Author's note:

Well, where do I start? I'm a big fan of Scooby-Doo since I first saw it on TV and now, after much thought, I've decided to write a fanfic about the gang, or a series of fanfics, which is what I'd like most, called "Mysteries in Oak Hill".

This first installment is my take on how they met, although there are already many fanfics like this.

Instead of Coolsville (a name that sounded to my ears too corny to be the setting for my fanfic, even though it's 'canon') or Crystal Cove, I've called the hometown of the gang 'Oak Hill', in Ohio. Soon after that I discovered there is already an Oak Hill in Ohio, but this is a bigger town that has nothing in common with the real Oak Hill, similar to Crystal Cove.

In this first story the classification will be T, mainly due to mature issues, mainly drugs and language, and brief references to sex in this installment, although things will get 'hotter' in next fics.

There are hints of Fraphne and Shelma, but there will be no complete pairing until following fics.

If anyone's asking, I've long had the idea for a fic that Shaggy's a new kid in a town in Ohio, coming from San Francisco, but to "document" and inspire myself I read several fanfics here and I have to say that I was a little scared when I saw that the beginning of SpongeAddict's "Origins" series was similar to my idea, fortunately I think I've been able to handle the situation pretty well to keep the similarities to a minimum. And if anyone hasn't read the SpongeAddict stories I really recommend them, they're great and they all feel like real characters, with their own flaws.

Since English is not my native language, I hope you can forgive me if you see any mistakes, although I always check every paragraph.

Enjoy!

FredTrap

1. Welcome to Oak Hill Lake

Shaggy felt sorry when leaving his gray suitcase in the bus trunk. He glanced sidelong at Scooby-Doo, his brown Great Dane, who was standing next to him with a whimper.

"Like, come on, Scooby, you know what to do," the boy muttered looking around, making sure that the chatty Rose Martin and her friend Diane Shift were talking with Mr. Wells, their class tutor, in the entrance to the vehicle as the last stragglers entered. Everything was going according to plan.

The dog jumped quickly into the luggage depot and pouted to Shaggy.

"Sorry, Scooby. But there's no other choice, you'll see, everything will be fine. Besides, there's like, plenty of room for you and no one else," Shaggy said, signaling the trunk. His raspy voice reverberated in the hole where the students had packed their luggage. "Now hide in a corner until they close the trunk."

Scooby nodded and ran to hide in a corner in the back. Shaggy felt some kind of pain in his heart.

"Rokay, Raggy," he mumbled.

Shaggy said goodbye, heading for the bus door. Scooby would make those five days at the lake more entertaining, if Mr. Wells didn't catch him. It was risky to take Scooby-Doo with him on his first school trip at Oak Hill High, but he was confident everything would work out.

He would spend the next five days at the Oak Hill Lake Inn, along with the rest of his class.

This is going to be awful, Shaggy thought as he entered the bus. He felt that everyone was watching him even though he didn't dare make eye contact with anyone. The only drawback to getting in the last one was that he couldn't find a place he liked. Everyone had a partner, of course, and those few who didn't were just like him, outcasts.

The sophomore class was a rare ecosystem but not so much, considering that the same pattern was repeated in every high school; the football team jocks, the smarts, the richs and populars, the anime fans, and then there was Shaggy Rogers. Last August, he came from sunny San Francisco, California, to the small town of Oak Hill, Ohio.

It was mid-October and he still hadn't made any friends except for, maybe, the studious Velma Dinkley, who helped him find his classrooms and do the homework he didn't understand.

She was the only one who used to deign to talk to him, and there she was, shaking her hand and looking straight through her glasses.

"Shaggy!" she exclaimed. Velma was a short, brown-haired 14-years-old girl. She wore a red skirt, an orange turtleneck, and orange high socks that afternoon, to protect her legs when she went out into the fall's cold again. She was the youngest of the class, since her birthday was in late November.

Shaggy, tall and dressed with a green t-shirt and brown pants, approached her, a bit surprised.

"Like, hi, Velma."

"Hi, would you like to sit next to me?" she asked.

Shaggy was caught off guard by the question. He realized there was no one sitting next to Velma. He scratched the hairs on his chin as he stood in the middle of the bus aisle. He agreed with a grin, after a second of thought.

Velma didn't seem to be the type of girl to enjoy the company of a boy like Shaggy, whom almost everyone thought was a stoner, though they weren't wrong. In California he smoked joints regularly every afternoon after school, but by the time he got to Ohio he quit, having left behind his marijuana suppliers, who also happened to be his best friends.

He hadn't replied to the messages these boys had sent him since he arrived in Oak Hill, even blocking their numbers, trying to erase from his mind a drug past he wasn't proud of.

And even though he was no longer a pothead, everyone in Oak Hill seemed to believe it, as if the rumor had traveled with him across the country. Shaggy knew this only by the way they looked at him, with contempt, as if there were no one worse in town. Maybe it was because of his looks or his voice. But he didn't dare tell all those off, what for? That would only be trouble.

"How are you doing?" Velma asked.

"Fine," Shaggy said shortly. "Like, how about you?"

"Fine."

The bus started, and with that, the tour began. The sun was piercing the sky towards the west as the bus left town. Shaggy wondered what he would be doing right now if he were in San Francisco. Probably he would be in some small street smoking with his friends.

But now he was more concerned about poor Scooby. He trusted that there was enough air there for the duration of the trip, besides, through some spot should enter some oxygen. Whoever closed the trunk didn't seem to notice the stowaway, or would have screamed blue murder.

Incredible as it seemed, the idea of sneaking onto the bus like that had come from Scooby-Doo and not Shaggy. Only Shaggy and his parents knew that Scooby had achieved the ability to speak, or at least babble as he could. But it was a great achievement, something unnatural.

Scooby wanted Shaggy not to feel alone on the first field trip the school organized for the boy's class, so he begged him to let him sneak in somehow. Of course, the first idea he had was to get inside the suitcase, but after thinking about it for a while, they came up with a solution.

That Wednesday afternoon Shaggy arrived at his house, ate abundantly and loaded the suitcase to his mother's car. When they left the house to go to the bus stop in front of the high school, in which several students were already waiting, Scooby ran from one rear yard to another, following the Rogers' vehicle in parallel.

He waited, watching from afar, for Shaggy to get out of the car and for Mrs. Rogers to turn around and drive away. Shaggy and Scooby waited a bit away from the rest of the group until they were told to leave their luggage in the storage compartment.

It was a master plan that had gone pretty well. Now there was only one thing left to do. Shaggy took the cell phone out of the right pocket of his brown pants and typed a few words to his mother.

Mom, Scooby's coming with me on the trip. So Paula Rogers wouldn't worry about Scooby's absence, but Shaggy would get a good scolding when he got home Sunday night. Then he put the phone away when Velma spoke to him again.

"Excited about the trip?" Velma asked, obviously trying to bring up a topic of conversation. Talking wasn't her strong suit, so she had very few friends. Or rather, none at all.

"Like, yes, I guess. I've never been to Oak Hill Lake. Is it nice?"

Velma nodded, smiling.

"Yes. During the summer my family and I spent the occasional afternoon picnic on the shore. And there are a lot of fishes. Small ones, though."

"Then I'll like it," Shaggy stated. He wanted to continue the conversation, of course. Velma was the only nice girl he had met in his whole stay in town, but he couldn't think of anything to do to prolong the talk, which annoyed him. Sometimes they talked, but always about classes or homework, never anything else.

"Ok, like, I have to admit that I don't know how to have small talk with people," the girl nervously laughed. "Sorry."

"No, like, I'm the same way, don't worry," Shaggy grinned. "I guess we can talk about anything to break the ice a little bit. Come on, like, drop a subject."

"Ok..." she doubted. "Do you have any pets?"

Shaggy couldn't help but think of Scooby, whining in the dark of the compartment.

"Yeah, a Great Dane. His name is Scooby-Doo. What about you?"

"I'm afraid I don't have any pets. My parents won't let me because my mother's allergic to their hair. No cats, no dogs," she sighed and made a brief pause. "My sister Madelyn brought home a stray kitten once, but we couldn't keep it."

"Oh, too bad. The truth is, a pet makes a house happier. Like, do you have any more siblings?"

"No, just one. Madelyn, she's 12. She's the opposite of me."

"What do you mean?" Shaggy said.

"She has a lot of friends, goes out with them, sleepovers... On the other hand, I don't have any friends."

Although Velma was the one sitting by the window, Shaggy looked out at the landscape while listening to her. They were going down a road through the town forest. Further ahead, several unkempt green fields began to appear.

"Like... I consider you my friend, if that helps you."

Velma stared at him, incredulous. Did he just say what she thought she heard? Her heart started pounding.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Like, why I wouldn't mean it?"

"Because... I don't think anyone has ever considered themselves a friend of mine."

"Then I'm, like, the first," he grinned.

"Jinkies... Thank you. I guess."

Shaggy didn't quite understand what Velma was thanking him for. It did seem to be true that she had never had a friend, and he felt very sorry for her. But he was more than willing to be her friend. Or to be someone's friend. All his friends in California weren't exactly good company, so he was hoping to make amends there, which wasn't going very well.

"Like, how much longer till we get there?" Shaggy spoke after one minute of silence.

"45 minutes or so," Velma answered.

"I don't really think I'm gonna have much fun on the school trip," Shaggy said, not mentioning the company Scooby would give him.

"Why?"

"Like, I don't get along with anyone else. I'm going to spend these five days all alone at that inn."

"I know there's not much to choose from but I'm sure you'll make more friends. And, well, you've got me."

"You're right."

"And if you get bored you can always search for the fish freak," Velma said with a certain tone of irony.

"Like, what?" Shaggy arched an eyebrow.

"Don't you know about the fish freak? Oh, yeah, you're new, I forgot. Sorry," she blushed. "The Oak Hill's fish freak is a local legend from the '50s," she started to recite, as if reading from a enciclopedia. "It's been decades since the last sighting. It's an interesting topic, only if it were real," she chuckled.

"So, you don't think it's real?

"Of course not. It's just a silly story created to draw attention to the town. But it's all nonsense, nobody believes in that stuff anymore, even though the Oak Hill area has a lot of legends."

"Zoinks, I didn't know that."

"You shouldn't even know. Like I just told you, nobody believes in it anymore. There's nothing paranormal about Oak Hill," Shaggy was a little burdened by the girl's skepticism. He wasn't willing to believe local legends either, but a little hope never hurts.

By the time the bus arrived, it was almost sundown. They all got off and found a tall, two-storey brick building on a cliff above the lake, with a slightly old roof and a large wooden door. A painted sign by the side of the path to get there stated "Oak Hill Lake Inn".

When it was time to open the bus trunk, Shaggy feared the worst and prepared to play the role of his life.

"Hey! There's a dog in here!" exclaimed Mr. Wells, furious at the sight of Scooby-Doo's brown tail.

Scooby came out just as he came in, with a fancy jump. Those closest to him took a step back.

"Rye...," Scooby was about to say hi when he remembered Shaggy had made him promise not to speak in front of the other teenagers.

Okay, like, that's your cue, Shaggy thought as he stood in front of the dog.

"Scooby!" he pretended to be surprised. "What are you doing here?"

He stroked his furry friend's head as he squatted.

"Shaggy Rogers, is this your dog?" Wells interrupted. He was an intellectual, stocky, tall, bald man with thin lips and bright eyes that scrutinized everything around him.

"Like, technically yes."

"And how did he get here?" Shaggy noticed everyone was getting a little closer so they could hear better the scolding.

"I don't know, sir. He was with me before I got on the bus, he knows the way from school to my house. I thought he came back home, not that he hid among the luggage," he smiled as innocently as he could. Fortunately, Mr. Wells was indulgent from time to time.

"You need to watch your dog better, Mr. Rogers."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Wells snorted. "I suppose to keep your parents from coming here, we could let your dog spend these days with us. But if he makes a single mess..."

"Like, don't worry. Scooby-Doo is incredibly well behaved."

"Sir, do you think the inn will allow pets?" Rose Martin asked.

"I don't..."

"He better don't come near me! Who knows what kind of bugs he's got!" Lana Right cried, one of the rich and popular ones in the class, at the bottom of the group. She had her brown hair at shoulders height, a good tan and crimson lipstick.

"And the dog, too," Red Herring murmured not too low. He was a redheaded, muscular boy from the football team, who also happened to be Carol's boyfriend. He was one of those who always made fun of Shaggy.

Shaggy and Scooby turned simultaneously. Shaggy was ready to open his mouth when he saw Velma looking at him with a worried, sad expression.

"Shut the fuck up," he spat, totally fed up. Scooby grunted.

"Wow, relax, you douche," Red replied.

"Just shut up, Red," another voice came out, this time it was a female one. Daphne Blake's, one of the prettiest girls in class, and one of the richest, too. She had been nice to Shaggy when he arrived and used to smile at him whenever they met in the halls. She also had red hair, beautiful green eyes, and she always dressed very nicely.

"Stay out of this, you slut," Lana insulted. Every word she said, the louder it got.

Daphne didn't answer, with her cheecks boiling. Shaggy imagined the shame the girl must have gone through. Indeed, Daphne had a crazy desire to jump on top of Lana and pull her hair out but she just looked away.

"Don't talk to her like that!" a blond boy with blue eyes came up with. It was Fred Jones, son of the Oak Hill's mayor. A fine physique, formerly a player on the football team. Shaggy had noticed several times in class how he looked at Daphne, hypnotized as the math teacher spoke. He also noticed Daphne pretending to ignore him.

"Shut up, everybody!" Wells ordered, fed up with the attacks that came from all sides. "Rose's right, we don't know if the inn allows animals. Unless you want to leave your pet out in the open, Mr Rogers, I'm afraid-"

"It's all right. I guess it's okay for a few nights, right, Scoob?" he scratched him behind his ears again.

"Reah... Woof!" Phew, that was close. Shaggy hoped no one had heard that. It was one of those rhetorical questions Shaggy had warned him not to answer.

"Mr. Wells, couldn't we just... sneak the dog in? There are so many of us, he won't even see it if we put him in the back," Velma suggested.

Shaggy knew Scooby didn't like being called "dog" because it made him feel inferior, like a dummie. And unfortunately, he was getting waves of that word within minutes.

The proposal caught Wells off guard, because it seemed he would have expected it from anyone but the smartest girl in the class. "Well, uh... I don't want to keep the poor animal out all night. It's all right, he'll will be placed at the end of the group and the owners of the inn won't see him."

"Great! Thanks, teach! I mean... Mr. Wells," Shaggy exclaimed.

Wells did a little bit of smiling. The teens carried their bags and suitcases to the inn, and Scooby took the opportunity to relieve himself in the bushes along the way.

"And thank you, Velma. Without your idea, I'm sure Scooby would have to sleep outside," Shaggy thanked the girl with a grin.

"Don't mention it. I think it's the first rebellious idea I've had," she smiled.

"Well, you should have more," Scooby rubbed his head on Velma's knees as a sign of appreciation. Velma stroked him on the chin with her free hand.

"He's so cute," she said, looking at his tinkling plate, which stated "SD" in golden letters. "Scooby-Doo. I like the name."

"It occurred to me when we bought him his first dog snacks," he whispered so Scooby wouldn't hear the word "dog". They are called Scooby-Snacks. I was glad when I saw they sell them in Ohio, too.

When they came in, Scooby stayed hidden behind the others. Shaggy was afraid someone would say there was a dog among them, but luckily no one mentioned it, not even Red Herring.

A couple of old women, a man of similar age and a younger man welcomed them. They handed Wells a bunch of keys with numbered signs and greeted the students friendly. They were in a hall with a counter, several framed pictures, and an area with chairs and magazines on a small table.

The women introduced themselves as Irene and Theresa Thompson, sisters and owners of the hostel. One of the men was Charles Thompson, also owner and brother of Irene and Theresa, while the other was no relative but John Harper, the caretaker and gardener. With an analytical glance, Velma saw that his burly appearance and youthful face was a delight to many girls.

"Well, shall we go with you upstairs?" Irene suggested. The two sisters had gray-blond hair, wrinkles and brown eyes while the man's hair was black, although he kept the brown in his eyes as well. They were a little shorter than Shaggy, especially Theresa, who was slightly hunched over and was the one of the three who wore glasses.

Mr. Wells seemed to remember that they were hiding Scooby and declined the offer quickly, claiming that they would go up alone. With a bit of skill and help from Velma, who was quite nervous about being caught, Shaggy managed to cover Scooby as they went up the stairs.

Shaggy's plan was going smoothly.

Thanks if you've made it this far! Vote and leave a review if you want, it would help me a lot! I will publish the next chapter next Sunday.