Bell chimes rang throughout the school telling everyone it was time to rise and shine.
"Why in OZ is it so freaking bright?" Melinda groaned, slapping a pillow over her face.
"Because we're in Auradon, land of eternal sunshine," yawned Christina as she sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Five more minutes," Melinda turned away.
Rolling her eyes, Christina stood from the bed, raking a hand through her knotted hair. Stepping in front of the mirror she glanced at her reflection in the too big tank and unevenly cut pants. A knock at the door, made her throw on her jacket, zipping it up before tiredly pulling open the door to find Clawdeen outside with a clothing rack.
"Surprise"
"Clawdeen? What is all this?"
"I couldn't sleep so I did this all night"
"Aren't you tired?"
"That's what coffee's for, here," Clawdeen pushed the rack inside. "The first half is Melinda's the second half is yours"
"OMG, you're amazing!" Christina squealed, "I love this!" she pulled a purple dress with black flames from the rack, pressing it to her chest.
"You should wear your jeggings with that"
Christina snorted in amusement, "I thought jeggings weren't cool anymore?"
"If it makes you happy then it's always in style"
"Then I'm going to get ready, please, wake Melinda"
Clawdeen did so by pushing her from the bed.
"OW"
…...
Christina might have had the best shower of her life. She might have turned the room into a sauna. She might have shampooed three times because it was the best smelling soap she'd ever had. Once dried and dressed she stepped from the bathroom to see Melinda talking to her backpack.
"M?" Christina grabbed the witches' attention, "What are you doing?"
"I er, smuggled Shadow to Auradon," Melinda sheepishly explained, lifting the black shorthair from her bag, "Mom would have let her starve"
"True," Christina nodded, "Do you have our schedules?"
"Desk"
"Thanks, here's the campus map, let's grab breakfast"
…...
Later that day, the group now known as vks to the other students-were bored out of their mind in their remedial goodness class which was taught by Fairy Godmother herself who was very into what she was doing. So much so, she paid no mind to the students who were withholding yawns. Christina kept her hands occupied by writing in her diary,
You should hear some of these questions.
You encounter some lost children do you:
a. Steal from them.
B. Sell them to the witch in the gingerbread house.
C Scare them.
D Walk them home
What are we? Preschoolers?
Anyway, school's okay, I suppose. Everyone stares at us. I mean, I've been stared at my whole life. News flash it doesn't get easier to deal with.
The good news my schedule's pretty basic:
English
History of Auradon.
Earth science.
Lunch
Study Hall.
Algebra.
Remedial Goodness.
There are more specific courses like History of magic but all of our schedules are solely core classes. I'm just lucky I haven't encountered anyone else that deserves a good cursing like princess drama does. Every time we saw Shaggy today she was hanging on to him, chittering, batting her eyelashes. Every time she sees me, she scowls.
I don't care.
The evil Queen likes to scowl at me too for getting her banished to the edge of the isle. I was seven...oh more later.
Christina shut her diary, bringing her attention to the newest question on the board which was just as mundane, dumbed down like the rest. Thankfully there were only fifteen minutes left on the clock then she'd be free to face-plant into her bed or thumb through her spellbook.
"If someone hands you a crying baby do you: A, Curse it. B, Lock it in a tower. C. give it a bottle. D. carve out its heart"
None made a move to respond except Melinda.
"What was the second one?"
"Anyone else?" Fairy Godmother questioned, the boys refused to look at her while Clawdeen was still engrossed in her sketchbook, "Christina?"
"C, give it a bottle"
"You're really good at this," Melinda declared.
"Just pick the opposite of what your mother would do"
"Oh, that makes perfect sense"
"Yeah," Christina agreed.
There was no one to blame. Christina could tell you the name of every student at Dragon Hall who cut class, skipped, or slept through it. The five of them were just as guilty if not more so often blowing off their repetitive courses to make mischief in the square.
Before they moved on to the next question, someone unexpectedly arrived. The fairy godmother's daughter, Farrah who was clearly nervous
"Hello, sweetheart,"
"Hi, you need to sign an early dismissal for the coronation" Farrah passed the clipboard to her mother while glancing at her villainous peers.
She could be a way to the wand, however, she didn't seem to be easily scared. Nervous but not scared. No, they needed scared. Farrah left class, resuming after her departure. Christina almost checked out, distracted by memories only to snap back to attention at the scuffle that broke out between the boys. The two were always tussling. It was a regular occurrence that their teacher was having none of. When the bell rang the two were sent to Tourney tryouts.
Clawdeen tagged along to watch while Christina and Melinda returned to the former's locker which was already tagged with Long Live Evil.
A little ways away Shaggy was leaving class with Googie and her friends.
"They're trouble," she was saying to Shaggy, eyeing the two vks.
"Like, just give them a chance guys," Shaggy pleaded.
"Hi, Shaggy," Sugie bounced over, hugging her books.
"Hey sis, how was-"
"Look sweetie," Googie interrupted, "I know your mom fell in love with a beast who turned out to be a prince but for some people, evil fairies are just evil faeries like her," she nodded to Christina.
"I think you're wrong about them"
"Look, I will see you after my dress fitting,"
"Okay," Shaggy was flustered, watching Googie leave in the company of Red Herring who shared her opinions
"Wow," Sugie exclaimed, "Awkward"
"So, how was class?" Shaggy asked, desperate to change the subject.
"Fine"
"Did you like, meet our new students yet?"
"Noo," Sugie replied, bashfully, "I'm nervous"
"C'mon"
Melinda looked around, checking for prissy princesses.
"I think I'm going to slink around a bit"
"Alright, have fun, M"
Christina shut her locker to discover Shaggy accompanied by a younger redheaded girl.
"Hi, how was your first day?"
"Super"
"Did you do that?" the girl asked, indicating Christina's locker.
"Yeah"
"Oh, sorry, this is my sister"
"Hi, my name's Sugie"
"hey"
"Sugie this is Christina" to Christina Shaggy said, "Where did Melinda run off to?"
"Exploring"
"Shaggy, weren't you supposed to be at Tourney tryouts?" Sugie asked, glancing at her phone.
"I knew I forgot something!"
"Come on, I'll talk to the coach," Sugie grabbed her brother, dragging him away.
…...
"You're late!" Coach barked at Shaggy.
"Sorry"
"No apologies you've held up the whole team, Defense"
"Yes sir"
Putting his bag down he spied Christina behind the bleachers headed toward the woods. He didn't have time to think it over as the whistle blew signaling the start of the game.
…...
Melinda stared at her schedule in quiet fury. While her Friends had basic schedules with no rotating classes she wasn't so lucky.
"Chemistry, blah," she rolled her eyes, "Right, Shadow?"
The cat gave an affectionate purr before hunkering down in her bag, where she'd been hiding all day.
"Hard to believe you were one of Lucifer's kittens"
The school was massive, sprawling manicured grounds with plenty of places to lurk, to observe. Finding a nice corner where the sun wouldn't bother her, Melinda slid down to the pavement, rested her head against the wall, and prepared to check out.
That's when the music started, soft melodic music, surprisingly close. Confused and curious, Melinda rose to her feet to investigate. Peering around the corner she spied the culprit with his back to her, guitar in hand. Melinda's intent was to retreat, but Shadow had other ideas darting out of the bag and two where the stranger sat.
"Shadow!"
The music stopped.
"Does she belong to...you" the stranger trailed off, catching sight of Melinda.
"Yeah," Melinda scooped up the naughty cat, "She's Shadow, I'm Melinda"
"Dalton, and this" he picked up a cat she hadn't noticed, "Is Ghost"
Now, Melinda understood why Shadow had run off. She wanted to play with Ghost. With a relenting sigh, Melinda set Shadow down so she could make friends. Sitting on the edge of the bench about as far away from Dalton as she could get. He might have been a little cute but he was also an Auradon boy.
"You're from the isle?"
"Yeah," Melinda tossed her hair over her shoulder, pulling on her biker cap, "You have a problem with that?"
"No"
"I think you might"
With that, Melinda collected Shadow and went back to the dorms.
Leaving Dalton with a love-struck grin.
…...
No matter how often Sugie watched her brother's games she was never bored by them. They were always interesting to watch. Especially now, Duncan seemed to be a natural, it was hard to believe he'd never played. Sugie couldn't help but laugh when she thought of how angry Red would be. The MVP was about to be replaced. Red seemed to know it too, slamming into Hadrian with more force than needed, sending the pirate falling to the ground.
"Reel it in Herring, this is a practice session," the coach barked.
Red gave no indication that he'd heard the coach, going right back into battle mode.
"I hope he's okay," Sugie mumbled watching Duncan pull Hadrian to his feet.
"He'll be fine"
Startled, Sugie looked up to find the werewolf girl on the next row.
"He's been through worse scrapes" she grinned, "I'm Clawdeen"
"Sugie"
"You're Shaggy's sister?"
"Yes," Sugie smiled, "What do you think of the game so far?"
"It's...different"
"I know"
Sugie was beginning to think the villain kids weren't so bad. Nothing to be scared of.
…...
"So these are the dark woods?" Christina laughed, shifting her bag from one shoulder to the other as she looked around, "Not so dark now"
Christina walked until she could no longer hear the cheering and play by plays of the practice game. Once all was silent she slumped to the cool, damp earth and began writing in her diary.
Now, where was I?
Oh, I was seven:
…...
Ten Years Ago:
The isle of the lost was notoriously dark, unhappy, and gray. It wasn't unusual to see the vultures flying everywhere. No, what was unusual was what the vultures were delivering. Party invitations, beautifully hand-written in looping scrawl on the cleanest paper available. A week later every child came rushing to the market where had been made over with tall candles dripping wax into rusted ironwork holders, swaths of moth-eaten silk were crisscrossed overhead. Even the toughest, villains couldn't help but crack a smile at the princess on her makeshift throne. Each pulling off whatever tricks they could to hear her pealing laughter.
Rotten sweets and a titled cake grabbed attention, the baddie bags delighted the little ones, each containing a pet.
Everyone was happy.
Except for one little fairy.
Standing on her balcony, lip trembling she watched the revelry below. Even from where she stood she could smell the cake, filled with shiny red apples, the bruises cut away. Only the best for the birthday girl. Tugging on the ends of her hair, she tried blocking out the shrieks of laughter as every little urchin discovered their pets. Kittens from Lucifer's latest litter, all black of course. Baby bats, hiding themselves from the light
She hadn't been invited, her cousins had, she'd insisted they go.
But she hadn't been invited.
"Well, what's going on here?"
"Grammy!" Christina turned to the elder fae, "It's a party and I wasn't invited"
The floodgates finally broke, Christina buried her face in her grandmother's robes and sobbed.
Now Maleficent was pissed. No one made her granddaughter cry! She knew at once who was responsible. The same woman who was miffed when the islanders chose to follow her.
"EVIL QUEEN!"
lightning cracked across the sky, since there was no magic this was frighteningly good timing, everyone turned to Maleficent, quaking in their shoes.
"YOU HAVE COMMITTED THE VILEST OF ACTS! THIS PARTY IS OVER, SCATTER, SCURRY AWAY LIKE THE URCHINS YOU ARE. THE QUEEN IS DEAD TO THE ISLAND"
Maleficent picked Christina up, carrying her away from the distressing scene.
…...
Overkill? Maybe? But, Regina should have known. Everyone knew if you hurt me, or tried to Grandmother would have vengeance. After the scene on the balcony, Grandmother carried me to her rooms and read to me from her spellbooks until I stopped crying. Draculaura and Sibella came home, each with itty bitty bats but I wouldn't leave Grandmother.
Christina put her pencil down and shut her diary. Swapping it for the spellbook she began to read through it, making notes of all the different spells. Disguises, beauty spells, the sleeping curse, misdirection, invisibility.
So. Many Spells.
Certain her eyes were going to cross from information overload Christina reached for her bag, having stuffed some apples in there.
Her bag was moving.
Pulling it open she discovered the reason. A raven, a dead-ringer for Diablo stared back at her, cawing angrily.
A sound that was echoed in the tree above.
Crows covered every branch, staring straight at her.
"Hello"
the crows didn't faze her nor did the raven who was glaring into the side of her head. Without missing a beat she dumped the apples from her bag, watching them roll across the ground. The crows descended upon them but their raven leader stayed put. Eyeing her still.
"You remind me of a friend, here" she offered the seeds from an apple, "Go on"
Hesitantly, he took the offering before looking up at her. A second later, he was on her lap.
"Like me now?" she laughed, running her finger down his back, "I like you too, Shade I'll call you Shade"
…...
"That was amazing!" Clawdeen exclaimed, kissing Duncan hello after tryouts," You were amazing!"
"It was no different than shopping back home," Duncan laughed, "I had something I wanted and wasn't going to let go of it"
"Like, you more than earned your spot on the team," Shaggy agreed before downing his water in one gulp.
"You were pretty good too," Duncan admitted.
"Years of practice," Shaggy waved it off.
Sugie watched Red Herring stomp away from the corner of her eye, hiding a smirk when Hadrian came jogging up, he had a minor cut on his cheek but still smiled, his new jersey slung over his shoulder.
"Melinda's not here?"
"No, sorry," Duncan shrugged, apologetically.
Hadrian visibly deflated. It was no secret that he had a head-over-heels, hopeless crush on Melinda West.
"I can find her-"
"No, that's okay," Hadrian brushed Clawdeen's offer away, "I'll see her later"
…...
Her peers gasped when she stepped out of the woods, Shade perched on her shoulder. Christina could barely contain the eye roll, brushing past the others intent on getting a before-dinner nap. It was in these quiet halls that she encountered Fairy Godmother's prized pupil:
Velma Dinkly.
The bespectacled teen was younger than others, put in advanced placement, and made to suffer for it. When she saw Christina, she ducked into the girl's restroom.
There was the key.
With the change of plans in mind, Christina followed to discover Velma scrutinizing her appearance in the mirror.
"Hi," Christina waved catching the girl's eye, "Velma right? That's a cute name"
"Thanks," Velma moved to leave.
"Don't go!"
Velma froze.
"I-I was just hoping to make a friend," Christina bashfully admitted, "But you probably have all the friends you need, right?"
"Hardly"
"Really? but you're so smart!"
"I'd rather be pretty, you have great hair," Velma admitted.
Christina looked at her hair for a moment, twirling one of the cascading locks around her finger in thought, truthfully Velma was cute in her own way though it was obvious she didn't see it herself. Perhaps, Christina could help?
"I have just the thing for that," Christina flipped through the spellbook, "Ah, right here. Beware forswear, replace the old with new hair"
Velma turned back to the mirror in time to see her hair grow longer and fuller. Taken aback, she turned to Christina with excitement.
"Do more!"
"I can't, I haven't really gotten the hang of magic quite yet but I bet you can ask Fairy Godmother for help, isn't this what she does?"
"Not anymore, she says teaching is magical enough"
"You know, she might make an exception for something really, really important"
"You think?" Velma asked hopefully.
"You never know and if she does decide to break out the wand, invite me, I'd love to see her in action"
"If I can convince her you're so there, bye!"
"Bye"
…...
The next morning, Melinda was dumped out of bed before Christina climbed into the shower. With a face full of the rug, the witch groaned propping her head in her elbow. Shade was perched on the clothing rack, staring at her.
"What do you want?"
Peeling herself off the floor, Melinda yawned, eyeing the crystal ball still on her desk it was a little too big for her to carry around. Maybe a shrinking spell would be of help?
I don't have a spellbook but Christina does
With this thought in mind, Melinda grabbed the spellbook from Christina's nightstand and tried to open it only to find it locked tight.
OH COME ON!
Melinda tried and tried and tried but the book would not open.
"M? why do you have my spellbook?"
Melinda yelped with surprise, dropping the book to the floor. Christina stood in the bathroom doorway, steam trailing from the room, her hair tied up in an absurdly fluffy pink towel, waiting for a response.
"I needed a shrinking spell for my crystal ball," Melinda relented, "The book won't open"
"Let me deal with my hair, then I'll hunt down the spell"
Christina returned a few minutes later, the mirror opposite of Melinda who was still in her pajamas.
"Okay," Christina grabbed the spellbook as Shade settled on her shoulder, "Shrinking spell," biting the inside of her cheek, she flipped through the pages, "Here"
One shrunken crystal ball later, Melinda finally got ready for the day.
…...
Curse whatever cruel deity had caused this. Melinda had arrived, pushing the last bell, to chemistry class. Dalton was her lab partner! Of all the things why? Nevertheless, she strutted forward, sliding into her seat without a glance in his direction. She did everything to keep busy, keep distracted. Dalton, however, was keen to chat.
"Hi, Melinda"
"Hey," Melinda droned, twirling hair around her finger in boredom, twisting until it was tight before letting it go and doing it again.
"I don't have a problem with you"
"Uh-huh"
Dalton opened his mouth to protest but the bell rung, signaling the start of class. A class which Melinda checked out of five minutes in that was until she was called upon. Flustered, she grabbed the crystal ball from her bag, knowing it was her only hope. After writing the answer flawlessly, she slunk back to her seat to find a note waiting on the floor.
Meet under the bleachers at three.
With an eye roll, she crumpled the note and crushed it under her heel.
Judging by how the sender was watching he wanted something.
…...
Dalton tried to catch her after class but she was too fast for him, slinking through the limited shadows before sprinting to the tourney field. Shadow following her. In the mood for mischief, Melinda waited until Red Herring came swaggering toward her, backpack dragging the ground.
He thinks he's all that, Melinda inwardly scoffed, observing Red's expensive athletic wear, tousled hair, and confident smirk. Shadow tensed beside her
"I didn't think you would show," he started, leaning casually on the pole across from her.
"I had nothing else to do," she picked lint from her skirt.
"Is everyone back on the isle as pretty as you?"
"Funny, I wasn't going for pretty"
He continually got closer, "I like your style, Melinda, it's wicked cool"
"Haha" bored out of her mind, Melinda was trying to decide what to do with the boy.
That's when he tried to kiss her.
Hands faster than lightning, she caught him by the jaw, "What gives mister?"
"You're hot," Red managed, "And smart"
"I'm aware," she pushed him back, "Now, you're going to tell me I'm so smart, I could knock out your homework too or your going to lay it on thick and insist we have some grownup fun, am I right?"
"You aren't entirely wrong," Red admitted, "You'll be into it, promise"
"Oh, don't make me puke, some prince you are"
"So that's a no, then?" Red called taken aback by Melinda's sudden exit.
"You bet," she blew him a raspberry before sprinting across the field into the woods, to avoid an explosion
…...
"I'd be happy to hogtie him for you"
"GAH," Melinda spun, cap falling from her head to see Dalton sitting in a tree petting Ghost, "Did you follow me?"
"Maybe," Dalton shrugged, "I did want to talk with you"
"About?"
"Just stuff, how you're liking school and all that"
"You want to be friends?" Melinda deduced, swiping her cap from the ground, brushing dirt from the leather.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you out"
If she had been drinking something she'd have spit it out, "Excuse me?"
"Look, I think you're cute and I wanted to ask you to be my date for the coronation"
"You wanted to ask me to watch someone get a crown put on their head?"
"There's more than that, there's a parade and a red carpet procession, Fairy Godmother blesses Shaggy with her wand then there's supposed to be a-"
"Wait they use the wand in the coronation?"
"Yeah, I'd like to see it in action, it's supposed to be stupid powerful, so what do you say?"
"I'll think about it," Melinda smirked, scooping Shadow from the ground to head to the room.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Maybe"
…...
Melinda returned to the dorm finding the door ajar. Inside, Christina was stretched out on her bed, Shade beside her while Clawdeen sat backward in the desk chair.
"Hey"
"Hi, Melinda dropped her bag, flopping onto her bed where Shadow settled onto her chest.
"You went to meet Red?" Clawdeen questioned to which Melinda nodded, "So, what did he want?"
"a toy"
Clawdeen snarled in revulsion while Christina dropped her pencil in shock.
"NO"
"Yeah"
"Did you kick his teeth out?"
"I was tempted to, where are the boys?"
"Tourney practice"
"Ah"
The conversation was interrupted by a rapid knocking on the door.
"Hey, Velma, what's the matter?"
Velma shuffled into the room, biting her cheek, to avoid crying, glasses fogging with tears.
"I asked if she'd use the wand to help me get a boyfriend and she said if a boy can't see the beauty within then he's not worth it"
"Well, boyfriend's are overrated"
"How would you know, Christy?" Clawdeen laughed, "You've never had one"
"That's because I don't need one, they're a waste of time," Christina leveled the smirking wolf with a glare.
Luckily, it seemed this exchange, lifted Velma's spirits as a sniffle gave way to a laugh.
"Here, may I?" Christina sat up, reaching for Velma's glasses.
Velma handed off the glasses so they could be cleaned while she dried her eyes. Once cleaned up, she perched on the edge of the bed. A calm quiet settled over the room, a quiet that was disrupted by another sudden knocking.
"Hi," a pretty, perky Asian girl glided into the room. Dressed in a red silk blouse and black pencil skirt, with strappy heels, her pin-straight hair was cut in a bob a style which didn't fit her features, "I'm Mai, Mulan's daughter?"
The villain girls stared blankly.
"No? Anyway, I love what you've done to Velma's hair and I was hoping you could do mine"
"Why would I do that?" Christina questioned, bored.
"I'll pay you fifty dollars," she offered, jingling a coin purse.
"Good answer," Clawdeen smirked, grabbing the purse, "Let's see," Clawdeen proceeded to list ideas only for Mai to cut her off.
"I want it cool, like Christina's"
"Really? The split ends too?"
Irked, itching to get back to her diary Christina rolled off the bed, grabbing her spellbook, flipping it open as her feet hit the floor.
"Beware forswear, replace the old with cool hair"
Just as Velma's before, Mai's hair grew long and thick, lightning in the process.
"Wow"
Fifty dollars earned the trio watched two cheered Auradon girls leave, shutting the door behind them which was opened again by a pair of sweaty boys.
"So, did it work?" Hadrian questioned Christina, who was rapidly flipping through her spellbook, "Are you going to see the wand?"
"Do you think I'd be flipping through every single spell in this book if I hadn't struck out?" Christina snarked.
"Someone's crabby," Duncan laughed.
"We have a job to do, guys," stressed Christina.
"And we'll succeed," Duncan promised.
"I sure hope so"
"Oh yeah, almost forget," Melinda smacked herself, "I found out that Fairy Godmother blesses Shaggy with the wand at the coronation and we all get to go"
Christina opened her mouth to respond only to be cut off by another knocking at the door, rolling her eyes, the hybrid stood once more, Shade flying to her shoulder. Opening the door she found Shaggy and Scooby, the latter cowering behind the prince's legs.
"Hey, Christina, I didn't see you guys today I like, wondered if you had questions or like, anything you needed?"
"Not that I know of," Christina glanced at the others before a thought struck her, "Hey, is it true that we all get to go to your coronation?"
"Yeah, the whole school goes"
"That's exciting, do you think we could stand in the front just to soak up all that goodness?"
Shaggy smiled apologetically, "I wish you could, up front it's just me, my family, and my girlfriend"
"And your girlfriend"
"Yeah but the-"
"Okay, thanks, bye!" Christina shut the door, waiting until she heard the retreating footsteps.
"I think it's time Shaggy got a new girlfriend," Christina smirked, "And I need a love spell"
Duncan tossed her the book.
…...
They had to wait until the kitchens were empty. Sneaking under the cover of night they proceeded to set the record for the quietest use of a kitchen ever. Christina stood at the counter, mixing cookie dough with the spell in front of her. The others let her bake because she had the most experience,, Alissa had always tried to make sweets despite the food offered on the isle.
"It says we still need one tear of sadness"
"Don't look at me," Melinda rolled her eyes.
"I don't cry either," Clawdeen scoffed.
"Let's just cut up an onion," Hadrian suggested, tossing it from one hand to the other, "A tear's a tear"
"NO! It says we need a tear of sadness. Sadness!"
"Okay, I get it!"
"Then one of us has to cry"
"Rock paper scissors you for-"
"Duncan?"
"Yes, Sweetie?"
"Christy's got you beat"
There were tears running down the hybrid's face.
"How does she do that?"
"Who cares?"
As soon as one had landed in the mix, Christina walked away so she wouldn't overdo it. Five minutes later, she was back to normal, drying her eyes, "Boys, cookie sheet, Melinda get the oven"
"Yes, ma'am"
If anyone had walked by the kitchens they would've smelt cookies.
…...
"Hey, Christina?"
"What, Clawdeen?"
"What did you think of that made you cry so much?"
"I don't want to talk about it"
"But Christy-"
"I said I didn't want to talk about it!"
without waiting for a response, Christina stormed into the room, mumbling to Shade who was trying to calm her.
…...
Christina slouched against the headboard, Shade perched on her knees watching her play with her hair. Melinda had long since fallen asleep but not before pestering Christina to explain the tears,
"It doesn't matter," she whispered, "We've got what we need," she held up the magic cookie, safely sealed in a plastic bag.
…...
the next day, it was time to strike. Dressed as sweetly as she cared to, Christina wore a grape-colored dress with elbow-length, mesh sleeves, with it, she wore chunky heeled boots and her favorite dragon necklace, a dragon in flight on a mismatched chain. Silently, Christina waited until Googie had flounced away, pompoms in hand. With Scooby nowhere to be seen, presumably down at the field trying to wolf down hot dogs, Christina spoke:
"Hi, Shaggy"
"Hey, Christina," he smiled.
"I just made a batch of cookies, double chocolate chip, do you want one?" she offered the cookie.
"Like, I would but I'm not supposed to eat before a big game-"
"Yeah no, I get it be careful of treats offered by kids of villains"
"No, no-"
"No, I get it, your cautious, that's smart," Christina smiled, "More for me I guess"
Shaggy snatched the cookie from her before it even reached her mouth, making a show of taking a huge bite, "See? I trust you"
"How are they?"
"They're awesome,"
With his sole focus on Christina, Shaggy failed to notice the other VKS were creeping up behind him, eager to watch this exchange.
"Awesome, huh?"
"Yeah," Shaggy seemed to start stumbling over his words, growing increasingly distracted, "They're warm and soft and...sweet" before he trailed off completely.
"How ya feeling?" Hadrian elbowed Shaggy.
"I feel like, I feel like...singing your name"
Christina had her hands over his mouth before he could even make the attempt.
"As sweet as that is," Christina said, "You have a game to get ready for"
The reminder woke Shaggy from his stupor, "Coach is like, going to kill us if we're late!"
Off the trio ran for the locker room.
"That worked," Melinda slung her arm around Christina.
"I'll say"
"I for one, can't wait to see Princess Googie's face when she finds out," Clawdeen laughed.
"Who wants to knock Princess drama from her throne" Christina smirked deviously.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Look"
A bright glittery poster declared.
OPEN CHEER TRYOUTS TODAY.
Come show us your school spirit as we cheer the team to victory.
All are welcome.
