Page 50 of Tell No Lies

The other girls were ready and waiting for her before we all ran to the viewing area backstage. I watched as our group was announced, and the girls walked into their opening formation.

The lights on the stage cast a blue glow just before the music started. Cheers broke out, and I could identify Caleb’s voice shouting for Cassie. I focused on the girls, watching for any mistakes, but even with the noise, they were flawless. Whenever I was on the stage, the routine would seem to be over in only a few seconds, but watching these other dancers, they seemed to last forever. We wouldn’t hear what they scored until the end of the competition, but I could tell they would place in their category.

When they came offstage, I hugged each of them and ran back to our room with Cassie. “You did amazing! I thought Caleb would mess you up, but I didn’t see you even flinch.”

“Oh, good, because I was shaking! I’m not used to having people besides my parents here for me. It was crazy knowing all of our friends were watching.”

That was not what I wanted to hear, but I pushed the panic out of my head and went to the racks to find my first outfit for the contemporary small group dance. It was one of my favorites, with black ribbon that laced all the way up my right leg and a leopard-pattern, long-sleeved leotard with black shorts. Fierce was the best word to describe it.

I joined the other girls in my group backstage and watched the end of the routine before ours. Blocking out the other girls and the noise, I focused on what I had to do.

Having my friends and family in the audience wasn’t unusual for me. In Chicago, my parents and friends often came to support me. Having my brother see me perform for the first time in years should have made me nervous, but instead I was excited for him to see all my hard work and hours at the studio pay off.

The stage darkened—our signal to get in place. I shot each girl a quick smile and froze in my opening pose.

The next three minutes were a blur of lights and music. I could barely see the audience, but I could hear my name clearly coming from my personal cheering section. It was the perfect injection of adrenaline for me to nail the routine.

I followed the others offstage and shared hugs on our way back to our team room. One dance down and only three to go.

When I checked the schedule to see what routine was next, I panicked. The organizers had put my solo just two spots ahead of our first team routine. I would have exactly one song to run back and change into a different costume. Bringing it to my coach’s attention wouldn’t do anything, since it was too late to switch things around. A magic trick was the only way I would pull this off.

Since my solo had more points at risk, I focused on getting ready for that. If I didn’t look perfect for the team routine, it would be less likely to get noticed. My solo costume was a coral two-piece with a high neck, a lace overlay, and a shimmery skirt that fell past my knees.

Cassie looked me over and gave me a thumbs-up before I stepped into the hall to run through the piece a few times. This was the first time I would be performing the routine, and I needed it to be perfect. If I scored well enough, I would get to continue performing it at higher-level competitions. This was the kind of exposure I needed to get noticed by the great college dance programs.

I peeked back into the room and waved to Cassie. She blew me a kiss before I turned and made my way backstage. Rolling my shoulders and taking steady breaths, I felt ready. I closed my eyes and visualized the dance for a moment before I heard my name called. With one more deep breath, I moved onstage and posed, waiting for my music.

The opening notes filled the room as the lights grew brighter. I blocked everything else out: school, boys, and the next routine. Nothing else mattered for the next two minutes and thirty seconds. I put all of my energy into extending farther, kicking higher, and nailing each leap.

By the end, I was out of breath. Slowly, my mind allowed in my surroundings. The volume of the cheers was almost deafening, and it wasn’t just coming from my friends’ section.

I enjoyed the moment for only a few seconds before running offstage and sprinting to our room. I peeled off my coral costume and pulled on my tights and nude leotard at record speed. Luckily, our team was wearing zippered flapper dresses that I could slip on.

As I reached down to grab my jazz shoes, the door slammed shut, and the lights went black. With no windows in the room, I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. Panic rushed through my body.

I didn’t have time for this. Not only did I have to get to my team before they started, but I was not in the mood for a stupid prank. If I found out this was some other team trying to sabotage us, they were in for a rude awakening.

I stumbled around the room, tripping over bags and clothing. If only I knew where my phone was, I could use it as a flashlight. I thought I was heading in the right direction of the door when I felt hands grip my shoulders and shove me hard to the tile. Gasping and kicking the air around me, I waited to hear movement to know where my attacker was.

Silence surrounded me until suddenly the door was opened, and light flooded in. My gaze flew to the source, where Cassie reached in and turned on the lights. “What are you doing? We’re going on!”

Before I could look around the room or ask her if she saw anyone, I was being pulled down the hall and onto the dark stage. “Get in formation!” The girl next to me gave me an exasperated look before turning forward again.

The music started, but I stood frozen. What had just happened? Was my stalker here? Two counts into the routine, I snapped back into reality and caught up. I hoped no one noticed my late start since I was in the back, but judges could be tricky. My usual superpower of pushing out everything else seemed to have disappeared in the few minutes that separated my solo from now.

Had I really just been onstage? It felt like I had been stuck in the blacked-out room for hours, but it was likely only a few seconds.

Once our music ended, I ran offstage and directly to our room. Maybe there had been a clue or something left behind.

After quickly scanning the area, I could see nothing that looked out of place. My shoulders fell in defeat. There was no way I imagined being shoved. Competitions were stressful, but I wasn’t out of it enough to have tripped myself or made this up.

I sat next to my bag and took out my water bottle. When I reached in for my black jazz shoes, I noticed something shoved to the side. My heartbeat started to pick up when I recognized an envelope. Biting down on my lip, I debated waiting to open it after the competition. My mind was already a mess, and if it was what I thought it was … I couldn’t handle more drama.

Throwing the envelope back into my bag, I pushed it out of my mind for later. I had one team routine left, and I wasn’t going to let some psycho ruin it for me.

Our second team costume was my favorite. It had a high collar, and it was gray on top, with ruffles starting at the waist. Each layer of ruffles got darker until they turned black at mid-thigh. The transformation in each girl was entertaining to watch as they put on the dress. We couldn’t help but become sassy, which was a definite bonus when we were on stage.

We had a few minutes before we were on, so hairspray and makeup suddenly appeared from every direction. Cassie and I took turns touching up each other’s makeup and hair up until it was time to head backstage.