Melanie Ziegler || Dance Moms

The Competition Begins!

"Girls we have to go!" Mommy says as she brushes my hair.

"I'm almost done!" My older sister, Maddie yells.

Mommy styles my hair into a high ponytail and puts a blue bow on it.

"All done, Mel. Go take your dance bag." She says and I leave.

I go into my room and take my dancebag. Today was a big day, a couple weeks ago Miss Abby told us that we were going to be on a TV Show, we had to audition and blah blah blah. We were chosen! We are going to be on the show and we start filming today.

"Melanie!" Kenzie yells.

I go downstairs and get into the car.

"Are you guys excited?" Mommy asks us as she puts me on my carseat.

"Of course!" Maddie exclaims and looks at her phone, "Chloe's already there with the Hylands."

"And Nia?" Kenzie asks.

"She is on her way." Maddie tells Kenzie.

Mommy makes sure the seatbelts are on well and then gets on the driver's seat and we start our way to the studio.

There are going to be 7 girls on the team. First is the oldest, Brooke, who is 13. Next are the twinnies, Paige, who is 10 and Chloe, who is 9. Next is Nia, who is 9. My sisters, Maddie, who is 8, and Mackenzie, who is 6, and finally me, Melanie, and I'm 4. We also have the Moms, Kelly, Brooke's and Paige's Mom. Christi, Chloe's Mom. Holly, Nia's Mom, and my Mommy, Melissa. The dance teacher, Miss Abby Miller, she sometimes yells at us but Mommy says that she does just because she wants us to be better.

"We're finally here!" Maddie says and gets off the car.

Mommy gets me off the car and we all enter the studio.

"Look at all the cameras, this is so cool!" Chloe exclaims.

"Girls come on!" We hear Miss Abby say.

"Okay... Let's all go together." Brooke says and we all hold hands.

As we enter I feel something, it was like everything was about to change, but we just didn't know it. We all sit down on the floor, on front of a chalkboard, and Miss Abby was standing beside it.

"All right girls, it's the first of rehearsal for a new competition season. Ladies, you all know why you're here, you're the cream of the crop in your age group, and I have lots of new ideas in store. I am going to do something that no other studio in the country does. Every single competition, we are doing a new routine." Miss Abby tells us and we look over to the Moms, "Nuh-uh-uh-uh, girls, don't look at your mothers. I am the coach, I am the teacher. I can make you, or I can break you."

Miss Abby says that a lot, along with 'Everyone's replaceable'. Doesn't she get tired of it? She turns the chalkboard and reveals the 'pyramid'.

Maddie

Chloe Brooke

Paige Nia Mackenzie Melanie

"Everybody wants to be front and center, I hear it all the time. Whoever is in the front and center, they can't make a mistake. They are holding that group together. So at the top right here I have Maddie because she is dedicated and because of her stellar record last year." Miss Abby says, "Maddie, are you ready to be front and center? Can you handle that pressure?"

Maddie is like, the best dancer in the group, she is kind of Miss Abby's favorite, but she tries to hide it, but fails.

"Our first competition is going to be in Phoenix, Arizona. Ladies, I chose Phoenix, Arizona because I want you to experience some of the best competition teams in the country. We are going to do two new numbers. A high-energy, really cute, adorable routine with Maddie, Chloe, Paige, Brooke and Nia and then also a trio with Maddie, Chloe and Paige." Miss Abby tells us and I look at her upset, "Unfortunately, Mackenzie and Melanie, you're both too young to compete at West Coast Dance Explosion, but you're still going to go with us anyway." And I smile, "Girls, we are going to win Phoenix, and the next competition and the next competition we're going to win, and that's all gearing up for Nationals."