DANCING THROUGH LIFE, dance moms

Chapter 17: Assassin

A/N: Hey guys! Super excited to be back with another chapter. I've been missing writing and seeing y'all's engagement with the story. Thanks for being here and I hope y'all enjoy :)

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I learned my solo the same day as pyramid - it was a contemporary piece called "Assassin", and I absolutely adored it. It was loosely based on this movie, Kill Bill - obviously, I had never actually seen it, so all I knew was what Abby had told me about the character I was playing. I would later learn that Uma Thurmon's character in Kill Bill was a very...mature role for me to have portrayed at 10 years old - but then again, Abby was never one to shy away from mature themes, as shown in our group dance for that week.

The group routine was a complete trainwreck. Nobody knew how to use the fans, and the costumes were extremely skimpy (as well as blending in with our skin entirely). I knew I wouldn't feel comfortable onstage wearing it, and I knew the other girls felt that way too. We would probably be way too worried about our costumes to focus on the dance at all.

On the way home from rehearsal Wednesday night, my mother was positively fuming about the aforementioned group dance. "Does she not realize you're children? And that this is going to be on national television?"

I just sighed. I was a little embarrassed by the whole thing - my other friends at school would surely see it, which would be absolutely mortifying - but I figured the less mom rocked the boat with Abby, the better.

Mom continued, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "I just don't see how either of them think this is a good idea. Abby or Gianna. It's completely inappropriate."

I really couldn't argue. She was right. And as much as I wanted to perform my solo at the competition, I was absolutely dreading the group routine. Portraying me as an assassin was one thing, but actually making all of us look completely nude was another entirely.

We drove for a few more minutes before my mom pulled into our driveway and turned off the car with a huge sigh. "I love you. And I want you to be happy. And I know you want to dance more than anything. But...I don't know. I'm starting to think your dad is right about this whole thing."

Back then, I didn't know how right my parents were. I begged her to let me stay at the studio and keep training, and eventually the two of us reached a standstill and went inside to eat dinner and go to bed.

I laid awake that night, wondering what my mom would decide to do. The next day, after rehearsals, I got my answer.

~*~

My mom had waited until after we had finished our final run-through of the group dance until she decided to go talk to Abby, which I thought was smart. Chloe, Maddie, Nia, Paige and I were all in the dancers den, getting ready to go home, when I heard my mom's voice carry through the wall that separated us from the main lobby.

With our ears pressed to the door, Chloe and I listened intently to their conversation. The gist of it was that my mom didn't like the dance and thought it was inappropriate, and Abby didn't care what my mom thought of the dance because it's her company and her name is on the building so why should you have any say anyways?

The other moms had walked into the den to get their daughters ready to go midway through the conversation. Christi and Kelly had joined me and Chloe in listening through the door. Kelly's jaw dropped, and Christi looked more proud of my mom than she had the entire time I knew her.

They continued to argue, back and forth and back and forth, until Abby yelled, "If it means that much to you, Jennifer, Hailey doesn't have to go to the competition this weekend! Everyone's replaceable. I've reblocked a million numbers in my lifetime."

Chloe and I immediately looked at one another. That didn't sound good.

"Obviously that's not what I want, Abby."

"Well, then, you need to shut your mouth and let me do my job. How many times has your kid won in the month and a half she's been here doing what I want her to do?"

My mom seemingly couldn't argue with that, because we didn't hear anything for a few seconds. "Well, you know where I stand, at least."

I removed my ear from the door and sat down next to my dance bag, slumping down in my seat. Part of me was proud of my mom for standing up to Abby, but part of me had wished she'd never said anything at all.

Paige sat next to me, putting her arm around me. "At least your mom said her piece. It's going to be okay."

"Yeah. Or it won't, and I'll be tortured for the rest of the week." I hid my face in my hands, willing myself not to cry in front of everyone.

Christi sat me on my other side. "You can't let her get to you, kiddo. She thrives on that. You know that."

I sighed. I did, in fact, know that.

"You walk into rehearsal tomorrow with your head held high. She's going to want to make you hurt. Don't let her." Christi said.

I took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. Thanks, Mrs. Lukasiak."

"Don't mention it." Christi patted me on the back, getting up and exiting the room with Kelly, presumably to go talk to my mom.

Chloe sat down next to me, right where her mother had been sitting before. "She's going to be really mean to you tomorrow."

"I know, Chlo." I sighed.

"I just...sorry. I just get so mad at her sometimes." Chloe grumbled. "You're a great dancer. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"It should. But it isn't." I said. "We can't just be great. We have to be perfect. It's exhausting."

"It's unrealistic, is what it is. How does she expect all of us to be perfectly beautiful and poised and graceful and strong and expressive and sweet all at once, all the time?" Chloe shook her head. "I mean, I'm only like two of those things, and that's just sometimes."

I nudged her with my elbow and offered her a small smile. "Oh my gosh, don't even. You are all of those things."

Chloe looked really surprised at the compliment - which later made me realize her confidence had diminished a lot, even then  - but smiled back. I shifted gears. "But you're right - it is unrealistic. We're ten, for crying out loud!"

"Right! Sometimes I feel like I'm my mom's age, with all the stress we're under." Chloe wrinkled her nose.

Paige, Nia, and Maddie joined us, bags in hand. Nia groaned. "Ugh, I have so much homework to do."

I didn't have any homework over the weekend, which I was super grateful for. I grimaced at the idea of having to do homework tonight and then having to wake up early to get ready to go to competition.

My mother entered the room, closing the door quietly behind her. She let out a deep sigh as Christi and Kelly came over to her to presumably try and make her feel better (and, of course, get all the drama).

We left about fifteen minutes after my mom finished ranting to Kelly and Christi, and all I felt was overwhelmed, even after talking to Christi and Chloe. Abby was probably going to freak out on me tomorrow at the competition, and I was nervous for the group dance regardless of if I was going to be treated badly by Abby or not.

Needless to say, I was glad to be going home, about to get some much needed rest before the long day tomorrow.

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a/n: I kind of (totally) mailed in the ending but I really didn't want this chapter to get any longer than it already was lmao. Hope y'all enjoyed and I'm hoping to update more frequently now that basketball season is (mercifully) over. Thankfully, it's now track season, which is less demanding and less mentally/emotionally taxing for me, so I should be able to get out some updates pretty soon.
Thanks for reading and please remember to leave a vote and a comment if you liked this chapter! Much love <3
- Ainsley