𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗬𝗪𝗢𝗢𝗗

is there still hope?||dance moms

2016, age 11
season 7, episode 12

Eleven year old theadora anxiously tugs open the studios heavy glass door, returning to dance for the first time since her mother was arrested for child endangerment and driving under the influence right across the street from their los angeles studio...in front of everyone.

"thea!" her teammates and their mothers greet excitedly as soon as their youngest member arrives, "we missed you!"

theadora had thankfully only missed two days of rehearsals, but in the world of the aldc, that can be equivalent to an entire week. she tugs the corners of lips upwards in a small smile, "missed you guys too."

in her solo interview, she adds, "i'm excited to be back at dance, but i'm a little embarrassed about what happened monday and that everyone saw. but i missed the girls and the team and all i really care about is dancing so everything else doesn't matter as long as i can still dance."

"so holly, do you guys have guardianship of her now, or...how does that work?" jill asks curiously as theadora had flown into pittsburgh with nia and her mother since for nationals the team will
be rehearsing in the original aldc studio.

"because we were taking her across state lines, yes, we were given emergency temporary guardianship of theadora." holly answers. in her solo interview, she adds on, "even though i know that anne is not herself right now, i'm grateful that she still trusts me with her child and recognizes what is best for her. thea needs to be around people she knows and trusts, and doing the thing that she loves the most will distract her from everything going on right now. thea needs to be able to dance."

theadora places her stuff beside the other girls' in the den before they all head into the main studio for pyramid, tying her hair into a high ponytail as they walk. she joins her seven teammates in the room, standing between maesi and brynn. at eleven years old maesi was the same age as thea, however she was often grouped in with the minis while theadora stayed with the elites. this tended to cause a rivalry between the blondes mother and anne, although that didn't seem to be much of an issue now.

"all right." abby claps as she enters, standing at the head of the room. "you all look like winners, yes." the adults and dancers alike applaud before their teacher continues, "i thought that the group on stage looked stunning, you all acted, it was good. but i think now that we're heading to nationals, the pressure is that much stronger."

abby turns serious, "i'm sure that the crabs are gonna show up again, so nobody's gonna step up on that stage and make a big mistake. not at nationals." she moves on, "all right. we have lots of work to do today. i want it to be a positive week, so, there's no pyramid today."

the girls sigh in pure relief as their teacher continues, "i'm not doing it. i don't have time. there is so much to do, so let's talk about nationals. it's gonna be a very emotional week for all of us, me especially. we came back to the east coast for nationals. i wanted to bring you all back to the studio."

abby's voice begins to crack as she thinks back to where it all began, "i wanted to see what it felt like to walk in here, if it would be strange, but once i got into this room and i sat on my mat and we started dancing, it felt like i had never been gone."

she takes a deep breath, wiping away forming tears. "alright. this week, we are traveling to asbury park, new jersey. we're attending nationals at starbound." she claps before continuing, "all right. this is the moment everyone's been waiting for—who's getting picked to do a solo at nationals? at startbound, they have overalls twelve and under, and overalls thirteen and over. they will be split. no one will happy with my decision, i'm sure."