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Disclaimer- I do not own Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys. Enjoy!
What if you were that old and broken toy, sitting in the attic, where everyone remembers you and claims to love you, but nobody bothers to take you downstairs and play with you, buying new and improved toys instead?
What if you were the television show that had its run, but when it finished, everyone forgot all you characters and what happened, and your time slot on tv was filled by something that everyone likes more?
You are replaced.
What if people were replaced? What if someone didn't bump into you on the street, or you never had those mutual friends that introduced you to each other? What if someone else positioned their self right where you ought to be, and you watched from a few feet away? What if you didn't remember anything, but you always wanted to meet them?
Except, your spot has been taken.
What if Ned Nickerson's spot was already taken?
What if Frank Hardy filled that spot?
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"My name is Nancy Drew. I should be on that list. My room was reserved by a Marion Hartstadder?" a young woman said.
"Ah! Here you are ma'am. Here's your key, and the front desk phone number is in your room should you need anything," the hotel clerk said to her.
"Thank you," she responded kindly, walking up to the stairs to reach the floor of her room.
About the same time as Nancy climbed the stairs, two young men about her age approached the same clerk.
"We have a room reserved," the younger one said.
"Name please?" the clerk said patiently.
"Oh, Frank and Joe Hardy? A Miss Marion Hartstadder reserved it for us, if that helps," the elder brother put in.
The clerk scrolled down the list of reservations. 'Strange,' she thought. 'The same Marion Hartstadder? Oh, wait, isn't she the one with the stolen diamond necklace? Of course, that explains it. The woman is filthy rich. These are probably detectives she hired. They look so young, though. Must be very good at what they do. Marion's a sweet woman, but never kids when it comes to jewels.'
"Ah, here we are, boys!" the woman in her mid-twenties said. She looked up to see them ruffling through their pockets, making sure nothing was stolen. Detectives, alright. "You two detectives?" she asked breezily, softly laughing.
"Yep. How did you know?" the younger, blond boy replied.
"Pocket checking," the clerk answered, holding out their room key.
"You sure have seen everything," the older boy answered. "Thanks," he said as he took the key.
"Have a nice stay!" she laughed, watching them walk away.
-
"Well, here I am!" Nancy said cheerfully, walking down the hallway on the fourth floor.
She was looking to the left for her room number, and completely missed the two boys coming the opposite way. The three landed in a dazed heap of the red carpeting.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" the young detective said to the two boys regaining their balance in front of her.
"Oh, don't worry about us, we're fine," a young man with dark brown-black hair said, turning to face her slowly. "Are you o-" he cut off.
Nancy turned around to look at the boys for the first time, wondering why the one speaking had stopped. There was one younger-looking boy with messy blond hair and bright blue eyes trying to pick up his suitcase. The young man who had been talking was about Nancy's age. He had dark hair and eyes and was certainly not short of looks.
"Why'd you stop? Are you okay?" the strawberry-blonde girl asked him.
"Oh, I'm fine. I'm just worried that I may have, uh, injured a pretty girl like you," he rushed.
"Oh, no, I'm perfectly fine, no need to worry. My name's Nancy Drew, by the way," she responded sweetly.
"Frank Hardy," the teenager said. "This is my younger brother Joe."
"We're ameteur detectives," Joe piped up.
"Me too," Nancy mused. "What room are you boys staying in?"
"Room four-thirty-one," Joe Hardy told her, walking up to the two others.
"Funny, I'm room number four hundred thirty-two," Nancy said happily.
"I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of you then. I look forward to it. It was nice meeting you, by the way," Frank said.
"You too," Nancy said, walking to her room.
'Funny,' she thought. 'Detectives, too huh? I wonder if those were the two boys Marion told me I would be working with. I could definitely have worse partners to work with,' she reflected with a smile, walking into a room that changed her life.