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That dress.
That god damned dress, in that off white box, complete with a stupid silky grey ribbon tied neatly in a bow on top.
It was impossible to deny to even Ace himself that the dress itself was absolutely gorgeous, it was one of those dresses that just reeked of luxury, wealth and expense. The one-of-a-kind type of dress you’d see gracing the body an extremely attractive, diet conscious model on the red carpet at some exclusive event that only the rich, famous and influential were invited to. The soft ebony lace that ran down the hip seams, complied with the luxuriously velvety fabric that wrapped tightly into a halter round the curves of your neck, made it just so hypnotising to the eye.
He had unwillingly let himself imagine what Nancy would look wearing it, seconds after she had removed it from the box, the way it would perfectly grace and hug the soft, gentle curve of her hips and the way it would subtly accentuate her slightly exposed collarbones. He could picture the soft auburn curls falling gently from her head and the small little coppery tendrils that faultlessly framed the edges of her face and highlighted her jawline.
Although he enjoyed imagining thinking about how pretty Nancy would look in that exquisite dress, he couldn’t help but feel a small element of guilt too, though the dress was a gift from Tom Swift, an extremely kind and generous gift at that, it just never screamed Nancy, specifically Nancy Drew. It wasn’t the sort of thing that she tended to wear, her colour palette often stayed in the realm of blues and greens, with sometimes the addition of some stripes or some houndstooth, her style suited her personality like a glove, reflecting on the old school nature of her childhood and her love and intrigue into the history of Horseshoe Bay. The soft brown tones, and bright blue hues she wore, were like a reflection of her personality back to the nature that had surrounded her life. The beiges, burnt umbers and subtle oranges she tended to wear, linked her back to the ground, earth and the leaves that desperately hung to the various species of trees that natively grew in New England. Whilst the blues she wore, reflected the copious amounts of water that were dotted throughout the state, in lakes, rivers, the ocean and even the smallest of puddles, New England wasn’t exactly known for having the greatest of weather, it seemed to rain far to often for anyone’s liking. Finally, the greens she wore directly linked her to the extraordinary variety of vibrant flora and fauna that filled the forests, fields and gardens that graced the Horseshoe Bay area.
It was the evening of the meeting, time for Nancy to formally introduce herself to Everett Hudson as his granddaughter, otherwise known as Ryan’s daughter, otherwise known as Lucy Sable’s secret child. It was scary enough introducing herself to Everett properly for the first time, but it was even scarier to admit to herself that she was technically Nancy Hudson, she repeated the name a couple of times in her head to try and familiarise it with herself, yet no matter how many times she did it always left a disgustingly sour taste in her mouth.
Technically she was Nancy Hudson, whether she liked it or chose to accept it, Nancy Drew was also a name that didn’t sit right with her, it was a name that reminded her of a lie she had lived for almost nineteen years. For now, the only name that felt somewhat correct was Nancy, just plain Nancy.
The sky that loomed above Horseshoe Bay was unusually dark for this time of the year, making the stars shine even brighter than they usually did, sparkling like tiny diamonds encrusted into the atmosphere that perfectly matched the shimmer of the diamond earrings that hung delicately from Nancy’s ears. The scarlet red lipstick that sat on her lips reminded her of the rusty red Claw sign that creaked as it swung in the wind, a humble reminder of who she was. Her hair was slicked back into a tight low bun, a hairstyle that Bess had recommended to her, a particular favourite of hers when she wanted to look glamourous yet fierce and also meant business.
When she had looked at her own reflection in the mirror, she barely recognised the woman that stood before her. Her entire appearance felt foreign, the dark figure-hugging dress, her rouged lips and tightly wound hair, that felt like it was partially cutting off her blood circulation in her head. She nervously swallowed as she desperately tried to reassure herself that what she was about to do was worth the potential risk of her entire life, and her entire friends and family’s lives. She let her cautious hitched breaths become slower and normally paced again, as she ran her hands against the curve of her hips, even touching the luxurious fabric against her fingertips caused an icy chill to run down her spine and make the entirety of her body shiver and partially quiver in fright.
She inched towards her bedroom door and slowly opened up her well-manicured fingers to grasp the old metal handle. As she carefully descended the staircase, her left hand gently brushed against the worn oak bannister to help her keep her balance, the tight dress, coupled with an extremely uncomfortable pair of silver heels upon her feet, had made Nancy feel like a wobbly chair, with part of a leg missing, like the slightest bit of aggressive movement or even any movement for that matter would send her tumbling down the stairs. When she had managed to go down a couple of steps, which in reality had felt like a couple hundred of steps, she lifted her head and her tentative icy blue eyes met with Ace’s sympathetic sapphire pools, as he stood at the bottom of the staircase, next to the closed front door, dressed in a black tux, his dirty blonde hair was tucked neatly behind his ears as a soft smile appeared on his lips as he noticed Nancy at the top of the stairs.
As she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, Ace tentatively stepped towards her and quietly whispered, almost inaudibly,
“Hey” as he anxiously swallowed, whist he intermittently looked at the ground.
“Hi Ace” she replied timidly, as she couldn’t tell if he was still mad at her about her handling of the whole Hudson situation and the fact that she had risked a dozen other lives just for his.
“Y…you look nice, that dress is amazing, you… errrrr…... look amazing” he continued, his voice deepening ever so slightly as he spoke, as he nervously ran his fingers through his dark blonde hair.
“Thanks” she softly replied, her rouged lips upturning into a gentle smile.
“You look good too, did you borrow that tux from your dad?” she inquired, her left eyebrow raising slightly as she spoke
“Thanks, yeah my dad had it hung up at the back of his closet, I think the last time he wore it was when he went to prom with my mom, well it certainly smells like he did” Ace said with a small smirk appearing on his face.
The tiniest of smiles flashed upon Nancy’s lips, she couldn’t deny that she had missed a certain charm Ace seemed to bring. In certain moments it made her feel suddenly giddy inside, but she had never really had time to consider what it all could mean. Sure, Ace was an attractive guy, but they were just really good friends, right?
As she started to zone out entranced by her own thoughts, Ace’s voice called out “Smile”
A loud clicking sound accompanied by a bright flash brought her back to reality, she blinked in surprise to the sudden drastic change in brightness. As her eyes readjusted to the dimly lit hallway, she managed to focus on Ace, who was holding Carson’s old polaroid camera in his worn hands.
She watched him deftly remove the photo from the printing slot, gently flick it and hold it up to the light to let it start to develop.
“At least warn me next time you’re using that thing” Nancy half pleaded to Ace, as she walked towards him and tried to take the photo from his hand.
Quickly in response, he lifted his arm high above his head to stop Nancy from grabbing the newly printed photo.
“Nope, the best pictures of you are spontaneous, you’ll never smile if you’re asked. See?” Ace replied as he produced the other polaroid of Nancy from his jacket pocket and held it up against the new one.
Nancy audibly groaned at the sight of the two pictures, the bright flash of the camera had completely washed her out and her expression in both was almost comical.
“I was right, I look terrible in both of those” Nancy retorted as she pointed at the photos in Ace’s hand.
“You don’t look terrible, trust me, you could never look terrible. The only thing wrong with this photo is that dress” Ace said truthfully.
Nancy playfully blushed at his comment.
“That dress just isn’t very Nancy, are you sure that you don’t want to change into something a little more you?” he questioned her, as he inched closer to her, his soft eyes meeting hers.
For one of the first times in her life Nancy was almost speechless, she didn’t want to admit to herself that Ace was right but she also didn’t want to admit to Ace that he was right, but truthfully, she knew he was totally right, but she just couldn’t admit it to herself. The dress had unlocked a deeper darkness in her that even she had been surprised by, when she wore it, she felt like it added even more fuel to the blackness that had begun to brew inside of her. It felt like another source of power, the unlocking of some new found strength, she almost felt invincible in a sense, almost like allowing herself to wear it made her a Hudson and by becoming a Hudson she had gained some sort of superpower in Horseshoe Bay. She felt equally terrified yet empowered in herself. Was this how the entirety of Horseshoe Bay saw the Hudson’s? As some sort of villainous criminal empire that held an iron fist over town and would simply dispose of anyone or anything that stood in their way.
“Hey Ace, nice tux” Carson commented as he walked into the entry way.
“Thanks Mr. D” he replied, quickly increasing the distance in between himself and Nancy, as he tucked a few stray hairs behind his ears.
“New dress?” Carson inquired, whilst he looked at Nancy.
“Yes, it was a gift from a friend” she replied.
“Looks like an expensive gift to me, are you sure you didn’t steal it? Am I allowed to know who this friend is? Or is this another one of the many secrets my daughter likes to keep from me?” he probed, his eyes widening as he spoke.
“No, Dad I didn’t steal it, and yes, it is” Nancy retorted.
“Good, I’m glad to hear that. But are you a hundred percent sure you want to wear that dress tonight and you still want to go ahead and tell Everett you’re his granddaughter? You don’t know what kind of danger you could be putting yourself in by revealing that to him. You know what the Hudson’s are like.” Carson warned with a reassuring tone hidden in his voice.
It felt like a dagger had entered Nancy’s heart in that exact moment, even her father had mentioned the dress, maybe she was making a huge mistake, had she allowed her own judgement to get so clouded she couldn’t even think straight?
Carson noticed the polaroid camera sat on the edge of the entry way table, he took a few paces and quickly grabbed it off the table.
“Tradition” he spoke, as he lifted the camera upwards to capture Nancy in the frame.
“You too Ace” he said as he motioned his arm, encouraging Ace to be in the picture with his daughter.
Ace gradually positioned himself next to Nancy in the photo, softly resting his arm round her waist, the skin on his wrist accidentally making contact with the exposed skin on her back, causing his whole body to feel like it was on fire, from her seemingly electric touch.
He leaned in closer and quietly whispered, “You know its not too late to change your mind”.
Suddenly there was a bright flash and a loud click, indicating that Carson had taken the picture.
“Oh wait, don’t move, I want another one” he said as another bright flash illuminated the hallway.
The picture printed and Carson quickly handed one copy to Ace, who quickly pocketed it, adding to his fast-growing polaroid collection.
“Nancy, please listen to me” Ace pleaded with her, his icy blue eyes widening and his pupils dilating.
She quickly opened up her partially bedazzled nude and ebony clutch and pulled out her phone and checked the time, completely ignoring the comment Ace had just made.
“If we keep standing around like this, I’m going to be late for the Hudson party. I really don’t want Everett to think even less of me, before he’s even got to know me, not that he thinks very highly of me already and he barely knows me.” Nancy hurriedly spat out, as she half stomped towards the door in panic.
She desperately grabbed her car keys and then in turn the door handle and ran as fast as she could outside, but it ended up being more like a waddle with the constraints of the dress, the door slamming loudly behind her.
“Nancy! Please just listen to me for once” Ace practically yelled as he ran outside to chase Nancy, it didn’t take long for him to catch up with her, as he was more suitably dressed for running than Nancy was.
He grabbed her hands as she tried to open her car door, a single tear sliding down his cheek as he did so.
“Nancy, please” he repeated, his voice becoming hoarse and more pained as he spoke.
She continued to ignore him and she still desperately tried to open her car door, that was stuck.
“Urrrgghhhhh!” she yelled out into the night in frustration.
“Nancy” he pleaded.
She looked up at him, her azure eyes slowly filling with tears as his eyes met hers, her lips ever so slightly trembling in the cool night air as she struggled to compose herself.
“I know you, I really meant what I said that day at the Claw, I know you far too well to just let you become a totally different person overnight. I won’t and I can’t let you throw all this away.” He breathed, as he reached out his hands and intertwined them with hers.
“We will take down Everett Hudson and get him to pay for all those innocent lives he cut short” he continued, his voice wavering ever so slightly, his thumbs gently massaging the tiniest circles into the top of her hand.
Nancy sniffed loudly, her breath hitching with tears.
“Why do you care so much about what I chose to do?” she yelled, tears now streaming down her face in her anger.
“Because, I love you Nancy” he shouted equally as loudly into the night, lifting his hand up to his mouth in surprise at the fact he had just admitted that he was in love with Nancy.
Oh God, he was in love in with Nancy, he was hopelessly, desperately and completely head over heels in love with Nancy Drew.
“Ace… I… I……”