𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗬𝗪𝗢𝗢𝗗

wingman down||dance moms

2013, age 8
season 4, episode 8

Theadora nervously climbs out of the backseat of her mothers car, adjusting her short ponytail. cameramen were already filming their arrival, along with the other new mother-daughter duo whom the james' had met on abby's ultimate dance competition a few months prior.

"hi thea, you girls ready?" kira, kalanis mother, greets the younger girl, addressing both thea and her own daughter.

kalani was fourteen, and thea knew all but one of their new teammates were also quite older. this only added to the child's nerves as she followed the older girl into the dance studio, feeling incredibly intimidated.

upon entering the studio they were immediately greeted by abby lee miller, the head judge on audc that would now be the girls' new dance teacher. "how are you!" she greets them enthusiastically, rising from her seat behind the front desk. "you girls excited to be here?"

"yeah," kalani grins. thea only nods as she also smiles widely.

"go on in," abby tells the girls. theadora nods sheepishly, hoisting her pink dance bag high on her shoulder. she follows after kalani into the cubby room, putting her stuff down while the older girl heads into the main studio. thea had previously been told by producers to wait before making her entrance, as a way to add more drama and suspense.

in the main dance studio, abby was beginning  pyramid. "moving on to the pyramid." abby turns to the side, ripping sheets of paper from the mirror to reveal headshots of two former members. "brooke and paige are no longer members of the abby lee dance company. i didn't plan on replacing brooke and paige, their mother did that."

thea hadn't met either of the hylands, however she did feel quite bad to realize she was one of their replacements.

"now, you see another picture." abby points out, "we have a second new member of the team! she made the commitment, and now..." she rips the cover from thea's headshot, "theadora will be joining the abby lee dance company."

"she was a contestant in the ultimate competition that i judged this summer. her mother signed the same contract that you guys signed, she is here for the duration, she wants my tutelage." abby continues, "i do not think there is enough competition among you. i don't think you challenge each other enough, and i want to warn you. i don't wanna hear one word about anybody chasing this woman out." she calls out to a waiting anne and theadora, "come on in!"

thea nervously trails after her mother, rushing to stand beside mackenzie who is the closest in age to herself.

"i told everybody. you were warned." abby begins, "the face of the abby lee dance company is changing." she zeros in on kalani and thea, "and kalani and theadora, you're the faces i want in here."

the two newest members of the abby lee dance company smile proudly.

"now." the dance teacher claps, "we are going to energy dance in highland michigan. i know for a fact that the wicked witch of the west and her crappy little apples are gonna be there. you are the reigning national winners for energy dance. you can not walk in there this weekend any less."

"we are doing a group routine called return to grace. this is a very mature routine. it's about reincarnation. this group routine will be without mackenzie, and without theadora." abby points to the two youngest team members.

she moves on, "i have a trio, and the trio is going to kendall, maddie, and chloe." the girls and their moms clap excitedly, "this is a jazz trio, it's high energy, and it's called we believe."

abby turns to the two youngest team members standing on the end, "and i have one solo, which will be going to theadora. she will be competing in the mini division. all right, ladies, spread apart. we're going to start on the left side today." with that, the dance teacher dismisses the moms from pyramid.

immediately after retreating upstairs to watch rehearsal, the original moms turn on anne.

"can i sit right here?" the newcomer asks, pointing in between melissa and jill, who nod.

jill asks, "so when did you get into town?"

"early this morning," anne answers, "we're from tennessee, but we've been in l.a for a music video shoot."

"oh, what artist?" holly chimes in.

"taylor swift." anne beams brightly as the other mothers gasp.

"how did that happen?"

"we're close family friends." anne elaborated, "her parents have lived next door to us since before theadora was born."

"was this theadoras first job?" jill instigates.

"oh, no." anne shakes her head. "this was her second music video, the first one a few years ago got her an acting agent so now she's just auditioning left and right."

jill just couldn't help herself, "so you guys moved to pittsburgh—which is great, we're happy to have you—but that means no hightailing it out for other jobs, no acting classes somewhere, none of that."

"you're committed to this studio for a year, and if you leave you owe her a hundred thousand dollars cash." kelly adds.

anne scoffs, unfazed. "well thank god i have a hundred thousand dollars."

Competition weekend rolls around quicker than expected, and the moms are helping the girls get ready in their dressing room—no abby to be found.

"melissa, are you—do you miss kenzie?" christi asks, looking up from pinning back chloe's hair.

melissa nods, "she's hurting right now."

"what's wrong?" anne chimes in from her seat next to the former.

"she has an extra bone in her foot."

"oh, i didn't know that."

"doesn't it make you nervous at all that last week, abby really didn't want kenzie to do the group, and then this week she brings in someone that's her age and gives her a solo, and then leaves her at home?" christi further instigates.

melissa shakes her head. "no. not at all."

"so is that an on-going injury?" anne inquires.

"it just happened a couple weeks ago."

christi continues, "i don't know, melissa, i just know that when sophia was here, if abby would've told you to leave maddie at home, you would've had a fit."

"that would've been a different thing." melissa defends.

jill chimes in, turning to christi. "what are you saying, do you think abby's feeling theadora out to take mackenzies place?"

christi shrugs. "you never know."

"do you think that, melissa?"

"not at all."