This was designed to fit into my Hardy boys universe as established by my previous stories. However, this was written to be intentionally ambiguous as I cannot decide if I want to go with Casefiles or Blue spine canon as far as what happens to Iola. This could be read as if she has simply lost touch with Callie or that she has met her untimely end.
She is looking for her social security card and wondering why she isn't better at staying organizing when she spots the folded piece of paper in the box where she keeps most of her things. The front has an insignia she vaguely remembers drawing and the words "Hardy Boys Fan Club" written on it in her handwriting. Inside is a picture of her in high school looking just as young and naive as always and the caption "Callysta Jane Shaw". She pauses for a moment staring at the paper in her hands and is instantly taken back to a time that's long gone. She had forgotten about the Hardy Boys Fan Club. Callie's life these days is full and busy, and it's not often that her mind wanders to the past, but holding that paper in her hands, she feels the old feelings wash over her—feelings she hasn't felt since high school.
The Hardy Boys Fan Club had been Iola's idea. Dear, sweet Iola—she had been so vivacious then, practically bordering on mischievous. She had been blessed with boundless energy and an endless stream of ideas that she was always eager to use. This along with Iola's complete lack of patience had formed a trifecta that had been the bane of Callie's existence. She had sometimes felt like she would be overwhelmed by the enormity of Iola's eagerness to jump into whatever idea she had just thought of. Dealing with that had taken every strip of patience poor Callie had. But looking back, Callie feels no pity for herself. Walking through high school with Iola had pushed her to grow in ways she wouldn't have thought possible. Iola drew her out in ways that no one else could, and she had learned so much trying and failing to keep up with her best friend.
A year after Callie moved to Bayport, the girls had found themselves in the unique position of being best friends dating brothers. They weren't just dating any brothers, Iola had always been quick to point out, they were dating the Hardy brothers. Frank and Joe were kind, smart, and strong and did amazing work that had brought them well deserved recognition in Bayport and the surrounding towns and had given them many secret and not-so-secret admirers. There was no end to the girls who would be interested in dating the "famous" Hardy boys, yet out of all the girls they could have chosen, Frank and Joe had picked Iola and Callie. That made them special. Why shouldn't they celebrate the amazing guys they were dating and the way that their relationships brought the two of them closer together as friends? That had lead Iola to suggest they create the Hardy Boys Fan Club. No, they would not open up membership to every Hardy-boy-loving girl in New York. Definitely not—the club would exclusive with the two of them as its only members. As excited as Iola had been about the whole thing, Callie had thought it was stupid. Why take something simple and beautiful like a relationship and frame into something it wasn't? That was just a recipe for creating something artificial. Iola, however, stubbornly insisted that it was the best idea that she had ever had and that it would be so much fun. Eventually, Callie had agreed to go along hoping the new club would be lower key than Iola imagined.
The instant Callie agreed to Iola's idea for the new club Iola had hardly been able to stop talking. She was so excited and wanted Callie to hear all of her wonderful ideas. Callie would design a logo that they could use for their "official" club swag which would include name tags and official member booklets. They would have official meetings where they would talk about everything awesome Hardy boys related. Iola also had some ideas for decorating their clubhouse space in the hayloft of one of her family's unused barns; they could get life sized cutouts of Frank and Joe that they could setup in the corners. (Callie had convinced her to forgo that idea suggesting that perhaps having Frank and Joe in real life should be enough!) The ideas had sounded so overkill that Callie had laughed, but she had played along knowing that she would enjoy spending time with her best friend. She could continue to moderate Iola's enthusiasm and put her foot down when the ideas were simply too much.
For all her internal whining, Callie had found the club fun. Iola calmed down as they got going, and they had a lot of fun joking around. They called themselves the Hardy girls and made Team Joe and Team Frank shirts which they wore around town whenever possible. Most of their "meetings" consisted of girl talk and working on their Hardy boys scrapbooks. Callie still has hers around somewhere. It had felt like such a big accomplishment when she had finished it during her senior year of high school. Iola ever ambitious and crazy fast had finished three scrapbooks to Callie's one filling them with stories she wrote about the boys' cases, pictures of the four of them, and silly poems she wrote about how much she adored Joe.
Iola's passion for Joe had been truly remarkable. When Callie had first moved and started spending her time with Iola, she had been surprised by how much Iola lived and breathed Joe. Her life seemed to revolve around him—seeing him, hearing about him, telling everyone about how wonderful he was. It just didn't make sense to Callie that Iola was so enamored with Joe when she had known him all her life. Surely, she knew about his flaws and the ways that he was just as ordinary as everyone else. When Iola finally started dating Joe around a year later, Callie had assumed that the excitement would die down as Iola realized that Joe was a person like everyone else. But it didn't. That was when Iola, crazy for everything Joe, had come up with the idea for the Hardy Boys Fan Club.
Iola had simply had this enormous capacity for appreciating Joe. She loved him because somewhere along the line perhaps when she was a little girl her big heart had chosen him. There was no turning back. He didn't have to be perfect because she loved him. She knew he had flaws and was aware that they drove her crazy sometimes. That was okay when he was still Joe—the person she loved—in every way. There would never pass a day where she didn't consider herself lucky to that their lives had crossed paths and that she had gotten to spend so many years as his best friend's little sister and now his girlfriend.
With a love like that, some might have been surprised that Iola didn't become Mrs. Joe Hardy and see the dreams that she had been so certain of come true. Yet, Callie finds that she looks back on it all more kindly than she did then. It's not the distance as would be supposed but merely living life and seeing more and realizing that what Iola had was extraordinary. There's not many people like her friend with her expansive heart and refusal to dream small. Callie finds it inspires her more than she would care to admit. Iola knew how to love, how to live to the fullest in ways Callie doesn't even dream she could.
Callie's life has pretty much been consistent with her expectations. She's Mrs. Frank Hardy, and it's beautiful in the most ordinary of ways. She's the mother to their two babies and Frank's rock in the midst of the pressures of life. The other Hardy girl these days is Nancy—Joe's wife and partner in crime fighting. They're friends these days having worked through awkwardness of the jealousy that initially rose up between them, but Nancy's not Iola, and there's no Hardy Boys Fan Club. Maybe that's good considering they're much too old for that kind of nonsense. Still, Callie finds herself wondering if she has forgotten what she learned from Iola. She is too quick to pull in when things are hard, to complain about challenges, and to settle into a quiet routine. Iola's big heart is exactly what she needs to remember. She needs to put herself out there not shrink back because it's easier. She needs to remember to look for the good things and to not think that it's silly to celebrate what she has been given. She doesn't know how long she has, how long until the little joys of these days fade like the Hardy Boys Fan Club. She shouldn't let that thought make her bitter—Iola never did, but let it inspire her to take advantage of the opportunities with a thankful heart because they are always a gift.
She sets the old member card on her dresser. There's no Hardy Boys Fan Club; she's a grown woman now. But she wants to remember to savor life and to celebrate all the beautiful little moments along the way. Iola may not be around, but Callie never wants to stop learning from her big-hearted, ambitious friend.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this story. I'd loved to know what (if anything) you liked about this story. Thank you for encouraging me as a writer. Your support means a lot.