Previously:
Smiling again, Daphne reached for Freddie's hand, squeezed it, then let it drop to his side when she turned around and had Jenkins let her through. She stood on the other side of the gate, watching Freddie walk away to his own house. He paused once to turn and glance back at her. She raised her hand slowly to her mouth, half of it meant as a motionless wave and the other half used to partly over her mouth as a silent sob overtook her body. Simultaneously, Daphne and Fred both turned their backs and walked in different directions, each going home.
One Week Later:
The sounds of Shaggy's high pitched laughter filled the Rodger's house in the late afternoon of a lazy day, soon followed by Scooby's unmistakable giggles. In the Rodger's living room, pizza boxes, empty Coca-Cola bottles, wrappers of various candy bars, and a few half-eaten sandwiches lay askew in random places. The television set was blaring at an ear-piercing level and the said boy and dog were lounging sluggishly on the green couch in front of the loud tube. Shaggy took a huge, disgusting bite out of the veggie-filled piece of pizza he was holding and Scooby tossed a whole chocolate bar into his mouth, swallowing it whole.
"Like, I never thought running Mystery Inc. could be so easy, Scoob," said Shaggy in between laughs, taking the remote to the television and turning the volume up even more so.
"Reah, robody's carring us," Scooby answer, giggles increasing.
Apparently, Scooby just jinxed the haven they were in, because at that moment, the phone started to ring. Shaggy, whose tongue was hanging out of his mouth to catch a string of melted cheese from the pizza being held above him, moved his eyes towards the purple colored phone sitting on the coffee table a few feet away. With a sigh, Shaggy put down his pizza and got up.
Picking up the phone, Shaggy said in a mellow, joking voice, "Like, Rodger's residence at your service, man. This is Shaggy Rodgers, how can I be of assistance?"
He paused, listening to the caller. After a few seconds, his eyes darted towards his Great Dane, immediately narrowing into slits.
"Like, sure thing. We'll, like, be right over, man," Shaggy said, hanging up. Walking back over to the couch, Shaggy went on, his hands placed on his hips accusingly, "Well, buddy, it appears you have spoken too soon. Mystery Inc. is now officially solving summer mysteries."
"Alright, your counselors should have already filled you in on the rules. Team 1 is in the blue shirts and team 2 is in the red," an elderly looking man wearing sunglasses and a whistle around his neck looked back and forth between two groups of students holding either side of a large rope. He scratched his beard before continuing, "When I blow my whistle, pull as hard as you can. The team who forces this black ribbon," the older man tugged on the black band tied to the large rope, "onto their side wins. Everyone got it?"
A dull murmur of affirmation caused the old man to nod his head.
From his place in one of the crowds, Fred smiled confidently at two of his friends behind him, "We got this down," he said, grasping tight to the rope. He turned back around and leaned to his right a little, his eyes traveling over the crowd beyond the black ribbon. A lopsided grin appeared on his face when he caught sight of a brown bob of hair. Keeping a firm grip on the rope, Fred held out his hand, waving it in the air.
"Hey Velma!" he called out, "Hey, over here! Look over here!"
Velma, who was talking to a girl in front of her, looked up at the sounds of her name. With a grin, she raised one of her hands in greeting. With that same hand, she cupped it to the side of her face and called out, "Heya Freddie!"
"You're gonna loose!" Fred called back with a twinkle in his eye. Immediately, the people from Velma's side of the rope started to 'Boo' and the rest on Fred's side cheered wildly.
"Change the word 'loose' to 'win' and maybe that'll be a probable remark!" Velma called back through the cheers and jeers.
Before Fred could open his mouth to reply, the piercing sound of the elder man's whistle penetrated the competitive atmosphere. As fast as a burst of lightning, every camper pulled back with all their strength, grunting with all their might. The fact that it started to rain at that moment helped neither team at all. It made the challenge all the greater, though. Feeling their tennis shoes lowering a bit into the mushy ground beneath them and occasionally slipping onto the chocolaty mud face first was what made the game what it was- great.
After a tiresome match between the two camps, Velma and Fred both were proud to say they were one of the many to fall ungracefully into some rather large piles of mud. And Velma was proud to say that she and her team had been victorious through that all.
Many people say Paris, France is the city of love- the most romantic place on earth. Daphne Blake contradicts that notion and insists Paris is the city of shopping- her haven. What more could she ask for? The city has the most popular brands of clothes; and since money had never once been a dilemma for her, Daphne always splurged when she came.
Her trip so far had been pretty ordinary in retrospect to her previous visits. Her parents took it upon themselves to live it up in the romantic atmosphere, leaving her to her shopping and any other various activities she'd yearn for. Of course, they weren't too terrible of parents…they did leave her with some chaperones on her shopping sprees. She had Charity, her personal assistant, and of course Jenkins (the Blake family trusted him above all their other hired helpers).
That day in Paris was just like the one before. Daphne walked down a side walk, window shopping, with Jenkins and Charity to walk slightly behind her. With her fitted purple pant suit, a stylish hat, chic sunglasses, and a confident stride, Daphne fitted in with the whole fashionable atmosphere surrounding her. She allowed a small, easy smile to grace her features at some occasional bystander.
Suddenly, Daphne's steps ceased. Her head was slightly turned to her left, eyes stopping to rest on a magnificent periwinkle dress. Not caring whether or not people were walking there, Daphne pushed her way forward, her eyes never leaving the dress. From behind her, Jenkins and Charity exchanged looks and, with a little less luck than Daphne had, made their way through the crowded sidewalk to either of their employer's daughter's sides. Daphne titled her head a little thoughtfully, a pensive look settling upon her face.
Finally, after a few moments of curious looks from her chaperones, Daphne turned to Jenkins and asked, "What do you think of that dress, Jenkins?"
Jenkins looked flustered for a moment, completely caught off guard and befuddled by that question. How was he to answer that? He was the King of Fashion; that statement was made fact by the appearance of his dreadfully unfashionable overcoat. "Well, I…" he trailed off, trying in vain to sound professional.
With a little laugh, Daphne said lightly, "Right, what was I thinking?" She promptly turned the other direction and asked Charity, "Does the color go with my eyes? My skin tone?"
As Daphne Blake's personal assistance, one of the required skills one must have is a knack for good fashion choices. Obviously Charity possessed those skills or else she wouldn't have gotten her job. With a wide, convinced smile, Charity spoke in her thick German accent, "Absolutely, Miss Blake. The color is perfect for your skin tone. The silky material will make your beautiful blue eyes sparkle like the sun." Another skill one must have as Daphne Blake's personal assistant is to know what the right thing to say at a crucial moment in time- and it would never hurt to suck up in the process (After all, it was common knowledge back at the Blake manor that Daphne's word was usually gold around her father. And if Daphne happened to take a liking to one particular employee working there, their Christmas bonuses generally were a bit on the generous side.)
Daphne smiled, satisfied, when Charity was finished. "Groovy," she stated happily, walking towards the entrance of the store, already fingering her credit card.
A/N- sorry for the delay and short chapter. I've been a little busy, so I hope you like this one! Thanks to my reviewers, I really do enjoy them!
Eternity15- Awww, thanks for putting me on your favorites! I'm a definite D/F fan; I simply loved it in both Scooby Doo movies! Thanks for the review!
Zanett- Thanks for reviewing!!!!
BowlingBoy- Thanks for reviewing! As for your question, I can't really tell you directly, all I can say is not the summer's not over yet ; your question will probably be answered in the next chapter anyway! Scooby Doo is my favorite cartoon as well (though it's tied with Teen Titans). Thanks again and keep R/R-ing!
Amber- Thanks for the review! Yeah, I know about the clothing thing. It's just one of those twists in the story that makes it my own, I guess- and they're supposed to be younger than in the regular cartoons, so they probably wore different things before that Shrugs Glad you like it and keep R/R-ing!
Keira- Thank you so much! I loved the review!
SEAL PUP- you and Dreamdog are siblings? Whoa, I didn't know that. Awesome! Anyhoo, thanks so much for reviewing again, I'm really loving your reviews!
Dreamdog- Oh, thank you so much! I was a little hesitant about how this story would unfold (and still am ) but it really helps when I hear stuff like what you wrote in your review! You rock!
Reviewer- lol, thanks so much! You most definitely rock, that's for sure! It was a little sad, I know; it's always sad when ya have to leave your friends. I don't think this chapter was really sad, right? Haha, just try to steal it; I'll have gotten it first, lol! Thank you for the compliment, it was so sweet, hehe. Thanks for R/R-ing and I hope ya liked this chapter!