Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.

Thanks once again to Wendylouwho10 for reading over this for me!

Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Setting is kinda blue spine and AU. Joe and Iola are 16, Frank and Callie are 17.


Chapter Two

The following Monday at lunch in the cafeteria, Joe noisily dropped his tray onto the table beside his brother. Noticing immediately that Frank didn't make a comment, he looked to see what had his attention. Coming into the cafeteria was a group of girls. A group that included the new blonde girl that had started at BHS after Christmas break. He looked at his brother and then back to the girl and hope stirred in him a little as he sat next to Frank. Biff sat across from Frank and broke his line of sight to the new student.

"I'm not sure what this meat is today," Biff said with a grimace as he looked at gravy covered item on the tray.

"The menu said it's hamburger steak," Joe said with a laugh.

"Don't knock it until you've tried it," Chet said as he put another piece of the mystery meat into his mouth.

"What do you think, Frank?" Joe asked.

"Hmmm? What?"

"The food. Do you think it's hamburger steak or not?"

"Yeah, sure. Hamburger steak," Frank said as he looked at his plate.

"What's up, Frank? You seem out of it," Biff said as he began to eat the vegetables on his plate.

A smile lit up Frank's face as he said, "Nothing. Just thinking about classes."

"Well, we should all be thinking about dates for the dance next month," Chet said with a laugh. "I mean, who would have thought that the four of us would be without girlfriends at Valentine's?"

"Who indeed?" Iola's chipper voice sounded from behind Joe. She came into view as she walked around the table and sat next to Biff. "Who would have thought I wouldn't have a boyfriend either?" Her eyes left Chet and moved to Frank. "Who knows when Cupid will strike." Then she looked at her food, grimaced, and asked, "What is this?"

Laughter sounded as the meat debate began again, but Joe wasn't part of it. He had seen Frank blush at Iola's comment and he knew that Frank would ask Iola out unless something happened. He knew he could stop it just by telling Frank that he liked Iola, but then Iola would still have the crush on Frank and Frank would feel sorry for him. That was something he didn't want. His eyes left the group that now included Tony, Phil, and their girlfriends to look around the cafeteria. And then he spotted her. The new pretty blonde and she was looking right at him. Or more precisely right at his brother. When she saw that he had spotted her, she blushed and turned back to the girl beside her.

For the first time in weeks, Joe felt a ray of hope. He was certain that the new girl liked his brother. And just as importantly, his brother seemed to like her. Maybe Cupid would strike but not in the way Iola was thinking.

Standing up, Joe grabbed his tray.

"Where are you going? You haven't finished," Biff said. "I know it's not that yummy, but you've got to eat."

Glancing at his tray, Joe shrugged. "I've eaten enough and besides, with all this talk about the dance, I think I need to talk to some girls."

"What girls?" Iola asked with curiosity.

Joe nodded his head in the direction of the new blonde. "I'm thinking the new girl in Frank's class. She's pretty."

Iola frowned at him. "Just because she's pretty doesn't mean she's nice."

"But she is," Frank said quickly causing all eyes to turn toward him. Stuttering slightly, he said, "I mean, we have several classes together and she has been nice and polite in all of them."

"Well, I know she's pretty and she's new. Maybe she'd like to make some new friends." Joe moved away from the group to dump his trash and when he glanced back to the table, everyone was talking except for Iola who was still watching him. He saw her give a slight shake 'no' to her head before she joined back in the group conversation.

.**********.

Callie Shaw poked at the food on her tray. It wasn't very appetizing. And she was embarrassed. The blonde boy next to Frank Hardy had caught her staring at Frank. Hopefully, he didn't mention it to Frank or she'd be mortified.

"Look who's coming over here!" whispered Georgia with excitement.

Callie glanced up and saw that the blonde boy was coming over to her table. Her face flushed. "Who is he?"

"He's Joe Hardy and he's a junior. He's certainly easy on the eye and so is his brother," she whispered back.

"And that Biff Hooper. Have you seen his muscles?" The whispered gossiped stopped suddenly as Joe stood at the end of the table and all eyes looked at him.

Realizing that all the staring was making Joe nervous, Callie spoke up. "Hi. Would you like to join us?" She gestured to the empty seat next to her as she could practically feel Georgia's excitement from her other side.

"Sure, I'm Joe Hardy." Joe said as he sat down beside her.

"And I'm Callie Shaw." A whispering hush descended upon the table once she said her name and Callie had to laugh. It looked like Joe had come over with a reason but now that he was here, he seemed to be tongue-tied by all the stares and whispers at the table. Joe turned to her with a startled look after her laugh. "Not expecting to be the center of attention?" she asked with a smile.

When he smiled back, she realized why Georgia was so excited. Joe Hardy was cute from a distance, but sitting beside her with a dazzling smile, he was way more than that.

"Um, yeah. I mean, no, I wasn't expecting it. I just-" He glanced to all the faces watching them. "Um, I know you're new in town and I thought you'd like to meet some more people." Joe turned back to where his friends were sitting. "A group of us are going out for pizza tonight. I thought you might like to come along."

Callie looked around Joe to the group of friends at the other table. The group of friends that contained his brother, Frank. "Well, I…" she looked at the group she was sitting with.

Seeing her look, Joe said, "Everyone's invited."A general discussion happened with some saying they were busy and few saying they'd probably attend. Joe looked back to Callie.

She was torn. She would love to spend more time with Frank. He was handsome, smart, and polite. Pretty much everything she heard about him was positive. There were a few boys that she had heard some negative remarks from, but they seemed to have been prompted by jealousy. This would be a great way to get to know him but if this was a date with his brother….

"Um, is this a date?" she asked quietly.

Still smiling, Joe replied, "No. At least not with me." He glanced over at his brother who was staring in their direction and then back to the lovely blonde beside him. "But if you and my brother continue to stare at each other, maybe there will be one."

Callie couldn't help but blush.

Joe laughed and stood. "See you tonight at Prito's. Tony's dad owns it and we have a special table. We'll see you at 5:30."

"See you then," Callie managed to say. She watched him go back to the table with his friends. After he spoke to them a few minutes, Frank turned, looked at her and smiled. Unable to help it, she blushed and smiled back. Maybe Joe was right. Maybe there would be a date.

.**********.

That evening as the group was dispersing after the pizza dinner, Joe had a smile on his face. Frank had managed to sit next to Callie at the meal and the two seemed to have a lot in common. In fact, Frank was walking her to her car at the moment and Joe was certain that it would be Callie Shaw going to the Valentine's dance with Frank. Joe's smile disappeared as Iola roughly pulled him to the side alley beside the restaurant.

"Thanks a lot, Joe! This is just peachy!" Iola said angrily.

Joe glanced back to the parking lot. Frank was still talking with Callie and Chet was speaking to another girl that had come to the meal. So there was no one to distract Iola from her current state which seemed to be anger.

"Um, what do you mean?" Joe asked innocently even though he knew exactly what she meant.

Iola's index finger pushed hard into his chest. He could feel it even through his coat. "What do I mean? I mean Callie Shaw!" Her angry glare swept away from him over to Callie and Frank. "He hardly spoke to me tonight because he was talking to her!" Angry eyes turned back to Joe. "And you can just guess who I'm blaming for that," she practically hissed at him.

Realizing that Iola's current frame of mind wouldn't help him win her affections, he said, "Listen, I know you like Frank-"

"Like him?" Iola's voice raised and then dropped drastically. "Of course I like him! I want to go out with him!"

Joe hadn't realized just how much those statements would hurt him. He had known her feelings, but now he had heard it in her own words and it hurt. Badly. "Listen, I'm sorry. But if Frank is interested in Callie, then it's better-"

"Just shut up, Joe," she whispered and turned away from him. "I'm not in the mood for a proverb."

"Proverb?"

"Yeah, you know. Like the one: if you love something let it go."

A light went on for Joe. "If it comes back it was meant to be."

"If it doesn't it wasn't yours to begin with." Iola sighed. "At least it goes something like that." He voice sounded forlorn to Joe as she said, "I don't think he was ever mine to begin with." With that she walked away to her brother who was waiting in the jalopy.

Joe watched her with mixed emotions. He had done this. He had manipulated the situation. Frank probably would have asked Iola to the dance… but then he looked over to his brother and saw that he was still talking to Callie. But then again, maybe not. The question now was, with Frank out of the picture, how do I get Iola to see me as more than a friend? For that he had no answers.

.**********.

Frank had a huge smile on his face as he got into the van. "Callie is really nice."

Joe took in the grin and the bubbly mood and joked, "It seems like the two of you hit it off."

The van roared to life as Frank accidentally gave it too much gas. "Yeah, we did. I invited her to sit with us at lunch."

"Sounds good," Joe said.

"How about you?"

"What do you mean?"

Frank laughed. "Couldn't you see that Georgia was all into you?"

Frowning, Joe said, "She's in your grade."

"You're less than a year different in ages. I'm sure she doesn't care about that going by the way she was practically drooling over you," Frank said with a laugh.

Joe turned red. He hadn't really realized that Georgia had been that obvious. She did talk to him a lot, but he was concentrating on what was going on with Frank and Callie and of course, Iola.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

Frank made a sound of exasperation. "What about Georgia?"

Joe shook his head and looked to the road. "Not interested."

"Got someone else in mind?" Frank teased.

Joe was thankful that it was dark and Frank was driving or he would have seen the blush on Joe's face. "Why don't we just drop it?"

"For now, Joe. However, I look forward to seeing who you invite to the dance."

The dance. Less than a month away and Iola was angry with him and pining over his brother. NOT a good way to start a relationship.