"Oh no! We missed it!." Bess wailed as they approached the bleachers.
"Well I wasn't the one who left her phone in the locker and thought they'd lost it." Nancy replied as Bess playfully smacked her arm.
"But looks like no harm has been done.", she smiled nodding towards the field where a group of boys were jogging.
They had easily spotted Adam, his wild blond curls noticeable even from the distance. It was the day of the final tryouts for the football team and their friend had asked them to be there to cheer for him. Nancy and Bess had just finished their classes for the day but Bess had suddenly realised she didn't have her phone with her and they'd spent an hour looking for it and had thus missed the tryouts. But by the looks of it, Adam had already made it into the team.
"Thank God. Oh my god! Nan, look that's Eric, isn't it? The love of my life! He made it in too!"
Nancy chuckled. It had been just a week since they'd started high school as freshmen and Bess had already declared that it was time for her to find her soulmate. And she was sure it was Eric Evans.
"Bess, you know, nobody meets the love of their life at fourteen."
But she couldn't have been more wrong.
Just then they realised that the boys were taking a break.
"Come on." Nancy said getting up, "Let's congratulate him."
Adam was laughing with another guy when they approached and Nancy called out as they reached him.
But her voice caught in her throat when the other guy turned. He was talland well built. A good 6 inches to her 5'5". His soft wavy brown hair was tousled and he had dark eyes fringed by long lashes. He hesitated a second, his ears turning pink. And then he smiled at her showing the most adorable dimples making Nancy feel butterflies in her stomach. This. This has to be the most handsome guy I've ever seen, she thought.
And then Adam had his arms around both their shoulders.
"Nancy! Bess! Where were you guys? I looked for you."
"Well, Bess here thought she lost her phone. And congrats!", Nancy replied laughing as Bess swatted at him and tried to wriggleout.
"Ewww. Adam Reeks, you're only allowed to get your sweaty hands on George."
"Anywayyy, guys meet Ned, our newest quarterback!", Adam said clapping the cute guy on the back, "Ned, this is Nancy and Bess, the prettiest freshmen in River Heights High!"
"Hi." Ned said then and Nancy felt a blush rising at his husky voice.
Before they could reply though, they heard the coach holler at Ned and Adam about signing some forms.
"Shit. We gotta run. Don't wanna piss of Mr Erickson on the first day. Is George feeling alright? She texted me about the ankle sprain. Tell her I'll drop by the infirmary in half an hour.", Adam hurried, "And don't forget, party at my place today. Be there by 7."
"Won't miss it!", Bess and Nancy replied in unison as the boys waved them bye and turned to run.
But Ned had just taken a step before he turned.
"Hey, Nancy. You'll be at the party, right?"
"Yeah. Adam would kill me if I wasn't."
"I'll see you there then." he said with a grin that showed off his dimples again. And with that he was gone.
And Nancy thought, that she definitely, definitely would not miss it for anything.
He never knew his favourite colour was blue until he met her. She was wearing a light blue top over faded jeans and her hair was a red blaze that tumbled in smooth layersto just below her shoulders. And when she looked up and smiled at him a blush rising to her cheeks, his breath caught as he looked into the bluest eyes he had ever seen.
She had to be the most gorgeous girl he'd ever seen.
And then he mentally cursed himself as he felt his face growing hot. His ears were definitely pink by now.
Nancy. Her name was Nancy. Adam seemed very friendlywithher. He hoped to hell she wasn't his girlfriend.
It wasn't that the other tiny blonde with her wasn't pretty. But there was something about Nancy that drew him to her. He felt a strange urge to know her.
And she looked so familiar. Like he'd seen her somewhere but he couldn't quite place it.
They'd just said hi when the coach called them.
Within a jiffy Adam had said goodbye reminding them about the celebration party later at his house. Ned turned to go with him.
He never figured out what came over him then but he turned.
"Hey, Nancy. You'll be at the party, right?"
"Yeah. Adam would kill me if I wasn't." She replied with a smile that made her eyes twinkle.
"I'll see you there then." And then he ran back.
And he couldn't get to the party any sooner.
She was alone at the party wearing a black dress that stopped over her knees and made her red hair look like fire. She was looking intently into her phone, biting her bottom lip as she paced in one corner of the garden. And then Ned knew who she was.
Nancy Drew. Ned's mind flashed back to an article he'd read in the newspaper a
couple of months back. Teen detective exposes pet smuggling ring. The article had carried a picture of her and she had had the same concentrated look on her face.
She didn't look up until her was right next to her.
"Hey."
"Hi! Ned, right?"
"Yeah. You're Nancy Drew, aren't you?"
"And how would you have figured that out?", she grinned, a mischievous look on her face.
"Well, one cannot really not recognise River Heights' most famous detective." He grinned back.
"I solved one case.", Nancy laughed, "And congratulations. For making it into the team."
"Thanks. Tell me, what are you doing out here? I think I heard Adam and a couple more people inside were wondering where you were."
"Oh. I just had this sudden idea..and I needed a quiet place to think and figure it out." She smiled then, showing dimpled cheeks. "And I'm pretty sure you probably think I'm weird, sitting out here while there's an awesome party going on inside."
"You judge too quick, Drew. What I was actually thinking was that I'm pretty sure there's some awesome idea in that smart head of yours. Is it a new case?"
"Yeah. I've been trying to find a lead for over a week now. I still don't have any but I think I just figured out a pattern."
"What is it about?"
"So you've already met Bess, right? Well her mom, recently opened a catering business. They've been in business for about 6 months now. Over the last 3 months, somebody has broken in thrice and spray painted threatening messages in the office. Aunt Ellie was really troubled and she asked me to see if I could figure it out."
"What kind of messages? And is anything ever stolen?"
"Stuff like 'Get out while you still can.' And no, nothing is ever stolen. They did report it to the police. But obviously there are much more serious crimes in the city." She said with a shrug.
"Could it be a competitor? Someone who'd like her to be scared off from the business?"
"That's what I thought too. But that's the strange thing. Mrs Marvin is doing great but the business is still small. They don't do weddings yet. Just small parties and birthdays. Clarksons Caterers across the street is so much bigger and I couldn't see a reason why they'd feel threatened by competition."
"So what's this pattern you seem to have found?"
Nancy sighed then, her mouth set in a straight line.
"I feel like I shouldn't keep you from that party indoors. I must have bored you enough already."
"Are you kidding? You're one of the most interesting people I've ever met." The conviction in Ned's voice wasn't pretend. "Try me."
"Okay", she smiled, "I had this sudden idea. All the break ins always happened on a Friday night. I figured that was because the Marvins usually have family night then, so Aunt Ellie doesn't drop by to see if the orders for the next day are proper."
"But look", she continued, showing him her phone with the calender app open. She pointed towards the dates of the break ins "I just realised they were always on either the 2nd or 4th Friday of the month and..."
"And today is the 2nd Friday of the month." Ned finished her sentence.
"Yeah."
"Bess's mom isn't home?"
"Worse. They're in Chicago. They won't be back until tomorrow. Bess is staying with her cousin George."
"And you think, the culprit is going to strike again tonight."
"Yeah. I've been trying to get Bess on the phone for 5 minutes but it's unreachable. I've already looked through the house thrice."
"So you want to check out the shop now?"
"Yeah, that's why I need Bess. Someone has to keep a lookout in case I have to sneak in somewhere. I'm not really dressed for running.", Nancy said indicating her low heels.
"You think there'd be running involved? Also I think I saw Bess walking down the road with Eric Evans."
"Well, then she's not going to be back for a while.", she sighed again, "I can't even ask George. She sprained her ankle just this morning. Also no, Aunt Ellie would never have asked me to work on this case if there was any danger involved. But better safe than sorry."
Ned didn't even have to think before he replied.
"I'll come with you."
"Are you serious?"
"Why not? I have nowhere else to be."
The smile that lit up her face then made his heart race.
"Okay. It's not too far. Just a ten minute walk."
She was just about to turn when she remembered something and laughed quietly.
"This is so weird, Ned. You just offered to come with me on a stakeout while you could be having fun and I don't even know your last name."
"Ned Nickerson at your service m'lady." He grinned. "And about getting to know each other, didn't you say we had ten minutes to spare?"
"Then what are we waiting for, Nickerson?" She grinned back and together they walked out the gate.
Conversation had come easily as they walked. And he had been more than glad that she had been the one to start it.
"You aren't a freshman, are you?"
"No. I'm a sophomore."
She smiled. "Bess swore on her life that if you were a freshman, she would have definitely remembered. But how come I've never seen you around?"
"That's because I joined River Heights High just last week. I lived here till I was in 5th grade. Then my dad got promoted and we shifted to Chicago where we stayed for four years. I used to go to Mapletown Elementary up till then. Next time Dad got promoted, he took the opportunity of heading the brach here and we shifted back home to River Heights."
"Well that explains it. I'm sure I would have remembered you if I'd seen you earlier."
Ned's heart soared on hearing that.
"Do you miss Chicago?"
"No, not really. Obviously I had some great friends there and I miss them. But it's so close I can visit any time I want to. But my home's here and it feels so nice to be back."
"I understand. This is my home too. I could never imagine living anywhere else."
"How do you know Adam? You guys seemed to know each other quite well." She asked.
"We do. I've practically known him since I was a baby. He used to live just across the street from my place before he shifted to his new house here. He's one of my best buddies. Our parents are close too so we visited each other even when I was in Chicago. And now we're teammates too. What about you? You guys seemed pretty close."
"We are. It's a long story though.", Nancy chuckled playfully, "but to keep it short, let's just say the 4th graders and 5th graders had a field trip once and I punched him when he made Bess cry by pulling her pigtails."
Ned couldn't help it. He laughed for a solid minute before he could help himself.
"I get more and more scared of you, Drew" He winked at her.
"I'm harmless. Unless you get on my bad side." She winked back.
"Anyway", she continued, "My other best friend George, her real name's Georgia but she'd punch you if you called her that. I'm not even kidding. Well, her and Adam have been going out for a month now, so I've been seeing a lot more of him."
"George is the one with the short brown hair and crutches? I think I saw her sitting with Adam just before I left."
"That's her. Poor thing sprained her ankle during basketball practice. But don't call her a poor thing either." She laughed again.
God. She had such beautiful laugh. He wanted to ask her then, whether she too had a boyfriend. But he was nervous. Nervous to have his hopes crushed. Scared that she'd feel weirded out and they'd never even be proper friends. She was so unlike anyone he'd ever met in a good way and before anything he wanted to get to know her more, become her friend.
"So that's George and Adam, Bess and Eric. What about you, Drew?" He tried to keep his voice casual, tried not show how much he anticipated her answer.
"It's just me and my mysteries." She said her eyes twinkling.
"What about you, Nickerson?"
"Awkward double dates that have turned to even more awkward second dates and that's it." He smiled back. And that was the truth. He'd never really had a girlfriend. Some of his friends had just started getting into relationships only for the status but he didn't want to be like them. No girl had ever caught his eye. At least not until he had met Nancy just that morning, whose smile made his heart race in a way he didn't quite understand.
Before he could say anything else Nancy declared that they'd reached their destination.
They had turned from the streets with independent houses to one lined with pretty shops on both sides. Except a few, most had closed for the night.
"So this is the store. Follow me." She said.
They crouched behind a car that was parked at the entrance of an alley on the opposite side of the street. Anyone approaching the store would be in plain view of them although they'd be hidden.
"And now we wait."
They didn't need to wait long. They hadn't been there for 5 minutes when they saw someone in loose black clothes walking down the street. Ned felt Nancy stiffen beside him.
"Shit. My phone's dead." She muttered. "Ned, can I have yours?"
"Sure." He whispered, handing it to her.
The person had already reached the store by now. Ned was sure it was a girl now. Or a very tiny boy. Suddenly, the person looked around to see whether anyone was watching and their hoodie slipped off revealing straight hair in various shades of blue and pink. He heard Nancy take a sharp intake of breath. She was already leaning around the car, silently taking pictures with his phone as trespasser picked the lock and slipped inside, her backpack slung over her shoulder.
"Do you know her?" His voice was the barest whisper.
"Yeah. She's DonnaShitz. She works here on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. I'd recognise that hair anywhere." She whispered back.
"Should we confront her now?"
"I'd like to but she's been an employee since the beginning and Aunt Ellie is really fond of her. I think she'd like to confront her herself. Anyway we have the evidence. There's no way she's getting away with this."
Donna came out just 5 minutes later. They waited a minute before following. But then they saw her turning into a shop at the end of the street.
"That's strange. That's Clarksons Caterers." Nancy said. "You were right, Ned. I think the motive was to get rid of competition."
"So Donna's working for the Clarksons?"
"The reason for that still has me stumped." And she suddenly cried, "Wait, I think I just got it. Donna's middle name is Clarkson, I remember her mentioning once. She is probably related to them!"
"Wow. So what do we do now?"
"Nothing more for us to do before the Marvins get back. But for now I think we have a party to attend."
And with that she turned, and he followed her back the way they had come.
When she gave him his phone back, it was open to his contacts where she'd typed a number.
"That's my phone number. Could you please send me the pictures?"
"Sure." And he tried to keep the goofy smile he could already feel building, off his face. She had given him her number.
"Hey tell me Nancy, when did all this start? How did you realise you were good at this sort of thing?"
She thought for a while before she answered.
"To be honest, I don't really know. Anyway,", she laughed fully then, "my dad blames himself. He says when I was younger, he always misplaced his glasses or his keys and I was always good at finding them."
They walked in comfortable silence for a while and just before they reached, Nancy turned to look at him.
"Hey Ned. I just wanted to say thank you. If you hadn't offered to help me, I probably wouldn't have been able to come and then I would have never been able to figure it out. I guess we're friends now, huh?"
"Nancy Drew, what do you even mean by 'Friends now'?", he mimicked a dagger through his heart, a mischievous smile on his face, "Did you just make me, a 'Not friend' accompany you on a potentially dangerous mission?"
"Emphasis on the potentially." She grinned back as they entered through the gate.
They found Bess pacing in the garden. As soon as she spotted Nancy she rushed and enveloped her in a hug.
"Oh my God, Nan. Where have you been? I was just taking a walk with Eric and my phone was on silent. When I came back I saw your missed calls and George said you'd texted her about checking out Mom's place. I was so worried. Oh hi. Ned right?"
Ned didn't miss the questioning look she passed Nancy as she saw him and realized Nancy and he had come together.
But before he could reply, Nancy spoke.
"Ned helped me on the stakeout. Bess we found the culprit." As Bess's eyes grew wide, Nancy continued. "And you'd be surprised. But first let's find George and then we'll fill you in."
Later Nancy, Bess, George, Adam and Ned had been sitting around the dining table. After a quick introduction between George and Ned, Nancy had described the entire incident while Ned had shown them the pictures. Both Bess and George had been greatly surprised but they'd all agreed that they could do nothing more than let the adults handle the rest of it.
Suddenly Adam clapped Ned on the back and chuckled, "So Ned, that's our Nan. You haven't even known her a day and she's already had you help her on a case. It's like she doesn't even have to look for mysteries. They find her themselves and beg her to solve them."
Ned had laughed heartily at that but then he'd turned to Nancy and said, "You know, that was fun. I'd like to do that again sometime."
And then he'd felt himself blushing too as he saw colour rising to her cheeks.
"I don't know about you guys but I've had enough mystery for a day. How about we go dance?" Bess said.
They'd all murmured their approval and moved towards the sitting room where Adam had hitched on some speakers. But just as they reached, the song had changed from upbeat pop to a slow, romantic song.
In his peripheral vision, Ned saw Bess launch herself into Eric's arms with an excited squeal and Adam help George onto the sofa and put an arm around her. And with his heart in his throat, he'd turned to find Nancy's beautiful blue eyes already looking at him
"Hey, Nancy. Would you like to dance?"
"Okay." And then she'd put her arms gently on his shoulders and he'd put his arms around her waist and as they gently swayed, he'd had a feeling that he'd remember this day for a long time.
They'd met again the next day during lunch and had realised that they had recess during the same time.
"Guess we'll be seeing each other a lot, Nickerson."
"Can't get tired of that, Drew."
And he had beamed.
She'd then explained that Bess's mom had confronted Donna who'd broken down and confessed everything. Clarksons Caterers had been struggling for a long time. Donna was Ms Clarkson's daughter. Her mother had never had to work both before or after marriage to her father but their divorce had forced her to fend for herself. But lack of experience had caused her to make bad business decisions and they'd lost a lot of money and they'd been forced to use up Donna's college funds. She had been working 3 jobs to try and save up. And then matters had been made worse when Mrs Marvin had opened her business just across the street. Donna had ended up taking up a job there and her mom had been okay with it frankly because it paid really well. But then she'd gotten more and more upset as Mrs Marvin's business boomed while they slipped deeper into debt. And th then she'd started with the threats only to scare them off. Mrs Marvin spoke to Ms Clarkson who had quite a breakdown. She'd never known her daughter was doing such a thing.
"Is she going to press charges?" Ned asked."
No. They feel the girl deserves a chance. Anyway Ms Clarkson had already been talking about selling the business unknown to her daughter. They'll be moving to live with her parents in Chicago by the end of the month."
"But tell me, why did she always do it on the 2nd Friday?"
"Because that's the only day she had her evening off from all the jobs she was working. The fact that the Marvins were always out on that day had just been a lucky coincidence."
.
.
.
And then he'd soon become a regular at Nancy, Bess and George's table during lunch. They were often joined by Adam, Eric and a few of their common friends but the four of them, and especially Nancy and him had become fast friends.
Then three weeks since they'd met, Nancy and Ned had been the only ones at the table that day and she'd said to him.
"Say Nickerson, what would you say about helping me out on another stakeout this weekend? Bess and George are visiting their grandparents and this case is quite a two person affair."
And he'd felt so happy when he'd replied,
"Always."
So guys, my first fanfiction! I'm in the process of writing tons about Ned and Nancy so they'll be more chapters soon :)