action girl.

George has always been relatively happy with her life in River Heights. She grew up with an amazing family, her cousin Bess quickly became her best friend, and once they met Nancy everything seemed to fall into place. As she grew George slowly realized that she was more interested in science, technology, and sports than the other girls in her class, but she never thought much of it. She was content in her interests even if the boys in her classes would make fun of her for not being ‘girly’ enough. Their taunts never even got to her, more than anything it made her want to prove them wrong and the looks on their faces when she’d beat them in kickball games or with science fair projects made it even more worth it to her. But where George excelled at intelligence and sports, her lack of tact and tendency to be brutally honest got her into more trouble than she’d ever like to admit. Now older and more experienced in life from various trips and internships, George is more sure than ever of what she wants out of life, but she doesn’t know if staying in River Heights is part of that. She knows that she wants a career in the science/technology field and she knows that she has it in her to accomplish that goal. She’s just worried that her indelicate nature drives new people away and might get in the way of accomplishing her dreams.

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

Run in the snow.

[has been running in the snow for a while now. sees someone she knows and waves]

Hey! How are you? What are you doing out in this?

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

Run in the snow.

[has been running in the snow for a while now. sees someone she knows and waves]

Hey! How are you? What are you doing out in this?

[nancy--drew-deactivated20160310]

River Heights + text posts

pt 1: Nancy, Bess, George, Ned, Frank, Joe

[nancy--drew-deactivated20160310]

River Heights + text posts

pt. 2: Zoe, Alexei, Colton, Jessalyn, Dave, Dagny, Grigor, Xenia

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

curiosity { open }

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

Things like that were definitely more up her alley. “No, I would love that. I’ll go by there later on today.” And then figure out what to do about the internship and what else she wanted to do in her life. And she could also use some time to help her figure out the mystery. Because she was definitely interested in helping with the mystery. Now she was interested in finding out what had happened in the notebook. “That’s very true, it does look better on resumes,” she agreed. She hadn’t thought about that until now.

When the pancakes came, George pushed her things aside and then grabbed some syrup. “It’s so criminal. I don’t know how they get away with it. Except that I do because politicians are awful.” Huh. Cappy’s. Every little clue helps. “I will definitely look into it.”

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

He nodded grimly at the politician comment– he was intimately familiar with how horrible politicians are. All politicians, in his view. “They get away with it thanks to the tireless efforts of people like our very own Toni Scallari. Why she is free to continue dishing out fake smiles along with her ice cream, and not languishing in federal prison, I don’t know. Although I could make an educated guess.”

He was glad George would consider working for the museum. Even though history wasn’t her chosen career path, she showed enthusiasm, which was more than he could say for a lot of kids who did choose history as their career path. “Glad to hear it. I’ll be there for most of the day, seeing to endless last-minute details. Although I hope things work out for you with that internship. The grapevine says you’re something of a scientific prodigy. Can’t imagine why they’d let you go to begin with.”

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

George had the same sentiment about all of the politicians. There wasn’t one who didn’t compromise on all of their promises, if they had the right kind of thoughts about the world in general. “Yeah, I don’t really get why she’s still elected either. I think we’re probably thinking the same thing.” That woman was like a mosquito. And Bess needed a better job, if you asked her.

Working at the museum seemed to be like a good alternative to a lot of stuff. One of the good parts about being friends with Nancy was that a lot of her cases had to do with historical figures. “Okay, I’ll come by soon. Thanks, so do I. They said they were going to try and find us all new places with other internships, but I don’t know if they will. Well I guess it’s because they were letting most people go. I don’t know if I’d go with prodigy, but I am pretty good.”

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

curiosity { open }

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

Though she was very young, she felt the same way about kids. At least for now. They weren’t her favorite types of things. But her mother thought that she was going to be a spinster because she wasn’t like Bess and wasn’t all boy crazy. Worse she thought that George was going to be a lesbian. Her sexuality wasn’t something she thought about. For her she just liked who she liked, it didn’t matter about their gender or whatever. 

She nodded her head knowingly. Yeah they thought things back then, because they didn’t understand it. Like sciencey things. The technology of today wasn’t at all the same as it was when. But a lot of the stuff that as around today were because of things back then. “Hmmm. Arizona. Shadow Mountain. Well that’s definitely a place to start looking. Maybe the town was so small that there’s no mention of them online. That happens a lot. You’re probably better off looking for physical evidence.” Ledgers and books and things.

George hm’d a bit. “I’ll do some digging. I can get into things that are bigger than the internet. I’ll see what I can find out.” It was worth looking through, at the very least. As far as the historical society.. “Well it’s not really technology based, but it might help in some ways. Anything is better than working at Star Wares and barely making minimum wage.”

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

He nodded understandingly when George said tech was more her thing. When he’d insisted, to satisfy curiosity, that Nancy give him the full rundown of how they’d stopped Brenda, he recalled her saying that George used a signal jammer she’d jury-rigged on the spur of the moment– no small feat.

“If you don’t want to, it’s all the same to me. Either way, I appreciate the company in working out the journal riddle. You apply yourself. Don’t see that nearly often enough in young people. Give it a think, at least. The minimum wage is criminal, and if nothing else, a museum looks better on a resumé than Star Wares,” he said with a smile. “Oh, there’s one more clue I forgot! She– our mystery woman, that is– complains about the noise from Cappy’s on Saturday nights. Probably a saloon, unless she had a neighbor with a penchant for wild house parties.”

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

Things like that were definitely more up her alley. “No, I would love that. I’ll go by there later on today.” And then figure out what to do about the internship and what else she wanted to do in her life. And she could also use some time to help her figure out the mystery. Because she was definitely interested in helping with the mystery. Now she was interested in finding out what had happened in the notebook. “That’s very true, it does look better on resumes,” she agreed. She hadn’t thought about that until now.

When the pancakes came, George pushed her things aside and then grabbed some syrup. “It’s so criminal. I don’t know how they get away with it. Except that I do because politicians are awful.” Huh. Cappy’s. Every little clue helps. “I will definitely look into it.”

[troianforever-blog]

[troianupdates]

troian bellisario’s instagram selfies

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

curiosity { open }

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

“Not being old and alone is a serious thing, don’t you know. And not having grandbabies? The actual worst.” George rolled her eyes. At least it was that way according to her mother. “Huh. It makes you wonder if like she actually believed that, or whether she thought that because she didn’t know any better. Like if she had a very keen sense of deduction. You know, like how they always say Sherlock Holmes is or whatever. Maybe she was just really observant.” It was a good way to make money and get run out of town, she guessed.

The part about the end was very intriguing to her. Huh. “Well you know a good way to figure something like that out is to see if anything actually did happen in the town between.. April and September, or whenever it was.” In fact she could probably pull out her phone and google it right now. That was always her job when there weren’t books around. Look stuff up on the internet. “You should definitely use the museum, or the internet to see if they have any record about anything weird happening.”

No time for a hobby? Huh. “Well I can do some research if you want. I don’t really have much to do now that I’m out of an internship. I don’t mind, it beats having to talk about myself.”

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

He grimaced at the mention of children. He couldn’t stand them and had known he didn’t want them since he was a kid himself. His parents had smiled indulgently and said he’d change his mind someday, but here we are decades later.

“That’s a good guess. Even I made a suspect or two’s jaw drop at things I knew, and I’m no more psychic than I am Sherlock Holmes. If she told fortunes for a living and had this remarkable mind, she might have believed one caused the other. Especially back then, you know?” He shook his head when George suggested looking online. “The town is never named. Of course. She drops one clue, though. Says it’s at the foot of Shadow Mountain. I looked it up, it’s in central Arizona, but there are no towns within 50 miles anymore, just ranches. So I looked at ghost towns, but still no dice. Must not be enough left to be worth mentioning.

“If you think you can turn up something I missed, and you really want to, be my guest. If she did end up moving to River Heights, that’s a lucky break because it means there are records of her sitting around somewhere. A phone book, an obituary, something.” When George mentioned her lost internship, he got an idea, and his mind briefly switched gears from the mystery. “Like I said, the historical museum opens soon. We’ll need archivists, docents… a lot of positions are about to open up. You could put in an application, if that seems like something that might interest you.”

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

Though she was very young, she felt the same way about kids. At least for now. They weren’t her favorite types of things. But her mother thought that she was going to be a spinster because she wasn’t like Bess and wasn’t all boy crazy. Worse she thought that George was going to be a lesbian. Her sexuality wasn’t something she thought about. For her she just liked who she liked, it didn’t matter about their gender or whatever. 

She nodded her head knowingly. Yeah they thought things back then, because they didn’t understand it. Like sciencey things. The technology of today wasn’t at all the same as it was when. But a lot of the stuff that as around today were because of things back then. “Hmmm. Arizona. Shadow Mountain. Well that’s definitely a place to start looking. Maybe the town was so small that there’s no mention of them online. That happens a lot. You’re probably better off looking for physical evidence.” Ledgers and books and things.

George hm’d a bit. “I’ll do some digging. I can get into things that are bigger than the internet. I’ll see what I can find out.” It was worth looking through, at the very least. As far as the historical society.. “Well it’s not really technology based, but it might help in some ways. Anything is better than working at Star Wares and barely making minimum wage.”

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

curiosity { open }

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

“An old maid. I’ve heard that before, from my own mother. I guess that phrase is still around,” she quipped. George leaned forward to check out where he had turned to the right page. “Whose fortune she can’t read? Huh. I guess she’s a fortune teller? Is there any other hint to that? I mean if it’s old as you think it is then.. I mean that’s a big thing. People that do that kind of thing, didn’t usually get married anyway, right? Like they would think they weren’t worthy of being married.” She gestured for him to continue. “If it gets more cryptic, keep going.” She was now very interested.

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

Alexei quirked an eyebrow. “What a nice thing to say to one’s daughter.” He glanced back down at the book. “Fortune teller is my guess. No such thing, of course, but she seemed to honestly believe she was the real deal. Talks a lot about how knowing too much is terribly lonely, how everyone thought she was crazy or a liar… which I can certainly feel for. Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself.” He’d had all this in his head for days, so now he was info-dumping without meaning to. Just then he remembered that waffles existed in his proximity, and paused a moment to take a few bites.

“The town was just as interesting. Corrupt marshals, outlaws, traveling hucksters, mining accidents, name a classic Western trope and this place had it. Of course the name is never mentioned. The whole thing is infuriatingly vague.“ He flipped a page. "Towards the end, she says something awful is about to happen, but the sheriff won’t listen, so she has to stop it herself. That was in April 1897. The next ten pages are missing! It jumps straight to September. The next entry doesn’t say much. Just that after everything, she couldn’t stay in Arizona anymore, so she was heading east and not looking back. After that, she wrote less and less until it just drops off. I think she ended up in River Heights, and somehow this made its way to me.”

He leaned back in his seat. “I wish I could find out for sure, but I have no time for a hobby right now. Well, the historical museum opens soon and I’ve got carte blanche with the archives, so maybe something will turn up. If the journal were complete, I’d probably have read it once and set it aside. But of course R.R. had to go and cut out the best part and get me hooked.” He smiled a bit sheepishly. "I guess you probably didn’t plan to spend your morning getting your ear talked off by me.“

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

“Not being old and alone is a serious thing, don’t you know. And not having grandbabies? The actual worst.” George rolled her eyes. At least it was that way according to her mother. “Huh. It makes you wonder if like she actually believed that, or whether she thought that because she didn’t know any better. Like if she had a very keen sense of deduction. You know, like how they always say Sherlock Holmes is or whatever. Maybe she was just really observant.” It was a good way to make money and get run out of town, she guessed.

The part about the end was very intriguing to her. Huh. “Well you know a good way to figure something like that out is to see if anything actually did happen in the town between.. April and September, or whenever it was.” In fact she could probably pull out her phone and google it right now. That was always her job when there weren’t books around. Look stuff up on the internet. “You should definitely use the museum, or the internet to see if they have any record about anything weird happening.”

No time for a hobby? Huh. “Well I can do some research if you want. I don’t really have much to do now that I’m out of an internship. I don’t mind, it beats having to talk about myself.”

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

curiosity { open }

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

“It certainly seems like it,” George said with a bit of a sulk. “I’m really not sure what I did to piss off fate, or whatever else you want to call it.” She had been pretty lucky in that she hadn’t messed up her car while she had gotten a flat tire. The new tire had cost enough as it was, she didn’t really have the money to get new parts for the car or anything. “Maybe I should start walking everywhere too.”

No, she didn’t really want a heart-to-heart, though maybe if they had been closer. She didn’t know him all that well though. But she was definitely pleased to have a change of subject and something to take her mind off of everything. She leaned forward to take a look at the notebook now that he was pulling it out again.

“Huh. That’s so neat. And there’s no clue at all as to how it got here? That’s so interesting. Maybe if you have some time to yourself, you can do a bit of digging. This sort of thing sounds like it’s right up Nancy’s alley.” Not that he had to ask her about it or anything. “What kind of things does she talk about? Is it a she?”

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

“I thought the same. I’ll show it to Nancy if she ever stops by. I wasn’t sure the author was a woman at first. But at one point she writes that her neighbor was pestering her to get married or she’d wind up, and I quote, an old maid.” He flipped to the appropriate page– clearly he’d gotten familiar with the book. “After that she says the strangest thing. ‘I told her that the day I meet someone whose fortune I can’t read, will be the day I get engaged. Which means, of course, that I never shall, but that’s my lot.’ What do you make of that? And this is only page five. It gets more cryptic from there.”

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

“An old maid. I’ve heard that before, from my own mother. I guess that phrase is still around,” she quipped. George leaned forward to check out where he had turned to the right page. “Whose fortune she can’t read? Huh. I guess she’s a fortune teller? Is there any other hint to that? I mean if it’s old as you think it is then.. I mean that’s a big thing. People that do that kind of thing, didn’t usually get married anyway, right? Like they would think they weren’t worthy of being married.” She gestured for him to continue. “If it gets more cryptic, keep going.” She was now very interested.

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

curiosity { open }

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

She listened actually quite attentively, since she was actually interested in whatever he was reading. “Just ten pages missing? Is it like a book that’s been copied? Or is it like a journal? Only one?” Because that would be too bad if he couldn’t find another copy and wouldn’t ever figure out the missing pages. George didn’t seem to mind the lack of small talk either, she felt the same way though maybe for different reasons.

In all honesty, she would have rather talk about the book then whatever was wrong with her. Still the book was closed and he was turning his attention to her. If she noticed that he actually did read Stephen King, she didn’t say anything. Best leave some things to the imagination.

“Ah well..” she shrugged a little. “It’s just been a bunch of .. it’s been a bad couple of weeks. I lost a job.. well an internship. And I found out something I didn’t want to know about someone I care about.. and my car got a flat tire.” When the waitress came, she ordered chocolate chip pancakes, just because. Might as well get as much sugar as she could. She’d be turning into Bess at some point.

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

Alexei was delighted that George expressed an interest. He had a way of getting little obsessions with things that seemed exciting to him, but usually no one wanted to listen to him enthuse. But after George opened up about what a lousy day she was having, he felt bad.

“Did you walk under a ladder with a black cat on it? That’s a lot of bad luck. Glad you got back on the road. It’s a death trap out there with all the ice and snow. It’s a good argument for why I walk everywhere. Well, maybe this will take your mind off things for a moment.” He could tell George wasn’t exactly feeling a heart-to-heart– they were barely acquainted, after all– and he’d rather avoid that awkwardness too.

“It’s the handwritten, one-of-a-kind original.” He eagerly opened the book again and turned it around so George could see it right side up. He pointed to the spot on the front leaf where the owner had inked their initials. “R.R. That’s the only clue to her identity. From what I can gather, she lived in Arizona for most of her life, so how this ended up in River Heights in a box of junk, I don’t know. But I wish I could find out. I admit I’ve gotten quite caught up in the mystery. I don’t think I have the heart to sell it now.”

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

“It certainly seems like it,” George said with a bit of a sulk. “I’m really not sure what I did to piss off fate, or whatever else you want to call it.” She had been pretty lucky in that she hadn’t messed up her car while she had gotten a flat tire. The new tire had cost enough as it was, she didn’t really have the money to get new parts for the car or anything. “Maybe I should start walking everywhere too.”

No, she didn’t really want a heart-to-heart, though maybe if they had been closer. She didn’t know him all that well though. But she was definitely pleased to have a change of subject and something to take her mind off of everything. She leaned forward to take a look at the notebook now that he was pulling it out again.

“Huh. That’s so neat. And there’s no clue at all as to how it got here? That’s so interesting. Maybe if you have some time to yourself, you can do a bit of digging. This sort of thing sounds like it’s right up Nancy’s alley.” Not that he had to ask her about it or anything. “What kind of things does she talk about? Is it a she?”

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

The Worst Luck | Open

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

By the time that Nancy pulled up behind her, George was already into the trunk of her car, pulling out the jack and the spare donut that she kept in there. Hearing the car, she looked up at who it was. Nancy again. Not that she wasn’t happy to see her, but really her bad mood was not going to make this a good conversation. Probably. 

“Hey,” she greeted, sullenly. “I blew a tire and I think I sprained something when I kicked the car. I just.. I give up on today. I almost just want to call the tow truck and not change this tire. That’s how fed up I am.”

Which was saying something, because George really adored changing tires. Weird, but true. Even getting out the jack and going over to the side to set it up wasn’t making her feel any better. 

“Where were you off to? You don’t have to stay.. I’m fine.” 

Stop pushing people away, George.

Her mother’s voice in her head was not helping at all. 

[nancy--drew-deactivated20160310]

Nancy furrowed her eyebrows at George, her agitation blatant in her tone and expression. “Can I help?” She asked, concerned. As little regard as she often had for her own safety, Nancy was excellent at worrying about others. “Maybe you should sit down or something.”

She watched as George grabbed the jack, determined, something obviously on her mind. Nancy was never one to leave things alone; it wasn’t so much that she couldn’t see when she was crossing a line, it was more that she didn’t care, always finding ways to justify her nosiness. “Just heading home.” She replied, stepping a few more feet closer to George. “I don’t mind sticking around. Come on, really, what’s up?”

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

“No, I mean I know how to change a tire, don’t worry about it.” George was always the one people called to change tires. She got that though. She started jacking up the car, getting it all ready so that she could take the lug nuts off the tire and then get the tire off. “I can’t sit down, I have to change the tire. Or else I can’t get home.” Well Nancy would give her a ride probably, but that would leave her car there on the side of the road.

George wasn’t looking at Nancy while she tried to change her tire. She was glad for the company, but wasn’t sure how to convey it when she was so angry at herself. “It’s just been a bad week or two, that’s always. Nothing’s really going my way. And this is pretty much the last straw.”

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

curiosity { open }

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

Handing over the glove, she glanced over at the booth that she had been about to sit on and then back at Alexei. “Sure, thank you. As long as you don’t mind me eating pancakes.” Because that was what she really wanted to eat. She slipped into the seat across from him and then looked over at the book that he was reading. It didn’t look familiar. Nothing on the best seller’s list, she kind of figured. That was’t really a surprise. He didn’t strike her as the type to read Stephen King or anything.

“What are you reading? Anything interesting?” Might as well make small talk while she read the menu and tried to decide what type of pancakes she might care for.

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

“Oh, very! Quite a curiosity. It’s an old journal that came through the shop. I thought I’d skim over it to see what it was, and you know something? I can’t put it down. Apparently it belonged to a woman who lived in this bizarre little town out West in the late 19th century, and her life was something else. But there are pages missing, and it is killing me.”

Alexei couldn’t do small talk, life is too short for that anyway, so it felt natural to launch right into the story. His eyes were practically sparkling like an anime character. But he noticed that George seemed 100% done with this day already at 8 AM, so he digressed for now. He closed the journal and stuffed it halfway into his bag, which contained, among other things, a copy of Joyland by Stephen King.

“And what about you, Miss Fayne? You look like you’re running on empty.” When the waitress came around– a face he didn’t recognize, there were an unusual number of those lately– he ordered blackberry waffles and a whole pot of coffee. He could drink it by the gallon all by himself, and it looked like George could certainly use some too.

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

She listened actually quite attentively, since she was actually interested in whatever he was reading. “Just ten pages missing? Is it like a book that’s been copied? Or is it like a journal? Only one?” Because that would be too bad if he couldn’t find another copy and wouldn’t ever figure out the missing pages. George didn’t seem to mind the lack of small talk either, she felt the same way though maybe for different reasons.

In all honesty, she would have rather talk about the book then whatever was wrong with her. Still the book was closed and he was turning his attention to her. If she noticed that he actually did read Stephen King, she didn’t say anything. Best leave some things to the imagination.

“Ah well..” she shrugged a little. “It’s just been a bunch of .. it’s been a bad couple of weeks. I lost a job.. well an internship. And I found out something I didn’t want to know about someone I care about.. and my car got a flat tire.” When the waitress came, she ordered chocolate chip pancakes, just because. Might as well get as much sugar as she could. She’d be turning into Bess at some point.

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

curiosity { open }

Alexei couldn’t get used to the way the other regulars raised their mugs and greeted him when he walked into Mabel Rose’s diner every morning. As if they weren’t sitting around that counter a year ago, whispering and glancing over their shoulders and feeling good about themselves. He’d waited over three decades for his name to be cleared and for everyone to know it. He’d obsessively fantasized about people coming up to him and saying “Sorry I was a sanctimonious ass. I acted like a mindless sheep and made a damaging snap judgment. I hope you can forgive me.” But instead, they tried to act like they had collective amnesia. Alexei was prepared to handle shamefaced apologies; he wasn’t sure how to react to pretensions that nothing had happened. It was a little uncomfortable, and a lot unsatisfying.

But just now, he had far more interesting things to expend energy thinking about. Pleased to find his favorite booth unoccupied, he sat and removed his profusely colorful scarf and gloves. With great care, he took an old leather journal out of his bag and flipped it open. The battered blue book had been dropped off at the store with a heap of other things on consignment. Its brittle pages were dated between 1886 and 1899, and the story they contained was fascinating, but incomplete. For the hundredth time, Alexei ran a finger along the place where ten pages had been cut out. He never could resist a mystery.

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

Since George’s bout of bad luck, she had gotten her tire replaced and she was back on the road. Though she was going to be more on the lookout for giant nails in the road or whatever else had taken out her tire. It wasn’t really making her feel any better about her life though. Right now she just wanted some coffee and maybe some pancakes. Pancakes solved everything and made her feel better, even when there wasn’t really a reason to feel better. So here she was at Mabel Rose’s diner, going back to her own booth when she noticed something on the floor. It was a glove.

“Uh, is this yours?” She asked, reaching down and grabbing it before she realized that the person she was talking to was him. “Oh. Hi Mr. Markovic. Is this your glove?”

George held it out in his general direction.

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

Alexei was thinking so intently about the puzzle at hand that he was slightly startled when someone was suddenly standing there and addressing him. He looked up to see a familiar face. He didn’t mind George; she and her friends had made sure that acidic reporter got what she deserved. They’d also listened to his story when no one else bothered, and that counted for a lot.

“Good morning, Miss Fayne. Yes, thank you.” He took the red glove. “Would you care to sit?”

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

Handing over the glove, she glanced over at the booth that she had been about to sit on and then back at Alexei. “Sure, thank you. As long as you don’t mind me eating pancakes.” Because that was what she really wanted to eat. She slipped into the seat across from him and then looked over at the book that he was reading. It didn’t look familiar. Nothing on the best seller’s list, she kind of figured. That was’t really a surprise. He didn’t strike her as the type to read Stephen King or anything.

“What are you reading? Anything interesting?” Might as well make small talk while she read the menu and tried to decide what type of pancakes she might care for.

[alexei-markovic-blog1]

curiosity { open }

Alexei couldn’t get used to the way the other regulars raised their mugs and greeted him when he walked into Mabel Rose’s diner every morning. As if they weren’t sitting around that counter a year ago, whispering and glancing over their shoulders and feeling good about themselves. He’d waited over three decades for his name to be cleared and for everyone to know it. He’d obsessively fantasized about people coming up to him and saying “Sorry I was a sanctimonious ass. I acted like a mindless sheep and made a damaging snap judgment. I hope you can forgive me.” But instead, they tried to act like they had collective amnesia. Alexei was prepared to handle shamefaced apologies; he wasn’t sure how to react to pretensions that nothing had happened. It was a little uncomfortable, and a lot unsatisfying.

But just now, he had far more interesting things to expend energy thinking about. Pleased to find his favorite booth unoccupied, he sat and removed his profusely colorful scarf and gloves. With great care, he took an old leather journal out of his bag and flipped it open. The battered blue book had been dropped off at the store with a heap of other things on consignment. Its brittle pages were dated between 1886 and 1899, and the story they contained was fascinating, but incomplete. For the hundredth time, Alexei ran a finger along the place where ten pages had been cut out. He never could resist a mystery.

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

Since George’s bout of bad luck, she had gotten her tire replaced and she was back on the road. Though she was going to be more on the lookout for giant nails in the road or whatever else had taken out her tire. It wasn’t really making her feel any better about her life though. Right now she just wanted some coffee and maybe some pancakes. Pancakes solved everything and made her feel better, even when there wasn’t really a reason to feel better. So here she was at Mabel Rose’s diner, going back to her own booth when she noticed something on the floor. It was a glove.

“Uh, is this yours?” She asked, reaching down and grabbing it before she realized that the person she was talking to was him. “Oh. Hi Mr. Markovic. Is this your glove?”

George held it out in his general direction.

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

The Worst Luck | Open

Things were not all sunshine and roses in the Fayne world. Just when they had started to get pretty good, she had been unceremoniously let go of her internship. And she absolutely hated it. All of that hard work that she had put in to getting the internship and now they were saying that they couldn’t keep her around. Not even when she wasn’t even getting paid. How much sense did that make? There had been big plans for her, and now they were all on the wayside. George wasn’t having the best Christmas, but she was hoping that her luck was going to change for the better sometime soon. There wasn’t a whole lot for her to do but hope. Well that and try to put her resume back out there to find another one. There was no real other Institute like the Technology of Tomorrow one though. Sigh.

Since she had noticed that there were a lot of new people showing up, George had started making a chart of all the people that Nancy had told her about. She couldn’t keep all of these new people straight what so ever. She was just putting the last name into the phone when she headed downstairs to head out. Time to go meet up with Bess and bake some cookies, or whatever else she had in mind. As she was on her way to the door, her mother stopped her.  This was not a conversation that she wanted to have, but her mother was worried about her.

“How’s the job hunting going?”

“I don’t know, Mom. It’s not really going.”

“I’m sorry, I just don’t want something half way decent. I want something amazing.”

“I know, honey. But you might have to settle for something - “

“I am not going to settle, Mom.”

“Can I do anything to help?”

“No, you’ve helped enough.”

“One day you’re going to have to actually ask someone for help and stop doing things on your own.”

“Maybe but it won’t be this day. I’m fine. I can do it on my own.”

“Can you stop pushing people - “

But it was too late. George was already opening the door and heading out. Great. One more person that she had made upset. She hadn’t meant to do it, but this was her life. She got into her car and started to head down to Bess. Going through town, she heard a pop and then her car started to shake. Oh no. No no no. Pulling over the car, George got out and realized that she had a flat tire.

“This is just typical.” She leaned over and kicked the thing, resulting in a hard thump of her foot. Ow. George cried out and whimpered. Her luck was actually the worst.

[nancy--drew-deactivated20160310]

Nancy tapped her fingers rhythmically against the steering wheel as she drove, drumming in time to the quiet music playing over the car speakers. She’d cranked up the heat the moment she’d stepped inside, turning it up a few degrees above reasonable in an attempt to thaw her frozen hands and feet. As much as she did love River Heights, jet-setting back to Hawaii or the Bahamas sounded pretty good then, even if that did come hand-in-hand with some life or death scenarios.

A few blocks up, pulled to the side of the road, Nancy spotted a car that looked familiar from a distance. She leaned closer to the windshield as she approached, smiling when she saw George emerge from the vehicle. Resting her hand flat on the horn, she planned to beep and wave as she passed, but when she saw her friend kick her tire with surprising force, she turned on her blinker and pulled over behind her instead.

Shutting off the engine and sliding out of the car, not relishing heading back out into the cold, she stepped quickly over to where George stood, clearly distraught. “Are you okay?” Nancy asked, her voice full of concern. “What happened?”

[justgeorgefayne-blog]

By the time that Nancy pulled up behind her, George was already into the trunk of her car, pulling out the jack and the spare donut that she kept in there. Hearing the car, she looked up at who it was. Nancy again. Not that she wasn’t happy to see her, but really her bad mood was not going to make this a good conversation. Probably. 

“Hey,” she greeted, sullenly. “I blew a tire and I think I sprained something when I kicked the car. I just.. I give up on today. I almost just want to call the tow truck and not change this tire. That’s how fed up I am.”

Which was saying something, because George really adored changing tires. Weird, but true. Even getting out the jack and going over to the side to set it up wasn’t making her feel any better. 

“Where were you off to? You don’t have to stay.. I’m fine.” 

Stop pushing people away, George.

Her mother’s voice in her head was not helping at all.