paige hyland. the forgotten dancer. the cast-aside talent. the one abby lee miller will never give a chance too. but what happens when one day she does? when paige is given the chance to prove herself a winning dancer, the whole dynamic of the aldc...
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3 chapters in one day??? i must be crazy...
"paige, i need you to really concentrate on this solo. i've talked to your mom about it, you will be doing an hour long acro private after rehearsal everyday this week to work on your layout. your whip into a layout will be in the piece." paige gasped. she began squealing.
"thank you thank you thank you!" paige rushed to give miss abby a hug. abby giggled.
"don't thank me yet. i want to make sure you feel confident in it, so you'll stay for acro after rehearsal and i'll drive you home after." paige nodded. "now let's get to work, this solo is called 'crème de la crème'. it's high energy jazz, because i want you to prove to me you can still win with it."
paige worked tirelessly all week on her solo. when she wasn't practicing in studio a or in acro classes, she was working on drills at home in her basement and running the music in her head.
"paige, dinners ready!" kelly called from upstairs.
"coming mom!" paige stood up from the mat she was stretching on and rushed upstairs. "i'm so hungry."
"well come here then!" kelly chuckled as she set a plate down next to brooke and josh, who had both already started eating. "i made breaded chicken with roast veggies and mashed potatoes."
"sounds delicious!" paige dug in.
"so paige, are you excited for your solo this week?" kelly asked. "abby said it's more jazzy than she's been giving you lately."
"yeah it's an acro jazz number called 'crème de la crème'." paige swallowed her food. "this is delicious mom. but yeah, it's a really fun solo."
kelly smiled, loving the fact that her beautiful daughter was finally getting the attention she deserved.
paige continued practicing relentlessly, and by the time competition rolled around, she was confident in her choreography and her ability to execute it.
"paige! come over here please." abby called paige to the back of the bus. paige walked over. "are you confident in your whip layout?"
paige nodded.
"good. if you get onstage and realize you can't throw it, i want you to go for the tuck, okay?" abby asked. when paige nodded, she continued. "alright, you can go back to your seat. make sure you're stretched, i don't know how much time we'll have when we get there."
paige had a pit in her stomach. something felt off to her, and she couldn't quite explain it. she turned around towards miss abby.
"are you alright paige?" abby's voice was soft.
"yeah i think so. something just feels a little off." abby nodded.
"i understand. i don't want you to dwell on that though. you're amazing, paige. everyone is allowed off days. i will not be mad at you if you have an off day. just as long as you do your best."
"thanks miss abby. that helps." paige did feel a little better knowing she wouldn't get into trouble for making a mistake, but something still felt off. that feeling continued throughout the day as she got ready and started practicing.
"paige, just breath." chloe and maddie had both gone backstage with paige, who was still nervous. "you know this dance."
"i know."
"you're the best dancer on this team. you're gonna do amazing!" maddie cried. she kissed paige on the cheek. "you can do it paigey!"
chloe pulled her into a hug.
"thank you guys."
"coming up is entry number 72, paige with 'crème de la crème'." paige shook out her nerves and smiled as she went on stage. maddie and chloe cheered her on from the wings.
the solo went off without a hitch, paige hitting every one of her tricks and her stamina didn't falter.
the last part of her solo was a whip to a layout and she was to roll to the floor and chin stand pose for her ending pose. after feeling out the stage, paige decided in advance that she was gonna go for it.
as she threw herself across the stage, paige prepared for her landing. what she didn't prepare for was landing off mark. her ankle rolled under her and paige heard a snap.
maddie gasped.
"oh no." chloe whispered. "oh gosh is she ok?"
"i don't know." they watched intently. paige's eyes filled with fear as she fell to the ground instead of rolling the way she had rehearsed.
brooke was already calling their mom, while abby was getting up and rushing backstage. paige felt the tears leak out of her eyes, but she tried to push through. she pushed up to her knees and rolled into a chin stand, but it was wobbly and she couldn't point her foot.
when the lights went out and the music stopped, paige crashed to the floor.
"go get her." abby boomed, startling maddie and chloe. they didn't waste time, both of them rushed out onstage and hoisted paige up.
"my foot." paige whimpered. "i-i think it's broken."
one of the competition directors brought a chair over at abby's command and chloe and maddie gently set paige in. the tears were really leaking now.
"you think it's broken?" abby asked.
"yeah it hurts so bad!" paige was becoming hysterical. "oh gosh i'm so sorry miss abby."
"i'm not mad at you sweetie i told you, everyone is allowed to make mistakes." abby spoke in a very calm tone trying to keep paige from panicking. "brooke is calling your mom. just take a deep breath."
almost as if on cue, brooke came backstage holding out her phone.
"miss abby, my mom wants to talk to you."
"hey kelly." abby walked a few feet away from paige so the girls couldn't hear the conversation.
"hey abby. brooke told me paige broke her foot?"
"we're not sure yet, she went down wrong on a running whip into a layout, maddie and chloe had to help her offstage. she couldn't walk and she started crying. i think it's probably broken but she's a little hysterical. how quickly can you get here?"
"i'm already on my way. it'll be a few hours, but if you send me the address of the competition i'll meet you at the nearest hospital. i don't want her to wait to get checked out." kelly sounded shaky.
"i'll take her. we already did the group so it's just a few more solos and awards, and gianna is here so i can take her over."
"thank you so much ab. i'm gonna be there as soon as i can."
"don't worry kelly, i'll take good care of her." they said their goodbyes and abby walked back over to paige. the competition director came over to abby, brows furrowed.
"we called an ambulance. she's in to much shock to walk." abby nodded. she walked over and took paige by the hand.
"can we come with you miss abby?" maddie asked, tears in her eyes.
"yeah we wanna go with paige." chloe said.
abby nodded.
"when the ambulance gets here you can come." abby looked at paige. "breath. your mom is on her way, and we're going to be here with you."
