𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 - 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙧 - discontinued

let's begin

|1.0|

"let's go, willow!" my mom calls. i hold up different earrings to my ears and pose in the mirror. what would look best? after an hour of deliberation on my hairstyle, leotard, hoodie and shoes, i had to finish putting together the perfect outfit for my first day at the aldc.

"willow!" i finally choose a pair of gold star studs, grab my dance bag and run downstairs. my mom smiles, though agitated. "you look beautiful, wills. now come on, get in the car."

we ride silently to the abby lee dance company. i keep checking myself in my phone's front camera, making sure my light makeup looks okay and smoothing down flyaway hairs. i breathe deeply, trying to calm my nerves as we pull into the parking lot. i'm almost close to tears, i'm so scared, although my excitement almost outweighs my fear.

just before we walk through the door, i do what used to be my secret handshake with my sister, grace -  bringing my pointer and middle finger to my lips and kissing them twice before raising them to the sky. my mom sees and rubs my shoulder. i can tell she's about to say something encouraging, maybe something about grace, but a producer dressed in black catches sight of us and waves us inside.

"willow garcia, susan garcia?" he asks. i nod, and so does my mom.

"great. willow, you can head to the dancers' den. susan, we'll need to go through some paperwork before we start filming." my mom nods and gives me a quick hug, and i rush to the den.

i set down my dance bag in the den, where all the other dancers are stretching and conversing lightly. i sit down and start stretching in between two other girls, one with blue eyes and blonde hair and one with brown hair and green eyes.

"hey, i'm gianina." the one with brown hair introduces herself. "and that's pressley. who are you?"

"hi! um, i'm willow. willow garcia. i'm fourteen." i say, stumbling over my words a bit. i can't believe i'm here, meeting my teammates, about to be on television. it's so surreal, and we haven't even began filming the first episode.

"were you at the auditions? i didn't see you there." another girl pipes up. "i'm savannah, by the way. you can call me sav if you want."

"okay, sav, gotcha. um, i auditioned, but i'm from iowa, so i went to a different audition finals. the producers were managing that one, not abby, so i haven't met her yet. but she seems okay." 

a tiny girl with white-blond hair sucks in a breath. "then you're in for a nasty surprise." she says good-naturedly. everyone laughs.

"i think some people know some people's names, but how about we go around in a circle and say our names?" savannah says, glancing around at everyone.

"okay. i'll start." the girl with the white-blonde hair says. "i'm lilliana, but you can call me lilly. i was on dance moms in seasons six and seven, and i'm eleven years old."

"oh, right! you were a mini!" savannah says. "well, i'm savannah, but you can call me sav, like i said. i'm eleven too." 

"i'm pressley, and i'm thirteen." pressley says, offering everyone a bright smile.

"i'm willow, and i'm fourteen." i say, feeling kind of silly, since i said that not even a minute ago. 

"and i'm gianina paolantonio. i was on broadway in the matilda musical, and i was in the greatest showman with hugh jackman. oh, and i'm thirteen."

"i'm hannah colin. fourteen" a tall girl with brown hair says so softly that i can barely hear her.

"hey guys, i'm sarah and i'm twelve." says a girl with big blue eyes.

"i guess that leaves me, then." someone says. i look up and make eye contact with a tall boy with brown hair and blue-green eyes that stun me for a second. i catch my breath and try to pay attention to what he's saying. "i'm brady farrar, and i'm fifteen."

pressley's smile gets extra-big when he introduces himself. i wonder if they know each other already. a blank, slightly confused head nod from brady to pressley tells me otherwise. he catches my eye and i smile at him. he grins back.

"girls and boy!" a rough voice shouts. "get in here!"

we line up in studio a, and abby introduces herself to all of us, gives a bit of backstory, and takes lilly's jacket. i kind of zone out though her whole monologue. i'm busy staring at the cameras, wondering what kind of equipment they're using. one of my best friends, chance, is a dancer too, but his main passion is photography. he'd love to be here, either dancing or behind the cams and tells us about the competition this weekend.

"this week, we are traveling to starbound dance competition in red bank, new jersey. our group routine will be called broken hearts." we applaud.

"we will have two trios. an acrobatic trio with lilliana, pressley, and sarah entitled the favorite and a jazz trio with gianina, hannah, and savannah." everyone smiles and claps except lilliana's mom, stacey, who frowns.

"all right. moms, you are dismissed; dancers, let's begin."

a/n: a few disclaimers:

1. the dancers and moms are mostly the same except for a few original characters and a dancer from one of abby's auditions named berkleigh, whose personality i changed a bit. the only thing really different about the characters besides berkleigh is their ages, which i have altered slightly for the sake of the story.

2. the storylines, dances and dialogue are also changed a lot.

i hope you enjoy the story!