Leading Ladies

XVIII. The Runaway Mom

"Hi, guys," Elsa drones, pushing the door to the den opening. No matter what, they were always last, so she wasn't surprised to see that the rest of the girls were changed and ready for dance.

"Elsa, you don't look happy," Paige comments from the floor.

Shrugging, Elsa walks over to one of the benches and takes off her jacket.

"Ignore her," she hears her Mom say. "She's difficult during winter."

"Elsa wants to hibernate," Bianca jokes.

Elsa sniffs distastefully at them, taking off her jacket. "I think there should be a law where we are not allowed to leave the house if the temperature is less than 40 degrees."

"I agree," Maddie's hand shot up. "It's so cold."

"I like the cold," Paige argues. "It's fun and pretty."

"Right?" Sabrina agrees. "The best is that when it's cold, it means time for hot chocolate."

"Right," Paige and Sabrina high-fives.

Rolling her eyes, Elsa finished getting ready. No matter what Paige and Sabrina say, the cold sucks.

When Abby's yell came through, Elsa quickly slides on her foot thongs before pandering. When they were all lined up in front of Abby, Abby finally started the meeting.

"Now Hollywood Vibe, last week. You did an okay job; I thought it could have been better. Moving on, this week, we are going to Fire & Ice, right here in Pittsburgh."

"Awwwwww," Elsa whines softly as she claps. She was hoping that this competition they were going somewhere warmer.

"And I have a reputation to uphold. It's much more difficult to walk in a competition against people you know than a bunch of strangers. Okay, let's get to the pyramid. I hate to do this, but... Kendall, you are back on probation."

Eyes widening, Elsa stares unblinking at the whiteboard. When Abby said she had something for Kendall, this wasn't what she was expecting.

She wasn't surprised when in the next second, Jill explodes with anger. "That's... ridiculous, Abby. What more do you want from her!?"

"Your head is distended, your shoulders are hunched. Your ribcage is open," Abby lists off.

Glancing at Kendall, Elsa saw that the younger girl was trying hard not to cry. It probably didn't feel right to have your fault listed for others to hear.

"Are you kidding me?! Jill yells. "You're kidding me, right!?"

"No," Elsa winces at how flat Abby's voice was. "She doesn't make the corrections. I have been telling her since the audition about her posture, and it has not improved once."

"I can't even believe it. You know what? You should be on probation, not my daughter. I don't even know why I'm here. You have nothing nice to say to her since the second we got here. You know what, Abby, she does a lot right."

Abby shrugs. "She turns like a top. But that's what's good. I don't need to fix that."

"There's a lot of studios out there who would love what she does right. And you know what, Abby?"

"I hear that every day..."

Jill walks over and grabs her daughter's wrist. "We are going to one of those studios," she guides a reluctant Kendall out of the room. "I'm not putting up with this crap anymore. We're done. That's it."

Frozen in her spot, Elsa watches the door close behind the two of them. She couldn't believe Jill was doing this. Kendall is a part of the team. She might cry a lot, but she was still a part of the team. Jill just couldn't take her out of the room.