Frank pulled the van into the school parking lot and quickly found an empty space near Chet’s jalopy, Queen.  They could see Chet and Biff standing nearby waiting for them.

Chet had given Biff a ride to school since Biff was not allowed to use his own car for another week.  He had been grounded for not telling his parents about his plans to go to Adventure Collegiate, and part of his punishment was the prohibited use of his car.

Adventure Collegiate had almost cost Biff a lot more as it turned out to be a front for a slavery ring – and if it had not been for Joe, he would most likely be someone’s property right now instead of waving at two of his closest friends. 

Biff and Joe had been best friends since Joe was in kindergarten, when they both discovered their love of anything to do with sports.

The muscular youth had been catching a ride with Frank, as the Hoopers only lived a few blocks from the Hardys, but decided to go with Chet this morning to give the brothers some time alone on Joe’s first day back.

“Hi Frank!  Hi Joe!”  Biff shouted enthusiastically as Frank gave him a quick grin.

Joe didn’t really notice though, as he was anxiously watching the other kids who were coming and going around the school.  He could already feel their penetrating gazes, as his agitation grew with each passing moment.

“Joe…” Frank’s voice trailed off as he saw his brother’s pale face and noticed how agitated he seemed to be, “are you okay?”  Out of the corner of his eye, the older boy could see Chet and Biff coming towards them.

Joe swallowed hard as he wiped his good arm across his forehead.  “Um…yeah.  I’m just…aah…” he stopped, as he couldn’t seem to get his words out.  It felt like everyone’s eyes were boring into his skull and he wasn’t even out of the van yet!

Frank reached across and touched his brother’s arm.  “What’s wrong?”  he asked, totally mystified.  Joe had not mentioned anything to him about being sick.

“Frank…”  The pleading note in Joe’s voice almost broke his heart, and Frank used his other arm to motion their friends away from the van.  Chet and Biff, close enough, to realize that something was wrong, nodded and hung back behind the van.  “I’m sorry – I just can’t go in right now…”

“Joe,” Frank made Joe look at him and immediately regretted it as he saw how intensely upset Joe was – his eyes shone like blue orbs.  “Do you want me to take you home?”  As he asked that, the school bell rang. 

Joe looked startled and for a moment, Frank had the crazy notion that his brother was just going to bolt away from the van, but then Joe shook his head.

“No – you go to class.  I’ll be in…shortly….Please, Frank – I just need to be alone for a while.”

The last thing that Frank wanted to do was leave Joe alone in the van, but he didn’t know what else to do.

“Are you sure?”  he asked. 

Joe nodded his head.  “Yeah I’ll be fine and I will be in….I just need a couple of minutes.” 

Reluctantly, Frank grabbed his backpack from the car and with one more final look at his brother’s white face, he followed Chet and Biff into the school.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked a concerned Chet. 

Frank just shook his head.  “I don’t know….He isn’t talking to me—”  and then Frank stopped.  Of course, he slapped his head!

“Are you okay?” Now Biff was getting concerned as Frank just stopped in mid-sentence.  The other teen looked at them for a second, open-mouthed, and then regaining his composure, he nodded.

“Yeah, I just realized that there is someone who might know what is going on with Joe – Pharaoh….I gotta go.”  He turned away from the class door and down the corridor towards the office, but not before calling back, “Biff, tell Mr. Sikes I’ll be a little late for class!” and then he was gone. 

Chet and Biff glanced at each other in confusion; Frank always knew what was going on with Joe, what had happened?  Why did Pharaoh know something that Frank didn’t??

* * *

Joe sat in the van and watched the last few students run by on their way to class.  They threw a quick look in his direction as they passed the van and Joe kept wondering why it bothered him that everyone was looking at him. 

It was not like he wasn’t used to having people watch him – he was the quarterback for the football team and the stands were usually packed, but, then, he reasoned, people weren’t just looking at him, they were cheering him on. And he was part of a team.

Now he felt they were staring at him because he was different – he was no longer just Joe Hardy- school athlete, teen sleuth, he was Joe Hardy – back from the dead!

The blond teen knew he shouldn’t feel this way but he couldn’t help it, and no matter how much he tried to deny it, living two months as someone else had changed him.  And he wasn’t sure if liked the change.

* * *

Frank hoped his dad was home now.  They had not seen him at breakfast, but knew he was due back from his overnight stake-out sometime in the early morning. 

This was the first case that Fenton Hardy had taken since Joe’s death and it was nice to see him working again. 

Frank had explained to the vice-principal why he wasn’t in class, and then given a private place to make his phone calls.

“Hello, Hardy residence,” his father’s deep voice answered after the third ring.  He sounded tired. 

The teen remembered that his mother had already gone for the day.  Laura Hardy volunteered with the Red Cross and had been getting ready to leave the house at the same time as the boys.

“Hi, Dad!” Frank said before going on to explain why he was calling. 

At first, Fenton was concerned when he had heard Frank’s voice.  He thought something had happened to one of the boys, but then a few minutes later, he was back in his office rifling through some papers on his desk.  Finding what he was looking for, Fenton picked up the extension in his office and read out the phone number to Frank.

“Let me know what happens!”  he said, and Frank promised him he would, just before hanging up.

* * *

Joe was still sitting in the van a few minutes later when he heard his cell phone ringing – it was Pharaoh.  Surprised because Pharaoh knew that he was supposed to be in class, he answered it.

“Hi,” Joe tried to keep his agitation out of his voice, but Pharaoh wasn’t buying it.

“Spill – why are you sitting in your van in the parking lot and not inside learning stuff?”  the older boy demanded.

“I don’t know…I just can’t face everyone right now,” mumbled Joe as he laid his head back against the seat and closed his eyes.

“Why?  What have you done?”  Pharaoh asked, deciding it was time to get a little more aggressive in his support.

“Well I…well…” Joe thought about this for a moment.  “Well, I came back from the dead…!”

“And…?”

“And ?” Joe repeated, confused.

“And what’s wrong with that?”  Pharaoh waited for a few minutes and then continued, “Again I’m going to ask – what have you done so wrong that you can’t face anyone??”

This made Joe think.

“I don’t know – I just feel kind of weird.”

“Do you think you would feel this way if you had gone on a holiday for two months and then came back?”

“No,” Joe snorted, and Pharaoh continued.

“Then what are you afraid of?  That people will look at you?  Of course people are going to look at you – you’re back.  Think about for a second.  If you thought someone you cared about had died only to find out they were still alive, wouldn’t you want to take a look at them?”

Joe thought about that for a moment, and immediately a picture of Iola Morton came to mind.  If he found out that Iola was still alive, hell yes, he would want to stare at her too – just to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him and that she was real. 

He began to see what Pharaoh was talking about.

“Yes…because…only if I saw it with my own two eyes, would I believe it,” he said as he started to unbuckle his seatbelt.

“You hit it on the head – little Hardy.  Let them ALL stare – I think they’ve earned the right.  From what I heard, they all sure as hell grieved enough for you!”  Pharaoh stated firmly, determined to give Joe the confidence he needed.

As Joe started to get out of the van, he stopped and said, “Hey, how did you know I didn’t go in?”

Pharaoh chuckled, “A little birdie told me,” and hung up.

* * *

Frank quickly dialed the overseas number after logging it into the phonebook at school with a promise to pay the charges when they were billed, and waited breathlessly. 

The main window overlooked the parking lot and he could just make out his brother’s figure sitting in the van. 

Just when Frank was going to hang up, he heard a groggy-sounding voice answer, and realized Pharaoh must have been snoozing.

“Hullo?” 

“Hi Pharaoh, it’s me, Frank.” 

Pharaoh paused for a moment before asking suspiciously, “Frank who?”

The dark-haired teen felt like he had been jabbed in the stomach, and wondered if Pharaoh was playing dumb on purpose, but then he quickly recovered, realizing that he had not talked enough to the other boy for him to recognize his voice on the phone; compounded with the realization that ‘Frank’ was a pretty common name and Pharaoh might know more then one!

“Frank Hardy.”

Immediately Pharaoh apologized, as his voice came back clear and alert.  “Sorry, Frank – I was in the middle of an after-dinner snooze.  Is something wrong?”

Pharaoh couldn’t figure out why else Frank would be calling him.  Not that he held anything against the other boy, but he got the impression that Frank was not too fond of him.

“Sort of.  I’m at school with Joe but he won’t get out of the van and he’s really upset.  Look…” Frank took a deep breath, as this was going to be hard for him to admit, “I don’t know what’s wrong with him – he isn’t talking to me.  So I was hoping…well…I—”

The older boy stopped him.  “It’s okay, Frank, I know what’s going on.”

He heard Pharaoh sigh.  “Now, I don’t know why Joe didn’t mention this to you.  But he probably didn’t want to worry you….He thinks you worry too much as it is.”

Frank snorted gently when he heard this, but if Pharaoh heard him he ignored it ,and continued, “But he’s terrified to go back to school.”

“Why?”

“Because of all the attention he’s afraid he’s going to get.”

“Oh,” was all Frank could say.  That had never even crossed his mind.  Joe was the social, outgoing Hardy – it baffled him that his brother would be nervous about being the center of attention anywhere.  But it started to make some sense the more he thought about it.

Since Joe had come home he had not gone anywhere.  The only people he had seen were Biff, Chet, and their other close friends, Tony Prito, and Phil Cohen. 

And even then he had been more reserved than usual, but they had all thought it had to do with his recovery from a concussion he had gotten in the car accident; but now Frank realized that it was all related – Joe had just withdrawn.

“Listen, Frank,” Pharaoh’s voice brought him back, “give me a few minutes, okay?  I’ll call and see if I can at least get him out of the van.  The rest will be up to you…” his voice trailed off and then he continued.

“Look, I know this couldn’t have been easy for you, calling me.  But I just want you to know that I’m not trying to weasel in on your relationship with your brother – it’s just I really care for Joe.  He was my little brother for a while too, and in that time, I realized what a great kid he is.  I’d do anything for him…and nothing to ever hurt him – you know this, right?”

Frank was speechless; he wasn’t sure what had brought this on.  Maybe because it was the first time that he and Pharaoh had actually just talked one on one without Joe around.

“I do know,” he said when the words finally came, “And Pharaoh, I appreciate it…honestly I do.”

“Just take care of him, okay.”  With that Pharaoh hung up the phone, and Frank, feeling about an inch tall over his jealousy of that relationship, walked out of the office and towards the main door to wait for his brother.

* * *

Joe saw Frank and gave him a weak smile.  “Thanks.”

The old boy nodded but didn’t say anything.

* * *

Frank walked Joe to his first classroom after they got late slips from the office. 

“Are you going to be okay?”  he asked, his forehead wrinkled in concern.  It was the same look Joe had seen on their father’s face a thousand times.

“You should get a t-shirt with that printed on it, and save your breath,” Joe joked nervously as they stood outside the door.

Frank just shot him a look and came right back with, “With you as a brother, I just might,” and then he gave Joe’s arm a gentle squeeze.  “It’ll be okay, kiddo, you’ll see.”

Taking a deep breath, Joe knocked on the class door, and a moment later it was opened by Mrs. Jonie.   When she saw Joe, her face broke into a wide grin and she grabbed him in a tight hug. 

Relieved, Frank smiled and knew his brother would be just fine.  Turning, he hurried to his class knowing his teacher wouldn’t be giving him a hug when he got there!

* * *

“WELCOME BACK, JOE HARDY” the class shouted when the teacher finally released him. 

Joe’s eyes were bright when everyone finally settled down, and Chet grabbed his arm and steered him to the vacant seat he’d been holding for him.