DANCING THROUGH LIFE, dance moms

Chapter 11: Children With Guns

A/N: Hey, guys! It's been a hot minute since I updated this book - school's started up for me, and I was planning on updating a few weeks ago, but my best friend had some medical issues going on so I was a little preoccupied with that. Anyways, I hope you all like this chapter and I hope that I can get back to updating more regularly. Thanks for reading!

Later that day, Abby had us in Studio A, learning the dance "Private Eyes". I was actually pretty excited for this dance - I loved dancing with props, and the plastic guns would be perfect to set the theme for the performance.

I knew that my mom wasn't the biggest fan of the whole gun thing, but I didn't really see the big deal about it. The guns were fake. Although, I guess that since we're on a TV show, we have to think about the ways that the media and the people who watch the show will take things, not just the judges.

The seven of us stood on one side of the room while Abby yelled at us. "Girls, this is Hollywood Vibe! The last time you guys did your group there, you didn't win! It was embarrassing!"

I thought back to one of the very first weeks that I was on the team, when Payton had joined the group for the week and we performed "No One Likes a Bully" at Hollywood Vibe in St. Louis. Technically speaking, it would probably be more difficult for us to win this week, since we were in Pittsburgh and we basically had a target on our back as the team to beat. Still, when we did numbers like this, we tended to have fun with them, as those of us that weren't as good at more technical lyrical dances, like Paige and Nia, really excelled in jazz.

I worried about how our jazz would fare at the competition, though. The judges usually went for the pretty, heart-wrenching lyrical/contemporary numbers, rather than the fun, upbeat jazz ones.

"Alright, start the music." Abby snapped at the senior company member who was working the speaker. We had learned the dance already, and now we were going over what we had already done. We were marking the tricks right now, but during the competition, we definitely wouldn't.

The music started, and Chloe walked out onto the dance floor, pretending to blow smoke away from her gun. She then did a straddle leap and pointed her gun towards the ceiling.

Brooke was next. She marked her front aerial before putting a hand on her hip and pointing her plastic gun upwards.

Next, it was my turn. I did the same jazz walk as Chloe had done before executing a set of à la secondes, blowing fake smoke away from my gun as well.

We went through the rest of the dance, with only a minor mishap concerning me dropping my gun on the floor while trying to hit a super high kick at the beginning.

Abby stood at the front of the room, arms crossed. She didn't look particularly happy with us. We waited for her critique.

"Not terrible, girls. But it has to be perfect for Hollywood Vibe. The legs need to be straight. Your feet need to be pointed. And the prop is very important. Got it?" Abby said.

"Yes, ma'am." We all said in unison.

"Good. We'll pick up on this tomorrow. Go get some water. Maddie, Chloe, Paige - I need the three of you back in here for your trio in five." Abby said.

The seven of us walked out of the studio, chatting loudly as soon as we walked out the door. I noticed Gia grab Kendall's arm and pull her aside as we walked down the hall and to the Dancer's Den, where our water bottles and bags were. Wonder what that's about...

"Aren't you guys so excited for your trio?" I asked Maddie, Paige and Chloe, who were walking alongside me.

"Omigod, I'm so excited. I'm so happy I'm finally back in, y'know?" Paige exclaimed.