"No way!" said Claudia, when I said this in the car on the way home. "I'm sure there's foul play going on. And I can guess who might be responsible, too!" "You can?" I asked. "How?" "Just by watching everybody closely," she said. "And by trying to figure out what Nancy Drew would think if she were in this situation." "She's right," said Dawn. "I know I saw a few things going on. For example, why did Katie Beth make a face when Mme Noelle told you that your bore-ay - whatever that is - was 'close to perfect'?" Luckily, my friends had been to enough of my performances so that they could identify most of the dancers in my class.

    "I guess she might have been a little jealous," I said thoughtfully. "After all, she got to dance my role while my ankle was healing, and Mme Noelle never said anything like that about her bounce." "So . . . would she get your role if you couldn't dance it?" asked Stacey. "I mean, that would explain everything, wouldn't it? She's trying to get rid of you so she can have the lead role." I shifted in my seat until I was looking at Stacey. "I don't know ..." I said slowly. "I don't think that's necessarily the answer. Because if I couldn't dance, Mme Noelle would probably reaudition the whole class for the part. She's always fair that way. I don't think Katie Beth would automatically get the part - and Katie Beth must know that, too." "What about Hilary?" asked Claudia.

    "What about her?" I asked.

    "Why does she look so worried all the time?" asked Claudia. "It's like she's terrified that she might do something wrong." I explained about Hilary's mother - how pushy she is, and how she always expects Hilary to be perfect. "I know she's under a lot of pressure," I said. "1 kind of feel sorry for her." "Well, don't lose sleep over it," said Claudia. "She's not too crazy about you." "What do you mean?" I asked.