Free The Cinderella Ballet Mystery by Carolyn Keene

CHAPTER ONE
The Cinderella Ballet
    Nancy Drew slipped on her pink ballet shoes. “Let’s stretch!” she said to her friends George Fayne and Bess Marvin.
    George nodded. “Last one to the barre is a rotten egg!”
    â€œHey, not fair, you’re closest to the barre!” Bess cried out.
    The three friends hurried to the long wooden bar in front of the mirrored wall. Running was against the rules at Tim McGuire’s Dance Studio, so they walked really, really fast instead.
    The three girls had been taking lessons at Mr. McGuire’s studio since the beginning of the school year. They were in the middle of rehearsingfor a full-length ballet of “Cinderella.” Opening night was on Saturday, only five days away.
    Nancy got to the barre first, then Bess, then George. “Hmm, I wonder who’s the rotten egg?” Bess joked.
    George made a face. “Ha, ha.”
    Nancy put her right foot up on the barre with her toes pointed. She held onto the barre for balance. Then she curved her left arm over her head and leaned her body toward her right foot. Bess and George did the same. Nancy could feel the muscles in her right leg and the whole left side of her body stretching and getting loose.

    Nancy glanced at the wall clock; it was five minutes before four. Almost time for the rehearsal to begin , she thought. The studio was filled with students who were busily putting on their ballet slippers or stretching.
    Nancy noticed that Mr. McGuire was off in the corner talking on his tiny silver cell phone. His eyebrows were knit tightly together, and his mouth was pursed in a deep frown. Nancy thought that he looked upset. She wondered who he was talking to.
    â€œHey, Nancy Drew! I have a mystery for you,” someone said.
    Nancy glanced over her shoulder. Deirdre Shannon was standing there. Deirdre’s best friend, Madison Foley, was standing next to her. They were dressed in identical shiny, purple leotards with matching supershort shorts, pink tights, and pink leg warmers.
    â€œIt’s the mystery of the weird ballet outfit,” Deirdre continued. “Did aliens come and dressGeorge Fayne in the middle of the night? Curious minds want to know!”
    George was wearing a soccer T-shirt and shorts instead of a fancy leotard combo like Deirdre. Mr. McGuire didn’t have strict rules about what to wear for rehearsals.
    â€œYou’re so hilarious, Deirdre,” George said. “Not!”
    Deirdre cracked up. She looked over at Madison, who was searching through her dance bag for something, and poked her with an elbow.
    â€œWhat? Oh!” Madison started cracking up too. Madison always did whatever Deirdre told her to do.
    Nancy rolled her eyes and resumed stretching. She and her friends were used to getting all kinds of attention, even teasing, about the Clue Crew.
    The Clue Crew was Nancy, Bess, and George’s mystery-solving club. Their headquarters were located in Nancy’s room. They stored their clues in one of Nancy’s desk drawers. George kepttrack of their cases on Nancy’s computer.
    Just then, a boy named Gregory Auffredou came up to the girls. He was wearing a black T-shirt with the words “Dancing Fool” on it, black sweat pants, and black ballet shoes. He gave a friendly wave.
    â€œHi,” Gregory said. “My mom made some chocolate chip cookies. Does anyone want one?” He reached into his dance bag and pulled out a plastic container.
    â€œYum! Thanks!” Bess plucked a cookie out of the container and bit into it. She began coughing and gagging. “Yuck! What is this?”
    Gregory burst into laughter. “I got you!” he guffawed. “These cookies are totally fake. They’re from my sister’s toy kitchen.”
    Deirdre quickly took her digital camera out of her dance bag and snapped a picture. “I got you too Bess!” she giggled.
    She held out the tiny screen on her camera for everyone to see.