THE OLDEST ZIEGLER | dance moms

bye bye baby

the last bell of the day couldn't come fast enough.

malia sat with her pencil tucked behind her ear as mrs. carter finished explaining the group's assignment on the outsiders. after spending the weekend at a dance competition, sitting in english class almost felt relaxing.

"alright," mrs. carter said, clapping her hands once. "same groups as yesterday. i want a character analysis comparing loyalty in the outsiders. use evidence from the book. you have the rest of class."

the room immediately filled with the sound of chairs scraping across the floor.

malia grabbed her notebook and slid into the empty seat with leo, chase, and adam.

"okay," chase said, already opening his notebook. "let's split this up before adam somehow volunteers us to present."

adam looked up in offense. "i've only done that twice."

"exactly," leo replied with a grin. "twice too many."

malia laughed as she set her book on the table.

"i'll do ponyboy," she offered.

"works for me," chase nodded. "i'll do johnny."

"i call dally," leo said.

adam frowned at the page. "who's left?"

"the socs," chase answered.

"...the what?"

leo slowly turned toward him. "adam..."

"what?"

"have you actually read the book?"

adam scratched the back of his neck. "mostly."

"mostly?" malia repeated, trying not to laugh.

"i read the important parts."

"it's a book," chase deadpanned. "they're all important parts."

adam shrugged. "i watched, like... half the movie."

leo dropped his forehead onto the table. "we're done for."

malia covered her mouth, laughing. "it's okay, we'll help you."

"thank you," adam said dramatically. "someone appreciates me."

"i didn't say that," she teased.

chase shook his head with a small smile before getting back on track.

"okay. ponyboy sees loyalty differently because he learns not everyone fits into one group."

malia nodded, flipping through her highlighted pages. "especially after he meets cherry. he realizes the socs aren't all the same."

"exactly," chase said. "write that down."

leo pointed toward adam. "and you... your job is finding one quote."

"one quote?" adam asked.

"yes."

"from the book?"

the three of them stared at him.

leo blinked. "where else would it come from?"

adam shrugged. "google?"

malia laughed so hard she had to put her pencil down.

even chase couldn't hold back a laugh.

"absolutely not," he said, sliding the novel toward adam. "use this."

adam sighed dramatically. "you guys make everything difficult."

"we're asking you to read," leo replied. "not solve world peace."