There was a flurry round the entrance hall as several people recognized the gang and the van, and some pointed as they went in; Velma smiled as she went through the doors, as usual the centre of attention. Several of the teachers were standing in a huddle in the entrance hall, and as they turned to see what the fuss was about Velma recognized her old physics teacher, Dr Patterson. The professor walked over and started talking with her, and she smiled as in the corner of her eye she saw that Daphne was making for the workshop, and Fred was quietly making his escape out of the double doors again. Shaggy and Scooby looked round for the entrance to the food hall, found it and made to walk in, only something distracted Shaggy first.

Velma broke off from discussing tachyon acceleration with Dr Patterson and walked over to the boys.

"What's up, Shag?"

Shaggy pointed wordlessly to a small poster on the wall. Velma looked as well and burst out laughing; Dr Patterson, seeing what all the fuss was about, also started laughing.

The poster showed a young girl, clearly one of the pupils at the school, with long brown hair and big acorn-coloured eyes, standing on a stage with a microphone in one hand and a bouquet of roses in the other. She was a girl who was very familiar to anyone who knew the Rogers family- Shaggy's younger sister and the pride and joy of the family, Sugey.

"Oh yes, Sugey's doing a little item for us, Norville," Dr Patterson spluttered as soon as he could talk. Perhaps the situation wasn't in itself all that funny, but the look on Shaggy's face was enough to make anyone laugh. Even Scooby was smiling, but Velma realised that laughing probably wasn't the most tactful thing to do right now and hurriedly stopped herself from laughing and tried to put on a serious face. It wasn't easy, as Shaggy was still staring at the poster with a mix of embarrassment, annoyance and disbelief on his face.

"Are you going to watch?" Dr Patterson asked. "Sugey might be a little offended if you were here and you didn't watch."

Clearly Dr Patterson didn't know about the relationship between Shaggy and Sugey. Velma could guess quite accurately that Sugey didn't want Shaggy in the hall when she was performing, a feeling that was confirmed abruptly even as she thought about it.

"I don't want you in the hall while I'm performing! Like, what are you even doing here?"

Sugey appeared suddenly out of the food hall, her hands on her hips and an annoyed look on her normally smiley face.

"While I'm doing my solo, you, like, stay out of the hall! Having you there would, like, totally put me off, and I don't want you spoiling my big night! You stay in the food hall with the buffet, you hear? Like, I'm sure you wanted to do that anyway, you freak!"

She turned and stormed away towards one of her friends. Shaggy watched her go with a strange look on his face. Velma realised he was feeling upset and quickly moved to comfort him. Scooby pressed himself against Shaggy's legs and glared accusingly after Sugey.

"She doesn't mean it, do you, Sugey?"

She begged Sugey to relent in her head, and Sugey could see it in her face; her own face softened as she regarded her brother. Dr Patterson watched with interest.

"Shag, like, I really don't want you putting me off. It's nothing personal, it's just that I don't want my big night ruined and I've never sung in front of my family before!"

"Well, maybe now's the time to start," Velma said, quickly trying to help Shaggy. Sugey looked from her to Dr Patterson to Scooby to Shaggy and sighed.

"You can watch if you want, but, like, I doubt you do."

"Like, I do," Shaggy said quietly. "Like, you're my sister, Sugey."

Sugey's face, which had become a little harsh, softened.

"Like, OK."

Dr Patterson caught Velma's eye and mouthed "Family catchphrase?" Velma nodded and tried hard not to laugh as Shaggy and Scooby finally went into the food hall and Sugey returned to her friend, who gave her a strange look and asked, "Are you feeling OK?"

Sugey didn't reply, but she gave the friend a meaningful look, motioned towards Velma and walked away. Dr Patterson looked impressed.

"I knew you were talented with your sciences, but I didn't know you were also an international-standard diplomat! Making peace between those two… I'd recommend a job as a politician!"

Velma laughed at that.

"I'll start training now!"