The Eldest Ziegler

The Runaway Man

"Let's go girls. Get in here!" Miss. Abby yelled as we walked into Studio A. After last week's competition, I was super nervous about what Miss. Abby was going to say to Kendall and Jill. Kendall spent the weeknd at our house which was super fun, even though the two peas in a pod stole my phone.

But I like having Kendall around because she is Maddie's best friend and an amazing dancer.

Miss. Abby clapped her hands today and started pyramid, "Okay, now, Hollywood Vibe. Last week. You did an okay job, I thought that it could have been better. Moving on, this week we are going to Fire & Ice. Right here in Pittsburgh."

Everyone clapped and had big smiles on their faces. We liked to compete in our hometown.

"And I have a reputation to uphold," Miss. Abby reminds us, "It's much more difficult to walk in and compete against people you know than a bunch of strangers."

Miss. Abby turned then said, "Okay, let's get to pyramid. I hate to do this, but... Kendall, you are back on probation."

Everyone's mouths fell open, no one thought that Miss. Abby was going to do this.

"That's... ridiculous, Abby," Jill says with anger in her voice, "What more do you want from her?"

I turned to look at Kendall, the poor little girl was starting to cry. I watched Maddie wrap her arms around her best friend, sadness written all over her face.

"Your head is distended, your shoulders are hunched," Miss. Abby says to Kendall, "Your rib cage is open."

"Are you kidding me!?" Jill yelled, her hands on her hips, "You're kidding me, right?!"

"No. She doesn't make the corrections. I have been telling her since the audition about her posture, and it has not improved once," Miss. Abby explained to Jill in a surprisingly calm voice.

"I can't believe it. You know what?" Jill yelled, "You should be on probation, not my daughter. I don't even know why I'm here. You have nothing nice to say to her since the second we got here. You know what, Abby? She does a lot right."

"She turns like a top," Miss. Abby tells Jill, "But that's what's good. I don't need to fix that."

"There's a lot of studio's out there who would love what she does right," Jill yelled at Miss. Abby, her voice cracking a little. "And you know what, Abby? We are going to one of those studios!"

Jill walked over to her crying daughter and grabbed her arm, "I'm not putting up with this crap anymore. We're done. That's it."

That's when Jill and Kendall walked out of the door and I felt my heart sink. I didn't want Kendall or Jill to leave but what Jill doesn't understand is that the student and the mom are package deal so if the mom does something, their child will pay for it.

Everyone was looking at each other still shocked at what just happened. We were down a dancer... again.

But a couple seconds after Jill and Kendall left, Miss. Abby continued through pyramid.

"Next, Paige," Miss. Abby continued, "You were on the top. Now you're obviously not. You couldn't remember the trio. Unacceptable. Next, Brooke. Brooke, this whiny, mopey teenager crap has to stop. You are the role model. Do me a favor. Just smile."

"Mackenzie," MIss. Abby says as she reveals my little sister's headshot, "The tricks are stronger. They're better. But you need to take a few ballet classes. Next we have Chloe. Once again, nice clean performance. Maddie. You redeemed yourself. No stupid mistakes."

"Next, we have... Moncia," Miss. Abby reveals my headshot, "I gave you an ultimatum last week. I said if you didn't win, you weren't going to have a solo for a long time. Luckily, you came out on top and I will continue to give you solos."