DANCING THROUGH LIFE, dance moms

Chapter 14: Breakdown

a/n: hi friends i know i took a really long break from this book but i'm back lol, anyways thanks for reading!

~*~

It was tense in the Dancer's Den after group rehearsal later that day. Kendall being gone seemingly for good had put everyone in a bad mood. Even Paige, who had seemingly disliked Kendall before the whole blowup with Miss Abby, was complaining about how much she missed her.

"It sucks that Kendall's gone." Paige stared down at her feet. Chloe and I sat on either side of her, with Maddie on the other side of me. "I mean, sure, we didn't really get along, but still. It makes me feel like the whole team is gonna fall apart soon."

Suddenly, Paige hugged me, looking up at me with sad eyes. "Please don't leave me."

I laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

Maddie shook her head. "I just feel really bad for Kendall. Like, is she ever gonna come back? I was really looking forward to doing a duet with her someday..."

"Me too." I chimed in, suddenly sad that I would never get the chance to dance with Kendall in a duet.

Chloe sighed. "Knowing the producers, it's probably not real. Kendall and Jill will probably come back soon. Still, I'm kinda sad that she won't be here this week. I bet she would've loved this group number."

The rest of us murmured our agreements before Nia burst into the room, looking like she had been hard at work on her solo for this week. "Hailey, Miss Abby wants you to go to studio A so you can learn your solo."

I smiled. "Great! Thanks, Nia."

"No problem!" Nia skipped over to where Paige, Chloe, and Maddie sat, sitting in my old spot.

I turned to the door, pursing my lips together. It wasn't Nia's fault - really, it wasn't, as we were all teammates and I shouldn't have felt this way at all  - but I hated feeling like I was being replaced. In anything. In a dance, in a friend group - all of it felt terrible.

And I knew I wasn't being replaced, but truthfully, I never really felt like part of our little group. Sure, the four of us were "thick as thieves", as Miss Abby would always say, but they still had inside jokes and experiences from before I even got here that I didn't understand.

As I shut the door behind me, I sighed. I couldn't let any of it get to me - Kendall, my friends, the stress of everything - especially during rehearsal. I just had to dance. It would all be fine.

~*~

Spoiler alert: it wasn't.

As soon as I got out of the studio after having only finished half of my solo, I ran into the Dancer's Den, careful not to start crying in front of Miss Abby. I didn't need to give her any more of a reason to yell at me again.

I ran over to the bench where Paige, Maddie, Chloe and I had sat earlier, my shaking hands searching through my dance bag once I got there. I didn't even know what I was looking for - I just needed to be doing something to take my mind off of that rehearsal.

All of a sudden, Chloe walked in, sweating from her last class. As soon as she saw me, she rushed over, sitting beside me.