Matilda- Dance Moms

The Beginning Of The End

We all get out of our cars in the parking lot. I see Kendall and Nia first and I run to go hug them. Mom, Holly, and Jill all hug each other too.

Then Chloe gets out of her car and I jump onto her. Mom and Christi hug each other too. Then, Maddie and Kenzie arrive. Kenzie jumps into my arms and Maddie hugs me.

Kelly, Brooke, and Paige aren't here and I'm starting to think maybe they aren't actually coming back. I never thought it would happen, I thought Kelly would change her mind...

We are all dancing in the studio while we wait for Abby. Abby walks through the door. She rips two pictures off the pyramid. I'm assuming it's Brooke and Paige's.

"I am not doing a pyramid right now," Abby says as she throws the pictures into the trash. We all line up.

"I'm angry at the people who aren't here, I'm very disappointed. I'm also very disappointed in the people who are here," Abby says, "You had six group numbers. Some of you know two of them, some of you know one of them. That's not gonna be a winning number."

"Last season, you all had two solos ready to go," Abby says, "I didn't find out that people weren't here until the choreographers called me and said 'Hey, it's kinda hard to get a great number together when only two or three kids are here.' That makes me look bad!"

"The break is the time that you set new goals, you overcome new obstacles," Abby rips the rest of the pictures off the mirror, "No pyramid."

"But Abby, how can you throw away all that they worked for last year?" Holly asks.

"Like this," Abby says and she throws the rest of the pictures into the trash, "Girls, no pyramid."

"This weekend, we will be traveling to Denver, Colorado to attend Intensity Dance. I want you to be the first to know that I'm gonna hold auditions to replace Brooke and Paige," Abby says and I look at Chloe, "You will be nice to whoever I choose, and you will be wonderful, and kind."

Abby walks out of the room. We all look at each other.
___________
Group Rehearsal

"Every free minute that you have over the next two weeks you better be working on these numbers," Abby says.

I raise my hand.

"What about solos?" I ask. I look up to the dance jail and I seem my mom freaking out.

"Chloe, Eva, you two were first and second on that pyramid. Chloe, you were the national winner and Eva, you were second by a tenth of a point. You both scored higher than the other Brooke and Kenzie. It is the first week out and you both should be doing solos, Chloe should be defending her title. I don't know if I'm even gonna do solos," Abby says.

"Don't ask me about the solos again," Abby says. Oops.

"This is the group routine and Kenzie, Nia, Kendall and Paige were demons," Abby says, "And Maddie, Chloe, Eva, and Brooke were angels. So now, Chloe's the angel and you're all demons. See how people not showing up affects you?"

Abby starts to teach us the dance.

"Five, six, seven, and piqué," Abby says, "Look, down, down, up, pretty!"

I like this dance. It's very cool. I like playing the dark part.

"I'm holding an open audition. I'm gonna look at every girl and you know that I don't take kids from other studios and just stick 'em in. I want it to be someone from my studio, but you know what? I don't really care anymore," Abby says, "I hope they're 10 times better than Paige and Brooke. Let's go. Turn around."
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Abby is holding her open auditions today. All the girls are amazing, but none of them could ever replace Brooke and Paige. No one can match Brooke's style or Paige's laughter. It won't ever be the same without them.