the pain and the pleasure-chloe lukasiak

i. the competition begins

"All right, girls. It's the first day of rehearsal for the new competition season." Abby Lee Miller announced to her students, all the young and fragile girls sitting on the floor in front of her. "Ladies, you all know why you're here. You are the cream of the crop in your age group. And I have a lot of new ideas in store. I am going to do something that no other studio in the country does. Every single competition, we are doing a new routine." The young children looked at each other slightly nervous. This was a lot for them. Nia, Chloe, and Mia were the oldest at nine, while the youngest, Mackenzie, clocked in at only six years old. And all of them being so young, their natural instinct was to look at their mothers, standing right behind Abby, to see their reactions. "Uh uh uh uh, girls, don't look at your mothers. I am the coach. I am the teacher. I can make you or I can break you." Abby turned the chalkboard around, revealing a pyramid made out of headshots of the girls. There were three tiers- at the bottom was Mackenzie, Nia, and Paige. The middle row consisted of Brooke, Chloe, and Mia. And the top row was Maddie and Maddie alone. "If you want to be on the top, you have to work for it." Abby told the girls sternly, looking at her pyramid up and down. "Everybody wants to be front and center. I hear it all the time." And without her glancing over at the mothers, even Abby knew they weren't going to be happy about this. "And you know what, whoever is front and center, they can't make a mistake. They are holding that group together. So, at the top right here I have Maddie because she is dedicated and because of her stellar record last year." Everybody knew what Abby was referring to. She never stopped boasting about it, actually. Last competition season, Maddie had a perfect season with solos, never once losing. "Maddie, are you ready to be front and center? Can you handle that pressure?"

"Yes, Miss Abby." Maddie muttered rather quietly.

"Our first competition, it's going to be in Phoenix, Arizona. Ladies, I chose Phoenix, Arizona because I want you to experience some of the best competition teams in the country. We are going to do two new numbers. A high energy, really cute, adorable routine with Maddie, Chloe, Paige, Brooke, Nia, and Mia. And then also a trio with Maddie, Chloe, and Paige. Unfortunately, Mackenzie, you're too young to compete at West Coast Dance Explosion. But you're still going to go with us anyway. Girls, we are going to win in Phoenix. And the next competition we're going to win. And that's all gearing up for nationals. So let's get to it. We are going to begin the choreography. Moms, you can be dismissed." Rather eagerly, the mothers made their way out of the studio and into the room upstairs where they would watch their daughters rehearse. "And girls, let's go to nationals and bring home the winning trophy, all right?" The students, all too intimidated by the cameras towering around them, simply nodded.

XXX

"These are my three daughters Mia, Maddie, and Mackenzie." Melissa grinned as she looked at her little angels. Mia is nine, Madie is eight, and Mackenzie is six. And they're all dancers." The girls smiled at the camera, unsure whether or not they should speak. Mackenzie and Mia rolled their eyes as their mother did her solo confessional just a few moments later. It was clear to them that Melissa had put more attention into Maddie than she did her other two children. It was about Maddie's trophies, and Maddie's win streak, and Maddie being a star, that most of the time the other two got caught in the shuffle of it all.

XXX

During a quick water break, Mia and Chloe found themselves alone in the den, sipping on their water and trying to catch their breath.

"So how do you feel about learning a new dance every week?" Mia asked her best friend.

"I don't think it's that bad. We're all good dancers." Chloe shrugged. "I can't believe I have four days to learn two new dances though."