Leading Ladies

XXII. The Battle Begins

"Why are we always the last ones," Bianca wonders as she walked past the cars and into the studio.

Elsa shrugs, waving at Gianna. "It's not like we're late. We're just last."

"Every time," Sabrina grumbles. Elsa giggles nudging her in the shoulder. If there's one thing that can annoy Sabrina is tardiness. "Just once, I would like to be the last one at the studio."

"I'm sure it'll happen one day," her Mom promises from behind her.

As they approached the den, Elsa could hear muttered words and laughter. "What's so funny?" she asks, pushing the door open. She was met with an eerie silence. "Okay...?"

Stepping past the threshold, she looked back and raised a brow at her sisters and Mom, who looked just as clueless as she did.

"So, how was everybody's break?" Ileen asks kindly, taking a seat on the bench.

"Good," Melissa says, breaking the silence. "It was very relaxing. How was your break?"

As the two chatter, Elsa's shoulders tensed. Why are the girls looking at us like that? Why aren't they talking? Did Abby yell at them? She felt like she did something wrong how the other girls looked at her, and she didn't know what.

The atmosphere in the room was awkward, and Sabrina was glad when the producers told them to enter the studio.

Elsa peeks through the door, entering behind Bianca. "Abby's not here," she mutters to herself.

"Where's Abby?" Mackenzie asks from behind her, asking the question on everybody's mind.

"Where is she?" Brooke asks.

They line up, Elsa standing between her sisters.

"Well, this is a good way to start rehearsal," Sabrina comments a few minutes later, and still no sign of Abby.

"I wonder where Abby is," Paige says,

"She ditched us in Jersey; maybe she didn't come home," Christi suggests, looking all to please with the thought.

Linking her arm, Elsa stretches it upward. She didn't get why everybody was worried; Abby was going to be here. There's no way she's gonna miss the first competition of the season.

"Who thinks Miss Abby is going to apologize for leaving us stranded?" Kelly asks.

"Oh, God, no," Christi scoffs.

Ileen, on the other hand, let out a diverse snort. "Stranded!? Kelly let's not be dramatic; not even an hour after Abby left, we were all able to find a method home. And nobody got hurt, so let's not make it a greater deal than it is."

"Maybe she's in the ladies' room," Melissa suggests before Kelly could respond.

When half an hour passed and Abby still hadn't shown up, Elsa started agreeing with the other Moms. It's not like Abby to be so late.

When the door swings open and Abby walks in, Elsa feels her shoulders drop.

"Does anybody else feel a black cloud approaching?" Christi mutters into the silence as Abby stands in front of the girls. "What's the weather forecast?"

Abby starts the pyramid off by solemnly saying. "So I guess it's welcome back. New York didn't turn out exactly the way I hoped. Bianca, congratulations, you were the overall winner. As always, you upheld my reputation, your reputation, and the reputation of the Abby Lee Dance Company."

Bianca gives a dignified nod. "Thank you."

Abby's eyes wander over to Abby. "Uh, Holly, I know you were upset with me. I think you assumed that I was upset Maddie ran off the stage," Elsa fought hard not to glance over at Maddie but ultimately lost. The younger girl looked like somebody stole her dog. "And you're absolutely right, and that's why I left."