𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 - 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙧 - discontinued

justice

|4.1|

"miss abby, i'm sorry to interrupt. but trisha is being an absolute nightmare and when she gets back from sulking wherever she's gone to sulk, i think you need to have a serious conversation with her."

abby looked taken aback. she signaled for gianna to stop the music. "joanne, why are you here? you're taking time away from the kids' group number."

"well, i'm sorry, but trish is acting all high and mighty because she knows her kid is the favorite and knows her kid is safe because he was on the top of the pyramid. and frankly, i don't know why he is, because if any of these other kids got second place, they would be on the bottom row and given a lecture but brady, the favorite of all favorites, is first on the pyramid. that doesn't seem fair."

"well, life's not fair, joanne. you have to understand- if your daughter had the flawless technique, incredible expression, and just overall skills and star quality that brady has, she would be getting the exact same treatment. but she's just sub par! gianina is not half the dancer brady is and none of these kids are even close to him. if they were, they'd be at the top of the pyramid no matter what, as well."

abby said gianina's name like juh-neena instead of gi-a-ni-na, and gianina rolled her eyes. pressley giggled.

"MY DAUGHTER HAS BEEN FORTY TIMES BETTER THAN ANYONE WE'VE COMPETED AGAINST YET THIS SEASON! she was on broadway, for god's sake, abby! and let it not go unnoticed that you just admitted that brady is going to be at the top of the pyramid no matter what, which is favoritism, blatant favoritism. you said you'd never put all of your eggs in one basket again like you did with maddie, but that's exactly what you're doing. it's complete nonsense!"

brady looked thoroughly embarrassed, and he turned around so he was facing the mat where i was sitting. "i didn't know joanne could be this scary."

"me neither. i should remember this whenever i go up against gia. maybe break my other ankle so i don't beat her." brady started to laugh, then stopped when he realized that i had mentioned her ankle. he got quiet and shuffled around a little bit. i could tell he felt guilty still, because he had been ignoring me all day, looking at me with a pained expression whenever i talked to him and not saying a thing.

"brady." i took one of his hands in both of mine, then dropped it when i saw how red his face had turned. "i don't blame you at all. you know that, right? i would never. ever. blame you. accidents happen."

"yeah, but it was my fault." 

"it wasn't-" i stopped and sighed. "okay, it was your fault. but these things happen. i've been injured before, i'll be injured again, okay? besides, my ankle has been hurting lately anyways. it was bound to get broken or sprained eventually, probably while on the show."

"okay." i guessed i'd convinced him, because he looked different somehow, lighter. "hey, want to come over after practice? my mom got a bunch of snacks."

"'kay!" i grinned at him, and he grinned back. then i patted him on the back, as if encouraging a four year old to step forward and make new friends. "go dance!" he laughed and jogged back into position. meanwhile, abby and joanne were still going at it.

"i don't have time for this. you are putting words in my mouth and making accusations, and there is no room for that in this studio. you signed the contract, so you need to be respectful. this is incredibly disrespectful. it's been a full eight minutes already. in eight minutes, we could've had the routine polished and you could all go home to your husbands, but no. if you want these kids to get out of here before midnight, i suggest you take your mouth and go back upstairs."

"fine, abby, but until there is some justice in this room, in this studio, i will not stop. and that is a promise, just like the empty ones you made to us moms about no favoritism. justice, abby, justice."

she stormed out of the room. abby snorted. "what does she think this is, an episode of judge judy? okay, music, gianna."

after they ran the number again, abby called on me for critiques for the third time that day. "willow? what do you think?"

"i think it was super super good and everyone's doing amazing! from my point of view, my only thing is that press, you keep drifting closer to the left, towards brady, during the upbeat part of the dance with all the steps. it's making it look kinda uneven, so maybe you could try to stay in the center, even though i know it's hard to stay in one place with all the stationary movement."

pressley turned redder than brady had when i'd grabbed his hand and took three giant steps towards the center of the floor, shooting her jazz shoes a glare as if it were their fault, glancing up at brady to see how he had processed the information. brady, however, looked undaunted, and he simply took a step towards the right to even things out more.

"yup, i was just about to say the same thing." gianna bobbed her head up and down. "i also think we need to respace a little bit. hannah, switch with pressley. gi-anina, switch with lilly.  there we go. now we can have the shorter people in the front and taller people in the back. start again."

pressley looked upset as gianna fiddled with the music player, and i flashed her an are you okay glance when she looked my way. she shrugged and gave me a look that told me that she didn't know what to do with the new spacing, which was a relief, because i had thought that she was upset at me for calling her out about being close to brady. i mimed stretching my legs, and she  warmed up her high kick for a section of the group, which was a lyrical number called "handprints" and was about leaving behind a legacy for the kids ahead of you. 

she pulled her leg over her head and leaned into an oversplit, and abby commented, "pressley's working hard while the rest of you are taking a break. when we get out on that stage, girls and boy, pressley's going to outshine you because she's using this extra time to become even more prepared. this is why she has a solo, and why sarah has a solo, because they work hard and go that extra mile. i'm not sure why sarah isn't following her example and stretching, because she's my other soloist and it's making her look bad."

pressley smiled at me thankfully, but sarah looked dejected, and the warm feeling that had settled in me me from boosting up pressley faded as quickly as it had come as i saw sarah's disappointed face.

i guess there really was no balance, no justice, in the abby lee dance company.

hey guys! thank you so so much for reading and for almost 10k views!!! i'm sorry for the sudden switch in tenses, i just felt that it would be easier to write in past tense and better to read. i hope you all are having a great day!!