Manhattan Dancin' (Dance Moms Fic)

Chapter 7: Cupid Strikes?

Weeks later at the studio, it was June 27th and everyone was there except for Cathy and Vivi, which did not sit well with Abby, Aurelio and crew and after pyramid, they moved on to talk about the upcoming competition

"Let's talk about this week's group dance, which is called snapshot and i know you have all modeled, you know what a runway is and do you know what else is at the fashion show?" Abby asked.

"The most important part of a fashion show is a photographer." Aurelio answered.

"You got it!" Abby exclaimed. "I have had a lot to think about over the recent 24 hours and i think we need a boy to be the photographer and even though Aurelio's good at taking photos, i have a surprise for you."

Everybody looked over at Brooke, who had a look of awkwardness as she had a feeling on which boy was going to be in the dance.

"Here's our photographer!" Abby revealed the photo over Maddie's photo and in the photo was a boy around 15 with brown hair named Brandon Pent, who is a dancer for the Abby Lee Dance Company.

"It's Brandon!" Melissa exclaimed and Kelly and the other moms were smiling.

"It's weird." Paige said.

"Oh, no." Brooke muttered to herself.

"Is he here?" Holly asked.

"Brandon?" Abby called and walking in the studio was Brandon and behind him was a woman with auburn hair and her name is Diane Pent, who is Brandon's mother as the girls and moms hugged them and Aurelio gave Brandon a high five and hugged Diane.

"What's up, Relio?" Brandon asked.

"Nothing much, Brandon."

"Hey there, Aurelio." Diane stated.

"Hello, Diane."

One the greetings were done, it was time to get to work on the group dance and from the start, there were signs of discord as Brandon and Brooke weren't connecting, then Aurelio came up with an idea that could help them connect and he whispered his idea to Abby and the idea was for Brandon and Brooke to go on a date, much to Brooke's dismay.

The next day in Coney Island, a residential and commercial neighborhood and entertainment area of Brooklyn, there were 2 amusement parks known as Luna Park and Deno's Wonder Wheel with a Boardwalk and a Beach and at Luna Park, Brooke, Brandon, Kelly and Diane and also, Aurelio, Paige and Gianna came with them to Coney Island at Abby's insistence.

"I can't believe you're here! I'm so excited!" Kelly told Diane.

"I know." Diane stated. "I missed you and it's been weird."

"Ditto, it's just dance and that is all that matters."

"You've got a point there, but when you are at the studio or heading somewhere, you're with Christi." Diane said.

"I'm home every day and i know you call everyday and i'm unable to answer. It's kinda easier to stay away from the drama, huh?"" Kelly commented.

"Yeah." Diane admitted. "Our classes are always at the same time and Chloe is in Paige's age category."

At the Wonder Wheel, Brooke and Brandon were talking.

"Brooke, what did you think of Aurelio coming up with the idea of sending us on a date?" Brandon asked.

"Like Miss Abby, he is unpredictable." Brooke sighed.

"But we know where they're coming from, right?"

"No." Brooke said.

"What do you think happened that caused us to lose our connection from when we were younger?"

"Can't we move on to something else?" Brooke told him. "Like that roller coaster? Look how fast it's going. Maybe one of the older girls in Miss Abby's studio wouldn't mind going on a date with you and everybody's a winner."

To Brandon, it was obvious that they did not have any chemistry whatsoever as Brooke was being cold to him.

Meanwhile, Aurelio and Paige were enjoying themselves unlike Brooke and Brandon as they were riding the chair swing with Gianna and once the ride came to end, they got off.

"That was a lot of fun!" Paige exclaimed.

"Sure was, Paigey." Aurelio agreed.

"Where do you two want to go next?" Gianna asked.

"Water Racer!" Aurelio and Paige answered.

"Let's do it." The three headed over to the game and there, Aurelio won after coming from behind and then they met up with Diane, Kelly, Brandon and Brooke and headed back and later on the duet that Mackenzie and Vivi were supposed to have was pulled as Cathy didn't show up and Abby had no choice but to pull the duet and the next day, Abby invited the moms and girls to lunch and they went down the pool.

At the competition, Cathy got into a fight with the moms and the group predictably didn't place, Maddie got 1st in the 8 & under soloist division, Nia got 1st in the 9 to 11 forkloric soloist division and Brandon and Diane left the competition knowing that Brandon would be the fall guy and would likely feel Abby's wrath and backstage, Abby announced that they would be heading to Las Vegas, then Los Angeles and last but not least, Lake Tahoe and Aurelio was excited about that and so were the girls, but Cathy was not happy whatsoever about that.

"It's obvious you aren't looking to happy about this." Abby told Cathy as Aurelio stayed behind with his mother after everybody left and Vivi was in the hallway with Gianna as she waited for Cathy.

"Well, Vivi and i didn't bargain to be a part of this kind of travel, so we will not be going to Vegas and we're no longer going to be a part of your team." Cathy said, confirming that Cathy and Vivi were no longer gonna be a part of the Abby Lee Dance Company.

"Why are we not surprised?" Aurelio rolled his eyes and Abby nodded in agreement. "At least you could've hade your mom accompany Vivi to the competitions with us, we know she only goes with you and all that, but you have to let her go with someone you know other than you."

"That isn't going to happen, because if i do that. Vivi would freak out big time and the last time i did that, she was crying over me not being there, so we're getting off the train." Cathy stated.

"We get that and all, but you're being a quitter and like i've said, Everyone's Replaceable and we know that there's likely a dancer in my studio and their mother that is willing to bargain for this travel since you won't. Aurelio's gone with me everywhere i went and whenever my son wasn't with me, he was either with one of the moms or Gianna."

"Good, you call that dancer and their mom who wants to bargain for that type of travel, i respect you as a dance teacher and i respect that you have Aurelio go with Gianna and one of the moms whenever he's not with you, but we will not go to Vegas." Cathy snarkily told Abby before she exited and headed back to Ohio with Vivi.

"Mom, we don't need that rotten apple from Ohio, we've got a lot of great dancers that know how to win." Aurelio assured, holding his mother's hand and Abby squeezed it gently.

"You're right, sweetheart." Abby told him and as they exited, the dance teacher made a phone call before they headed home.