Dancing The Dream (Dance Moms, Autumn Miller, Sophia Lucia & Mia Diaz Fanfiction)

Chapter Nine || Paige's POV

Chapter Nine || Paige’s POV

Published: Thursday 1st of August 2013.

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I'm practising my front limber, trying to keep my legs together without falling over, when Chloe walks into the studio. Kristina has her back turned and is fiddling with her iPod. Chloe looks around, makes eye contact with me, then suddenly she runs towards me and gives me a huge hug.

I know she's forgiven me for whatever she thinks I've done so I forgive her. It's as simple as that- no questions asked, no remarks made. That's what true friends are for.

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During mine and Autie's duet rehearsal, Autumn's very quiet. When I ask her if she's okay, she nods and presses her lips tightly together, like she's in pain.

"You're really not," I say.

"I have a bad headache," she says with difficulty.

"What, like a migraine?" I ask. She shrugs. "If it is, you need to lie down in a dark quiet room, not do acro. You should tell Kristina. Look, we know the choreography now. I can run it through on my own while you rest."

"But I'll forget it," she whispers, close to tears with pain. "And we've still got the group dance to do..."

"I'll teach it to you again," I reason. "And the group dance can wait. Come on."

********

Once Miss Kristina has sent Autie off with a paracetamol to our dorm, she comes over to me.

"You don't have much to do, do you?" she asks. "Come and sit with the others who aren't rehearsing. They're giving me a bit of input on the group routine."

I smile. This place is so unlike Abby Lee - so relaxed and happy. I could stay here forever.

One the way over to the corner, I spot Chloe learning her routine from a male choreographer named Kevin. Her routine looks amazing, but very complicated, with some super hard new moves which I haven't mastered yet and I know she hasn't either.

I grin at her and she smiles back. I'm so glad we're both okay with each other now.

Over in the corner, Mackenzie is demonstating a front aerial and Kristina is suggesting to Mia Diaz a way in which she could support her. I go over and sit next to Kendall, who has her arms wrapped around her knees, which are up by her chest.

"Hey, Kendall!"

"Hey," she says quietly.

"Isn't this school so cool?" I ask.

"Yeah..."

"Kendall, Paige, any input?" Kristina asks.

"May I hear the song?" I say. Kristina selects it on her iPod and clicks play. We all wait expectantly. There's a small intro and then it starts. SInce the dance style is lyrical, I try to listen to all the words to see what they bring to mind.

All my friends tell me I should move on

I'm lying in the ocean, singing your song

I close my eyes and try to visualise how a large group of girls would dance this.

Every time I close my eyes

It's like a dark paradise

No one compares to you

I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side

"Miss Kristina?" I say hestitantly.

"Yes?" she asks, turning down the music. Everyone stares at me.

I'm not usually big on concentrating or contributing in class, because I'm always scared that I'm wrong or that my idea is stupid. "For the beginning of the chorus, could there be two lines facing each other, a little way apart, and then they all go into chest stands onto knees at the same time and then the partners (people facing each other) take each other's hands and everyone stands up at the same time?"

It comes out in a rush of words and sounds like a pathetic idea as soon as it's outside my head. But Miss Kristina blinks at me, interested, and says,

"You know, Paige, that's not a bad idea."

I glow with pride.

"Thank you," I say.

********

Chloe and I race each other up the stairs to the dorm, sliding to a halt outside the door. We giggle, breathless.

"Shhh," I hiss, remembering that Autumn's asleep. We open the door as quietly as possible, wincing when it creaks. "Should we wake her up for dinner or keep some for her?"

"Keep some," Chloe advises. "Remember when I had a migraine? I didn't want to eat anything at all."

"But won't she feel like we've abandoned her if she wakes up and neither of us are here?"

"Leave her a note," she suggests.

"Good idea," I say, and we go into the dorm.

Autumn's drawn the curtains and is lying asleep in the spare bed that the caretakers brought in for her. She's got her duvet over her, but I remember that no one brought that, or her suitcase, up from her old dorm. Poor her. She must have brought it upstairs herself, even though she had a migraine.

"We need to get Brooke go down and get the rest of her stuff after dinner," Chloe whispers.

"Why Brooke?" I ask.

"Because Autie's old dorm is Alexandra and Anna Rose's dorm, and Brooke knows them so she won't be shy about going down."

"Fair enough," I say. "Where are the others?"

"They've gone to dinner. They already had spare clothes with them. We were the only two that forgot them."

"Oh, right. Well, let's get our clothes then." Chloe and I change from our dance stuff into matching  skinny jeans and T-shirts. She wears a lilac vest top and mint green jeans, and I wear a yellow cami and pale pink jeans. Chloe grabs her phone just before we go downstairs.

"Hey, look," she says, turning it on. "I've got a text from Josh!"

"Oooh!" I wolf-whistle, grinning.

"Shush," she says, checking the text, but then she gasps.

"What is it?" I ask, impatient to know.

"Josh wants me to go out with him!" she squeaks.

"Oh. My. God!!!"

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© 2014 MattieButterfly