Fame: A Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Mystery

16. Nancy

Applause thunders through the large room. I uncross my legs and untangle them from the fancy tablecloth, standing to give an ovation. The screen goes dark but not before we see a shot of Jake Perrault kissing the beautiful Peace Stonehill as they sit on a bench in a Texan park. If only people knew that it was really Peace's new stand-in that was in that scene. Me!

I glance back down at the circular dinner table Frank, Joe, Jake, Peace and I were sitting at while watching "50 States of Love"'s Texas episode which had been finished up just last week. My head swings to the buffet table when George is loading up another plate of food. My skirt ruffles and Frank stands behind me, grinning and clapping loudly. The episode had turned out amazing. No one would have any clue that we had to miss three days of work thanks to Nichole Cameron's big plan to stop Director Spann and Peace from working. She sabotaged the series to get back at Mr. Spann really. His reports of her showing up late for filming and disappearing during the day were going to get her kicked out of the internship program at the University of Texas and probably out of her Communications classes. She teamed up with Penelope Nester, who hates Peace's guts since she stole the staring role of the television series. It turns out that the town had had a contest to fill the role of Jake Perrault's girlfriend and Penelope had won only to find out that she was to be cast as a stand-in.

When Penelope saw Jake paying more and more attention to me, she got upset but also got a plan to take revenge. On both Peace and I! Penelope had offered her cousin, Nikki, usage of Mrs. Nester's campsite, as long as Nikki helped her get revenge. By the time they had a plan, they were against Mr. Spann, Peace, Jake and me. So they choose rather than focusing only on us, to sabotage the whole film series by slowly stopping production. They kidnapped The Producer, started the fire in Peace's trailer, stole film cameras, stole Jake and George's phone to blackmail them. They planted drugs outside the cabin and when they couldn't frame Jake and George they decided to kidnap them and eventually kill them so their secret couldn't be found out. Without the star, production would have to be shut down and Nichole would be allowed back at the college. In the end, Penelope got squeamish about killing so they packed up shop and were planning to skip town and forget about the university and the television show and leaving their captives behind. Their plan flunked when the Hardy Boys showed up on the beach near the cabin.

   "Nancy, you have to try this stuff," George whispers, thrusting a creamy dish of some sort at me as I settle back into my seat. Usually, George would shove strange dishes at her brother, but Scott and Sebastian are having some bonding time at a rodeo.

   "Have you tried this one yet?" From my other side Peace hisses, plopping a spoonful of chocolate dessert onto my plate.

Peace, it turns out, is actually very sweet without the stress of a television series. And if you can get past the fact she is a very dramatic, girly actress. I personally enjoy her company.

   "Would you three quit it?" Jake says quietly. "Some people are trying to watch the next episode."

   "Yeah, what is this awesome food you are trying to make Nancy eat? I feel like I haven't eaten in days." Joe groans as he leans over the table.

   "You literally just ate a whole buffet table of food," Frank whispers, his eyes never leaving the blooper roll. The audience erupts in laughter as a scene of Jake crawling on the ground comes on and the real Jake starts laughing so hard he falls out of his chair.

I scoot all the food that Peace and George are making me try onto Joe's plate as all eyes turn to the actor rolling around on the floor. Being a bottomless pit, he inhaled it before Jake could ever return to his seat.

   "Are you guys even watching?" Frank huffs. His hand had healed quickly even after Nikki smashed it with the remains of a vase. A heavy, broken one.

   " I am," George snorts. "Look, there's me. See, see."

I look up to where she pointed on the projector's screen. She was in the background of a deleted scene from when the episode was close to the end and she is a jogger at the park behind Jake and Peace (or me as a stand-in).

   "I see the lake. It's beautiful," I act on the screen as Joe teases George about how tiny she is and how he may have to get glasses to see her. The boys continue to go on about how she couldn't even make the final cut. George pretended to be hurt, but I knew she never really wanted to be in the show at all. "Sweetheart, I love it here. I turn to look at Jake on the screen. "I love you."

Joe leans over to my ear and is so close I can feel his lips on my ear. "Are those the lines you saw on the floor in the cabin before you were kidnapped?"

When I had been kidnapped, I had been reading those words inside the cabin window. They were the lines from peace's script that had fallen when Penelope and Nikki were moving from one cabin to another, more secluded one. Who knew that I would eventually say those exact lines?

Joe was staring at me so I nodded yes silently. He smiled and winked. I guess he had the same ironic thoughts. The small space rang with applause and I realized that the final credits were rolling. Everyone else was standing by the time I rose and straightened my skirt. I walked over with the intention of congratulating Jake when Peace tapped my shoulder.

   "So how do you do it?" she asks.

 I must have given her a funny look because she explained. "The kiss at the end. I want to do it just like that in the future."

Kiss at the end? Oh, she must mean when Jake and I kiss in the park.

   "Well, I..." I stumble.

Jake cuts into the conversation to assist. "Like this," he says.

In front of everyone, Jake tips me backward and passionately kisses me. Fake kisses me. It looks real to anyone else, especially with my hair in the way, but Jake's and I's faces didn't even touch, except for when we mess up and bump noses. Jake lets me up and I stumble over my dress and almost fall. Jake catches me and straightens my back. I smile, embarrassed as we dip into a playful, dramatic bow.

Peace scrunches up her face. "I still don't know how you do it," she comments.

   "Oh, it's simple! It's all in the-"

"ACTING!" Jake and I say together before laughing.