Sponge: Thank you for reading, reviewing, and coming back for chapter 7! The only warnings I have for you today are for minuscule amounts of kissing and the usual strong language. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. Any dialogue that's in bold comes from the Next to Normal script.


Chapter 7: Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling

On Monday morning, the gang arrived at school to find that fliers and posters littered the hallways.

"Its Homecoming Season!" they read. "Football Game vs. Lyonsville High on Friday, October 11 at 7pm. Dance on Saturday, October 12 at 8pm. Tickets on sale during all lunch periods!" The fliers were decorated with images of dice, cards, and Vegas landmarks.

"Oh wow," Fred said as they stopped by their lockers, all of which now bore a flier. "I completely forgot about homecoming."

"How did you forget about homecoming?" asked Velma. "You're our class representative, and you're in the SGA. Isn't that what you all talk about during class?"

Fred shot Velma a dubious expression, indicating he hadn't been paying much attention during his seventh-period SGA class.

"Is homecoming like, a big deal here?" asked Shaggy, who hadn't been in Coolsville yet for last year's.

"Yeah," Fred replied with a shrug. "We play Lyonsville every year – they're our main rivals. They've beaten us the past two years, but with my buddy Trent as the varsity QB, we might actually stand a chance." Fred paused. If he wasn't so focused on mystery solving, he might be the quarterback this year. He searched his heart for an ounce of regret, but he couldn't find any. There wasn't a team he wanted to be part of more than Mystery Inc.

"The dance every year is pretty good," Daphne told Shaggy. "Last year the theme was all about Paris, so the SGA made an Eiffel tower out of cardboard and decorated the gym with French flags and stuff. This year it looks like it's casino-themed." She gestured towards the flier.

"Are you gonna go?" Velma asked Daphne and Fred.

Daphne shrugged and shot a pointed glance at Fred. It took him a minute to get the hint.

"Oh!" he said. "Uh…hey Daphne? Would you like to go to homecoming with me?"

Daphne rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. "I would be honored, Freddie," she said, standing on her toes to kiss him sweetly. Maybe this is it, she thought. Maybe the dance will be the right time to tell him I love him.

"Rar rogs rallowed?" asked Scooby.

"Like, you're allowed to be anywhere I go, Scoob," Shaggy told him. He was suddenly nervous that Velma was expecting him to ask her. He shot a furtive glance her way, but she didn't seem to be paying much attention. She was scrutinizing the flier.

"Whatcha looking at, Velm?" asked Daphne, who noticed.

"There's a typo," Velma replied. "They forgot the apostrophe in 'it's'."

The gang rolled their eyes.

"Gotta go make announcements," Fred said as they passed the main office. After a kiss with Daphne that seemed much more lingering than normal (Scooby actually needed to clear his throat), Fred went into the office and the others made their way to Mr. Aiken's classroom.

In homeroom, the gang listened to the representatives from each grade talk about homecoming and tell their classmates how to vote for homecoming court. This time when Shaggy sneaked a glance at Velma, she was staring back at him. He quickly dropped his head and dug in his backpack for the SAT vocabulary flashcards he was supposed to be studying. He knew he couldn't avoid her forever, but he would hold out for as long as he could.

x.X.x

Shaggy dreaded second-period English, but they ended up having a pop quiz ("to prepare you for AP exams," the teacher, Ms. Whitacre, said), and didn't have a chance to speak with Velma. Daphne and Fred went to buy tickets to the dance at lunch, but Shaggy took his time in the deli line with Scooby to avoid talking about it. As he piled his sandwich with all the different toppings the cafeteria had to offer, he wondered why he was so averse to going to homecoming with Velma.

It wasn't because the thought of the event itself was so nauseating – truthfully, Shaggy thought he might enjoy homecoming. He pictured himself having a good time with his friends, jumping around to the beat of the music. He even knew that he'd like the act of slow-dancing with Velma – his arms around her waist, her head resting on his chest. He would like that quite a bit.

But even in the picture in his mind, Scooby was there in the background, watching with a wounded expression. He couldn't hurt his best friend like that. If Scooby was going to go to the dance too, then Shaggy absolutely could not pair himself off with Velma.

To his surprise, Velma didn't bring up the dance during study hall or sixth-period Spanish either. Shaggy allowed himself to believe that she also wouldn't mention it during rehearsal. But of course, that was when she did.

"We should talk about homecoming," Velma said when Shaggy arrived at the practice room before rehearsal that afternoon.

He had just locked the door behind him and felt himself break out in a cold sweat. "Uh…like, what do you mean?"

What Shaggy didn't know was that the only reason Velma hadn't brought up homecoming at any other point during the day was because she had been gathering her nerves. She knew – she had known for almost a year – that she had a crush on Shaggy. She would have never imagined that the crush would manifest itself in such a physical way, but the two of them found themselves in this practice room before and after rehearsal day after day, unable to keep their hands off each other. Here was her proof that Shaggy wanted her as much as she wanted him. It was time to tell him how she felt.

Velma took a deep breath. "I think we should go to the dance together," she told him. "We've been at this for weeks now and as much fun as it is to sneak around, it would be so much easier if we didn't have to. I…" she paused. "I think it would be nice."

Shaggy's throat went dry. This was exactly the opposite of what he'd wanted to happen today. Why did they have to put a label on this? He didn't want to make anything official with Velma. He couldn't. Not without hurting Scooby Doo. Shaggy wanted to tell Velma how much he wished he could go to the dance with her, but the risk was too great. And, to be honest, he was too chicken.

"Like what about Scoob?" he asked.

This, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.

Velma's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What about him?"

Shaggy shrugged and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I don't want his feelings to get hurt."

"He's a dog. He'll get over it," Velma replied. This came out harsher than she'd meant it, but it was too late to take it back now.

Shaggy scowled. "He's more than like, just a dog, Velma," he said. "He's my best friend. And I can't do this to him. You've seen how upset he gets every time Fred and Daphne get going."

"Well I kind of agree with him there, to be honest," Velma said. "They need to learn to get better control of themselves."

"Like look who's talking," Shaggy shot back.

Velma glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Shaggy was mad, but he also knew that now was a good time to stop talking. He just shook his head and avoided her gaze.

"I'd say if either of us has the control problem," Velma continued. "It's you. I've never had to stay behind in the practice room to get myself off." She felt a blush rise to her cheeks. She'd never been so frank with him, and she knew this was a low blow. That had only happened the one time. It was unfair of her to bring it up. Her eyes strayed to the clock above the piano. "We should get to rehearsal."

She unlocked the door and walked away without so much as a glance back at him.

x.X.x

Rehearsal that day was a disaster. The drama students had been working on set construction during seventh period, but evidently they weren't supposed to start on that yet. Shaggy arrived, fuming from the practice room confrontation, to find Mr. Atwood shouting at Leesa and the drama students.

"We have a schedule for a reason, people!" he barked. "We haven't yet taken inventory of what's in the lumber room or the wood loft, so why would you start on a project that we haven't yet properly prepared for? Not to mention, this" (here he gestured to the half-finished, non-structure on the stage) "is not the correct set design! We're already behind on other aspects of the show, and now taking this apart will put us even further behind schedule! What were you thinking?"

"Like how long has this been going on?" Shaggy murmured to Fred as he slid into the seat beside him. Fred wasn't sitting near Daphne, as all the drama students had moved to the front of the house to take the verbal lashing.

Fred looked pained. "As soon as Atwood walked in, he started yelling." He shook his head. "Poor Daph." Shaggy glanced over at her. She seemed ready to cry.

Once Mr. Atwood had finished shouting, the drama students and the other cast and crew members began working to disassemble the structure. Eventually, when Mr. Atwood was red in the face, everyone realized it would be faster to just move it backstage and work on it another time, so that's what they did. When rehearsal finally began, Shaggy couldn't find the flowers that Henry was supposed to give to Natalie for the piano recital that happens during the number.

"It must be the Phantom of the Auditorium again," Holden joked. He appeared to be the only person who was in a good mood. Velma and Shaggy were still annoyed with each other, Fred and Daphne were sullen, Scooby and Leesa were frantic, and Tony was quiet.

"Read the room, Walsh," Mr. Atwood barked. "Does anyone here appear to be in the mood for your goddamn second rate humor?"

That shut Holden up.

"Just go without the flowers for now," Mr. Atwood sighed. "Let's run the scene. Action."

Shaggy pretended to hold a bouquet out to Velma. She glowered at him, and he glared back at her.

"Hey," he said with hardly any emotion in his voice. "I know I'm not supposed to be backstage but…" He thrust the pretend flowers closer to her. "For luck."

"Did you see my parents out there?" Velma asked, in an equally monotonous tone. The script called for her to be fidgety from nerves and narcotics (specifically, Diana's unused medications), but Velma just seemed bored and frustrated.

Shaggy could relate.

"Cut!" Mr. Atwood cried. "What the hell is that, you guys? You're usually better than this."

"Sorry," they both mumbled.

"Start again," Mr. Atwood directed. "Action!"

"Hey," Shaggy said, trying to get into character. But it was so hard with Velma staring daggers at him. "I know I'm not supposed to be—"

"Dinkley!" Mr. Atwood interrupted. "Wipe that scowl off your face. You're supposed to be twitchy, not angry."

Velma gritted her teeth as they reset the scene yet again.

"Action!" Mr. Atwood shouted.

"Hey..." Shaggy began, and immediately forgot the rest of his lines. It was as though they'd simply flown from his head, leaving his mind totally blank. He stared into space as he tried to remember the next thing he said, but it just wasn't coming to him. "Line," he called helplessly.

Mr. Atwood groaned. "What is the matter with you people today?"

"Rye roe Rye'm rot rupposed ro re rackstage..." Scooby prompted him.

"Right, like sorry," Shaggy muttered. "I know I'm not supposed to be backstage but...good luck."

"For luck," Leesa and Scooby called out in unison.

Shaggy grimaced. "For luck," he corrected himself, pretending to hold out the flowers.

"Did you see my parents out there?" Velma asked.

"Um—are you okay?" No matter what Shaggy did, he couldn't get into character. Neither, it appeared, could Velma. They were both still too irritated with each other.

"I'm fine. My dad said they'd both be here," she snapped.

Shaggy attempted to make his voice sound comforting. "Then I'm sure they will be." It came out sounding antagonistic.

Velma glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "Will they?"

"Cut!" Mr. Atwood exclaimed. He looked ready to pull his hair out. "What is going on with you two? Dinkley, remember, you're nervous and agitated in this scene, not hostile! Rogers, you're trying to comfort her! Get your head out of your ass." Mr. Atwood sighed. "Start again."

They ran through the scene a few more times but it soon became evident that it was a lost cause. The song wasn't very good either – absolutely nobody was on their A-game. Fred was still having trouble with his lines, and even Daphne, Holden, and Tony had difficulty remembering what they said. Everyone was pitchy and had a difficult time following the blocking. Shaggy and Velma in particular did poorly throughout. Everybody was frustrated by the time rehearsal came to an end.

"All right everyone," Mr. Atwood said at the end of the day. "I won't pretend like today's rehearsal wasn't a rough one, because it absolutely was. I know that there are a lot of high tensions right now, so we're all going to go home, get some rest, and come back tomorrow and do it better." He waved his hand. "Dismissed. You may go. See you tomorrow."

Everyone was glad to get out of the auditorium. Scooby and Leesa didn't even hold a production meeting, they were all so eager to get going.

"Geez," Tony muttered to the gang as they walked down the hall towards the entrance. "Atwood was right. That was a shit-show today."

Daphne shrugged. "It was an off day. Everyone has them now and then." She sighed, and Fred put an arm around her as they walked through the door to the parking lot.

"How often does it happen for everyone at the same time?" asked Velma.

Daphne shrugged again. "We're a small cast," she said by way of explanation.

Velma's question had caused Tony to notice that she and Shaggy had followed them all outside. "Hey, don't you two usually have some kinda meeting after rehearsal?"

Shaggy and Velma looked at each other as they all continued down the sidewalk towards the student parking lot.

"I don't think that'll be necessary today," Velma said loftily, hoping that no one could tell how much it hurt her to say it.

"Are you sure?" asked Holden, who had caught up with them all. "I think maybe you guys need it."

Velma shot him a withering look. "Excuse me?"

Holden shrugged. "I'm just saying. It looked like you guys didn't have the same level of chemistry that you usually do. And I noticed that you had a shorter than usual meeting before rehearsal. I think that's why you sucked so much. Maybe it is necessary."

"That's rude, Holden," Daphne said, even though she secretly agreed with him. But she'd never tell Shaggy and Velma how bad they'd been. "You weren't so great yourself today. None of us were."

"No," Holden agreed. He jerked his head at Shaggy and Velma. "But they were the worst." He sighed. "This is what happens when you cast non-drama kids in a production."

Daphne stopped walking and whirled around. "What did you say?"

"Daph," Fred said, pulling her arm to try to get her to move, but she didn't budge. Everyone stopped as Daphne and Holden glared at each other. Scooby whined nervously.

Holden crossed his arms. "I'm just saying. If you hadn't brought all these outsiders," – he inclined his head again toward Shaggy, Velma, and Fred – "the production process might be running a lot smoother." He leaned towards Daphne. "Why'd you bring them in anyway, Blake? Thought you could solve the 'mystery of the Phantom' with their help?"

Daphne's face burned. That was exactly what she'd been hoping. But other than the disappearing props and the one sighting that Scooby'd had, there were no clues to follow. And hearing Holden say it out loud alerted her to how stupid it all sounded.

"Hey man." Tony put a hand on Holden's shoulder. "Ease up."

Holden whirled around and pointed a finger in Tony's face. "You're not one of us either, you know," he spat. "Why did you audition? Trying to get back with your ex-girlfriend?" He indicated Velma with an angry jerk of his head.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Come on, dude. I think you cool it."

"You need to cool it," Holden hissed, even though Tony was the completely calm one. With that, Holden stalked off towards the student parking lot, leaving the others in the dust behind him.

Tony raised his eyebrows at Daphne. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be the drama club without a little drama, huh?" He gave her and the others his signature lopsided smile. It amazed Daphne how Tony was able to let everything Holden had said just now roll off him, like water off the back of a duck.

"How do you do that?" she asked him.

Tony furrowed his brow. "Do what?"

"Not let him get to you. He was being so mean!"

Tony shrugged. "He had a long day. We all did. He was just venting, and we happened to be the nearest metaphorical punching bags. He didn't mean any of the shit he just said. I bet he'll calm down by tomorrow. Hell, he might even apologize." He gave a two fingered salute to the gang. "I'll see you kids tomorrow, eh?" With a wave, he headed off in the direction of his own car.

The gang watched him as he left.

"I wish I was as well-adjusted as Tony Moretti," Fred remarked.

Everyone chuckled as the tension broke.

x.X.x

As Velma lay in bed that evening trying to sleep, she couldn't help but think about everything Tony had said after rehearsal. He was so eager to believe the best in people. It was one of the things she'd liked about him. To be honest, she still liked it about him. But it had never been romantic with Tony, even when they'd tried to make it that way. There was something far different about what was happening with Shaggy.

If it was even happening anymore.

Above Velma's desk was a bulletin board, where she'd pinned a drawing that Shaggy had created of her on the day they met last year. She caught sight of the picture and sighed. She still had a crush on Shaggy, and she knew there was something there for him, too. She also knew that Scooby was the thing that was holding him back, dumb as that was. But her friendship with them both was too important for her to jeopardize. Although she wasn't quite ready to apologize yet. She was still feeling mad, and a little embarrassed about what had happened in the practice room this afternoon.

With a sigh, she turned over on her side, facing away from Shaggy's drawing.

x.X.x

Shaggy, meanwhile, was also lying in bed and thinking about things that had been said after rehearsal. But not something Tony had said. Something that Holden had said to Tony.

"Trying to get back with your ex-girlfriend?" he'd spat.

Shaggy clenched his hands around his blankets, trying not to wake Scooby Doo at the foot of the bed. Was that why Tony had auditioned? Because he'd seen Velma and the rest of them go in for the interest meeting on the first day of school, and wanted to get closer with her again?

"Have you ever liked a girl so much that the idea of her dating some other guy made you crazy?" Fred's voice repeated in his head.

This jealousy that Shaggy felt was debilitating. And unfair. He recognized that he couldn't control anything that happened between Velma and Tony, especially when Shaggy refused to define his own relationship with her.

He couldn't deny that they had some kind of relationship. A physical one, at the very least. That was part of what was so painful for Shaggy – he knew it was wrong, but even though they were fighting now, he still wanted to keep up what they had going on in the practice room.

He shut his eyes and grimaced, as if by ignoring all his problems, they might vanish overnight.


Sponge: Thanks for reading. Sorry this chapter lacked romance and mystery solving, but there will be some Fraphne action next week – and maybe an appearance by the Phantom. In the meantime, review if you please!