Chapter 16
"Are you sure you'll be fine, Frank? You can miss classes just this day, you know. You probably need more rest," Joe said, as the brothers climbed into their van the next Monday morning. "It was just the other day ago that you were hit and…"
"Hey, you said it yourself Joe. The other day ago. If it was yesterday, then I probably need more rest. And I wasn't hit. The bullet only grazed me, my upper thigh to be exact. So I have no excuse to miss my classes today," Frank said, closing the passenger door. "Just be thankful that I let you drive today," he added with a chuckle.
"Yeah, right," Joe rolled his eyes then said to Frank, "You just did that because you can't drive today so you had no choice but to let me drive."
"Well…"
"See! As always, ladies and gentlemen, Joe Hardy is right, now making Franklin Hardy lost for words!" Joe said, mimicking a sports announcer.
"Joseph, just drive. Or else, we'll be late," Frank said, leaning on his seat.
"You've got no right to call me Joseph and hey, don't change the topic," Joe said. Inside, he was very happy that Frank wasn't seriously hurt from what happened that Saturday. He inserted the key into the ignition and said, "Here we go!"
A few minutes later, the brothers arrived at Bayport High. They went to their lockers to get a few books then proceeded to meet their girlfriends and other chums by the corridor where they usually meet.
"Hey, Frank!" Chet Morton greeted when he saw the brothers approaching them. "How you doin'?"
"I'm okay now. It still hurts a little when I walk, but generally, I'm fine," Frank said, walking to Callie who immediately asked him the same question.
"Are you sure? Don't you need more rest?" she asked, brushing a few strands of dark hair from Frank's forehead.
"Nah. You're just like Joe," he joked.
"Hey!" Callie punched Frank's arm playfully. "But seriously, are you okay?" she asked. The others looked at him for his response.
"Uh-huh," Frank replied, touched by the care everyone has for him. "But do you guys mind helping Joe and I? We think there's more to this prank than we know. First, there's the 'explosion' at Joe's locker. Second, someone made an attack on our house and third, somebody tried to shoot me. This is pretty serious now."
"Of course we don't mind. We want to help," Biff Hooper said.
"Why don't we meet later at lunch?" Tony Prito, who was leaning on the wall next to Phil Cohen, asked.
"Fine," Joe said, glad to see the nods from everyone else.
"We better head to class now," Vanessa said, an arm hooked to Joe's. "We don't want to be late."
The group parted and headed to their classes.
Frank and Callie climbed the stairs to their Physics class. Most students hate having Physics class first thing in the morning, except Frank. His teacher, Mr. Davidson, is a good teacher and Frank likes the subject itself so he doesn't mind having them in the morning. Having them with Callie is the best part of it, though, Frank thought with a look at his girlfriend.
Reaching their classroom, they found their seats just as the bell rang. Mr. Davidson entered the room and started their lesson by copying down notes. Mr. Davidson usually makes his students copy down notes before discussing the lecture with them.
While copying, Frank's mind was on their new case. Who wanted to hurt us? It seems like the pranks are on us! Not unless something else happens to the other students, I'm pretty convinced the pranks are targeted on us. Hardys. By whom? Why? Suddenly, Frank felt like somebody was looking at him. He raised his head and saw Callie looking at him. Callie smiled knowingly then turned back to copying. She knows I'm thinking about the new case, Frank chuckled, turning back to his own notes.
"Something funny, Hardy?" he heard somebody say. He knew it wasn't Mr. Davidson since he calls him by his first name. He turned his head again and saw that Jason Moore's attention was on him. Jason, who came to Bayport High just a year ago, wasn't among Frank and Joe's favorite people. He was quite a snob, smart though, Frank thought.
"Nothing, Moore," Frank replied in a quiet tone.
"Hey Hardy, your girlfriend's getting prettier and prettier each day," Jason said in the same tone. "Would you mind if I ask her to accompany me next weekend? I have no one…" he stopped but seemed to be amused at the look Frank suddenly gave him.
"Don't try me, Jason. You'll probably regret it," Frank said quietly, turning back to his notes.
"Gee, I'm scared," Frank heard his seatmate say. He didn't look back at him and just turned his full attention in copying down.
When the bell rang, Mr. Davidson announced, "We'll be discussing those tomorrow."
Frank put his things in his bag and stood up, slinging his backpack in one shoulder. He walked to Callie's chair, waiting for her to finish fixing her things. "Can you help me with these, Frank?" She was trying to carry three thick books that Frank didn't recognize.
"What are these for, Cal?" Frank inquired, taking all three books from her, but Callie took the other one back.
"Just carry two, they're pretty heavy you know," she said, smiling up at Frank. "Anyway, to answer your question, I borrowed these from Mr. Davidson since he's also into Chemistry. They have information on explosive powders. I talked to him about these last week, since I knew, that even though you concluded that the attack on Joe's probably nothing, it's probably lead to a case and we'll need info. So here it is," Callie finished.
"Hey, smart thinking Baby," Frank said, awed by Callie. "You almost know me better than I do," he joked as they walked out into the noisy corridor.
They went to Callie's locker and kept the books there. After that, Frank walked Callie to her next class and couldn't help but be annoyed when he saw that Jason Moore was also on Callie's second class.
"Oh great," Frank muttered when he saw Jason.
"Why?" Callie asked, looking at him.
"Nothing. I just saw Moore," he replied, giving back Callie her History book that he had been carrying.
"Oh," she cast a look inside the room then turned back to Frank. "Was he being worse than usual?" She didn't like Jason either. In their group of friends, no one seemed to like the guy either.
"Yeah. But it's not worth mentioning anyway. I'll be going now. I might be late," he kissed her in the cheek and Callie entered the classroom. Before leaving, Frank made sure that Jason's seat was far from Callie's. Satisfied, he left for his own class.
* * *
When the bell rang, indicating lunch, Joe grabbed his backpack and stood up, following the students cramming out of the room. He decided to head toward the school canteen without stopping at his locker. When he saw Vanessa seating alone in a table, he went over her.
"Hey," Joe said, giving Vanessa a quick kiss. "Where are the others?"
"Haven't seen them yet. I assumed they're still on their lockers so I reserved this table for us. Oh, there they are now," she added, seeing Frank and Callie heading toward their table.
"Chet and Tony will be a little late," Frank said, sitting down. "They have to borrow a book from the library."
"Chet and Tony?" Vanessa asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure you didn't ask them to get the book for you? It's seems unusual their priorities, especially Chet's, are on the book, not on lunch."
Joe and Callie chuckled at her comment, while Frank blushed a little.
Vanessa chuckled herself. "Just kidding, Frank. Oh, Biff and Phil are heading this way now," pointing.
"You guys buy your lunches now," Frank said. "I'll stay here and wait for Chet and Tony."
"Want me to buy your lunch?" Callie offered.
"Nope. Thanks anyway. Mom prepared two sandwiches for me. But maybe you can buy me Coke or something?" Frank asked.
"Okay. Nothing else?" Callie asked back.
Frank thought for a second then said, "If the fries look decent enough today, I'll have them also."
Callie grinned, "Okay."
Joe, who also had the same lunch as Frank's, sat beside his brother. "So, what about the case?"
Frank unwrapped his sandwich and said, "Let me ask you something first. Are you thinking that the 'pranks' are only on us? I mean, our family, as usual."
"I kinda noticed that too. There weren't any attacks on the students, only on us. Except if there are more to come… well, we don't know yet," Joe answered, munching on his sandwich. "Hey, this tastes great."
"Mom made it so what do you expect? But anyway," Frank continued, "Supposedly those are for us. Do we have enemies?"
He and Joe looked at each other for a while and cracked up.
"Okay, okay. I know. We have lots of enemies!" Frank admitted, blushing slightly. "I guess I didn't realize what I'm asking."
"Don't feel too bad Frank," Joe comforted. "To continue what you were saying a while ago, supposedly these pranks are for us. Who could be doing these? And why?"
"Is it somebody from here in school?" Frank thought out loud.
"Most probably. But still, they can be from the outside too, since our house was attacked," Joe answered.
"Here's your Coke, and fries," Callie said, once she and the others arrived at the table. She handed the can of Coke to Frank and the container of fries with her other hand. "Do they look decent enough for you?" she asked, grinning.
"Well… not that bad. Better than usual," he answered, grinning back.
"Sorry we're late," Chet and Tony reached the table, panting. They pulled their chairs from the nearby table then put down their bags and books.
"We'll just buy our lunches," Tony said before the two rushed off.
Vanessa raised an eyebrow, "Hey that was fast. For Chet, that is."
The others chuckled.
"Well… Chet's hungry!" Joe quipped.
"Back to the case," Frank started after another round of chuckles. "Joe and I were thinking whether who could be doing this pranks. Maybe here from school? Or the outside?"
The others were silent, each one thinking in their own thoughts.
"What if it's from here in school? What if we start that way?" Callie suggested.
"Good idea, Cal," Joe said, smiling at Callie.
"All of my ideas are good, Hardy," she joked.
"Anyway, who here in school, do you think, wants to hurt you guys?" Phil asked, biting on his burger.
"Well, I told Mr. S before that it's probably the boyfriends of the girls that you know…" Joe said, casting a side glance at Vanessa.
"Hey, what can I do if my boyfriend is fussed over by other girls?" Vanessa kidded.
"Well, yeah," Joe replied with a grin.
"But would they go far enough like attacking your house? With a bowling ball?" Chet asked, sitting down on an empty seat while balancing his tray. Tony took the seat beside Phil.
"Were we talking that loud?" Biff asked Chet.
Chet unwrapped his burger, "Not really."
"But we have to be careful, guys," Frank said with a worried look. "If it really is somebody from school…"
"We get it Frank. Don't worry," Tony said, then looked straightly at Chet. "You heard that, Morton."
"Hey! What about me?" the large boy asked, while the others laughed.
"Just watch what you're saying or how loud your voice is, okay? We know you don't mean to spill a few beans sometimes," Vanessa soothed.
"But you guys still trust me, don't you?" a dubious-looking Chet asked.
"Of course!" Frank said, surprised to hear such a question from his friend.
"Better hurry up eating people," Phil announced, looking at his watch. "Lunchtime will be over in, like, ten minutes."
Ensuing what Phil said, the bell rang ten minutes later.
"Are we still going to meet at dismissal?" Biff asked as they stood up.
"I guess not. We don't have much to go on, anyway. Joe and I will be looking on those notes though and we'll just call you guys for help," Frank answered, putting his arm around Callie's shoulders. He saw Jason Moore eyeing Callie a few minutes ago but Frank was happy when he realized that his own class would be beside Callie's classroom.
"Okay. See ya guys!" Chet said, starting to walk toward his next class.
* * *
When dismissal came, Frank, Joe, Callie and Vanessa walked into the parking lot.
"Oh Cal, I forgot! Remember the last time when I slept at your place? I forgot my jeans at your room," Vanessa said, as they reached Callie's car.
"Oh, okay… I'll just bring it next time," Callie assured. She opened the driver's door and placed her bag inside. "See you tomorrow guys! Call me later?" she asked Frank.
"As always," Frank responded, smiling. He kissed Callie then closed the door as she got inside. Before starting the car, though, Callie opened her car door again.
"I forgot my Physics notebook in my locker. Mr. Davidson told us we will be having our discussion tomorrow, right? It wouldn't hurt to have an early reading," Callie said, answering Frank's unspoken question. "You guys don't have to wait for me."
"Okay," Frank replied hesitantly then headed for the van.
When the boys reached their house, they saw that their parent's car wasn't there.
"Did they mention going somewhere?" Joe asked as he pulled on a stop on their driveway.
"Nope," Frank replied, removing his seatbelt. "Maybe they left a note inside."
When they entered the kitchen, they saw Laura's note for them.
Your father and I just went out for the afternoon. I baked some brownies as your snack. –Mom
"Goodie," Joe said, taking a brownie from the table. Frank took another, biting into it as he climbed the stairs. "Don't eat all of it, okay?!"
Joe just murmured in response as he got another one. Then the phone rang.
"I'll take it!" he heard Frank from upstairs.
Joe just shrugged as he took a glass from their cabinet but was startled when he suddenly heard his brother's rapid footsteps as he went downstairs.
"That was Callie," he explained snatching up the car keys. "She… she said her car brakes weren't working!"
