Maddie flung open the door to her storybook bedroom. She looked it over with a big smile. This new two-story house and backyard with Jacuzzi and swimming pool, was huge. Pittsburgh, where? She was so happy her parents had decided this was the one for the family. Living in L.A. was getting even better, each day. Inspired, after shutting the door with a leg extended, she tour jeted all the way to her four-poster bed, then flounced down upon it with a yelp. Yeah, life here in Southern Cali was great, so much dancing and acting, and attending premieres, award shows and parties. Yikes, there was so much to make her happy. All of that, and she was still so wonderfully young. Then, sadness came over her, out of the blue. Today, she wasn't as happy as she'd been so far. Today had been the day. Her mother, Melissa, had made it official. Now, everyone knew and it hadn't gone over well. The announcement that she was pulling Mackenzie, her cute as a button little sister, and her from Abby Lee's Junior Elite Competition Team. Their mother was done with all the inconveniences that went with the ALDC. She'd had her fill of sitting in a dance studio day-in, day-out, haggling with the other moms.

It was for the best, according to Melissa. Why did it feel like it wasn't, suddenly?

Her heavy sigh filling her spacious room, Maddie found it hard turning her thoughts from what had been to what lay ahead. She forced herself to look on the bright side. Kenzie and she would have much more time to pursue their budding performing careers. Making the movie with Sia, and touring with her was going to be fantastic! Offers for Kenzie to appear on T.V., in music videos and special appearances were pouring in. Now there would be time, which was another word for freedom, to accept these opportunities without pissing off Abby. Not making their dance teacher for all these years angry, because the Ziegler girls were unavailable for classes, practices and competitions.

The idea was enough to make Maddie's head spin, which it was, spinning plenty. But, there was the flip side to that. A very sad and sorrowful B-side. She was going to miss her dancing friends like crazy. Truth be told, both of them would miss wild and crazy Abby too. She was their mentor. Kenzie was going on and on about how much she was going to miss everything about life with the ALDC. Only natural. The ALDC was their life; had been for all these topsy-turvy years. Eventful years that had shaped them into the amazing dancers they now were. Abby Lee would always be their inspiration. She, Gianna. And the gang...Kendall, Kalani, Nia, JoJo... There were no other girls like them on the team. They were friends that gave the word 'friend' new meaning. Even Brynn had started growing on her. It wasn't the newbie's fault her mother, Ashlee, was pyscho, tearing down the other girls on the team so her kid could shine like a diamond. Brynn was such a fine dancer, not better than Maddie of course, but would most likely fill her shoes on the team. She didn't need her big-mouthed, wacko mom blowing the horn for her talented child, every chance she got.

"Maddie, Maddie!"

She rolled over on her bed to her stomach. "What?" she hooted at Kenzie.

"Can I come in?"

Head shrugging, Maddie obliged. "You know how. Door's not locked."

The door opened and Kenzie bounded in, aiming herself for her sister's cool, pastel fuschia bed. She didn't pounce on it, not wanting to disturb her sister. Kenzie could see Maddie was in a mood. Not a bad mood, Kenzie thought, but some kind of mood Kenzie didn't recognize. What was it? The word started with a 'p.' She'd once heard Abby use it. The word was...was...uh...

"What?" Maddie asked, now fiddling with a lock of her silky hair.

Ah, Kenzie had it. The word was pensive. Daydreaming, which they both loved doing. Only, this daydreaming read like something troubling Maddie. "Are you okay?"

Maddie began running her hands over her forehead and wriggling her toes that were a bit gnarly. Ballet shoes took a toll on them. But, ballet was so worth it. The performing art was exacting, but a molder. She owed her fluidity, grace and technical precision to the transcendent discipline.

Not getting an answer of any kind right away, Kenzie verbally took off. Her open, wide-eyed face was the epitome of sincerity. Keeping secrets wasn't their deal. "You were awfully quiet on the way home. In the car." Melissa had done most of the talking. Dishing out the hard-sell. Still hard at work convincing her daughters it was a long time coming, this break-away from devoting most of their time and lives to the ALDC.

Kenzie seldom let her stillness go unnoticed, Maddie thought, wondering if she wanted to let Kenzie in on what was on her mind. There were some things her little sis didn't need to know. But this was a big thing, the biggest to date, and a problem shared was halved. "I think if we leave Miss Abby and our friends, the team, we'll let them down."

No argument there. "I know. Yeah, we will. But, Mom wants us to do all the other things." Kenzie pushed her body up against Maddie's so they lay even, toe-to-toe. She prone too, on her stomach with arms bent and hands propping her head up. With her chin jutted, she said, "We'll see everybody in class and stuff."

"Don't bet on we'll still be taking class at the studio."

That came as a shock. "What do you mean?" Kenzie squealed like a four-year-old. She kept telling their friends that they shouldn't be so sad. She and Maddie would still have fun during classes, just not practices anymore. And, wait! What about being on T.V. together for filming the Dance Moms Girls' Guide To spots? Wow taping those was the coolest thing. Maddie and she were still gonna do that, right? If they didn't that sure would stink. "I still wanna do the Guide thing with 'em!"

"I know. Me too. But, I don't think so. Not anymore. Once we're done with Season Six, we're done with everything ALDC."

Beside herself with being hit with the double whammy, or in this case, multiple-whammy, Kenzie cried, "How come? The T.V. Guide thingie about beauty and stuff didn't take as much time as practices and competitions. It's not fair." Her whine was strong and true. It was the whine of loving what one loves to do coming to a screeching halt.

The voice of her older, and wiser, sibling tolled in her ears when Maddie replied, "Legality. Our contract with Abby is up and we're not resigning. Like our family lawyer says, we're out from under Abby Lee's contractual thumb. Mom and Dad think that's a good thing." Although, their dad mostly wanted to appease their mom.

"I still want to be with Miss Abby!" Kenzie caterwauled, not too old to throw a tantrum on the spot. She stamped her fists into Maddie's chic Chenille bedspread. She wanted it all, her budding fame and the ALDC too! The goofiness and the laughter being with good friends brought. Wasn't that what women were always preaching these days? Being able to have it all? Well, this little dancing girl wanted what she wanted, and didn't see any reason why she couldn't. "I still want to compete with our friends!" She stopped in mid-rant, and sounded hopeful when asking, "Don't you too?"

She spoke what was in her heart, pouring her heart into her words. Maddie let fly, "Sure I do, but Mom's thinking about our future. What's best for us in the long-run."

"You sound like you're eighteen already," Kenzie accused with a solemn expression, too old for her darling pixie face.

"One day I will be. And much too old for a comp. team." Just a few more weeks and competitions would be memories. Bittersweet ones, but mostly treasured ones.

"So will I, one day, but we're not too old yet. I still want to compete, and I think you still do too," Kenzie rallied, romping in place on the bed. "Why do we have to give it all up right now? Why can't it be when we are too old. When everybody on the team's too old to be in dance competitions?"

Little sister had a point. A pointed one. A salient point, as a grown-up would say. Why did everything have to stop, dead in its tracks? Why couldn't they keep doing what they were doing, contract and all? They could accept jobs and still be with the ALDC. She could still be Maddie Ziegler, with the Company, and Maddie Z., rising superstar. Worth millions, already. So they'd miss classes and practices and dance competitions from time to time. The world wouldn't come to a jarring halt. They had been doing just that so far, without it being that big of a deal.

Miss Abby was willing to work around their crazy schedules.

"Hey, Kenz, you're right. You're so right. About all of it. I still want to be with the team!" Maddie said like a cheer. "But, Mom doesn't want us to. Dad told me whatever makes us happy is all right by him."

"Dad's on our side," Kenzie insisted, sitting cross-legged on the bed at this point. "Dad understands how much the ALDC means to us."

"How do we get Mom on board?"

Kenzie threw her arms up, hands dangling, stumped. "No clue."

Maddie got so quiet, one could have heard a pin drop on her cushiony-soft bed.

Finally, Kenzie felt she had to ask, "Are you thinking of something to do?" Silence was her answer, an annoying, persistent quiet. "Maddie..."

"What have you got?" she badgered.

"Nuthin'," Kenzie admitted, peeved, throwing up her arms again. "Think harder."

"You too," Maddie ordered, but with the glimmer of an idea dawning.

"Okay, okay..." But Kenzie could already see that her sister was on top of it. "What'cha got?"

"How serious are you about not quitting the ALDC?"

"Serious, serious, serious," Kenzie guaranteed, ready to pinky-swear. She'd even throw in swearing with her littlest toes.

"Okay. Then...maybe...to prove we're dead serious...we could stop eating," Maddie proposed, her eyes sparking in gleams.

"Stop eating?" Kenzie gasped. She was hungry now, having only had a banana for lunch. She should have had that smoothie and tunafish sandwich when Jill, Kendall's mom, had offered to treat the girls to lunch.

"Hunger strike, Kenz," Maddie brandished with glee. For the ALDC, if that what it took. "It'll prove we mean business to Mom." No, she had not received any coaching from Abby on this, but she sure sounded as if the idea had come straight from the dance teacher's mouth.

"But, but, we'll starve!"

Shaking her head, Maddie assured, "Not so much. Do the words 'sneaking food' mean anything to you?" They would be eating, but dieting vigorously at the same time, to lose weight. If they wanted to convince Melissa they were really going without any food whatsoever. "No ALDC, no food. Not one bite."

"How are we going to do that?"

"Leave that to me," Maddie reassured. "I'm good at tricky, trust me. Not mean sneaky, though. Just for a good cause sneaky. Like this."

And with that shot of encouragement, Kenzie was on board. Her sister was magic.


Four-And-A-Half Weeks Later...

"Girls!" Her face radiant, her vim and vigor restored, Abby Lee vehemently announced to the line-up of gifted dancers she wielded with an iron-fist, "I have terrific, breathtaking news! Outstanding news..." Her financial outlook revived, at least for the moment, she looked over at Melissa and smiled her most glorious, generous smile. "Maddie and Mackenzie will be staying on! Their mother has decided it would be better for them to continue competing on the elite team! How do we feel about her superlative decision?" Euphoric cries ripped loose from the commander-in-chief of the ALDC followed up by whoops and hollers coming from the adolescent members of her troupe. "Season Seven and Nationals, here we come!" Her arms went straight up and her hands clasped in victory.

Ashlee looked as though she'd been cheated out of something. Oh, yeah, right, her daughter's star rising higher at the expense of putting the other girls down.

Melissa grunted softly, her face going askew. She remembered those many stormy nights at the dinner table, her kids, adamant, refusing to eat, driving their dad and her ragged. No, they hadn't resorted to force feeding their babies. Unknown to Melissa, Maddie had spilled the beans, filling her father in about the mock-hunger strike. He'd gone along, having had faith in his beautiful, talented daughter. He had also gotten a kick out of seeing his wife's near meltdown. Not that he was sadistic, or anything. It was just refreshing that she was deprived of having the last word, the way she was used to.

Melissa's memories swirled in her head, recalling. Mackenzie, turning her perky little nose up at beef lasagna, one of her top favorites. Hamburgers smothered in Velveeta and ketchup, no. Mozzarella Cheese steaks, no. Mac and cheese, no. Buttercream chocolate cakes, no. Strawberry shortcake...No, no. no! Maddie, the shiny apple of her eye, had been just as bad. What had gotten into those two? Delivering the ultimatum as they'd done. An Abby Lee, ALDC obsession? Melissa whispered to the other, bemused, and some stunned, moms, Holly and Jill, especially, crowding around her, "My kids know what they want, and aren't afraid to put their feet down when they have to. Competing is in their blood. They love this team. They made me see the light." The internet was the Ziegler girls' publicity agent. The next thing on their harried mother's agenda was to get some high-quality nourishment into her princess-faced rebels. When the screaming, shrieking bundle of writhing teammates peeled away from her leaner daughters, Melissa beamed at them, trying as hard as she could not to look fake. They must get their stubbornness from Abby, Melissa thought, begrudgingly. That's what years of exposure to a nut-job gets me...

Gianna, the Company's hard-working co-choreographer, and Abby's candid second-in-command was crying unbridled tears of joy too, along with her portly boss.

In an aside, Abby joyfully said to Martello, "Gia, we're back in business. I'm not going to prison, and my Maddie's back!" More as an afterthought, she whisked in, "Oh, and Mackenzie too."

Maddie, the mastermind behind the elaborate secret eating that had gone on in her room, and in Kenzie's sometimes, when Melissa had been fast asleep, tugged her sister aside and murmured directly into Kenzie's ear, "When we tell Miss Abby what we did, when she asks, 'cause you know she'll ask, we'll be on top of the pyramid at the same time for several weeks, at least."

Nodding like a nut, Kenzie, all sweetness and light gratefully replied, "Maddie, I love you so much!"

"Hey, we were in it together. Sisters, one for all, and all for one. Love you too, Kenz. Love you forever. Think Mom will let us have all the ice cream we want till we gain back at least ten pounds?"

"She said 'yes.' I already asked..." Mackenzie sounded breathless.

The girls laughed with all their might as they hugged each other as though they'd never let go. Which, for all intents and purposes, read like reality. Forever the dancing Ziegler girls, loving sisters till the end. Becoming household names, or contented married women with families of their own...whichever came first.