He unlocked the van, tossed his backpack into the middle seat, and slid behind the wheel. Driving towards the parking lot exit, he let his mind return to his recent encounter.

He blinked, recalling his whereabouts. He’d been driving on auto-pilot, and found he was nearly home already. He swung the van onto Elm Street, and turned into the driveway of a large gray stone house. Joe’s motorcycle stood in front of the garage, and Frank noted Vanessa’s red Wrangler parked next to the curb. He turned off the engine, retrieved his backpack, and went into the house, where he found Joe, Vanessa, and Biff in the kitchen.

The room seemed full of long legs: Biff was sprawled in a kitchen chair, his 6’4" frame dominating the space. Vanessa was perched on the kitchen table, swinging her feet as she talked. Only the back half of Joe was visible; his head and shoulders were hidden in the refrigerator as he rummaged through its contents.

"Hi, Frank!" Vanessa exclaimed, as the elder Hardy entered. "How’s college life?"

"Fine." Frank gave her a smile. He stepped cautiously over Biff’s legs. "Hey, Biff!" They high-fived, and Frank slung his backpack beneath the kitchen table, then pulled out a chair and straddled it backwards. "How is it back in high school, little ones?"

"Oh, listen to the big college man!" Joe exclaimed, emerging from the depths of the refrigerator with several apples, which he distributed around. "Aren’t we superior today!" His words were scoffing, but honest affection glowed in his blue eyes when he looked at his older brother. Joe was an inch shorter than Frank but built more broadly, which made him appear to be nearly equal in size to his lean brother. He had allowed his blonde hair to grow, over the summer, anticipating football season when any extra padding beneath his helmet was appreciated.

Vanessa crunched her apple. "You should have seen it today, Frank! During lunch break, Joe, Biff and Chet absolutely dominated the upstairs hall! They were all wearing their letter jackets, and they walked the whole length, side by side so they took up the whole hall. No, I take it back. They didn’t walk, they strutted! You should have seen all the little freshmen and sophomores stare!"

Joe turned crimson. "Vanessa…" he protested; but Biff was chuckling deep in his throat.

"You can’t deny it, buddy." he rumbled. "We made a statement!"

Frank grinned. It sounded just like something those three would do. He wished he’d been there to see it…well, maybe not….Where he’d been was okay, too.

"What’s new on the crime-and-justice scene?" Joe asked now, leaning against the table beside Vanessa and taking a huge bite of his own apple. "Learn anything you didn’t already know?"

"Oh, yeah, it’s amazing what we didn’t know." Frank answered. "I took notes all day; my hand may never recover. And I have a ton of reading to do over the weekend." Frank tossed his apple core at the sink where the garbage disposal was. "Why aren’t you two at football practice?" he asked Joe and Biff.

Biff stretched lazily and grinned. "Ah, how quickly they forget!" he intoned. "Frank, old boy, we have a game tonight. No practice, but we have to be back at the school in an hour. Remember what it was like?"

"Oh – yeah. Right. Game tonight." Frank mumbled, somewhat embarrassed.

"You’re going to come, aren’t you?" Joe asked him. He sounded a little hurt. "Don’t you want to see us play?"

"Sure! Of course I’m going to come!" Frank assured him. "I want to see you try and cope without Tony at free safety and me quarterbacking! Southport’ll slaughter you guys, since you don’t have us!"

Biff aimed a mock kick in Frank’s direction. "We’re doing fine, thanks. Aaron Whitney does a nice job at quarterback, and Joe’s getting used to being a wide receiver. And nobody pushes Chet around at center!"

Vanessa hopped off the table. "If I’m going to get home and do some homework before the game, I’ve got to go. Biff, do you want a ride home? Or are you just hanging here until time to go back to the school with Joe?"

"I’ll go home." Biff stood up. "See you guys later."

Vanessa leaned close to Joe, who tousled her long, pale-blonde hair and pulled her into a tight hug, growling softly.

"Bye, beautiful. I’ll see you after the game, okay? Meet you outside the gym entrance?"

She nodded, kissed him, and she and Biff departed. It suddenly seemed very quiet in the Hardy kitchen.

Frank pulled his backpack from under the table, and stood up. "I guess I’d better hit the books for a little while."

Joe surveyed him, blue eyes taking on a keen edge. "You sure everything’s okay?" He cocked his head, frowning a little. "Missing Callie?" he added softly.

"Um – yeah." A little flustered, a vision of red-gold hair and blue eyes floating in his brain, Frank turned and headed for the stairs. "Yeah. Think I’ll check my e-mail."

Upstairs in his room, Frank switched on his computer and accessed his e-mail. To his surprise, however, the "No Messages" signal showed. Nothing from Callie? That’s odd…. He quickly wrote her a note, telling her about the football game he was going to that night, and hit "send." Then he stretched out on his bed, grabbed a highlight pen, and opened his Criminal Justice textbook to Chapter 2.

Some time later he became aware of a tapping on his door. "Yeah?"

Joe poked his head in. "I’m leaving now. Is it okay if I take the van?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I’ll take my cycle. But then, do you and Vanessa end up with two cars?" Frank knitted his brows, trying to figure out the logistics of either too many people or too many cars.

"Why don’t I call Vanessa, have her pick you up for the game, and then you can take the van afterwards, and I’ll go with her?" Joe suggested. "There’s a dance after, and I know you don’t want to go to that."

"Okay. That works." Frank agreed, preparing to return to his reading. "If Vanessa doesn’t mind, it’s fine with me."

Joe reached for the phone on Frank’s bedside table, and swiftly punched numbers. When he reached the Bender home, he quickly explained his plan to Vanessa, who readily agreed. Joe cut the conversation short, hung up, and slapped his brother’s shoulder.

"There. All set. See you there."