods
"look, i'll go tell Erin then we'll talk with the girls." mom says
"yeah." Chloe nods
mom leaves
"maybe we'll dance with them sooner than we thought." i smile
"hopefully" Chloe smiles
mom soon comes back
"is she mad?" i ask
"who?" mom asks
"Erin." i say
"don't worry about what she thinks, she may be disappointed but she isn't mad towards you or Chloe she isn't Abby" mom hugs me
"hey! congratulations!" Jill says and the other moms come out behind her
"that was really really cool" Jill says and she hugs me and Chloe
"okay did Clara break her back?"
"oh my gosh!" Chloe laughs
"she did! Chloe's fault!" i joke
"it was good im proud of you both" Jill says
"thank you" i smile
"are you proud of your girls?" Jill asks as i hug Kira and Holly
i give a smile to Elizabeth
i don't know how much she appreciates me after what happened.
"um so i just told MDP that Chloe and Camila will not be coming back." mom says
"i think it's time we let them go onstage...i can't talk" mom chokes up
"i know it's a moment" Holly says
"yeah the girls can dance" Jill says
"but i didn't even ask you guys." mom says
Holly laughs
"well we're down one so you're in because Ashlee left." Jill says
"Ashlees with Abby now" Holly says
"so i get to dance with my friends again?" Chloe asks
"i don't see why not." Jill says
i smile
"why don't you talk to the girls about it." Holly says
the girls then come around the corner
"oh hey!" Holly says
"we have a question to ask you guys." Chloe starts
"you're joining!" Kalani says
"can we dance?" i ask
all the girls cheer and they attack us in a hug
"yes yes yes yes yes!" we all chant
we then do our iconic chant
"to the dream team!" Kalani says and we all out our hands in
"one to three" Kalani counts us in
"to the dream team!" we all cheer
_____
"hey." Eloise says as she sits beside me on the steps of the competition
um.
"hi." i say
just be nice.
"so...you glad to come back?" Eloise asks
"as happy as i can be." i shrug
"look, you left on horrible terms with Abby...we left eachother on probably even worse terms and i'm sorry..i was horrible to you and you know we were meant to be in it together and it got ruined..she ruined it" Eloise starts
wait what?
i look to Eloise and i just stare
"and i know i was awful to you and got you into even more trouble with Abby especially when the whole scandal with us broke out on social media and yeah that wasn't great." Eloise starts
"wasn't great? i know everyone was telling you how horrible you were because you were mean to me but you practically said i'd didn't deserve anything i got." i snap
in quote
'you all are attacking me at the first thing you see on TV, remember it's reality television it's edited. what you didn't see was Camila yelling at me in the den and at pyramid. this all didn't stem from nothing there's a whole story to it. before you attack me maybe look into what Camila did. while she's out here booking movies and doing press and being America's sweetheart you aren't seeing who she truly is, she doesn't deserve it'
that was posted on Eloise's very public twitter.
"i-i know" Eloise stammers
"god Eloise that could've ruined everything for me." i say
"and what was being said on tv wasn't?" Eloise asks
"i didn't say anything wrong?! it was the truth! plus i didn't say anything about you i said Abby wanted you to beat me..she did" i say
"i know! okay i know!" Eloise says
"why are you here? to fight with me? because i very well can act i'm alright with you for those cameras if that's what you want." i say as i start to pick up my things
"no wait! please." Eloise says
"what?" i ask as i turn to her
"i don't want to spend these next like what four..five weeks knowing there's going to be tension with us, we used to be really close." Eloise says
"and you fooled me just as much as you fooled the entirety of America." i state
"Camila please just hear me out!" Eloise says
"fine, go." i finally say
"Abby ruined it, okay. this all started over that stupid duet Maddie and Kalani did because what what happened to Chloe, it wasn't my situation and it wasn't yours but i understand why you were so upset i do and i'm sorry when you explained i said that i understood because i didn't i truly didn't know what it was like to be under Abbys hate list..i'm sorry that Abby got mad at you because i was snarky i was just mad." Eloise explains
do i just cave..am i holding a grudge?
i sigh
"yeah i get it wasn't our situation but at that point i thought it would be us girls against the show..then Maddie did the duet i don't care if she had the option or not she could've told Chloe why she didn't i don't onto but it's over now and it's been two year so whatever, but can we even come back from that? yeah sure we can forgive the show stuff because it was a bit petty like fighting at pyramid who did we think we were?" i ask
Eloise laughs a bit
"deranged people." Eloise comments
i snicker
"but the whole Team Camila, Team Eloise crap like you got attacked by all forces and i didn't do anything to stop it." i say
"don't i know it." Eloise mumbles
"that wasn't great and people still hate you" i say
"okay now you're just pointing out everything i like to ignore." Eloise says
"i feel bad is what i'm saying." i say
"you?... you feel bad?" Eloise asks
"yes because i got over it the second i got time to breathe when i left then they attacked you and i don't know i guess i felt relief i wasn't going crazy that i was the only one seeing what was happening so i just let it happen..then you tweeted then it give me a reason to not stop it i guess." i shrug
"the tweet was a late night thought..producers absolutely crucified me for it." Eloise sighs
"really?" i ask
"oh yes it got to Abby..Abby didn't really care because it was you but producers hated that i brought a bad name to the show and they didn't want to kick me off so they just gave me hell for it." Eloise shrugs
"jesus." i say
"look we don't have to be friends if you don't want to but just know i'm sorry." Eloise sighs
"i'm sorry aswell, the show just got to me by that point that i think i went a but off the rails" i say
"friends?" Eloise puts her hand out to me
no going back now.
"friends." i smile and i take her hand
we stand up to head to the parking lot
"you know after you and Chloe left it all went downhill." Eloise says
"really?" i ask
"Abby got mad, hated us all but Maddie and Kenzie..she liked me at times..Evelyn depended on her mood with her." Eloise says
"wow and here i thought you'd be the golden girl because you beat me." i say
"oh i was! for two weeks then Maddie took over..what a great two weeks they were." Eloise sighs
"i bet you relished in that." i laugh
"you bet i did..oh my god we also did a frozen dance and the name Camila Lukasiak was banned the entire week" Eloise gasps
"oh i bet Abby was beaming doing a dance about a film i was in." i say
"oh you bet she was" Eloise laughs
A/N
me when i was watching y'all despise Eloise when i knew damn well they became friends again...
lol, um surprise guys!!!