hold on-kalani hilliker

ii. wingman down

"Hi, Kalani!" Maddie said loudly, noticing the presence of her friend in the room. Kira, Kalani's mother, followed shortly behind the dancer.

"Hello." The room went silent as the other mother's noticed Kira.

"Hello." Christy muttered disdainfully towards the woman. Christy knew it wasn't Kira's fault what happened with Kelly and Abby, but it was hard to see the woman take her best friend's spot, nonetheless.

"So, Kira, did Abby ask you to join us this week after the competition?" Holly asked the new mom.

"Yep." Kira nodded.

"So, are you here for..." Olivia, at a loss for words, had to rephrase her question. "For how long? What did Abby say?"

"Kind of up in the air." Kira admitted. "We're gonna see."

"Okay." Kira smiled awkwardly, knowing what the other mother's were trying to do.

XXX

"Girls, let's go! Let's go!" Abby's words had all the girls' attention, as the group rushed in before their teacher could yell again. "I told everybody- you were warned- the face of the Abby Lee Dance Company is changing. And Kalani, you're the face that I wanted here." Kalani smiled awkwardly, unsure whether or not to respond. "Moving on to the pyramid." The first two headshots were revealed as Paige and Brooke. No surprise at all to the girls after Kelly and Abby's last interaction. "Brooke and Paige are no longer members of the Abby Lee Dance company." But that did catch the girls by surprise. Mia's eyes went to Chloe, as she knew how close she was with the younger Hyland. She seemed as if she knew, but was hurt nonetheless. "I didn't plan on replacing Brooke and Paige. Their mother did that. And next," The next two headshots were revealed. "We have Nia and Mia. I'm surprised you two even got second place with the way you danced." Abby's words didn't hurt anymore. To Mia, they were just like a knife that had been dulled down so much it couldn't cut a piece of paper. "And next...Chloe. When you do duets with Maddie, you usually win. Kendall, only had a group dance to do. Kept your mouth shut, Jill. Didn't cause any trouble." Kendall quietly applauded her mother, happy she wasn't going to be punished for her mother's mouth. "And next...Mackenzie. Hung in there, did the group routine. You weren't at the open call audition. There were a lot of good little kids. Very talented. Better watch out. And next, we have Maddie." This came as a shock to everyone in the room. Maddie was always at the top. No matter what. "Maddie, another successful competition. You stood out in the group routine. It was all good. And on top of the pyramid, our newest member, Kalani." The girls applauded for the newest member of the Elite Competition Team. "Welcome to the Abby Lee Dance Company. That's the way to do it. Show up and win. All righty. Now, we are going to Woodbridge, Virginia." There was light applause. "And we will be attending FIERCE National Dance Competition. We have a group number to do. Everybody is in the group routine. Holly." Abby looked over to Nia's mother.

"Yes?"

"You're getting a little bit of a reward."

"I am?"

"You kind of jumped in there and took over while everybody else sat on their butts and did nothing." Abby, of course, was referring to the events of her fight with Kelly at the competition. Holly was the one to get the girls out of the room as two grown adults attempted to beat the shit out of each other. "So, Nia, you will be performing a solo this week." All the girls applauded enthusiastically, as their friend didn't normally get solos. "Since the duet did so well last week, we're gonna have two more duets. Chloe, you will be performing a duet alongside Maddie again." Normally, Chloe would have been ecstatic for this opportunity, but ever since Maddie lied to her about performing her duet the week prior, they hadn't talked at all. "Kalani, you will be performing a duet with Mia." Mia and Kalani looked at each other, both pleasantly surprised to be receiving a duet with the other. "Mia, you better keep up." Olivia rolled her eyes, but restrained herself from speaking up, so she didn't blow the opportunity for her daughter. "All right, now, before I dismiss you all, since Mackenzie is going to be traveling to Los Angeles, California, to record two songs, so we're going to be working on those all week long. All right, so, moms, you are dismissed. Everybody else, we're gonna spread out, and warm up."