Thursday
My eyes flutter open. Sunbeams shine through the window, as the sun rises over the city's horizon.
I bolt out of bed. What time is it?
"Mom!" I shout. "What time is it?" She flings my door open.
"Good morning, Phoenishka. It's almost nine o' clock. I have breakfast ready for you."
I head to the bathroom and take a quick shower. I head to the breakfast table and eat a ham and cheese omlet as my mom does my hair. "Are you excited for dance?" She asks.
"Yup," I say. She finishes my bun and collects my dance stuff. Then we head to the car. We drive through the streets of Pittsburgh to the ALDC studio, which I can barely comprehend. Me, at the ALDC!
"What about school?" I ask.
Her eyes steadily watch the road. "Today you have a private from ten to twelve, then you'll do school until three, where the group lesson will start like usual. Is that okay?"
"Sure," I respond. "As long as we can get Starbucks," I grin. She sighs, but smiles.
"Of course."
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I came into the studio twenty minutes early, so I got a head start on my schoolwork. I sit in a straddle while watching my math lesson, meanwhile taking notes.
The door opens. It's Abby. "Phoenix, start stretching. Be out here in ten minutes," She leaves.
I put away my laptop and warmed up my back and splits. At 10:10, I walked out.
"Hello," Says Miss Abby, drawing her eyes from her phone. "Today, I want to start with fifty minutes of Jazz and Hip Hop," I drop my gaze to the floor in defeat. "Hey, no attitude here. You are privileged to be here!" She snaps. The producers jump up from their hiding spots and lift their cameras, taking in every detail from the scene.
Stupid producer stunts! I didn't do anything, did I? "I'm sorry, Miss Abby," I apologize. She nods, then plays music from her phone.
A sassy jazz song plays, not unlike Gia and Ellie's duet song. I try my best to move my arms to the music, and swing my hips a bit during dance steps.
"Move your shoulders," She says. "Swing them, like Ellie does in her steps," I try to imitate what she wants me to do. I guess I do successfully, because she changes the music. A Hip Hop-ish song begins to play. I try to step to the beats, and use my arms a bit, like I've seen Lilly do on YouTube. After a while of Abby yelling at me to "Just Dance", she turns off the music.
She groans. "You're not getting it. Why?" I resist shrugging.
"I don't have any experience with Hip Hop or Jazz," I say as politely as possible, but I feel as if it still comes out the wrong way.
"You can't be in any of the group dances if you can't dance Hip Hop or Jazz," She says threateningly. "I need you, when you go home, to listen to Jazz or Hip Hop songs for an hour every day, and dance to it. You can do it in your room, by the pool, whatever, but if by next week you can't dance Hip Hop, you're out."
I nod. "I will, thank you."
"I was going to run through your solo for the next hour, but I want to do something different," She says with a sly smile.
"Yeah?" I ask.
"I want you to learn a small dance combination for the group next week, while testing a few of your skills," She says.
YOU ARE READING
Phoenix: a Dance Moms Fanfic
FanfictionWhen Phoenix Evergreens is invited to the ALDC, she immediately is pitted against Kamryn Smith, only one of them will be accepted for the team. Overcoming probation, nerves, and winning remains a challenge for Phoenix, but her biggest obstacle is Ab...
