Disappear - Maddie Ziegler fanfic

Struggle

I was in hospital for another day before I was finally allowed to go home. It felt so good to sleep in my own bed again. When I woke up the next morning, i could smell bacon cooking down stairs. I immediately got out of bed and went down to breakfast. Mom smiled at me. 'Morning Maddie, you're up early.' I looked at my phone, which read 9:00. I frowned, 'No I'm not,' I said, 'it's already nine.' Mom laughed and told me over the last two days I hadn't woken up before lunch time. I smiled sheepishly. 'Mom do the girls know about being in hospital?' I asked. She nodded,'Abby told them at rehearsal, and they're coming over for dinner tonight, if you don't think that'll be to overwhelming for you?' I shook my head. 'No that's fine but... Will Paige and Amber be there?' Mom nodded,'of course they're part of the team! I actually talked to Paige on the phone and she said you two were becoming really close, she sent all her best to you.' I nodded absent mindedly, wondering why Paige would've said that. I'd barely spoken to her, and it was pretty obvious I didn't like her, I mean she was taking my place in the group! All the girls came over for dinner, Chloe arrived first, so I got to talk to her in private for a bit to explain what was wrong and everything. Chloe said in a quiet voice,'don't let Abby get the better of you. Come back next week and prove to her you're ten times that dancer that Paige is.' I shrugged 'clearly I'm not. She gave my solo to a nine year old!' Chloe shook her head 'Ambers better than all of us, but I heard her talking with her mom. Her mom said that they'd only stay if Abby gave her solos every week and if she became the leader of the group.' I raised my eyebrows, confused that ambers mom would have the audacity to say that, and I was about to say so when the doorbell rang. Once everyone had arrived we began talking. 'How's everything going in the group?' I asked. Amber eagerly replied, obviously wanting to sound like she was hot stuff. 'It's going great actually. The group number is called Smoke, and it's a really mature piece, lots of emotion so Paige is perfect for it. I have a solo, and so does Paige, and Kendall. Mine is called Demons, and Miss Abby said that its senior company level. It's hard, and really creepy but I'm doing great so far. Paige has a lyrical piece called Shine Through. It's gorgeous, I know because Abby was going to give it to me last week but it was too easy. Paige is finding it hard though I think. Kendall's solo is kinda bad. It's jazz, called Werk. She needs to be all sassy but she's not doing it right. I've also got a lead in the group, I guess it's your part that im doing.' I refrained from rolling my eyes at this cocky little show off. 'That's great Amber, but you're nine, id like to hear from someone smarter and more mature.' Kendall spoke,'my solos going well. It's a performance dance, not a winning number, but I have to go out there and bring it.' I nodded and told her she'd be fabulous. After everyone went home I felt myself missing dance even more than before. Miss Abby 'benching' me for two weeks was totally unreasonable. It was obvious I'd only been performing worse because of my blood sugar making me sick right? I decided I had to be perfect when I came back to dance the next week, so I went downstairs into the living room to practice and stretch. Mom walked in after only ten minutes of practice. 'Maddie, you heard what miss Abby's orders were! You aren't supposed to dance! If you keep disobeying the rules you'll be a tired wreck when it's time to go back and you'll never be allowed back on the team.' I frowned. 'But mom, if I don't practice I'll loose all my flexibility and talent and I'll be terrible when I go back. She'll think I'm a bad undedicated dancer and she'll kick me off the team!' Mom shook her head. 'It's late. Go on up to bed and we'll talk in the morning. You know miss Abby wants you to rest and refresh on this break so don't break the rules, okay?' I nodded sadly, struggling to see her point. I HAD to practice. I just had to. Otherwise Paige would become my permanent replacement. Or even worse, Amber.