Author's note:
I do not own Scooby Doo and Squid Game.
The chapters are long and the events take a while to happen, I apologize for that.
English is not my first language, so I will certainly make mistakes while translating. I apologize for this and thank you for pointing out corrections.
I am not a professional writer and this is my first fanfic, so I will surely make mistakes that people with more experience don't make. Please bear with me.
Chapter 4
The silence between Marcie and me lasted about an hour and, thankfully, it ended with a quick knock on Norville's door. Scooby-Doo was the first one to answer, he jumped and scratched the wood uninterruptedly to let people know we were there. When Shaggy opened the door, Scooby pulled the bottom hem of my shirt and dragged me into the living room.
Shaggy: Hi girls! Make yourselves comfortable! Like, I need a minute to find a place for you.
Norville took some clothes (apparently clean) out of the sofa, joined them with other clothes (visibly dirty) that were on the floor and threw everything into a closet that was so messed up that caused me anxiety just by looking at it. When we found available seats, we sat down and Scooby started bringing us dozens of recyclables that were on the coffee table, as if they were the best gifts in the world. Daphne was sitting on the floor with a video game controller in her hands, taking her anger out on a horde of Resident Evil zombies. She said a quick "hi" and didn't get up to hug us as usual. Nice, now another person is giving me the silent treatment. By her side, holding the other video game controller, was Crystal Stevens, a K9 agent who is as tall, as thin, and as hippie as Shaggy, but instead of the caramel-colored hair (like Shaggy's), she has a beautiful, brown, long and straight hair. It´s a secret for zero people that Crystal and Shaggy have been having an affair for months, but for some incomprehensible reason, they prefer to pretend they're just good friends. In an armchair next to them was Shaggy's sister, Maggie "Sugie" Rogers, eating nachos and patiently loading a Nerf machine gun that she had just unloaded on her brother. My brain still struggles to understand that Sugie is now a 20-year-old college student, to me, she will always be the cute baby Shaggy showed on show-and-tell class in 1st grade. Unlike Daphne, Sugie came and greeted us, then she started to gather the dozens of empty fast food packages and empty beer bottles that were on that table for days. Scooby didn't like her attitude and chased her to retrieve his precious recyclables. Norville took advantage of his sister's absence and stole her seat in the armchair. Marcie started to talk with him, and anxiety hit me hard when I realized that I was really being ignored.
Sugie: Oh, Fred is here.
Fred arrived and he was only greeted by Sugie (who opened the door) and by Scooby (who greeted him with an empty Coke bottle). Marcie gave him the silent treatment, Norville said a quick "hey" and Daphne didn't take her eyes off the screen, which showed that whatever she had overheard during our argument, she'd already told everyone about it. I dont know why the hell I was afraid of receiving a third silent treatment. After that stupid argument I should be the offeded-one, right? But somehow, at that moment, I cared about it. Instead of ignoring me, Fred was nicer than usual, and I understood everything was ok between us. Sugie took more clothes and more trash out of a chair to make a seat avaiable for Fred, and I noticed his disapproval face looking at that mess. Norville's house was ok for the ones that don't clean (Shaggy and Sugie), for the ones that are unable to take off a sock and put it in the laundry basket (Crystal and Marcie) and for the ones that have two maids and two personal organizers to take care of everything (Daphne). For pesky perfectionists like me and Jones, it was a total shit. Damn, we're really alike.
Shaggy: Hey, why don't you get some beers in the fridge? We have to order food ´cause I have none.
Immediately, I went to the kitchen to get a beer, because I felt that alcohol could make that shitty situation a little better. The completely full fridge belied Norville's "We have to order food ´cause I have none", and I understood that he just had said that because he didn't want to share his food. I returned with a 12-beer-pack, wishing the ones who were mad at me would drink and would forget about everything. I handed Marcie a bottle and she accepted without saying "thanks". Then, simultaneously, Fred and I handed Daphne a bottle and she refused using Nan Blake´s arrogant contempt style.
Daphne: You both prefer to get me drunk instead of just saying "I´m sorry, I was wrong"…
Fred and I looked at each other and I could see in his face the same deep embarrasment I was feeling. Shaggy noticed that we were about to have a terrible argument, so he tried to pacify (he´s such a sweetheart).
Shaggy: Like, I think you forgot that Daphne doesn´t drink, but I accept both, hahaha!
He grabbed both bottles from our hands and continued laughing, expecting that we would laugh too, but nobody did. Daphne just sighed scornfully and managed to turn things worse.
Daphne: No, Shags, I do drink, but I´m not going to drink right now because that´s what Velma wants me to do. She thinks she can boss my life the same way she bosses everything around, so I´m showing her she´s completely wrong!
The mix between deep anxiety and the instant anger I felt right after hearing that shit untied the worst part of me. I was tired of being called "bossy"…
Velma: Jinkies, Daphne, what do you want?
Daphne: I want you to mind your own business, Velma, I want you to not hurt me!
Velma: What have I done?
Daphne: I heard you! I heard you both…
Velma: So, its all about an argument you shouldn´t even have heard? You overheard something, you got offended and now you demand me an apology? Who´s being bossy? You shouldn´t be there, period!
I was tired of being called bossy, so I was a bossy bitch again to fix things. Brilliant, Velma, nice try. I will never forget their disapproval faces looking at me. That was a hundred times worse than the day I let mom and dad know I was quitting Mensa (and that day was rough enough). When I finished, my anger was gone and Daphne decided to leave us too. Shaggy immediately got up and put himself in front of Daphne to make her stop.
Shaggy: Hey, Daph, you can´t leave now, the food delivery is coming! Like, if you leave, who´s gonna eat your food?
Scooby looked at him with attention and licked his lips when he heard the word "food". Obviously, if Daphne left, Shaggy would eat her food, he eats our food even when we dont allow him to do it, but it was cute to see him trying to stop her anyway.
Daphne: I think you and Scoob can do it, Shags.
Daphne gently took Shaggy off her way, so Fred grabbed her arm to make her stay.
Fred: Hey, Daph, stay! Why are you doing this?
Daphne: I ask you the same, Fred, why are you doing this? Why are you hurting me? I have known you all my life, how could we "live in different worlds"?
And there she was, our drama queen making a scene. Katharine Hepburn would lose an Oscar to her if both were indicated. Ok, Daphne had good reasons to act like that, but none of them were strong enough to make such a drama. Most of her issues could be solved by a good adult talk, but Daphne always prefers the drama-way to deal with everything, in which she dramatizes her overestimated feelings and we, mere mortals, crawl after her begging for an apology. Anyway, I was pround to see my friend stand up for herself and confront the jerk who has been hurting her for years. After that Oscar-worth scene, Fred had tons of shame and guilt in his face. Before he could say anything he stroked her wrist to calm her down and make her stay. He was successful for a while, but the caress itself couldnt fix all the situation, Daphne wanted that feeling expressed in words, loud and clear. Since the words didnt come (and the tense atmosphere between us all sucked), she sighed, pulled her wrist off his hands and…
Marcie: Daph, please, don´t go. I feel that way too about Velma, so I think we all need to have a good talk.
…Marcie suddenly convinced her to stay. I paralyzed, and all the pride I felt for Daphne was gone. Marcie´s words have started some kind of WWIII between us, so the ones who had nothing to do with that decided to leave.
Shaggy: Hey! Like… I… I think it´s time to get Scooby to go to bed, gang… sorry, I´ll have to leave you for a while.
Yes, Scooby has an entire queen-size bed for itself, another worthless purchase financed by those extra $500/year Norville makes in the department (more than me). It´s so relieving to know it´s a well spent money.
Crystal: I´ll help Shags…
The couple quickly left and sweet Scooby licked each one of us before leaving the room.
Sugie: I have to go too, because… because… oh, fuck that, I won´t hear this shit, period…
Sugie took her Nerf gun with her, as if any other +20yo-person in that room would be interested to play with it. Then I remembered some techniques I used when I was the president of debate and speech club at school. And I also remembered Marcie was the vice president and Daphne wasn´t even part of the team, so technically I had some advantages over my oponents. I focused on my weakness – being bossy – and tried to rearrange my speech, so it wouldn´t be exposed.
Velma: So, we are losing another dinner tonight, uh?
Bossiness: 0. Arrogance: 10. Nice beggining, Velma. That sounded insensitive even for Fred´s standards of sensitiveness – and he is a fierce ogre – because he just looked at me with his "stfu, you´re not helping" face.
Marcie: Better lose a dinner than a whole relationship, uh?
That answer showed me that Marcie was the vice president just because she loved the president enough to let her be the president. She was skilled enough to move up to my role if she wanted to.
Fred: Wait… Daphne and I are not in a relationship… you and Velma can discuss lat…
Marcie: That´s exaclty why YOU are here, Fred… wanna start and talk about it?
Truly a president. Standing up for the weak.
Fred: Ok… let me explain…Right after Daphne left… better, right after the moment we thought that Daphne had left, Velma confronted me because she thinks the kind of relationship I have with Daphne hurts her and…
Daphne: …and it obviously is not true, because, as you said, we don´t have a relationship. After all, we live in very different worlds, remember? I have an horrid family, you´ve had enough pressure in your life, that´s why nothing will ever work between us… wait, that´s why you should dump me, right? But don´t worry, I´ll be ok, I am sad girl who has been abandoned constantly…
Damn, I forgot the president of the Drama Club was there to show us her incredible ability to memorize an entire script and summarize it in a few words. And perform everything in a way to make us feel guilty.
Velma: Daphne, I was trying to help you!
Daphne: I don't need your help, I'm not a damsel in distress! And what a help, uh? What the heck was that?
Velma: Daphne, I was trying to protect you! You haven´t heard enough, that´s why you misunderstood!
Thankfully, the football team´s captain was there to push the things into a rational path again and do the same thing that brought him so many trophies in sports: focus.
Fred: Daphne, you really misunderstood. Velma was mad at me and I told her she was overreacting, ok? I told her she was seeing things by her point of view, that´s why she couldn´t understand our… our… friendship… and…
Marcie: Can YOU understand this "friendship", Daphne? ´Cause it seems confusing to me…
I think zodiac signs are pseudoscience, but the only explanation I found for Marcie´s evil & poisonous question was: "she´s a scorpio woman". Daphne would agree, since she was the one who taught me this bullshit.
Daphne: I… I…
Daphne tried, but no words came out. I could see that part of her wanted to speak out about her feelings and make things change, and the other part just wanted to shut up and keep things right in the way they were. The fear of ruining the "friendship" fighting with the fear of never achieving something else. I felt her pain, because I ´ve been kind of dealing with the same thing for ten years, the only difference is that I wear a fancy ring on the fourth finger of my left hand. The most rational part of me asked me to not force her to make a hasty decision. And a weird irrational part just told me she can´t make decisions because she´s a Libra. Apparently, our captain felt the same, so he tried to fix the things before Daphne´s answer…
Fred: No, it´s not only a "friendship"… I meant… Daphne and I have something that is not exactly like Velma´s definition of love, so Velma thinks it´s not love, that´s why she has started that argument and then we both said things we wouldn´t like to have said and…
Marcie: And what do you think, Fred? Is it love?
Suddenly, Marcie took the captain´s focus to end zone and waited for the touchdown. I had nothing to do with that, but I begged for a very good answer. At that moment, I think everyone did.
Fred: I think Velma is right, we are losing another dinner with a nonsense discussion. Plus, it´s already late and we have to gather evidence tomorrow at 9. I have to set everything…
Fuck NFL´s rules, that was truly a foul. A huge one, and so serious that Daphne immediately got up and left. Fred rushed to the door before I could finish my "well done, moron!"
Fred: Daphne, listen… I just… think … we are not in the right place to talk about it, ok? We´re starting a new case tomorrow and we have to focus on evidences… I mean… it´s not the right time, you know? If we talk… I may… lose you, and I dont want to lose you, Daph.
Daphne: You don´t want to lose me, but, also, you don´t want to love me…that´s really complicated, isn´t it Fred?
And Daphne left us. I couldnt see if she was crying, but I felt like crying for her. And, somehow, for Fred too, because he visibly wasn´t ok (yet he would never ever admit it or shed a tear). My anxiety hit me in the stomach, and fear elevated my heart rate when I realized I was the next victim and Marcie would do the same with me at anytime. I got up and walked for while through the room – to see if that could calm me down -, and while doing it, I saw Shaggy, Sugie and Crystal hiding behind the kitchen door like 3 small children. Well, I least I wouldn´t have to explain everything when this shit ends. Fred came to me in silence (he would never ever say a word about his feelings) and his terrified face asked me some help.
Velma: Focus on your girl, and let me focus on mine…
Sounded a good advice in my head, but when I said that, just sounded like a revenge. Fortunately, he understood my intentions, gave a pat on my back and left us too. My stupid phrase sounded good to Marcie also, because she had a little smile on her face when I looked to her.
Marcie: Sooo… your girl is here and you can focus on her now…
I couldn´t. Before I could say anything, we heard the delivery person ringing the doorbell. One minute after, Shaggy came to us with his hands full of food packages and we could finally have our dinner.
Shaggy: Like, I can´t believe Daphne and Fred left us… such a waste of food…what a shame!
Said Norville, while eating Daphne´s meal in less than 2 minutes. When he grabbed Fred´s meal Sugie shot his head about a dozen times with her Nerf gun to make him drop it, and I finally understood that gun´s function. Our meal was peaceful - except for Rogers siblings´ fight for fries -, yet I could feel their curious faces expecting me and Marce to talk about it. When Marcie left the table to wash her chili sauce dirty hands, they had a chance to ask.
Shaggy: Like, whats going on between you and Marce?
Velma: I'd like to know too, Shaggy. Well… I think I know, but I don't know how to make things change… I gave Fred a long, boring lecture about the importance of showing feelings and building a relationship, but I have found out that I am on the same boat. I´m a moron just like him, and I make Marcie feel the same way Daph feels and I don´t know what to do to save our engagement. I don´t know how to make a healthy relationship for both us…
Shaggy: Like, if I knew the answer, Vel, I wouldn't have been dumped by all my girlfriends...
Ok, that was for me, but I took no offense because I didn´t dump him – my sexual orientation did. Shaggy thought his confession was funny and laughed, but we all considered it very sad. Unlike Fred, Shaggy is an amazing boyfriend and always takes his relationships very seriously, but… the app to communicate with Scooby, the queen size bed for a dog, the filthy apartment, his extra $500 spent in videogames and his 20 yo sister using a Nerf gun to protect her food explain a little why women usually dump him. Crystal laughed to join him, and ended up kissing his cheek so passionately that he forgot all abandonment. They are a cute couple. Judging by the love for dogs and for video games they share, I think Norville won't be abandoned this time.
Crystal: I think you are together for a reason, Velma. You should focus on this reason instead of trying to control the things all the time, or trying to talk about feelings and make things perfect. Remember: the reason is perfect, forget the other things. Well, it works in my relationship…
My surprise face when she said "relationship" made her blush.
Crystal: I mean… if i had a relationship… with someone…
Sugie: Try donuts on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, vodka on Mondays and Fridays, and red lingerie on the weekends. Works for me.
We laughed and I blushed. All the embarrassment I felt was my fault, after all, I was asking a college student with a Nerf gun for relationship advices.
Marcie: Ooor… you could just continue trying. You´ve been doing a good job…
Those words gave me a smile, the first one in that night. About 11pm, when Marce and I said goodbye, I set Shaggy´s cell phone alarm clock (ten different alarms) for 7 am, so he could arrive at Liberty at 9 o'clock. Marcie left first, so Shaggy hugged me tighly, asked me to save our engagement and take good care of us. I promised him I would, even though I didn't know exactly how to do it.
The silence between us continued, only ended when her cell phone rang and showed her parents requesting a video call. The Fleachs were happy and thanked me so much for buying the cards, for helping Marcie with them, and for agreeing to give up my own vacation to help the Fleach family. At each "thank you" I heard, I just smiled, but I felt a stab of guilt in my chest for not being responsible for those things. By the end of the video call, things were ok, but I felt like a despicable person. Why didn't I support her? Why do I always despise everything that is important to her? Why does she have to hide things from me? Why am I just like Frederick Jones if I know how wrong he is? That night, for the first time in ten years, we went to bed in silence. When she fell asleep, I felt safe to start being a new person to her.
Velma: Marcie, I'm so sorry...
