Chloe hurries to tie her long, blonde hair in a blue ribbon, to match her dance top and shorts, when she hears Abby's voice
ring out through the studio, "Girls, girls, hurry now! We don't have all day!" in an irritated tone.
Ugh, lovely. It's only the first day back after break and she's already in a bad mood. Chloe thinks to herself as she scurries through the door, while pulling
her jazz shoes on her feet, with her Mom close behind. She finds the other girls already lined up and Abby standing aside the
infamous pyramid with a scowl on her face, her hands sitting on her wide hips. "Chloe, what have I told you about being late like this? If this were rehearsal for a
Broadway show, you would have just been fired." Abby babbles in her annoying tone about the fact that Chloe was three and a half minutes late.
"Now girls, on to the pyramid," Abby peels away the paper covering the first picture, at the very bottom of the pyramid, "Mackenzie. Honey, I realize you're only seven,
but I need to be seeing more from you. I want you to be at the level of performing that Maddie was when she was your age." Mackenzie just kind of nods her head.
Poor Ken, Chloe thinks, Geez Abby, have you ever thought that maybe the reason why she isn't performing good enough for YOU and the reason that none of us, except Maddie, are good enough for YOU is because all you ever do is set us up to fail? Do you really think that putting us down and telling us that we aren't good enough is actually helping us? Chloe was really getting angry, now. I just wish I could tell all that to her dumb, bulldog face.
"Chloe!" Abby yells, waving her palm in front of Chloe's face, as Chloe shoots back into reality. "You're not a bulldog!" Chloe squeaks out, jolting her arms out into a
defense stance. Chloe's eyes widen and she looks around to see everyone staring at her, Abby's mouth open and her picture at the lowest spot in the middle of the
pyramid. "What did you say?" Abby looks infuriated, but thankfully, somewhat confused. "Nothing. . . I said nothing. . ." Chloe barely gets out. "Chloe, do you think
that daydreaming is going to get you anywhere? Well, news alert: It won't!" Abby didn't seem to catch the 'bulldog' thing, luckily.
I really have to stop doing that. Chloe feels kind of bad about it and sends Abby a mental Sorry, as she watches her unveil, not surprisingly, Maddie at the top of the
pyramid, with Brooke just below her. "Maddie. You're always consistent with your dancing; you always put in all of the hours and practice, and guess what? It pays off.
Girls, you could learn something from Maddie's example."
Abby, do you ever notice when Paige and I stay two extra hours before a competition to practice, only to go home and practice even more? Or how about when Brooke reluctantly turns down football games just to get to run through a dance a few extra times? Or when Nia begs her Mom to bring her to the studio, just to perfect her very small parts, to please you? Chloe thinks of all of the things she and the girls have had to sacrifice, just to be dancers.
Abby turns around, to announce the site of their next competition, "Girls, we will be attending the Z-Star Competition in Atlanta, Georgia." Abby says, with a few 'Oohs'
and 'Yays' from the girls. "Now on to the dances. You will all be in the group dance. The group dance is going to be titled 'Love'; it's going to be a Paris themed dance.
There will be lots of flowers, and the outfits are going to be sweet and romantic, I want every one of you to be overly sweet and look like you've just fell in love." Abby
states, as all of the girls ooh and ah over the sound of it, and the moms openly appreciate the contrast to the other odd types of dances they've been doing. Mackenzie
gets a cute grin on her face and states matter-of-factly, "I'll just be thinking of Justin Bieber.", getting giggles from the girls, moms and even Abby, as Abby finishes
naming off the dances, "Paige, you will have a solo," everyone cheers for her and Chloe turns and hugs her. "Chloe and Maddie, you will have a duet. Paige, your solo
will be called 'United', it's going to be a patriotic, contemporary routine, but with a twist. Chloe and Maddie, your duo is called 'I Know', it will be a contemporary lyrical
dance, and it's much more in-depth than some of the other dances you've had together. It's about being empathetic. You will both be kind of arguing at the first of the
dance, and then as the dance continues you gain more understanding for each other. Moms, you're going to need to stone their costumes for the group dance, and they
should be in later this afternoon." Abby continues as the girls nod their heads in excitement, "Okay, girls begin stretching. Moms, you can go."
A duet with Maddie about empathy, this should be interesting.
