Do I Want To Know?

Chapter 15- Sinking Ship

   Nancy was the first to follow an amusement park guard into the security booth, once they were hesitantly granted entry. Frank, Ned, and Callie were close behind, observant of Nancy talking to the guard. He allowed her to sit at the desk of cameras, pointing to the different buttons she had to push in order to find the right footage. Ned closed the door behind them, an impressed smile spreading across his face, that he could never help when he watched Nancy take charge like that.

   That affection for her almost overtook the dull ache in his chest. Almost. He still couldn't really shake the uneasy feeling he encountered whenever Nancy looked at Frank. Especially that last time. It was like there had been something electric between them, and Ned wished he had never seen it.

   If he had never seen it, he wouldn't have to think about the possibility that every smile she gave him was empty, that all the sweet words she told him meant nothing, after all.

   That she didn't feel the same spark with him, as she did with Frank.

   Maybe she never felt the spark Ned felt to begin with.

   He wasn't so sure he could stand that.

   The security guard took a seat at the back of the room, overseeing but letting them take the reins. Ned shook his head, trying to clear his mind, and approached the cameras with the rest of them. He noticed Callie standing off to the side, eyeing the cameras with her arms crossed. Ned considered the idea that she was having similar thoughts he was.

   Nancy clutched the computer mouse in her right hand, clicking around to find the right footage. It hadn't been that long ago the accident in the haunted house had happened, so it shouldn't have been as difficult as it was to find the footage. She considered asking Ned to help her out, considering he knew a few things about this type of stuff, until she felt someone's presence leaning in behind her.

   Nancy peeked to her side, assuming Ned had read her mind or something, but she saw Frank standing there instead. His hand rested on the desk beside hers, which was tightly holding the mouse in an almost white-knuckled grip. He leaned down slightly, his mouth by her ear, and she watched as his eyes scanned the screens before them.

   Fuck, fuck, fuck. Is he doing this on purpose? Nancy thought desperately to herself, Frank's breath ghosting over her ear making her brain fuzz over. A blush crept up the back of her neck, and she was grateful Frank was blocking her view of Ned behind them.

   If she were to see, she could only imagine what he'd look like.

   Sure enough, Ned stood slack-jawed at the audacity of Frank Hardy, fists threatening to clench at his sides.

   Nancy could also guess what Callie looked like right about now, but her eyes were stuck on Frank. His features were sharp in the glow of the computer screens, and she realized how dim the room was altogether. His eyebrows knit together slightly as his gaze darted over the screens and his jaw set, intently searching for the same thing she had been. He was focused, and if he noticed her looking at him, he didn't let on.

   Nancy felt herself smile a little at his mystery-solving tunnel vision. All the drama was put away for the search of a potential clue. Even if he wasn't making her head spin on purpose, her heart still pounded at the thought that they may be on the same page, after all.

   "I think I found it, Nancy." He said, his voice soft in her ear, but it still jumped her out of her thoughts. Her eyes barely widened, and she swallowed when he put his hand over hers, guiding the mouse to a link that brought up the cameras to the haunted house.

   "Great...!" Her voice was hoarse, and she cleared her throat slightly before forcing herself to look at the screens, rather than Frank Hardy's face.