Secret Identity, page 1
A Case of Cyberbullying Becomes a Little Too Real.
Shannon seemed terribly keyed up, like she’d just drank three espressos. “Well, actually,” she said, clicking onto her Internet browser to launch it, “this all has to do with BetterLife. My avatar, Sassygirl48…”
I sighed. “But Maggie said you were having problems at school?”
Shannon closed her eyes and nodded. “That started just a couple days ago. People whispering when I walked into the room, throwing spitballs at me, mean little things. I found out that afternoon that someone posted footage of Sassygirl48 being bullied on uVid.”
I’d dealt with plenty of bullies in my life, but they were always easy to confront. It’s hard to yell an insult at someone, or throw something at her, and remain anonymous. On the Internet, though, everyone is anonymous. Which makes it incredibly easy to hurt someone’s feelings with no repercussions.
I patted her shoulder. “All right,” I said. “You have my word that I’m going to find the person who started this and make sure it ends. Nobody deserves to be treated like this. Nancy Drew is on the case.”
NANCY DREW GIRL DETECTIVE®
#1 Without a Trace
#2 A Race Against Time
#3 False Notes
#4 High Risk
#5 Lights, Camera…
#6 Action!
#7 The Stolen Relic
#8 The Scarlet Macaw Scandal
#9 Secret of the Spa
#10 Uncivil Acts
#11 Riverboat Ruse
#12 Stop the Clock
#13 Trade Wind Danger
#14 Bad Times, Big Crimes
#15 Framed
#16 Dangerous Plays
#17 En Garde
#18 Pit of Vipers
#19 The Orchid Thief
#20 Getting Burned
#21 Close Encounters
#22 Dressed to Steal
#23 Troubled Waters
#24 Murder on the Set
#25 Trails of Treachery
#26 Fishing for Clues
#27 Intruder
#28 Mardi Gras Masquerade
#29 The Stolen Bones
#30 Pageant Perfect Crime
#31 Perfect Cover
#32 The Perfect Escape
Available from Aladdin Paperbacks
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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Copyright © 2008 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. , and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
NANCY DREW, NANCY DREW: GIRL DETECTIVE, ALADDIN, and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Library of Congress Control Number 2008920582
ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-5328-4
ISBN-10: 1-4391-5328-0
Visit us on the World Wide Web:
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Contents
Prologue
1 Home Sweet Mystery
2 Cybervictim
3 Virtual Lives
4 Cybersleuthing
5 Friend to Enemy?
6 Making Enemies
7 Virtually Rejected
8 Bullies and Victims
9 Confessions
10 Secret Crushes
11 Parties and Lies
12 Real-Life Answers
13 One Last Log-on…
SECRET IDENTITY
PROLOGUE
Thank goodness her friend picked up the phone on the first ring. “Hey there.”
She felt like she might explode from excitement. “Oh…my…gosh. You will not believe what is happening to me right now.”
Her friend sounded wary. “What?”
“Well, I’ve been playing BetterLife ever since I got home.”
“Duh. That’s practically all you do these days.”
She couldn’t help smiling. That wasn’t far from the truth. But the virtual-reality site had become the place to be over the last couple months; she probably socialized more online than she did in real life. “Stop. So Sassy Girl Forty-eight is at the mall, and guess who started flirting with me there?”
“Santa Claus.”
She sighed. “No. Come on, be serious.”
There was a pause of a few seconds. “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
“Jake!” she squealed and paused, waiting for the news to sink in. “Jake. Jake Seltzer! Isn’t that amazing?”
There was another pause. “But he’d have a different username and look, right? I mean, it’s a game, not real life. How did you know it was him?”
She sighed again. “Dude, his character in the game looks just like him. He has the blue streak in his hair, and the nose ring. His name is Guitar Lover Fifteen, and you know how Jake likes music. It has to be him!”
“Wow.” Her friend seemed to mull over this information for a few seconds. “The guy you have a crush on is flirting with you online? Do you think he knows who you really are?”
“I think he does. He’s said a few things about seeing me in real life, or wanting to flirt with me in real life but being too shy.” She smiled to herself. Her heart was beating double-time; that’s how excited Jake made her. On-screen, his character was smiling at her adoringly. Other virtual characters walked through the mall all around them, but it was like they were the only two people in the world.
Suddenly there was a loud beep, and she glanced at the dialogue box, where a new message from GuitarLvr15 to Sassygirl48 had appeared.
I LIKE UR BLOND HAIR. U R SO PRETTY, U MUST HAVE GUYS FALLING ALL OVER U.
She squealed. “Oh gosh! You won’t believe what he just said.” She read the message off to her friend, smiling bigger with each word.
“Wow! Is he talking about you or your avatar?”
She turned to the screen. Her avatar, which she’d spent a week designing, looked as much like her as she’d been able to get: long blond hair, brown eyes, petite. She wore the trendiest clothes she could find; when the outfits available on the site looked too boring, she’d designed her own. All in all, the character was her virtual mini-me. But still…“I think he’s talking about me. He knows who I am, and he’s trying to flirt! We’re totally meant to be!”
Her friend let out a breath. “This is almost too good to be true! You should write back, ‘You’re the only guy I care about.’”
The girl giggled, shaking her head. “Ha! I should, really. Do you think?”
“Totally. I’m being serious.”
She gulped. Clicking on the dialogue box, she typed:
U R THE ONLY BOY I CARE ABOUT.
She paused, her mouse hovering over the Send button. Was it time to let Jake know about her crush? She’d hesitated all this time because she didn’t want to get hurt. But now it seemed clearer than clear that Jake liked her just as much as she liked him.
Quickly, before she could think better of it, she clicked back into the box and added:
IT’S BEEN THAT WAY FOR A LONG TIME.
She clicked send. “Omigod. You won’t believe what I just sent.” She read the message back to her friend.
“‘Omigosh’ is right! Well, now he’ll know you like him.”
She gulped. “Really like him. But does he like me?”
Beep. She felt her stomach clench as she turned back to the computer for his answer. A new comment had appeared in the dialogue box. She almost felt too nervous to read it, but it drew her eyes like a magnet.
I CARE ABOUT U 2. I’VE JUST BEEN 2 SHY TO TELL U IN REAL LIFE.
She gasped.
“What’s up?”
“He wrote back.” She read his message to her friend, feeling like she might float away. Was this really happening? The guy of her dreams, liking her too?
Beep. Another comment popped up on her screen.
MAYBE WE SHOULD GET TOGETHER IN REAL LIFE SOMETIME.
“Oh wow.” She thought her heart might beat out of her chest. “He just wrote more! He wants to get together sometime. In real life.”
“Gosh.” Her friend didn’t sound as excited as she was, but that was to be expected. “That’s great, Shannon. I mean, that’s really exciting! Are you going to meet him?”
“Duh.” She smiled. Dozens of girls would jump at the chance to date Jake Seltzer, she thought as she clicked in the dialogue box to respond. Well, now they’ll all be jealous of me.
Jake’s avatar was still smiling at her, waiting for a response. She made her character nod as she quickly typed, THAT SOUNDS GREAT. JUST TELL ME WHERE AND WHEN….
GuitarLvr15’s smile widened. Even in the game, his eyes were bright blue, and they seemed to twinkle extragorgeously as he took Sassygirl48’s hand and squeezed it. Her computer beeped again and another message came through.
I KNOW WHO U ARE. I’LL E-MAIL U. WE CAN MAKE PLANS THEN.
“Oh.” She couldn’t help gasping to her friend, squeezing the phone to her ear. “Oh, he’s going to e-mail me! This is so perfect….”
Her friend sounded rushed. “That’s great, Shannon. I have to go, though—my mom just called us down for dinner.”
“ Oh, okay.” She felt a little disappointed. She’d wanted to discuss this whole thing until it finally seemed real to her. Still, she couldn’t complain. She couldn’t stop staring at her computer screen, even though GuitarLvr15 was walking away. “Do you think he’ll e-mail me right now? Or will it take a few hours…?”
“I don’t know…. It sounded like he was going to do it right away.”
Shannon smiled. “Okay. I’ll tell you what he writes to me.”
“Totally. Bye.”
“Bye.”
She let out a satisfied sigh. It was all so perfect: The guy she’d always known was meant for her actually liked her back. She’d always daydreamed about ending up with Jake, and now it was actually happening.
A little chime sounded as a window popped up on her screen: YOU HAVE NEW MAIL. Her heart quickening, she brought up her account and quickly logged in. Where should we go on our first date? she wondered. Dinner would be great, but what’s a romantic restaurant…?
As the e-mail came up, she scanned the first few lines and felt her heart jump into her throat.
SASSYGIRL48,
DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP. EVEN IN CYBERSPACE, I WOULD NEVER BE CAUGHT DEAD WITH A STUCK-UP WASTE OF SPACE LIKE YOU.
YOU DESERVE TO BE ALONE—IN THIS GAME, IN REAL LIFE, ALWAYS. YOU DESERVE TO SUFFER LIKE YOU’VE MADE OTHERS SUFFER.
1
HOME SWEET MYSTERY
“Is this the sort of romantic dinner you had in mind?” I couldn’t help but smile as my boyfriend Ned took my hand and whispered to me as we moved into his dining room for dinner. We’d been apart for a week, since I’d been on a supercomplicated case that had brought me to New York, and had planned to make tonight our official “catch-up date” at our favorite Italian restaurant. But this afternoon Ned had called with a change in plans: there’d been a mix-up with faculty housing at the university, so he volunteered to host a visiting professor from Iran and his family at the Nickerson home. They wanted to have a small dinner to welcome them, and tonight was the only night that worked for everyone.
I leaned in close to him. “Romance, shromance. A piece of your mother’s apple pie will make up for anything we missed.”
Ned chuckled and squeezed my hand. “Maybe so. But we’ll have to plan a make-up date.”
“Agreed.” I squeezed back and smiled.
The truth was, it still felt nice to be back in River Heights and doing all the normal things I like to do that don’t involve cab chases or setting things on fire. My most recent case had turned into something bigger and crazier than I ever could have anticipated, and I was enjoying being “Normal Nancy” again, instead of “Action Hero Nancy.” Being back in Ned’s house felt wonderful. And the Nickersons’ new houseguests, Professor Mirza al-Fulani and his daughter, Arij, who was twelve, plus his son, Ibrahim, who was sixteen, just couldn’t be nicer.
“So, Nancy,” Ibrahim began with a smile as we sat down at the dining room table, “have your travels for investigations ever taken you out of the country? Have you been to the Middle East at all?”
I smiled. The al-Fulanis were from Iran, and I was enjoying Ibrahim’s upbeat attempts to understand American culture. “I’m afraid not, Ibrahim. I don’t get the chance to travel all that much, even within the United States. But I would love to visit the Middle East someday. There’s so much history there.”
Professor al-Fulani smiled at me. “This is true, Nancy. It is still sometimes strange for my children and I to wrap our heads around American history, because your country is so new. So much has changed in only two hundred years, whereas in our part of the world, there are thousands of years of history.”
Ibrahim piped up excitedly. “Will we study American history at the high school, Nancy?”
I nodded. “Actually, you will, Ibrahim. It’s a required class for juniors.”
“Excellent.” Ibrahim dug into his salad with a grin, glancing at his sister. “I want to learn as much as I can about this country while we are here. I am so eager to meet my classmates.”
Arij smiled and nodded, glancing at Ned and me. “Maybe you could look at the outfit I plan to wear tomorrow, Nancy,” she said shyly. “I want to fit in well, and make friends quickly.”
I laughed. “I don’t know if I’m the best person to give fashion advice, but I’d be happy to offer my opinion!”
Ned squeezed my arm. “Don’t sell yourself short, Nance,” he cautioned. “After all, you are the reigning Miss Pretty Face River Heights!”
I rolled my eyes at him. While that was true, I wasn’t exactly aching to talk about my short and ill-fated career as a pageant queen, which had been part of the case I’d been investigating in New York City. Still, he was smiling. I knew he found my totally out-of-character pageant win amusing.
“Nancy,” Ibrahim said, “I am curious about how you solve cases. You have told us a little about your unusual hobby, and I must ask: Do you wear disguises? Do you ever have to lie to people to get the information you need?”
I squirmed in my seat. Ibrahim’s face was warm and open, and I knew his questions were coming from an honest curiosity. Still, I liked to keep my trade secrets and didn’t exactly want to confess to bending the truth in the service of, well, the truth in front of Ned’s father and a bunch of people I’d just met.
“Let’s just say I do what the case requires,” I replied, reaching for the bread basket. “Every case is different. More bread, anybody?”
Mrs. Nickerson chuckled.
“Ibrahim and Arij,” Ned cut in smoothly, “have you ever been to an American high school before, or will tomorrow be your first time?”
“Oh no,” Ibrahim replied, shaking his head. “We have attended school in America before. My father travels often for work, you know, and we have traveled with him for months at a time.”
Professor al-Fulani nodded. “My children lived with me while I taught at a university in Wisconsin, and also briefly in Florida. Unfortunately both placements were only for a few months, so they weren’t able to settle in as much as they would have liked.”
Arij nodded, pushing her salad around on her plate. “Sometimes it’s hard to make friends,” she admitted, a note of sadness creeping into her voice. “People hear my accent or they see my hijab and they think…They think I am something that I am not.”
Silence bloomed around the table. I nodded sympathetically, imagining how difficult it must be for Arij and Ibrahim to fit in.
“I don’t think that will be the case here, Arij,” Ned said in a warm voice. “At least, I hope not. We’re a university town, and used to diversity.”
Mr. Nickerson cleared his throat. “You have any trouble, Arij or Ibrahim, and you let me know,” he added. “Ned and I will do everything we can to make your stay here as pleasant as possible.”
Arij smiled. She looked a little relieved. “I can’t wait to meet everyone,” she said quietly.
“Ibrahim and Arij seem very nice,” I remarked to Ned a couple hours later as we stood on his porch to say our good nights. “I think they’ll enjoy living here, don’t you? I think they’ll have a good experience at the high school.”
Ned nodded. “I hope so,” he admitted. “They’re definitely a couple of great kids—so friendly and curious. I think as long as their classmates give them a chance, they’ll have plenty of friends.”
I nodded. The night was growing darker, and crickets chirped in the distance. I took a deep breath. River Heights, I thought happily. Home.
“So…,” Ned began, reaching out to squeeze my hand.
“So,” I repeated, looking up at him with a smile. “Dinner? Later this week? Just the two of us?”
Ned grinned and nodded. “I’ll call you,” he said, leaning over to give me a peck on the cheek. “I’m so glad you’re back, safe and sound.”
“Me too,” I said honestly, squeezing his hand again. “Thank your mom for dinner. It was delicious.”
Stepping down onto the driveway, I pulled out the keys to my hybrid car and felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me. I imagined my nice warm bed at home, beckoning me. Without a case or anything urgent on the agenda, I could sleep in a bit tomorrow, too. I sighed, carefully driving through the streets that led me home. What a relief to be back among the people I loved, and with a little downtime.
