THE OLDEST ZIEGLER | dance moms

- the battle begins -

it was a new week at the abby lee dance company, but it was also... awkward.

the team hadn't seen abby since she stormed out of the last competition after maddie forgot her solo. the moms blamed it on abby playing favorites—something the girls had started to notice too.

malia, though, wasn't thinking about that. her mind was on her private lesson with riley. she'd been drilling her turns nonstop, determined to get them sharper. they were already good, but good wasn't enough for malia.

the two were so focused, they didn't even realize time had slipped away—straight into pyramid time.

"oh shoot— we're way over. pyramid should've started by now," riley said, finally glancing at her phone.

malia's head snapped up. "shoot, i'm gonna get in trouble." she scrambled to grab her things and bolted out of studio b, sneakers squeaking on the floor as she rushed toward studio a.

but when she walked in, the air was tense—and abby was nowhere to be seen.

"where's ms. abby?" malia asked carefully, scanning the room.

"question of the hour, malia," christi said dryly.

"we've been waiting like twenty minutes," chloe added as malia slipped into line beside her.

"maybe she's in the ladies' room," melissa offered gently, though her tone carried doubt.

"is she taking a number two?" kenzie piped up, earning a burst of laughter from the girls.

after another ten minutes of restless waiting, the studio door finally swung open. abby marched in, heels clicking sharply against the floor, and the room's energy instantly shifted.

the girls straightened up. the moms went quiet.

"so," abby began with a huff, "i guess it's welcome back. new york city didn't turn out exactly how i hoped. chloe, congratulations you were the winner. malia, you as well. you both didn't just win for yourselves, you won for the abby lee dance company. for me. for my name. for my reputation. so, that was good."

the two girls smiled and said together, "thank you."

then abby's attention snapped to holly. "holly, you were quite upset with me. i think you assumed i left because maddie ran off the stage. and you're absolutely right that's why i left."

holly crossed her arms. "as a coach as their teacher—they all deserve a hug."

"nia had you!" abby shot back. "she went to you when she forgot her dance!"

christi stepped forward. "so then why don't you be the adult and the leader and console them first?"

kelly chimed in, voice rising. "you yelled at paige and told her she was stupid. but when maddie does it, oh, it's fine, it's not her fault!"

christi nodded. "case in point we know you don't care."

"some kids are just special!" abby shouted, then shook her head. "enough. my time is very valuable. i did not call you in here to discuss this. we're talking about this week."

she turned to the girls. "you're going to next star in l.a., and those little kids in l.a. are good. you all know that. so let's start the pyramid."

paige was first at the bottom. "paige, the one thing we talked about when you get a prop, you're responsible for it. as soon as the competition started, that prop went flying. you can't let that happen."

next was nia. "when we were rehearsing, you wore a biketard. and the entire time, you pulled at it and fidgeted. you can't concentrate on your dance if you're focused on your costume."