Welcome to the next chapter! As usual I would like to take the opportunity to pour out love onto each of you for all the wonderful things you have said about this fic. I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much!

Also, I have other news. I am posting a Halloween-y fic. The first chapter is up now/will be up as soon as the site adds it to the listings. It is called the Haunting of Dead Rock House and the synopsis is below:

Forced to land on Dead Rock island during a storm, 15-year-old Frank, 14-year-old Joe and their friends settle into wait it out in the supposedly haunted Dead Rock House. But, as strange things keep happening around the house, they come to wish they had voted to face the storm instead.

Please all give it a read.

Frank was not happy. There had been a series of petty thieveries around school, lockers being picked open and phones being taken, people rooting through bags. Naturally, Joe had taken on the brunt of suspicion.

Parents and students alike gossiped about him. People made it sound like he had already confessed. Frank had been able to alibi Joe out for most of the break-ins. Biff had provided an alibi for a different event and it had seemed like they were going to successfully convince people of Joe's innocence.

Until the new girl had said she had seen a blond boy lurking near a locker just before it was broken into. She hadn't ID'ed Joe specifically but Frank suspected she was deliberately implicating him to earn some instant popularity points at the school. After all, even a new pupil would hear some of the details about what happened to Joe and it would be very suspicious for the new girl to be able to recognise Joe immediately.

Frank supposed there might also be an element of guilt in there. She let her lie go along with everyone's misguided suspicions without outright accusing Joe made her feel better. Like she could pick up the credit for providing the smoking gun without being blamed for Joe specifically being punished.

But it was on her testimony that Joe had been escorted to the principal's office in the hope they could 'get to the bottom of such a nasty situation'. It seemed like that was code for 'force Joe to confess to the crime regardless of whether he did it with threats of detention and kicking up out of the wrestling club'. Even if Frank wasn't desperately trying to get Joe to believe that their system of justice worked, the very idea of anyone innocent being punished for something they didn't do made Frank's blood boil.

He stalked into the cafeteria, scanning the room. Long blonde hair caught his eye. He stormed over, slamming his hands on the table perhaps a little too loudly.

"Callie Shaw," he said, "I need a word."

Callie Shaw was confused but willing to accompany Frank to an empty classroom. He shut the door, turning to her. Callie sat down on one of the desks, studying him intensely. She seemed wary about what was going to happen.

"I'm Frank Hardy," Frank introduced. "My brother is the person you accused of stealing from people at the school."

Callie stood, eyes wide.

"I didn't accuse anyone," she said. "I just told them what I saw."

"Knowing that everyone would accuse Joe the moment they heard blond thief," Frank returned.

Shaking her head, Callie told him that she hadn't intended for that to happen.

"I knew about your brother, yeah. I didn't know he was blond. I described who I saw. And if I saw your brother, I described him."

Frank shook his head, saying that Joe would not have been stealing from people's lockers. He told Callie so, keeping his voice firm.

"He has been trying so hard to make a life for himself in Bayport. People don't see it, don't want to see it, because it is far more interesting for someone at school to be some teenage thief who is never going to leave his past behind him. He didn't have a choice in New York and now he has one, he is being kind and decent and it's not easy for him because he doesn't expect people to be kind and decent back."

Callie nodded. She apologised for what Joe was going through.

"I don't know all the details but I wouldn't wish what happened to him on anyone. Or what happened to you and your parents. And I have no reason to dislike him or you and your family. I have no reason to accuse him so I would love to hear what motive you've settled on while playing detective."

Frank hated the fact that he was swaying toward Callie's point of view. She seemed genuine in everything she was saying and he kept telling himself he shouldn't allow himself to be tricked into believing her because she was a pretty girl who could make her point coherently. He couldn't do that to Joe.

"Because you're the new girl and it is a quick way to gain social status if you throw Joe to the wolves."

"But I never said your brother's name. I don't even know if it was him. For all I knew, I'd just accused the most popular boy in school of stealing, got myself turned into a social pariah by doing the right thing. If the evidence I gave led to your brother being falsely accused, then I am sorry."

Frank paused. He knew they weren't getting anywhere and he was worried about Joe. He knew Joe could handle whatever punishment the school threw at him. He knew Joe would have experienced far worse punishments and they'd had the talk that if any teacher at school threatened him or made him feel in any way unsafe, he was to tell one of them immediately. Slowly but surely Joe was breaking the cycle, coming to realise violence was not something he could expect and accept from the people around him.

But the punishment wasn't the problem. It was that Joe was going to feel like he still wasn't accepted, that even if the people around him weren't threatening to kill him or starving him in a basement to punish him, they still saw him as an 'other' who would never be capable of being one of them, of doing the right thing. Joe would feel like all his effort was for nothing, that he was never going to have a home in Bayport and he would run away.

The last thing Frank wanted was for Joe to become convinced their parents wouldn't believe him when he said he was innocent and take off before he could be returned back into the foster system.

Frank wondered if he should completely abandon Callie as a lost cause, wait outside the principal's office to catch Joe and defuse any developing situation.

"Can I show you a picture?" Frank said, having a sudden epiphany.

Callie's eyebrow arched with curiosity. She nodded. Frank hurriedly grabbed out his phone, bringing up a photograph he was thinking of getting framed for his parents. It was a picture of Joe and Biff in front of the skatepark. Joe had been teaching Biff to skateboard and Frank had come along in case Biff hurt himself. Biff had insisted Frank take the picture to commemorate Biff managing to safely navigate the half pipe for the first time but what made Frank love the picture so much was Joe. He was standing beside Biff, holding the skateboard and the helmet he had lent his friend, looking just like a normal teenager, face bright, eyes shining. It was the sort of picture of Joe that should have long since filled their house.

"What's it of?" Callie asked, studying the picture on Frank's phone.

"Were either of these the blond you saw?" Frank asked.

"No. No. Neither of them were," Callie said.

Frank grinned.

"I am not going to confess to something I didn't do!" Joe growled.

"I do not like that tone, Mr Hardy," Principal Watkins replied with a firm superiority.

Joe had never liked Principal Watkins and the feeling was mutual. The man had taken against Joe immediately. Joe was pretty sure the only reason he had been accepted into the school was because Watkins knew how bad it would look for him to be seen turning away the poor kidnapped son of one of Bayport's best-known families.

He was sure the principal was looking for an excuse to punish him and had just been served one up on a platter. None of Joe's protests were working. He'd even tried the Frank approach of logically setting out the evidence that proved he wasn't guilty. Watkins had merely dismissed it as saying Joe had clearly been preparing his defence beforehand to have worked it all out. The argument that he was just using his own intelligence to come up with a defence on the spot had been shot down.

Joe found it ironic that he was being treated like some criminal mastermind by people who also thought he was incapable of anything close to average intelligence.

"We have a no stealing police at his school," Watkins said.

"And I haven't stolen anything!"

"Ever?"

Joe glowered, biting back any response. He knew there was no way he was convincing the man before him that he didn't deserve to be punished. Even if Watkins believed he was innocent, he was going to ensure Joe was the one who took the fall for it. It was a convenient way to show the young man the power he held or remove him from the school completely.

And then there was a knock at the door.

Watkins glared.

"Is it important?" he called.

"Yes."

Joe recognised the voice. A grin erupted across his face. It was clear the principal recognised the voice too because his glare intensified.

"Frank Hardy, this matter does not concern you," Watkins spat.

"I have evidence that will clear Joe's name."

"Fabricated!" Watkins accused.

"No, it's not."

Joe's brow furrowed. That hadn't been Frank's voice. It had been a girl's. He studied Watkins, seeing the principal was just as shocked as he was.

"If you move from that seat, if you talk to either of them, I will have you sent away to a reform school before you even know what has hit you," Watkins snarled as he stood up.

He crossed the room, opening the office door. Joe watched him, seeing a terrible glee passing over Watkin's face at the idea of him being sent to a reform school. He'd heard people talking about them but had never quite understood what a reform school was. All he knew was that it was not somewhere he was keen on ending up. He had no doubt the principal would fabricate some evidence against him to ensure the Hardys had no choice but to send him away.

Joe stayed frozen in the seat, staring down at his hands.

"It's Callie, isn't it? Callie Shaw?" the principal snapped.

"Yes, sir," Callie said. "I'm the one who witnessed the thief."

"And she's saying it wasn't Joe," Frank said.

Joe felt like jumping for joy. Frank was working his case. He was trying to prove his innocence. Watkins had a real fight on his hands.

"Really?" Watkins growled.

Joe could practically hear the gears of the principal's mind gnashing together as he tried to work out exactly how he could find a way around the evidence Frank was presenting.

"Yes," Frank said. "I showed her a picture of him."

"Well, you could have chosen a picture of him that makes him look different to how he normally looks," Watkins declared.

It was Callie who countered, asking if she was allowed to take a proper look at Joe. Before Watkins could answer, Joe reacted. He fixed his eyes on the girl standing before him. She had long blond hair and pretty eyes. She shook her head at him, turning to the principal. Joe glanced at Watkins too. The strain of having to outsmart Frank was making his face turn a bright red.

"It's not him," Callie said.

"Nonsense!" Watkins growled. "That boy is a thief. It's no surprise you only came to me saying he was innocent with Frank Hardy. He's probably threatening you!"

"Never!" Joe roared. "Frank would never have done that!"

He got to his feet, hands curled into fists. Watkins turned sharply to Joe.

"Silence, you spoiled toad!"

The force of the man's shout, the way he raised his hand to prod an accusing finger into Joe's chest… it caused the younger Hardy to drop immediately back into the chair, eyes closed, prepared for whatever blow was coming.

Watkins didn't touch him. He couldn't. Frank's hand had exploded out, closing around the principal's wrist.

"If you touch him," Frank warned, voice razor sharp, "I will call the police and have you charged with assault."

Watkins looked between the brothers, seething. Then he stalked back to behind his desk.

"Unless you bring me something conclusive, I will be expecting a full confession from Joe by the end of the day. And if he doesn't give me a full confession and promise to return everything he stole, then I will advise family services to have Joe placed in the Red Woods Reform School for Wayward Boys."

He picked a brochure up from a shelf behind his desk and threw it onto the table so Frank and Joe could see it. Joe felt his stomach twist at the image on the cover alone. There were four boys photographed, wearing navy blue uniforms, each with buzz cuts, doing manual labour with soulless eyes.

"That isn't your choice," Frank said.

"I think you'll find a good number of people don't prescribe to the fairytale of the kidnapped boy being returned home without his past having any effect. They think the life you Hardys are giving him is far too pleasant to fix him."

Then the headmaster gave a cruel laugh.

"You have until the end of the day to prove me wrong, Mr Hardy. I don't think you should be wasting it."

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please consider leaving a review and maybe go and have a look at The Haunting of Dead Rock House (new chapters (hopefully) out every day until Halloween)!