Chapter 2: The surprise, the birthday cake, and gifts
Daphne soon lead Shaggy into the kitchen as Sugie and Scooby followed close behind.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he entered the kitchen. "I don't believe it!"
On the kitchen counter were dozens of tall, skyscraper-high Shaggy sandwiches with everything he likes.
"Surprise, Shaggy!" Daphne smiled. "I've made dozens of your favourite Shaggy Snack sandwiches!"
"Shaggy sandwiches?" Shaggy asked. "Like, I didn't have breakfast, so this sure can fill my appetite!"
He then turned to her and added, "Like, and thanks, Daph!"
"No problem, Shaggy." Daphne smiled as she patted her friend's back. "Happy birthday!"
"Thank you, Daph." Shaggy smiled back. "When your birthday arrives, I ought to plan a party like this for you."
"Great idea, Norville." Sugie smiled as her brother dug in. "It will be great to plan a party for Daphne."
During this time, the Blakes and the Rogers were watching their children interacting in the kitchen.
"This sure is one swell idea, George." Sam said to Daphne's father. "Letting Daphne planning and throwing this party for Norville."
"Thank you for the kind words, Sam." George smiled. "I'm glad that Norville is enjoying the party so far."
"As well as our guests." Wendy added as she watched Tom taking part in pinning the pony's tail game with everyone else looking on excitedly.
"Come on, Tom!" Reddy said. "You almost got it!"
"I'm sure you can do it, Tom." Yogi said. "I knew you're smarter than the average cat."
Tom, who is blindfolded, nodded as he continued his attempt to pin the pony's tail.
His rival Jerry was occupied with another game to try to pull a prank on Tom, plus the cat and mouse duo were under strict instructions not to cause any mess in the mansion. If they chase each other and cause a mess, then they'll be responsible for cleaning up after the party, regardless on who started the chase, something neither of them will want.
Soon came the moment for the birthday cake, which had sixteen candles lit.
"Alright, Shag." Fred said. "The birthday cake's ready."
"Coming!" Shaggy said as he raced over to the dining room, where everyone gathered around him.
Spike the bulldog, seeing everyone ready, snapped his fingers to signal the Mysteries Five to start playing their instruments while Shelly turned off the lights, leaving only the candle lights in the dark dining room.
With the music played by the Mysteries Five in the background, everyone started singing:
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Shaggy...happy birthday to you!"
During the singing, Daphne placed her hand on Shaggy's left shoulder, and after the singing, Velma encouraged, "Make a wish, Shaggy!"
There was a pause, then Shaggy blew out all of the candles, leading to a cheer and applause while the lights returned on.
"Happy birthday, Shag." Fred patted his friend's back. "What did you wish for?"
"Like, for my wish of becoming a medical doctor to come true." Shaggy replied as he was given a slice of the birthday cake.
"Wow." Daphne said. "I'm sure your wish will come true, Shag. I know you have the heart and ambitions to work hard, not to mention your friendly, easy-going personality fits the profile of a doctor well."
"Thanks, Daph." Shaggy smiled before taking a bite.
After the birthday cake, it was time for Shaggy to open his birthday presents.
"Here, Shaggy." Henry said as he offered his present. "Open mine first."
"Okay, man." Shaggy smiled as he took the present and read the card attached to it. It read:
"From the Chan Clan: 生日快樂!"
"Wow, is that 'Happy Birthday' in Chinese?" Shaggy asked Henry as he pointed to the handwritten "生日快樂" on the card.
"Yes it is." Henry smiled before Shaggy nodded and proceeded to open his gift.
It was a series of postcards with photos taken in Hong Kong, including a handful with the city's skyline, harbour and its famous double-decker trams.
"Like, wow!" Shaggy remarked as he took a look at the postcards. "These photos of Hong Kong look really great!"
"They sure are, Shaggy." Henry nodded. "I was impressed by the drawing of a neighbourhood block in Hong Kong you did for your history project, so I thought you may like these postcards of the city."
"I do, man." Shaggy smiled as he turned to his friend. "Thanks for the postcards!"
"No problem, and happy birthday, Shag." Henry smiled back as he patted Shaggy's back.
After opening a few more other birthday presents, it was Daphne who offered her present to him last.
"Here's your present, Shaggy." She says as she offered him the wrapped gift.
"Like, what is it?" Shaggy asked as he feels the box underneath the wrap.
"You'll see when you open it, Shag." Daphne replied with a mysterious-looking smile, a smile that sort of reminded Shaggy of a ghost girl of sorts.
Smiling back, Shaggy proceeded to open the present.
Inside the gift box under the wrap, Shaggy found a stack of new musical records, including a handful Meedles records and several more classical music records, such as a brand-new recording of Mendelssohn's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A-flat Major.
(Note: The Meedles is a fictionalized version of The Beatles, as I'm going to have stories that feature the gang meeting the famous English rock band, but this site doesn't allow the use of non-fictional characters in stories)
"Like, wow!" Shaggy remarked as he took out the records and looked. "I've always wanted these new records of the Meedles and this new recording of the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A-flat Major for my birthday, Daph. Thanks!"
"You're very welcome, Shag." Daphne smiled as she shared an embrace with Shaggy. "Happy Birthday!"
During the interaction, Sugie turned to Scooby and remarked, "Daphne sure knows what Norville likes and wants the most."
"Reah. She rure does." Scooby agreed.
"Like, thanks Daph." Shaggy smiled back. "I really ought to plan a party like this for your birthday."
"Ah, there's no need for that, Shag." Daphne said. "Having you as a friend is good enough for me, not to mention having a cute little sister like Sugie."
Shaggy smiled as they regrouped with their friends just as his parents walked over to him.
"So what do you plan on doing before turning seventeen next year, Norville?" Sam asked his son.
"Like, besides completing Grade 10 and making it to the state finals for the gymnasium and musical competitions, I intend to get my driver's license." Shaggy replied.
"Oh, yeah!" Fred said as he remembered something. "You can get your driver's license after you turn sixteen here in California."
"Oh, you guys are lucky." Henry remarked. "In Hong Kong and other East Asian jurisdictions, you have to be eighteen in order to be able to drive."
"I guess your old friends in Hong Kong might get jealous of you being able to drive while they have to wait another two years." Alexander Cabot III said to Henry.
"Ah, I don't think so." Henry replied. "My family moved to Honolulu when I was three, so other than my relatives and perhaps a few family friends living in Hong Kong and Canton, I don't have anyone my age that will be acquainted with me back in Hong Kong."
"So when are you planning on getting your driver's license, Shag?" Mark asked.
"Perhaps sometime next month, after I complete the driver's-training program offered by the school for May." Shaggy replied before turning to his friend Sharon Wetherby, who completed the training program a few days ago for the month of April, and added. "Speaking of it, how do you find the course, Sharon?"
"It was alright." Sharon replied. "For the first two weeks, there are classroom courses that takes up an hour everyday after school, where they teach you a lot of theory, such as vehicle maintenance, insurance and rules of the road. Then comes the actual driver's training, where you'll be paired with an instructor and he or she will ask you to do some moves, such as parallel parking, three point turns and emergency pullovers."
"Sounds easy to me." Velma remarked.
"Yeah, it is." Sharon nodded. "However, it helps more if you practice often outside of instruction hours, like practicing with your parents and using their car."
"I see." Shaggy nodded understandingly. He was about to say something when Sharon continued.
"However, there's been talk lately that the school may be considering cancelling the program for the next school year." Sharon said.
"Why's that?" April asked.
"Well, I heard that the school board is dealing with a budget shortfall, and one of the casualties of the budget shortfall is the school's driver's training program." Sharon explained.
"Ripe!" Scooby remarked.
"I guess that the rest of us may have to enroll in driving school for the next school year or so." Arlene sighed.
"However, I did hear rumours that the real reason for the cancellation has something to do with low enrollment." Sharon continued. "In fact, there has been rumours that there's a Railway Phantom haunting the school's driving training grounds, spooking the students into considering enrolling elsewhere. Legend has it that the Railway Phantom was a disgruntled former student of Central that was killed in a car accident during the driver's training course due to negligence of the school staff in properly maintaining the vehicles used in the training program."
"Railway Phantom?" Shaggy swallowed. "Zoinks!"
"Oh, there's nothing to worry, Shaggy." Debbie said to him. "It's only a legend. Right, Sharon?"
"Yeah." Sharon agreed. "As far as I know, there's been no record of the school's driver's training program having an accident anyways, so there's nothing to worry about."
"I agree." Fred nodded. "Our school's driver's training program is the safest in the county, and there's no way the school staff will allow such a tragedy to occur."
"So anyways, when does your driver's training start, Norville?" Sugie asked her brother.
"Monday, May 5th." Shaggy replied. "If everything goes well, I should be able to get my license by the end of May."
"I'm sure you can do it, Shag." Fred said to his friend. "You may be a class clown at times, but we know you always have the integrity to get things done and complete your goals."
"Such as you becoming a medical doctor." Daphne added. "I know you can do it."
Shaggy nodded as he smiled at his friends.
"So now what should we do?" He asked.
"Oh yes." Daphne smiled. "Game time!"
"Oh joy!" Sugie said excitedly. "What are we playing?"
"What about capture the flag?" Alan proposed.
"That will be fun." Velma said. "I propose we divide into two major teams."
"Since you're the birthday boy, Shag, you pick who will be on your team." Fred said.
"Why, sure thing Jones." Shaggy smirked with a tone of competition in his voice, indicating that he will be the team captain of the first team while Fred is the team captain of the second one. "I'll see to it that your team's falg gets captured in less than a minute after we start each round."
"You're on!" Fred replied evenly before the two rivals proceeded to pick their teammates.
Scooby, Sugie, Daphne, Tom, Jerry, the Teen Angels, Tinker, Debbie, Henry, Mark and the Mysteries Five went volunteered to be on Shaggy's team while everyone else, including Velma, the Neptunes, Josie and the Pussycats went with Fred.
That night, Shaggy lied comfortably on his bed in his bedroom, his mind still thinking about the birthday party at the Blake Mansion earlier that day.
He was grinning about his team outsmarting Fred's team in capture the flag, even remembering how he managed to devise a strategy that caught Fred's group and the blonde off guard with the use of Tom and Jerry's fighting as a distraction.
Even after he and Fred became good friends and worked well together in solving those two mysteries, there's still room for competition between the school rivals, especially when it comes to games.
Overall, he was very happy about his sixteenth birthday.
His favourite part was when he initially entered the mansion and ran into three ghosts. The most memorable part was when Daphne, in her ghostly disguise, wrapped her arms around him as if she was a vampire locating her prey and preventing him from escaping.
He also liked Daphne's surprise and birthday presents, particularly with the new records.
The redhead sure knew what he likes the most. It was as if she knew how to read his mind.
Maybe his sister was right on her observation of Daphne back when they first met.
Those thoughts continued to linger in his mind as he drifted off to sleep.
In the same time in her bedroom, Daphne lied comfortably on her bed, her mind still thinking about the birthday party at the Blake Mansion earlier that day.
She was grinning about her team outsmarting Fred's team in capture the flag, even remembering how Shaggy managed to devise a strategy that caught Fred's group and the blonde off guard with the use of Tom and Jerry's fighting as a distraction.
Even after Shaggy and Fred became good friends and worked well together in solving those two mysteries, there's still room for competition between the school rivals, especially when it comes to games.
Overall, she was very happy about how Shaggy's sixteenth birthday party turned out.
Her favourite part was when she, in her ghostly disguise, wrapped her arms around Shaggy when he encountered her and the two other ghosts. It made her heart feel...rather warm, in spite of the fact of her dating Fred.
Shaggy sure liked her surprise and birthday presents, particularly with the new records.
She sure knew what he likes the most. It was as if she knew how to read his mind.
Maybe his sister was right on her observation of Daphne back when they first met.
Those thoughts continued to linger in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.
Please read and review!