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𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, Lily was with the rest of the cheer squad in the school gym, holding a final practice before the game that afternoon. She hadn't got back from Steve's house until the early hours of the morning and had been plagued with images of the creature in the woods every time she closed her eyes, so she'd only managed to squeeze in a few hours of sleep.
Cindy was also in the gym, sat on one of the benches in the corner, struggling to contain a yawn as she watched the group perform. Lily was worried about the standard of some of the girls' performance and had dragged Cindy along with her to watch the routine.
"That looked great" Lily smiled, once she had made the rest of group perform the routine without her, "But Soph, make sure you walk around the outsideof the group at the end, not through the middle. You're making it look messy" She added, trying not to sound irritated.
Sophie nodded, "Got it, I'll try to remember that".
"If you need to go over anything again before the game, I don't mind helping" One of the other girls offered.
"Thanks, Chrissy" Lily said, gratefully, "Now, once more from the top" She repeated, "Five, six, seven-"
The sound of the door opening across the gym cut her sentence short. Nancy Wheeler appeared in the doorway, her anxious expression visible even from across the room. She reluctantly made her way over to the group, her shoes echoing on the polished wood floor.
"Are you okay?" Lily called to her.
"Could I speak to you and Cindy?" Nancy asked.
"Give me a minute or so to run the routine, then I can let the team go" Lily replied, "Can you wait on the bench with Cindy? I could do with someone else watching".
Nancy smiled, "Sure thing" She nodded, heading over to sit with Cindy.
Once Lily had run the routine through once more and dismissed the rest of the team to get changed, she sat down on the bench next to Nancy, "Did that look okay?" She asked, taking a few sips of water from her bottle.
Nancy nodded, "Yeah, it looked awesome".
"Thank god" Lily said, gratefully, "So, what did you want to talk to us about? Is everything okay?"
Nancy looked between them both, "Have either of you seen Barb?" She asked, "I haven't seen her this morning".
Lily frowned, "I haven't seen her since last night. Maybe she's just not turned up yet" She suggested, "There's still a few minutes until first period".
