everyone knows maddie and mackenzie ziegler. abby lee's favorite dancers. but let's throw one more into the mix, malia ziegler. the oldest half sister of maddie and mackenzie.
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it was around three o'clock and the zieglers were scattered around the dining room table, picking at lunch before they had to leave for the studio.
while maddie and kenzie ate without a care in the world, malia sat stiffly in her chair, barely chewing. her knee bounced under the table, her fingers twisting the edge of her napkin as abby's comments from last week kept looping in her head.
she wanted a solo. she thought she'd earned a solo. but now all she could hear was slacking... not working hard enough... scholarship girl...
melissa walked in with a soft sigh, wiping her hands on a towel. "come on, malia, hurry up and eat. we have to leave soon."
malia blinked, snapping out of her spiral, and grabbed her sandwich. "yeah—sorry."
melissa paused, leaning a hip against the table. "you ok, honey?" her voice softened.
"i'm fine," malia muttered, shoulders sinking. "i just... i want a solo."
"you can't have a solo all the time, malia." melissa started wiping crumbs into her hand. "that's not how it works."
"i know, but..." malia's words spilled out before she could stop them. "i didn't think i wasn't working hard. ms. abby said i've been slacking ever since i got the scholarship."
at the end of the table, maddie mumbled under her breath, "at least you got the scholarship."
"madison, don't start," melissa snapped immediately, giving her a sharp look. then she turned back to malia. "and honey, that might just be in her eyes. maybe she's just trying to give other girls a chance."
malia let out a long breath, staring down at her half-eaten sandwich. "i guess."
"ok—everyone, go get ready." melissa clapped her hands lightly, her way of ending the conversation before it spiraled.
malia pushed her plate away and headed upstairs. she changed quickly, swapping school clothes for a gray tank top and black shorts before shrugging on a hoodie. her hair went into a ponytail with one frustrated yank. she grabbed her dance bag, tossed in an extra pair of tights, then jogged back downstairs to pull on her ugg boots.
"starting the car!" melissa called from the front door.
a beat later, three zieglers came from three different directions—maddie from her room, kenzie from the couch, malia from the stairs—and piled into the car.
~~
an hour later, malia finally felt a bit calmer after working technique with riley. her legs burned, but in a good way. pushing herself felt like the only way to quiet abby's voice in her head.
soon pyramid time rolled around. the girls lined up, and abby swept into the studio proudly. "finally, overall high score junior group!" she clapped her hands. "let's move on to the pyramid."
