Dancing to the Answers

Chapter 3 || Chaos

The first person Kenzie and the girls saw when they entered the double doors of the ALDC was Gianna.

Gianna, Abby's close friend.

Gianna, the co-choreographer.

Gianna, the assistant, the backup.

What did she have to do with this?

"Ah, welcome girls, it's nice to see you again," Gianna remarked, putting on a fake smile. One by one, she pulled all of her former dancers into awkward hugs (making sure not to wrinkle Kendall's dress) before returning to her spot before them all.

She stood silently and acted as a sponge, soaking in all of the girls' confused expressions. Noticing they all seemed lost, she cleared her throat before commencing to speak again.

"It appears you're all confused as to why you're here. As you know, Abby passed away, recently," she reminded the girls, looking sadly to the ground.

In an instant, everyone was wearing a pale expression, and Kenzie snorted. "No duh, why else would we drag our butts here?" Gianna glared at her, and she mumbled an apology before continuing.

"Yes, that was stupid of me, of course you all knew that. Anyways, you also know Abby didn't die, she was killed. And she knows which one of you did it." She paused, taking in all the wide-eyed expressions.

Kenzie stayed calm. She knew what she did wasn't exactly legal, and it was mean too, but she did not murder Abby. Yeah she was a nasty person, and she was thankful of the girl who committed the crime, but she would never do that to her.

It only made Kenzie more suspicious that all the others wore guilty expressions. They couldn't have all committed the same crime. Unless this was some group murder that Kenzie wasn't a part of.

"-And you'll be given clues to assist you in finding the murderer. These aren't ordinary clues, however, they're named of group dances you all have participated in the past. You will start tomorrow morning, so head to the dancer's den and get a good night's rest. Oh, and if you decide you would like to resign from this delightful game, one thing I can promise is that the clues also reveal other secrets, and anyone who decides to leave will be reported to the police. May the dances be in your favor."

She gave a wicked smile, and in that second they knew this was no longer a playful little game.

Maybe Gianna killed Abby. After all, what would be a better coverup than to create a whole game to pin the murder on one of the seemingly innocent girls.

Gianna exited the room, heading to the main studio to go to sleep, leaving all the girls regretting the choice they made to come here.

Once she was out of view, chaos broke out. Nia sunk to the ground and curled up into a ball, sticking her head in between her legs.

Kendall started shrieking and prancing around in her heels.

Paige and Chloe pulled into a tight embrace, weeping into each other's shoulders.

Brooke headed into the hallway, fumbling around with a bottle of something in attempt to open it.

Maddie walked over to the wall and smashed her fist against it, causing everything to fall off of the bright pink ALDC wall. "Wow," Kenzie whispered, "I'll have to ask her how she got that strong."

With all the other girls occupied, Kenzie had an idea. She quickly bolted to the door, but it was locked. She had to give Gianna credit, she really thought this through.

Sighing, the black-and-purple-haired girl gave up. "Guys!" she screamed, "Guys!" At once, all the girls stopped screaming and directed their direction to Kenzie.

"There's nothing that we can do about this, and feeling sorry for ourselves won't get us anywhere, so just stop, you all. The only thing we can do is play along with this stupid game, and once we find an answer we'll be out of here."

Slowly, the girls all nodded their heads. Kenzie sighed again, this time from relief. "Good. Now let's all get some rest, we have a big day tomorrow."

Feeling accomplished to have settled everyone down, Kenzie lead the pack to the dancer's den, where each of their minds were flooded with memories of the days when they danced.

Kenzie's eyes began to well up, but she mentally stopped herself. Abby was cruel to her dancers, she did not need to be cried over. However, she had to admit, the den held some good times.

After she took in the familiar room, she walked over to one of the fluffy sleeping bags rolled out on the floor. Quickly changing into comfy clothes, she snuggled down into the soft material, her mind far from all the problems she had to soon face.

Slowly, Kenzie's eyes became heavy, and she and the others peacefully drifted off to sleep.

--

Well, all but one that is. One girl stayed up until early in the morning, deeply regretting something. Deeply regretting one of her mistakes at the sight of the room where her old dance teacher once rejoiced. It wasn't until that night that she realized that she had made a huge mistake, and Gianna knew exactly what it was.

That girl was Paige.

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author's note: lol cliffhanger! you're welcome. and don't think you're getting off that easily, aye. I'm so excited for the next chapter, it's when the real storyline starts! yay!

-caidawg ♡♡