𝒫𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒮𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃 𝒮𝒽𝑜𝑒𝓈

𝟤𝟣𝟢. 𝓂𝒾𝒶𝓂𝒾 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓋𝑒

𝐼𝓉 𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃𝓈 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝑀𝑜𝓂𝓂𝓎 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑜 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓉. Unfortunately, a few irate mothers could not convince the production staff to cancel the release of this episode. That March weekend when it graces the television screens will be the bane of my existence. From what I heard, the dance didn't even place. But this week is a new week. No more fans, no more nakedness, no more disgusting things.

"I want to burn those costumes into ash," Brooke laughs as we wait for Miss Abby to ruin her vocal cords by screaming throughout the dance studio for us to come in.

"I have a firepit! Sunday night?" Nia jokes and we all giggle. "I'll even chip in my headpiece for kindling."

I tighten my bun in the mirror, trying to look as presentable as I can be. I know I'll be knocked down the pyramid for ditching before awards, even if I had a reasonable excuse, so making sure to pick my nice black leotard and using all of the fancy bun equipment is the most I can do to see that I'm still a professional.

"Let's go, girls. Come on. Come on," Miss Abby shouts and with a quick pinch of the hand and a deep breath, I follow behind the rest of the girls into the studio. "Get in here. Come on. Come on. Come on."

Nervously, I stand next to Mackenzie, who has a fun braid in her hair. She seems just as nervous for herself since she didn't get to do much in the group dance. We both know we're most likely gonna be last on the pyramid.

"Last week's competition, Fire and Ice Elite, was a big disappointment, ladies. I mean, here we are, invited as big winners, and you don't even place? Not acceptable. Seven of you weren't in unison. The group needs to be cleaner, do you understand?" Miss Abby begins and we all nod, none of us caring that much about the group dance to take real critiques.

"All right, let me get right to the pyramid. First I have Rue. You were having a good week, you had a special little lift in the group dance, and then boom, you leave. I know you were sick but professionals have to power through," Miss Abby states and I stand there, befuddled.

That's it? That's all she's going to say to me? I glance at Mommy and she looks back, equally as confused. She had a whole speech prepared that she was rehearsing with a very unenthusiastic Logan the whole day while I finished up my French textbook (it was annoying.) And now it's ruined because Miss Abby was... understanding. Something doesn't sit right with that.

"Next, I have Mackenzie. I think your acting could have been bigger and longer, and I think when you walk, we need to work on turning those feet out," Miss Abby explains and Mackenzie nods, subtly turning out her feet.

"Next I have Paige. I was in the dressing room all day long with you. I didn't see you utilizing your spare time, and you need to do that," Miss Abby critiques and Kelly rolls her eyes.

Paige always gets dinged on the weirdest things.

"Next, Nia. I just need to see more from you. You're always just a little bit not hundred-percent, you know I mean?"

It's always that same comment for Nia. Moving on to the middle row.

"Moving, up. Chloé. Chloé, I thought you did a nice job on your solo, but your age is ten. You're competing ten to twelve. You have to dance like a twelve-year-old. And next we have Brooke. Once again, you danced thirteen to fifteen. At thirteen, you won the whole division."

Oh boy, I wonder who's on top. I have a feeling the producers just want to get under our skin at this point. Brooke won the whole competition, so shouldn't she be on top?

"And on top of the pyramid is Maddie. Maddie, I challenged you to see if you could stay there for two weeks in a row, and you did. Now I'm challenging you again. Can you make it three?" Miss Abby asks and Maddie seems very confident in herself, as she should.