Dancing to the Answers

Chapter 5 || Brunch

When Maddie and the girls reached the aged tree in front of the brick building, all they saw was a shovel.

"Let's get digging!" Maddie encouraged quietly. Kenzie picked up the shovel and pushed it deep into the ground. She pulled it out, along with some dirt, forming a small hole. She repeated the process until the shovel pulled out two small envelopes.

Maddie moved in front of Kenzie, picking up the envelopes before she could get to them. They couldn't reveal the murderer in the first clue, could they?

Slowly, she opened the white envelope, lifting up the flap cautiously. All that was inside was a black piece of lined paper.

"This is our clue?" Maddie questioned furiously. "All we have is a black piece of paper?"

Chloe shrugged, startled by Maddie's sudden outburst. The others simply looked at the ground silently.

"We have to make the best of it, Maddie, we have clue two," Nia reminded, holding up the shiny silver envelope.

As Maddie angrily shook the envelope, she noticed something else was inside it. Excitedly, she pulled out a 'K' key that was pulled off of a keyboard.

Maddie studied the clues, and the others did the same, as they all thought aloud.

"The color of the paper must be important."

"The K key must also be important, maybe whoever's secret this is has a name that starts with a K."

"Maybe their secret has to do with computers?"

Maddie and the girls could feel themselves getting close, but they never quite put a finger on it.

"Guys, it's only the first clue, let's work on it later," Kenzie chirped. Maddie nodded, and the girls headed inside to see what Gianna had planned next for them.

The clock behind Abby's desk already read 10:46, and Maddie's stomach grumbled. She remembered she never ate anything since waking up, and the other girls seemed to remember too.

Just then, as if on cue, Gianna came out of the hallway. "Girls, grab your purses. We're going out to brunch."

Now this was the old Gianna. The one who would always take the girls out, and spend almost all of her free time with them. Both excited and confused, Maddie and the others quickly grabbed their things and followed Gianna out to the parking lot.

To fit everyone, they had to travel in a large van. After about 10 minutes, everyone was getting out in front of the infamous small café called Pamela's. Once they were directed to a large table and menus were delivered, everyone but Maddie opened them up to decide on a meal.

"What are you getting, Maddie?" Paige questioned, scanning the menu, seeing she was not doing the same.

Maddie grinned, seeming to have warmed up to the girls since seeing them for the first time. "The usual," she shrugged, "chocolate chip pancakes."

Pamela's was best known for their oversized, buttery pancakes oozing with chocolate chips. Maddie got them every time, and the girls teased her about having an addiction. She couldn't lie, that might be true.

"Duh." Paige smacked her forehead with a small smile. "I totally forgot about your obsession, Mads."

Maddie looked around impatiently, waiting for the others to order, when she noticed only six girls (including herself but not Gianna) were present. After searching the faces, she put a finger on who was missing.

"Guys, where's Brooke?" Maddie interjected quietly.

Kendall spoke up for the first time in a while, looking at the empty seat next to her. "I think she said she was going to the bathroom," she replied nonchalantly, redirecting her gaze to the menu in front of her.

Maddie felt uneasy. At a table full of girls who all had broken the law before, including herself, she knew Brooke wasn't doing something as innocent as taking a bathroom break.

"I'll be right back," she mumbled, rising from her seat.

Maddie pushed open the heavy door, causing a bell to jingle as she was welcomed with a gust of cool October wind.

She rounded the corner of the restaurant, entering an alleyway. "Brooke?" she called, unfazed by the fact that she was in a dangerous area. She had dealt with more dangerous things before.

Suddenly, something made her gasp. A small figure with brown hair, back turned to her, smoking something that looked like a pipe....full of crack.

--

Poor Brooke. Of all people to discover her dangerous secret, it had to be Maddie.

She was the worst possible girl that could have found out, and soon everyone will know why.

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author's note: hi! sorry for this crappy chapter lol, I started writing it this morning but then I continued like 12 hours later, and I was totally unfocused. I really want this to move faster but it's dragging out so idk?? I don't wanna rush it but I need to finish this before I start school (6 days) and I'm only on chapter 4!! hellppp!! okay my goal is 15 chapters at most lol does anyone even read my authors notes no okay bye

-caidawg

(PS don't judge my lack of drug knowledge there's a reason for that cuz I DONT DO THEM. I had to google that and I'm sure it's still wrong but like everything on google is sorry google it's true. OMG I swear I took up like half of this chapter with my author's note. bye for real.)

(PPS 11/16/14 this has been updated because of my lack of drug knowledge so I did more research and whoever said I was wrong check now!!! I really miss this story *sigh* bye guys)