Nancy found her way into the library somehow. She didn't specifically need to do any reading but there was one face she looked for.
Big Joe was a hard man to pretend to pass by at the library. Mostly because she hadn't seen him at the library.
But that day was her lucky day: at the farthest end, sitting at the cornermost computer to the wall, Nancy found her target in the backwards baseball hat of Big Joe.
"So this is what you do when you're not defending George Fan..."
She had seen George underneath the bleachers that day, when Big Joe put Stacy whatchamacallit in her place. He'd had a soft side after all.
Big Joe didn't appear startled, a wily smile curling up his thin lips. The typing didn't halt, and Nancy found it fascinating to imagine Big Joe— the happy-go-lucky weed guy, being thr serious brainy hackers.
"Nancy. Just whom I was looking for. Hope your killer didn't give much trouble,"
(He didn't even try pretending to be surprised)
"Doyle wasn't the only one regretting his works for sure." Nancy wanted to wink. But she didn't. Somehow being in his vicinity made the hairs stand up on her limbs.
"No blasphemy here. Never call it that,"
Nancy had a shit-eating grin on jer face, amused to no end that his seriousness about the littlest things rivalled the court's in death sentences.
"What do you call it then?"
"Creative information optimisation." He nodded.
"You're right, that just rolls off the tonge."
"You wound me Nancy Drew"
"Well I would call you Big Joe but it feels odd to say it out loud. Is your full name Joseph? Joelle? "
Nancy could have broken into the school records to see his legal name and surprise him, but this felt much better.
His fingers stopped typing. Big Joe swivelled the monitor towards her with a raised eyebrow.
"How about I show you. Press keys N and D."
She did, her wrist rubbing against his chest when she jammed her hand on the keyboard.
A screen welcomed her, little words making a big display.
Ace, sounded nice. Personal, like a boy her age.
She met his smile with hers, feeling trusted with something important. It was probably not his legal name, but it was something she could call him.
Only she could, as she hoped.