No, I don't own Brian nor Liz

-xx-

Chapter 6:

"Joooeee!" yelled Frank in alarm. He was just a short distance away from the stairs when he saw Joe fall.

The moment Joe realized he was tumbling, he struck his hands out at the banister and kicked his feet backwards. Though he did not manage to land on his feet, his actions did at least prevent him from landing head-first, much to his brother's relief. He landed with a thud at the bottom of the stairs.

Footsteps clattered down the stairs and Joe looked up. He was surprised (and annoyed) to see who had knocked into him. Brian Conrad, Belinda's older brother, was scowling down at him.

"What are you rushing round like that for?" he growled.

"What are you doing rushing around like that, you mean?" Joe retorted, getting up. "And what are you doing in school? I thought you have graduated ages ago." Just then, Frank arrived, running up.

"Gosh, Joe, are you hurt?" he asked, his voice tinged with concern. "You didn't hit your head, did you?" Joe waved his brother off, and assured him that he was fine. He was not about to be fussed over like that, at least not in front of Brian. Frank immediately eyed Brian with a look of mistrust.

"Why are you here?" he demanded. "Didn't you graduate last year?" He was certainly not very pleased to see Brian. He always considered Brian a case of bad news, and this time coupled with Joe's fall, was no exception either. Even while Brian was at school, they had never gotten along. It was a mutual feeling. Brian used to be one of the trouble makers when he was at school, and hated the Hardys. It's fair, Frank thought, since we loathed him just as much.

Brian gave a mocking snigger. "You sure talk as if you own the school, huh? Well, the school didn't stop me from coming in to look for my sister, so why should you? And oh yes, of course I did graduate last year, unlike you." Without waiting for a comeback from Frank, he stalked off, apparently to look for his sister Belinda.

Joe started after him, but Frank stopped him. "He won't try anything out there now, not with all those teachers and students down there. Come on, let's go and place that call. Then we'll check up on Katie."

-xx-

"That's all? You just saw the fire? Nothing else?" a voice sounded from one of the rooms. "Come on, girl, I need the details. I'm writing the school paper, for goodness sake."

Joe looked at Frank, and grinned. Frank rolled his eyes. Liz Webling was certainly on her job again. A good friend of Callie's, Liz was the president of the Journalism Club of Bayport High, and writing and publishing of the school paper was one of her duties. She had somehow gotten Miss Thompson out of the room so that she could interview the girls.

"Liz…" Frank called, as they strode over to where the girls were sitting, but Liz interrupted him before he could say anything more.

"Frank! Joe! You are just the people I want to see! Both of you!"

Joe ignored her. He was not in the mood to be interviewed, after all that had happened that day.

"Later," Frank said, taking her notebook from her. After a brief look at her notes, he took her aside.

"Liz, can we keep this story off the paper?"

Liz frowned. "Of course not. Everyone's expecting a column on this. And besides, we always have a column on the first day of school. Why?"

"Well, I'm not particularly enthusiastic to read about my own van blowing up. And I'm sure Katie won't either, about her car."

"Yeah, I can't really manage to get her to talk much either," Liz admitted. "She doesn't seem to remember seeing anything else besides the smoke and fire…"

"Look," Joe snapped, walking up and hearing the conversation. "Leave Katie alone. She's been upset enough." Frank felt another stab of guilt as he glanced in Katie's direction. Though the girl wasn't crying, her face was white and pinched – her pale cheeks a stark contrast to the warm cheery glow she radiated earlier that morning – and her blue eyes had lost much of their sparkle. For a brief second, he wished that they parked in a different spot – perhaps somewhere farther away from the other vehicles...

Liz scowled at Joe; then turned to Frank, as if expecting him to back her up. Frank sighed. "Well, I'm afraid I'm with Joe here. What do you expect?" he asked. "She was coming out when she saw her car explode before her two eyes. Really, what else do you expect her to see? Not everyone takes these sort of things like Joe and me, you know?"

Liz looked at him in disbelief. "Well, I must say I'm surprised. Isn't it what you guys are here for too? To interview the witness?" But Frank shook his head.

"No, we came to see if she's okay." He glanced at Katie once again, then back at Liz. "This is not the time for questions, Liz. Not now."

Liz didn't look happy, but she nodded anyway. "So can I interview you guys instead?"

Frank sighed. Joe looked doubtful. They weren't sure if they liked this, knowing fully well that Liz had a wicked pen sometimes. "Only if we can have a copy of those notes," the younger Hardy told her, indicating her notebook. "And you're only writing what we told you…"