"Is he here yet?"

Joe boosted himself onto the kitchen counter to peer out the window. Chet was coming over for a sleep over and Joe had borrowed a ghost movie from the library for them to watch. He just had to wait till his parents went to bed or they’d never allow them to watch it.

"Joe, get off that counter! You know better!" yelled Laura Hardy as she peeled potatoes at the sink.

"He’ll be here soon; why don’t you help me get ready for dinner while you wait?"

Joe slid down and ran around setting the table. Frank came in and sat at his place and put his book on the table. Joe shrieked at him and pushed the book to the floor. "I just set the table, you dork!", his blue eyes suddenly grew big as Frank scowled and jumped at

him, pinning his younger brother to the floor. At thirteen, Frank had just had a growth spurt and was a lot bigger than his eleven year old brother. Joe was small for his age but made up for it with his short temper.

Laura sighed and stepped over Joe to pull Frank up. "Not in the kitchen, boys! And Frank be careful,

Joe's not as big as you are."

The door bell rang and Joe scrambled up to answer it as Frank retrieved his book and started for the stairs to the room he shared with Joe.

He wished he’d thought to invite Phil for a sleep over but his parents didn't want it out of control so he had to wait for his turn. Joe and Chet still played like little kids and didn't seem to like to read or study new things. He couldn't wait till Joe got older and more interested in new things. Joe had difficulty in school because of his dyslexia and got a lot of help from Frank. He preferred being read to than reading by himself.

Their older brother, Simon didn't like school either and had flunked out of Bayport University this last year. He had taken a job as an athletic trainer at the local gym. Frank often went with him to work out and Joe liked to come to rock climb.

Their older sister, Penny loved to read so Frank got along great with her. Penny was seventeen and spent a lot of her time at school with band or tennis. Frank loved being an amateur detective with Joe as they seemed to have a talent for it.

Joe and Chet played around downstairs until bedtime, then they retreated to their beds and pretended to sleep. Joe lay in the dark listening to his parents getting ready for bed. After the final creak of their bed, he rolled over and tiptoed to Chet’s cot. He tapped his friend. "Come on, we can go watch the movie now. Everyone's in bed."

Chet sat up and climbed out of bed. They tiptoed past Frank and out the door. Frank opened his eyes and sat up. He followed them downstairs to the living room where he watched Joe pull out a video hidden behind the VCR and put it in to play.

"Mom and Dad are going to ground you for life if they find out what you’re up to, Joe!", said Frank from behind his brother and Chet.

Joe jumped in surprise and spun to face his brother. He put a hand to his chest and sighed. "Geez, Frank!" Joe gasped. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack or what!? Why are you creeping around behind us like that? You can watch too. Please don’t tell Mom and Dad, Please?"

With that, Joe grabbed Franks hand and pulled him to sit on the couch beside Chet. "Just keep the volume low or we’ll all get in trouble", sighed Frank. He was kind of interested in the movie anyway.

They sat in the dark watching the movie that turned out to be quite frightening. Chet and Joe sat on either side of Frank, cringing and jumping throughout the movie. Frank enjoyed the story but found a lot of it very cheesy.

They went up to bed a few hours later, feeling nervous and very tired as it was past two a.m. The following morning, Joe woke to someone pulling the covers off him and exposing him to cold morning air.

"Time to get up, boys!" Simon bellowed while trying to untangle Joe from his bed sheet. Joe groaned and rolled over trying to block out the noise. Simon laughed, reached out and grabbed his youngest brother around the waist and slung him over his shoulder. Joe opened his eyes and squirmed and shouted. Simon dropped Joe on top of Frank who was trying to go back to sleep.

Chet sat up and laughed at the two boys struggling to get untangled. He wished he had an older brother like Simon. He seemed like a lot of fun.

Simon took the three boys off to the gym so he could get some work done. Frank usually liked to rock climb with Joe.

Joe stepped into his harness as his brother and Chet got ready to climb. They chose a wall that was an intermediate level and did some bouldering first to warm up.

Joe wanted to have muscles like Simon who seemed to be all muscles. Joe watched Frank climb a bit while he tied his shoe. As he pulled at the laces, a lace snapped. He scowled and took the shoe off, telling Frank he had to get a different pair and he’d be right back.

Joe stood at the reception desk and looked up at the girl with a ponytail. He’d never seen her before and didn't like how she looked down at him. She leaned over the counter and looked him up and down.

"My lace broke. I need another pair of shoes to rent?", said Joe in a small voice.

The girl smacked her gum and stared at him. She didn't move.

"Are you Simon's kid brother, then?" she asked as she examined her nails.

"Why d’you want to know?" Joe scowled. He didn't trust her.

The girl stared at him some more then took his shoe and rethreaded it with a new lace. She handed it back to him and turned her back.

Joe held the shoe and stared at her back. His scowl deepened.

"What's your name?" he asked, looking at her back.

"Bea" She answered not turning around.

Joe gave up and ran back to his brother and Chet.

When Simon came to pick them up to take them to lunch, he seemed really cheerful.

"I’ve got a friend you guys have to meet!" said

Simon, smiling in a goofy way.

They drove to Mr. Pizza and ordered two large pizzas while Simon chatted about a girl he’d just started dating. She worked at the gym and she was apparently really beautiful.

"Hello, boys!" said a familiar female voice beside Joe. He turned to see the girl from the gym standing beside the booth. His heart sank when Simon jumped up to give her a quick kiss before pulling her down to sit with them. Bea slid into the booth and smiled at Joe who stared at his forgotten pizza.

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.