Dance Till You're Dead (ON HOLD FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE)

Chapter 8

The sun was slowly sinking from the sky, and in two houses two figures were pacing the floors of their rooms. One of them held a piece of paper, which they stopped every few minutes to write on. The other one had long black hair, which was swishing as she turned briskly at each end of her room. The attacker and the victim unknowingly paced together, thinking about each other in almost perfect harmony.

Ella suddenly stopped, and sat on her bed by the window. She looked out at the crushed, pink clouds of twilight, and felt uneasy. The phone suddenly rang - it was Ryan. Ella was still furious at him over what she'd witnessed earlier, but the usual uneasy feeling that came with the fall of darkness had somewhat distinguished her anger. Seeing his name made it bubble up again, and she rejected the call without a second thought. She'd never seen this side to Ryan before - or to Josh. Her feelings were battling, head and heart brandishing steel and shield. She could almost hear a clanging sound like swords being unsheathed and hitting against metal. Ella fell backwards onto her bed and closed her eyes. It will all go away she told herself - it will all go away.

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Ella awoke, fully clothed in what she'd worn the day before. She groaned and grabbed her phone, her brown-black eyes barely blinking open. Ryan O'Connor: Seven missed calls! Wow. Automatically she blushed, but then caught herself. No, she was still upset with him, and she didn't intend to tell him so over the phone. Three texts.

Ryan: Ella, u ok? Answer your phone I'm worried!

Ryan: Guessing u must b asleep. Speak 2morrow at dance.

Carys: Hey, pickin you up in 10.

Ella stared at the last text, then suddenly sprang into action. If she was late two weeks in a row, Eva would flip...

5 minutes later Ella leaped over her front door step, slalomed through her gate and fell in a puffing, wriggling mass into the back of Carys' car.

"Late start?" asked Carys, turning around and smiling. Ella glared at her. One of the advantages of having a best friend is that they immediately understand and translate the meaning of every nudge, glare, eyebrow raise and wink you give. This one meant 'Shut up and drive Carys, or I will hit you.' The sound of the engine jumping into action told Ella that Carys had got the message.

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"What the hell!" exclaimed Carys. The car park was full. "When is it EVER full? No one else uses the studio!"

"People park here to go shopping and stuff I guess. I know it's further from town but it is free."

"Idiots." snarled Carys before screeching away to find the next carpark. When they finally found a space they were still ten minutes early, but Carys had been acting like they were ten minutes late! Ella jumped out of the car and started to walk, when she realised Carys was not beside her.

"You coming or what?"

"I...need to find something...think I left something in the car, go on without me, tell Eva I'll be there when I've found...it."

Ella frowned, then shrugged. Was it her, or was Carys behaving weirdly at the moment?

"Ok then, see you in a bit." She turned and walked in what she hoped was the right direction. After a minute she saw the studio, but when she reached it she realised it was the back entrance. She'd being coming to the studio for over half of her life, but she didn't know this half of it so well. Still, at least she'd be inside. The summer sun hadn't made her walk here easier, and air conitioning would be welcome. She slipped through the door and into the quiet corridor. Ella padded softly over the floor, listening for the sounds of...well, anything! She heard music, and started towards it, flinging open the door.