DANCING THROUGH LIFE, dance moms

Chapter 21: Dr. Holly Takes a Stand

a/n: hey guys! here's another chapter, enjoy!

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The night of pyramid, we actually made a lot of progress on learning the group routine, which was strange for us, because normally it took us at least two days to learn an entire dance. The choreography was pretty simple, but it was still fun enough to keep us all engaged. I had always loved musical theatre-y numbers as well, so I thought that this was probably my favorite group routine we had done so far!

As we were learning one of the final eight-counts of the dance, Nia's mom came down from the viewing room because she needed to speak with Miss Abby. Because Gia was teaching a class, Abby's short absence gave us an opportunity to take a break from dancing.

Paige immediately sat down on the ground, I assumed to take some pressure off of her feet. I sat down next to her. "Does it really hurt that bad?" I asked her, concerned.

She grimaced. "Yeah. It hurts to even walk on them, let alone, like, turn and leap and stuff."

"Go tell Miss Abby," I encouraged her. "Maybe she'll let you mark some of the harder stuff."

Paige immediately shook her head. "I can't. She'll definitely pull me from the trio if I tell her it hurts too bad to dance right now."

I frowned. Poor Paige. I gave her a little hug before getting up to go join Maddie and Chloe, who were standing by the door, listening to Holly and Abby fight. Chloe seemed shocked that Dr. Holly was actually arguing with Miss Abby, while Maddie had a thoughtful look on her face as she listened intently.

I pressed my ear up to the door, hoping to hear the argument better.

I gathered that they were arguing about the trio and whether or not Nia would get to be considered for it. Abby confirmed that if Paige wasn't able to do it, Nia would be in. I was surprised to find that I wasn't even a little disappointed by this arrangement — I was just happy that Nia would get a chance to shine!

Eventually, it sounded like the yelling was getting closer to the door, so Chloe, Maddie and I backed away to where Paige was sitting, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible (and not succeeding in the slightest).

Suddenly, the door opened, and we heard Abby yell at Holly, "Get the hell out! Go!"

Dr. Holly stood her ground. "No."

"She got a solo tonight, and you just blew it. You're expelled. You're done." Abby said, pointing in the direction of the lobby.

Holly sighed, and beckoned Nia out of the room, leaving the studio without another word.

Studio A was silent after that. Abby sauntered back in, and I knew that she was happy that she had gotten her way, despite her unsmiling face. "Let that be a lesson to all of you and your mothers. When Mommy gets involved and tries to play dance teacher, she is only hurting you and your future. Get it?"

Chloe and I quickly glanced at each other before we all nodded at Miss Abby. She barely acknowledged us before moving on. "Paige, I know it hurts, but you can't be sitting on the floor. If you can't do it, you have to let me know."

Paige stood up, trying to hide a grimace as she put pressure on her feet again. "I can do it."

"Okay." Abby clapped her hands together. "So we'll have to finish that section without Nia. She can go over it with you guys tomorrow. Go from where we left off."

I squeezed Paige's hand before moving back to my position. I hoped she would be okay.

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