She laid on her bed. Lonely and destroyed. All that went on around the twenty year old girl was of no care to her at all. The motel room was terribly shabby, quickly fixed up for her sudden arrival. She wasn't supposed to be there. She was supposed to be at Wilder University, doing biology homework with her friends. But how can you do homework, when there is no school?
I am getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to the day before.
"I'm not the one who is always 'off doing things'! We make a date and you blow me off!" The boy screamed at his partner. Down the corridor, college students only dared to peek out of their bedrooms.
"I told you I had things to do!" The redhead was furious at her boyfriend. Why was he being so immature?
"What is it exactly you are doing after school, hmm? Meeting up with another guy?"
"You are unbelievable! We've been going out for two years. Why would you even think...?"
"You know why I think that, Nancy? Because it's true. Well, I am not playing second fiddle to you and your journalism anymore! You can write all you want, but our story is going to end NOW!" Michael stormed off, face beet red, and heart racing fast.
Nancy Drew just stood in place. She watched her "love" walk out the common room door. The girl was weakened by her sudden heaviness of weight. She slowly sunk to the ground and laid a lump.
She took several moments before she began to cry. Michael had always been so wonderful. From the day when they had been locked in the shed together, to only days before, Nancy would have sworn that he loved her. And she had loved him. Heck, she had stopped doing the things she loved just to be with him. She had lost things that meant so much to her...
Bess Marvin and George Fayne. Her old friends. Two months after her dating Michael, the two had quit their college, because of the excessive muggings and robberies going on at the school. Nancy had eventually found out that it was her English professor. But before getting to incriminate him, the man fled.
Nancy had started out by writing the girls five times a day. But as the time passed, she found it harder to focus on them. And finally, the letter exchanging stopped all together.
The last Nancy heard, Bess graduated with a fashion minor. George was taking a four year college, hoping to become a politician. The way George could argue, Nancy had no doubt she would have trouble in debates.
As for her? Nancy was to continue her journalism career.
Yet, something inside of her told her that she, very deep down, didn't want to become a reporter. But what was she to do? She had done the course for two years, and was top in her class. She couldn't back down now.
Yes, I agree. That is NOT the Nancy we all know and love.
The teen had finally retreated to her room, where she proceeded to pack. She needed a vacation... badly. It was spring break, so she would miss no school. Maybe she could go visit Hannah and her father.
Nancy pulled out her suitcase, and began stuffing clothes in. As she did, the changed girl tried to remember the last time she had seen her loved ones. She had not gone to see them on summer vacation. She had rejected their invitation to stay with Michael.
Nancy soon realized that she had packed all of her clothes. Too upset to put them back, she went to clean out her desk drawers. Mostly, there were old term papers and tests inside. She threw them into a nearby wastebasket. She then packed her socks and under-garments, as well as her jewelry.
It was then... at that exact second... when she lost it. When she saw it. It was laying right there, under all her junk, viciously tossed into her drawer. Nancy's body grew numb, and her stomach became queasy. She stared at it for a couple more seconds before she felt the feeling in her diaphragm gradually coming up her throat. The girl reached for the trash can, and choked up her previous meal.
Several minutes later, the flushness had left Nancy's face. Swallowing was extremely painful, but breathing was easier. Relieved from the stress on her throat, she turned back to the object. With angel fingers, Nancy gently lifted it. It was dirtied with time, scorned from any light. The actual gold color was replaced by a hideous brown-gray shade.
It was the locket.
Not any locket.
It was THE locket.
The locket that was given to her two years before. The locket given to her by the only man who had ever truly loved her. The locket that had been her promise to him... to be faithful, and love him, for all eternity. It was a mere month into college when she broke her promise. Having fallen for a man who ended up being a nothing... a very low point in her life. She had broken her vow to the man she had loved. For a man who didn't even care about her...
But never mind Pete. He had not loved her. He had not been through so much just to be with her. He had never saved her life so many times before. No. He had not gone through such great lengths to see her smile. The only man who had ever done that was,
"Ned." The name had made Nancy break in half. She had curled up in a ball, and cried. For hours. Cursing herself, for her foolish ways, and her idiocy in not seeing herself when she looked in the mirror every morning. She continued to cry. She had cheated on Ned. She had told him off. She had gotten angry and thrown his locket into her drawer, trying to erase it from her mind.
But it had not gone anywhere. It was always in her heart. Keeping her down.
Nancy's tears had brushed the locket, wiping it clean of aging particles. Still weeping, the broken hearted girl lifted the necklace and tried to open it. After some struggling, the clasp snapped free. The teen took a deep breath and opened it.
On the left inside of the locket, there was a small piece of paper, folded into a heart shape. Nancy didn't remember this being there. After some thinking, Nancy realized that she actually had known about it. She recalled what Ned had whispered to her only before she had entered Wilder.
"If you ever have any doubt in my love for you, open the locket, and you will find part of my heart."
Nancy bawled harder. With shaky hands, she opened the note.
She nearly died when she read it.
What light through yonder window breaks, it is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise fair sun, and kill the envious moon who is sick and pale with grief, for art her made art far fairer than she...
Never leave me, my Juliet. I love you too much.
Your Romeo.
She had had enough. Nancy shut the locket, shoved it in her pocket, and picked up her bags. She flew down the hallway, passed crowded groups of teenagers.
Stephanie was one of those people. She started running after Nancy. "Where are you going? You can't run away from Michael forever!" Nancy did the best she could not to turn around and tell her off.
She exited the college... little did she know, for the last time.