Mom, It'll Never Be the Same (Dance Moms Fan Fiction)

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

The day consisted of constantly answering the door and kindly accepting casserole after casserole. Maddie sat on the couch watching old episodes of Dance Moms, missing Mackenzie more and more. Everyone cried and just sat around not doing anything. Around three o’clock, another knock on the door was heard. It was different though. All of the other knocks were soft and quiet in respect to the family. But this one was a loud, booming knock. And there was only one person who it could be, Abby Lee Miler. Greg answered the door and invited Abby in.

Abby walked in, wearing black as usual. She set a bag down on the stairs. It was a bag full of Mackenzie’s things. Hair bows, hair ties, head pieces, costume pieces, shoes, tights, anything and everything that was in her cubby in the back room that had been set out for the Elite team.

Maddie sat in a chair in the living room, staring down the hallway. Melissa joined Greg and Abby in the foyer. They exchanged hugs and began to mumble some things. Maddie was able to read Abby’s lips.

Abby said, “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“I’m sorry for yours,” Melissa said and hugged Abby one last time.

“This has to be hard on Maddie.” Abby said.

Maddie shrugged and turned back around. She checked her phone every few minutes, but still, there was no sign that Chloe ever tried to get in touch with Maddie. Maddie stood up and walked up the stairs to her room, but first, she was stopped by Abby.

Maddie hugged Abby and began to cry. Maddie was unsure what to think. Should she stop crying? Or should she let the emotion out? Abby began to cry also. Mackenzie was one of the finest dancers at ALDC. And without her, each and every day would be a little bit gloomier and a little bit slower.

“Be strong kiddo.” Abby said.

Maddie wiped her eyes and let go of Abby. Maddie looked at Melissa and Melissa gave a small nod. Maddie turned back to Abby and opened her mouth to say something. “Instead of doing Cry at this competition, do you think I could do Angel instead? For Kenzie?”

“I didn’t think you were going to come to the competition…” Abby trailed off.

“No. I’m coming. And I’ll be in rehearsal today, too.” Maddie nodded. “I was just running up to get changed.”

“Melissa, I could give Maddie a ride to the studio?” Abby asked, wiping her tears away. “Only if it’s alright with the both of you.”

“Nothing is going to stop Maddie from dancing.” Melissa nodded.

~

About an hour later, Maddie was sitting in her split in the middle of studio B. She worked on Angel and then on her new solo. She worked on the group dance by herself, waiting for the other girls to arrive. Maddie sat down in studio B. The door swung open and James Washington, a choreographer at ALDC, walked in.

“Hey Peanut,” He said, propping the door open.

James called everyone Peanut, it was kind of what he was known for. Everywhere he went, even if he had just met someone, they turned into Peanut. But on that day, Maddie felt so special being called Peanut.

“Hi.” She said as she scratched her nose. “James, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.” He said, plopping himself down on a stack of mats in the corner of the studio.

“Have you ever loved something so much, and then one day, just hate it?” Maddie asked, getting up off of the floor.

James thought for a moment. It was quiet, but then the air conditioning unit shut off and it got even more silent. James blinked and then asked, “Is this about Mackenzie?”

“Kinda…” Maddie said. “I used to love dance. I loved it like I love Kenzie, but now she’s gone and I just hate this.” Maddie started crying, not holding anything back. “I just hate it. I don’t want to dance anymore. It’s just not fun. And nothing will ever be the same!”

“Maddie, you just have to believe that this is what Mackenzie wants. She wants you do dance. She wanted to be just like you.” James said. “And no, nothing’s gonna be the same. You’ll just have to adjust, but the great thing about that, is that you have all of us to lean on. You have me and Gianna and Abby. You have all of your friends, and even the kids who aren’t here anymore. Like Brandon, Nick, Payton, Nina…everyone.”

“I don’t have all of my friends….” Maddie said standing up and wiping the tears away from her eyes. She prepped for a fouette, and did it perfect.

“What do you mean?” James asked as he stretched.

“Chloe hasn’t said anything to me. We’ve been fighting a lot lately, too.” Maddie said. “And, you know, I thought it would be fun having her at Rossendale with me, but it’s just kinda annoying. I feel like she’s always watching me and judging me. And you know, Chlo. You know how much of a follower she is and how gullible. She’ll believe anything you tell her! So of course, she’s believing all of the stupid shit flying around about me. And it’s all because of that stupid TV show.”

“Maybe you should tell her how you feel.”

“You just did…” Chloe said, standing in the doorway. Her eyes were filled with tears as she ran out of the room, across the den, and out into the lobby.

Maddie didn’t know what to think. Should I go after her? Maddie did another set of turns, each one getting a little bit lighter and a little bit more fun. After she was done doing fifteen fouettes, she decided to look for Chloe. James didn’t say anything as Maddie picked a few things up off of the ground and walked into the den.

Maddie touched the ice-cold door handle and pushed the door forward. She found Paige and Chloe standing in the lobby. Chloe was bawling and trying to talk, Paige was trying to listen. What’s Paige doing here?

“Paige?” Maddie asked.

Paige glanced at Maddie and then looked back to Chloe. Chloe hugged Paige and Paige hugged Chloe. She shot Maddie a sorry look. Once the girls were done hugging, Chloe turned around and blinked at Maddie.

“I hate you.” Chloe said and walked off.

Tears poured out of Maddie’s eyes as she collapsed to the floor. Her little sister died, she began to hate dance, and her best friend was turned into an enemy all in the same 48 hours. It was too much for Maddie to handle.

“Chloe Elizabeth Lukasiak!” Abby shouted from behind the desk.

Chloe smiled, she had finally done something bad enough to get the middle name thrown in there. Chloe wiped the smile off of her face as she turned around.

Abby stood up and screamed, “You do NOT say that to someone who just lost a loved one! No matter how true it may be, you do not say it! Do you understand me?”

“Yes ma’am.” Chloe nodded. She was a lot more scared than she thought she was going to be.

“And for that, I’m taking your solo away from you this weekend. And until you prove yourself worthy, I’m not giving you another one.” Abby said.

Chloe glanced down at Maddie and Paige. Both Paige’s arms were wrapped around Maddie. Maddie’s wails were more like screams.

“Chloe, do you understand me?” Abby repeated.

Chloe nodded, “Then I quit.”