1The Meeting

Chapter Two

"Nancy"

Disclaimer: Sorry, I forgot this in chapter one, really I did, but here it is. I don't own em, but when I do, be afraid. Be very afraid.

A/N: In chapter one, I wrote Frank's girlfriend as Cassie Shaw. I am so completely sorry. I meant Callie Shaw. It was probably highlighted on my spell checker, and I changed it without thinking about it. So here's chapter two. Enjoy!

Nancy Drew pulled her car up to the Hardy house. She had become quite nervous since the plane landed at the prospect of meeting the family she would spend the next two months with. She might even make life-long friendships with these people.

She checked her reflection in the mirror, decided she looked great, and told herself to chill out. She'd been in horrible situations before, and she couldn't figure out why this was bugging her so much. But in her heart she knew. Like her mother, Elizabeth Drew, Nancy was an accomplished detective. Her mother had died 13 years before, when Nancy was only three. From the time she was three until the time she was seven, she really didn't know how her mother died. But when she was seven years old, her father had decided she deserved to know.

Flashback

"Nancy, I think its about time you knew how your mother died," Carson Drew told his daughter. I was the fourth anniversary of Elizabeth's death, and Nancy deserved to know.

"Okay, Daddy," Nancy said, climbing up into her daddy's lap. "Daddy," she asked before he could begin. "Why did Mommy have to go away to heaven? I didn't even know her that well. I don't remember her very much."

Carson's eyes filled with tears. "Sweetheart, I don't know why she had to go away so soon. And if you need to remember her, we'll look at some pictures after we're done here. You remember how Mommy was a detective, don't you?" Nancy nodded. "Well, she had just finished a case. It was about a woman who had been stealing things away from the store that she and her brother owned. She was greedy, and she wanted all the money to herself. Your mom started to get threats against her and you. She didn't want you to get hurt, so she decided to find out who it was. One night, she was investigating, and the man threatening her captured her."

"But Daddy," Nancy interrupted. "I thought you only captured the bad guys. Mommy was a good guy though, wasn't she?"

Carson smiled. "Yes, Mommy was a good guy. But bad guys do a lot of things they're not supposed to, and sometimes, they kidnap the good guys. Well, this man had your mom, and," Carson began to cry.

Nancy gave her Daddy a kiss and said, "Daddy its all right. There aren't any monsters here, so why are you crying? You can tell me, and then it'll be all better, won't it Daddy?"

Carson looked at his daughter and said, "Yes, I suppose you're right, sweetheart. The man, he shot your Mommy. Right in her heart. Mommy died right away. They caught the man after a little while, and Daddy was the lawyer for the persecution - they're the people who make sure the bad guys go to jail. The man was the husband of the woman Mommy had put in jail for robbing her and her brother's store. The man was found guilty, and he's in jail now."

Nancy looked up at Daddy. "Didn't Mommy decide to inve- investi-investigate," she stammered, struggling over the word. "Investigate because she didn't want me to get hurt?"

Carson looked at his daughter oddly. "Yes. Why?"

"So Mommy got captured cause she was investigating, and when she was captured, Mommy got killed. So Mommy died for me? Its all my fault," Nancy asked, her chin quivering as though she were about to cry.

"No, no, sweetheart," Carson consoled his daughter. "Its not your fault. It was the bad guy's. Your Mommy loved you Nancy. And you love your Mommy. It's not your fault. Don't ever think that."

End Flashback

Now Nancy was the one getting the threats. "I wonder," she thought to herself. "If Mom was this scared." Looking back at the house, she pushed all unpleasant thoughts out of her head. "Its now or never," she murmured to herself as she climbed out of her car.

Almost right away, seven people ran out to greet her. One person came up to her and asked "Are you our exchange student?" Nancy nodded. "I'm Fenton Hardy, and this is my wife, Laura, my sister, Gertrude, who also lives here, my sons, Frank and Joe, Frank's girlfriend, Callie Shaw, and Joe's girlfriend, Iola Morton," he said, pointing to them each in turn.

Frank and Joe were about the same height, though that was all they had in common, at least in looks. Frank had brown hair and eyes, while Joe was blonde-haired and blue-eyed.

"Hello," everyone greeted her at once

"Hey," Nancy said back. "I'm Drew. Nancy Drew. The exchange student from Illinois." She walked to her trunk to grab her bags.

"Frank and Joe, why don't you help Nancy with her bags while you show her to her room? Then you can bring her to the living room, and we can all get acquainted," Laura suggested.

"Sure Mom," they agreed, each grabbing one of the three bags. Nancy grabbed the last remaining one.

"Thanks guys," Nancy said, as they led her up the stairs and to her room.. "For everything. Its really great of you to let me stay here for two whole months."

"No prob, we're happy to have you," said Joe.

"Well, here's your room," announced Frank. Nancy looked inside. The room was yellow with a flowery decor. It wasn't at all her style, but she wasn't about to say that. "It's great. Let's get to the living room with everyone else."

"Don't you want to unpack first," asked Joe.

"Nah, it can wait til tomorrow, don't you think?" Nancy asked.

"Whatever, let's just go," Frank interrupted. As they walked down to the living room, Nancy took in her surroundings. She liked what she saw. The place was warm and homey. Not quite like her's, but it was a nice change.

"So Nancy, you're a junior, right," asked Gertrude.

"Yup," confirmed Nancy.

"Then you'll be in Frank's class," Fenton informed her. "Have they mailed you a schedule?"

"Yeah, I have British Lit, American History, Geometry, Chemistry, Newspaper, Honors English, and Technology."

"Hey, one of us is in each of those classes. Except Newspaper." Iola said.

"Well that's good," Laura said, and then yawned"Now we grown-ups had better go upstairs. Long day ahead of us. Iola, you and Callie are getting picked up at ten by Chet," she said, referring to Chet Morton, Iola's older brother and good friend of Frank and Joe. Then, to Frank, Joe, and Nancy, she said, "You three should all be in bed with lights out by eleven."

"'K Mom," Joe said.

"Night," everyone chorused.

"So, Nancy, how did you get involved with the exchange program," Callie asked.

"My housekeeper, Hannah Gruen is away, and my dad has to go to Europe for a really important case. He's a lawyer, Carson Drew, and he's pretty famous in our part of the country. Rather than have me just stay with friends, we decided to do the exchange program, and learn new things," Nancy explained.

"Cool," Iola said. "Do you have a boyfriend at home? Cause if you don't, we could always set you up," she added mischievously.

"Thanks, but I've got a boyfriend," Nancy said.

"What's he like," Callie asked.

Frank and Joe rolled their eyes. "Oh, no," they thought. "Here we go."

"Well, he's a freshman at Emerson College, and his name is Ned Nickerson. He played football, baseball, and basketball in high school, and he still plays them in college. He's a quarterback in football and he's also the captain of the football and basketball teams. He majors in business- insurance and stuff like that. We've been dating for a year now." Nancy enlightened them.

"Sounds like a great person," Frank said, trying to move the conversation along. "What's it like in River Heights?"

"I've got two best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne, short for Georgia. They're cousins. We hang out and we do detective work a lot."

"Really," Joe asked incredulously. "Me and Frank are detectives, too. Our dad worked for the NYPD and does undercover work now."

"Cool," Nancy said. "We'll have to find some cases to work on while I'm here."

"Deal," Frank said, grinning.

The rest of the night flew by quickly. They talked about life in Bayport, bands, movies, and what to do the next day, which was Saturday, among other things. Chet came in, and was introduced to Nancy, and they talked with him for a while. Then he left with Callie and Iola, and Nancy, Joe, and Frank went up to their rooms.

The next morning the sum woke Nancy up. She quickly dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen.

"Nancy, there was a note at the door for you," Laura said when she saw her, and handed her the envelope, on which was written 'Nancy' in capital block letters.

"I wonder why," Nancy said to no one in particular as she ripped open the envelope. "I haven't even been here 24 hours." When she unfolded the paper, she gasped.

"What is it, Nancy," Frank asked.

She read the note, also printed in capital block letters aloud. " 'I still know where you are Nancy. You can't hide.'"

A/N: I think when Nancy was a junior, Ned was a freshman in college. The sports he plays are based on what was said in the Files. He majors in Business cause he sold it in the originals, and worked for an insurance company a lot in the Files. I don't know if Nancy would really drive a red Corvette. I should have made it a blue 'Stang (Mustang) like in all the other books, but I didn't feel like it. Anyhoo, this is how I figure Ned is a freshman:

1) Files # 123. Ned comments on how "someone wanted to enter their frat house last year, and we turned him down because we didn't like his attitude." So last year, he'd have to be a junior or senior to have a say in it. He isn't a senior, cause he's not graduating. So he's a junior when Nancy's 18.

2) This is 2 years earlier, so he's a freshman.

And also, I know the Drew. Nancy Drew. thing is corny, but its James Bond week on some channel, and my family's been watching the movies. Plus, I just went to the International Spy Museum (which is AWESOME), and its got a James Bond exhibit, so I've got spies and Bond on the brain, and I just decided to add that part in it. Please review! Thanx msnancydrew for my 1 review!

Lillie's quote of the day 8/19/05: Topic: Gravity

"Gravity is a mystery of the body, invented to conceal the defects of the mind."

-La Rochefoucauld