Don’t Look Twice (2 page)

Ned was holding a cheerleader in his arms and hugging her—tightly. It was the girl who had done the dazzling routine earlier. She was laughing, her arms thrown around his neck. Then she was kissing him—on the lips.

Nancy felt the bottom of her stomach drop. She realized just then she had made a big mistake coming to the game. So that was why Ned had been sounding so distant on the phone, she thought numbly.

He had a new girlfriend!

N
ANCY'S WHOLE BODY
felt as heavy as stone. Her mind raced, trying to make sense of her emotions. She had just about reached the conclusion that she would be all right without Ned, when their eyes met.

His face broke into the biggest smile she had ever seen. He let go of the cheerleader, took two gigantic steps toward Nancy, and swept her into his arms in a bear hug.

“Nancy! I can't believe you're here!” he cried. “What's the idea?”

“I came to surprise you,” Nancy mumbled, her voice muffled against his chest. “Maybe it was a bad idea.”

“Bad? It's the best idea I've heard in a long
time,” Ned murmured into her hair. “This is great.”

Nancy pulled back from his hug to take a good look into his eyes. She was searching for some sign that he felt differently toward her, that her presence embarrassed him. All she saw, though, were the same tender brown eyes that she had always loved.

I guess I was reading too much into that little scene with the cheerleader, Nancy thought. It was just a friendly hug—and a friendly kiss. She felt a guilty pang. How could she have ever doubted Ned?

“Ned, you should put this on before you freeze,” the cheerleader said, holding out Ned's warm-up jacket. She draped it over his shoulders. Was it Nancy's imagination, or did her hands linger a little longer than they had to? “Hi,” the girl said to Nancy.

“Nancy, this is Denise Mason.” Ned blundered through the introduction awkwardly, it seemed to Nancy. “Oh, and Denise, this is Nancy Drew.”

“Yeah, I think we got it the first time, Nickerson.” Denise laughed.

Nancy laughed, too, but already she felt the tension creep back into her body. Denise seemed to know Ned pretty well. Why had he never mentioned her to Nancy?

“Well, I've got to hit the showers,” Denise
announced. She smiled at Ned. “You weren't the only one working hard out there,” she said, lightly punching him in the stomach.

“I'll meet you back here in twenty minutes,” she added to Ned. “We're still on for Puccini's, right? Oh, and nice to meet you, Francie.”

“Nancy.” Nancy smiled politely.

“Oh, sorry, Nancy.” Denise giggled. “I'm so bad with names.”

Nancy watched as Denise made her way through the thinning crowd to the women's locker room. She was sure that Denise knew she was being watched. The cheerleader swung her hair as she walked, and her hips had an extra little swivel. Everything about that walk seemed designed to get approval—from Ned.

Nancy didn't like what she was feeling. She was jealous, and she didn't want to be.

“I hope you don't mind going out with a group,” Ned said, breaking into her thoughts. “Denise is from Chicago, so she knows all the great places to go, and we had a plan— Nancy? What's up?”

“Nothing,” Nancy replied, recovering with an extra-big smile. “Puccini's sounds great. I was just looking for George. You'd better hit those showers yourself, Nickerson. You're beginning to smell up the place.”

“Okay, okay, I'm going.” Ned laughed. “I'll meet you right back here.”

He was halfway to the men's locker room when
he stopped. “Nan!” he yelled. “I'm really glad you came.”

Laughing, Nancy yelled back, “I am, too!”

“Do you two want a couple of microphones to carry on this discussion?”

Nancy turned around to see Dave Spector smiling at her. He was already dressed in street clothes, having showered in record time, Nancy decided.

Nancy had met Dave only once, briefly, the previous semester. He was a transfer student, and this was his first season with the Wildcats. As George had pointed out, he was very cute. But he was also the kind of guy who made Nancy feel comfortable immediately.

“That was a great game,” said George, joining Nancy and Dave.

“We still have at least one more game to play before we start congratulating ourselves,” Dave replied. “But thanks.”

Nancy broke in, “I don't think you two know each other. Dave, George. George, Dave.”

“Hi,” they both said in unison.

“Well, that was a conversation stopper,” Dave said, laughing. “So, are you two going back tonight, or are you staying for the Monday and Tuesday games?”

“We're staying with some friends of my father's for the weekend,” Nancy replied. “And then we'll see. I could use a few days of basketball and being with Ned, though.”

“I bet we could dig up a case or two to keep you busy while we're here, Detective Drew,” Dave said with a twinkle. Nancy was flattered that he knew what she did. Maybe Ned did talk about her to his friends.

Just then Ned and Denise joined them, each from their respective locker rooms.

“I hope everybody's hungry,” Denise said, pulling on her leather jacket and lifting her damp hair up from her collar. “I got this restaurant recommendation from my dad's friend Bernard. He says the food at Puccini's is excellent. And there's always a lot of it.”

“No problem there,” said Ned, rubbing his stomach. “The coach said to eat right and exercise. I think we covered the exercise part.” He put his arm around Nancy. “So let's eat!”

Ned rode with Nancy and George in Nancy's Mustang, while Denise and Dave led the way in her car.

Puccini's was filled with people and the warm smells of pasta and garlic. Every table had a white paper tablecloth and a jar of crayons. A jukebox played funny old songs. Ned and Dave began singing along with one: “ ‘When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's
amore
—' ”

“That's ‘samoray'?” shouted George over their singing.

“Amore,
George! It means ‘love' in Italian,” Denise said. She caught Ned's eye and smiled.
“When you guys are done serenading us, you may want to take a look at the menu,” she suggested. “All the spaghetti dishes look great. And they have deep-dish and regular pizza.”

Nancy peeked over the top of her menu. George and Dave were excitedly rehashing the game, and Denise and Ned were arguing over whether to split a pizza or to get separate pasta dishes. Denise pointed out something on her menu to Ned. The two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Suddenly Nancy wasn't very hungry. Was she imagining the attraction between Ned and Denise? His eyes lingered on her an awful lot, and Nancy was beginning to feel like a fifth wheel.

“Why don't we get two small pizzas and a few spaghetti dishes and all share?” suggested Denise.

“Sounds good to me,” Ned agreed. “What do you think, Nan?” He threw his arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze.

That made her feel better. “Great. How about an appetizer of fried squid to start?” she said with a mischievous grin.

“Squid?
You're kidding, right?” asked Dave.

Ned laughed. “I hope so.”

The waiter took their order and returned with icy mugs of soda and two baskets of hot, crusty Italian bread.

“I'll show you exactly how that play should
have worked,” Dave said to George as he reached for the jar of crayons. He began making
x
's and
o
's on the tablecloth with a purple crayon.

“Hey, pass the crayons,” Denise said. She grabbed a handful and started drawing on the table. She worked quickly, and Nancy marveled at how, with only a few strokes, she had drawn a lively face and the beginnings of a background.

“Denise is an art history major at school, but she's a great artist, too,” Ned told Nancy.

“I'm not a great artist. Those people up on the walls are great artists,” Denise said, brandishing a red crayon. She pointed it at the walls, which were hung with prints of famous paintings.

“Hey, isn't that a Matisse?” asked Ned.

Denise nodded. “I guess you're learning something in that art history class, huh? Or have you been reading that book on the Impressionists I gave you?” Denise asked.

Ned gave her a sheepish glance. “Well, I
have
been looking at the pictures.”

Nancy studied the other prints hanging on the walls. She couldn't identify many of the artists, but she did see some things she liked.

“I like that,” she said, pointing to one that was hanging directly above Ned's head. It was a picture of a clown tumbling into a pool. “The colors are beautiful.”

“Oh, that's a Hockney,” said Denise. “It's great—if you like that sort of thing. I prefer the old masters myself.”

Nancy was about to ask which old masters when she was interrupted.

“It's a little early for a victory celebration, isn't it?” a new voice broke in.

Nancy glanced up to see a dark, wiry boy smiling down at them. He met her eyes for a moment, then turned to hold out his hand to Ned. “I'm Tim Raphael. You guys played a great game,” he said.

Nancy was a little surprised that Tim was so relaxed and friendly. He had seemed angry and tense at the game. He couldn't be in a very good mood after having been thrown out of the game and then losing to the Wildcats.

“I'm sure the next game will be a lot tougher with you in there the whole time,” said Dave.

“Yeah, Monday's game will be sink or swim for us,” Tim said. “Well, have fun in Chicago. I'll probably see you at the gym over the weekend.” He glanced at Nancy again.

The five of them watched as Tim walked back to his table. “That was pretty sportsmanlike of him,” George commented, sounding surprised.

Nancy recognized several other Eagles players at Tim's table, along with a few well-dressed older people. They were seated on the balcony level, with a good view of the room. At least four waiters were hovering near their table. Their every need was being attended to by a different person. They must be bigwigs, Nancy guessed.

As if in answer, Denise said, “That guy next to
Tim is Jeffrey Bleisch. He's a really big art collector. That's him, in the red bow tie. My father says he's got the best private collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings in the world.”

“I wonder why Tim and the other Eagles are hanging out with an art collector,” Ned remarked.

“Well, I think Bleisch is a Chicago University alumnus,” Denise told him. “I don't know the other people at that table, but none of them look very happy. Could be they're upset by the Eagles' loss.”

“Is it true that a lot of big, illegal bets are waged on these games?” Nancy asked. The others nodded.

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the food. It was brought to them not by their waiter, but by a man in a chef's outfit.

“One mushroom, one sausage, and one with the works,” he said, placing the pies deftly on the table. “And the fettuccine Alfredo I will put in the middle.
Buon appetito,
my friends, enjoy. If there is anything you want, ask for me, Mario. And allow me to congratulate the winners of the first game of the tournament.” With a flourish, he went back to the kitchen.

“Mmmm,” Dave said. “Where to begin? This could be the toughest decision I've made all day.”

“Don't wait too long or all the food will be gone,” Ned joked.

The rest of the meal was spent eating and talking about what there was to do in Chicago over the weekend.

“I've got to spend some time with my family,” said Denise between mouthfuls of the thick-crusted pizza. “My father's got a big show coming in to his gallery, and he's all hyper about it.

“By the way, do you two have a place to stay for the weekend?” she asked, turning to Nancy and George. “You could stay with me at my parents'. Ned and Dave are staying with the team on campus, but I don't think they've made any arrangements for spectators in the girls' dorm.”

“George and I are staying with friends of my father,” said Nancy. “But thanks for the offer.” She didn't like being referred to as a “spectator.” It made her feel like a real outsider. She had to admit that it was nice of Denise to offer them a place to stay, though.

“That reminds me,” Nancy added. “I have to call the Sampsons and let them know what time we'll get there. Is there a pay phone here?”

“Downstairs. I think I saw a sign when we came in,” Denise said. She was forking mounds of fettuccine onto Ned's plate.

Nancy excused herself and headed for the phone. She was glad to leave the group for a few minutes. She hadn't felt comfortable at all with Denise at the table. The cheerleader really did seem to be interested in Ned. The question was, was the feeling mutual? Nancy couldn't tell.