Chapter 2: At the radio station
(Third Person)
Shortly after finishing their lunch, Fred and his friends were at their lockers and chatting about football.
"So I told Troy, 'Either you get your s**t together or you can expect a ball kick right into your balls!'" Red was saying, which prompted the group to all laugh.
"What a f**king wimp that douche is." Ethan laughed with a sneer.
"You can say that again, Ethan." Dylan agreed. "Makes me wonder what in G**'s name could've possessed Coach Clay in bringing in that douchebag and made him our quarterback."
"Who cares." Gary shrugged. "Point is, he really needs to get his s**t together before the next game against Crystal Cove."
In mentioning Crystal Cove, Gary was referring to the school's crosstown rival Crystal Cove High School, and to dive into the history of the rivalry between Coolsville Central High School and Crystal Cove High School, one must dig deep into the history of Coolsville and by extension Crystal Cove County.
Notwithstanding the Native Americans residing in what is now Crystal Cove County for millennia, Coolsville was first settled as part of a westward wave of migration to California during the Gold Rush in the 1840s.
As the town's population grew and following Crystal Cove County's formation in 1869, efforts were made to bring in home rule for the fast-growing Coolsville, whose population growth was fostered by industrialization.
It was until 1898 that the Coolsville City Charter was passed by the state legislature, and Coolsville was formally incorporated as a city the following year.
At the time of incorporation, Coolsville's city limits were limited to the west bank of the Roan River, which, up until 1951, was the boundary separating the City of Coolsville from the neighbouring City of Crystal Cove.
While the City of Crystal Cove had a longer history of settlement than Coolsville, hence it being the name of the county, Crystal Cove's fortunes dwindled as the mines that made up the majority of its economy began to dry up.
The 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression that followed was the final nail in the coffin for Crystal Cove's fortunes, and the city never recovered from the pre-Depression slump as the mines closed down and commerce began to move across the Roan River.
By contrast, while Coolsville was not spared from the fallout of the Great Depression, the city was in a better position as the Second World War came along and further industrialization led to its population surpassing that of Crystal Cove's by the end of the war.
The changes in the settlement patterns, coupled with the contrast of the economic prospects between the two cities, was a major contribution to the rivalry between Coolsville and the City of Crystal Cove, a rivalry that has carried forward into the collective memories of their respective residents after 1951, when Coolsville annexed the former City of Crystal Cove and expanded to its present-day boundaries.
The annexation was bemoaned by the residents of the former City of Crystal Cove, whose outskirts along the Roan River were dominated by residents who took advantage of the low property taxes of Crystal Cove while receiving the municipal services offered by Coolsville, namely streetcars, water and sewer services.
Even to this day, it is still a frequent habit for the town habitants to refer to the western half of Coolsville as "the old city" while the eastern half continues to be referred to as old Crystal Cove, and the contrast between the two sides of the Roan River couldn't be even more starker even a decade after the annexation and rapid suburbanization.
Furthermore, the rivalry between the two sides of the Roan has continued to play out in the form of the intense rivalry between their two high schools, namely Coolsville Central High School and Crystal Cove High School.
It wouldn't be a normal school year for the faculty of either high school without the annual Kidnapping of the Mascots, in which the two schools will "kidnap" each other's sports mascots in the leadup to the regional football finals in which the two schools will meet, upon which the kidnapped mascots are returned in a prisoner's exchange.
"Not to mention that he needs to know that the team's gettin' real sick of cleaning up after his s**t during practice." Fred agreed.
"Tell me about it, Fred." Red nodded. "Still a mystery regarding how does Troy's mind work."
"One thing for sure is that he doesn't have much of a mind left when you throw in that Rogers boy's painkillers into the mix." Dylan said.
"Oh, yeah, that guy's an even bigger loser." Gary said. "Always takin' those painkillers just to get around, clearly he's quite the nincompoop that's afraid of gettin' hurt."
"Don't remind me." Fred said. "That guy needs to get his s**t together before it becomes a problem at school."
"You think he can get charged for possession of controlled substances?" Dylan asked.
"Will have to check with my Dad at the DA's office on that, though as far as I know, there are some sections of the law that he could be running afoul of should he be using them on school property." Fred shrugged.
It was then that the school bell rang, and the boys promptly finished up and slammed their locker doors shut.
Eventually, the end of day school bell rang, and all of the students in their classrooms picked up their stuff and rushed to their lockers.
14-year old Velma Dinkley find herself having to struggle her way through the crowded hallways as she searched for her locker, and she frowned when she arrived.
As usual, the number of students at the row of lockers was large enough that the student to her right would often open his locker door and cover her locker door in the process.
Holding her textbooks and notebooks, Velma waited patiently as the student went through his stuff before he picked up his school bag, skateboard and jacket and closed the locker door.
As he picked up the skateboard, the student turned towards her and said, "Sorry for letting you wait, Velma."
"No, no, it's okay, Jason." Velma shrugged. "See you tomorrow at Chem."
"Yeah, see you." Jason nodded before he turned around and took his leave.
Once Jason was out of the way, Velma stepped forward and worked on the combination lock.
Unlike most of the students rushing through the hallway, Velma is not in a rush to catch the school bus, nor is she waiting for her parents to come pick her up at school, not while both of her parents are busy at work.
Her father Steve, who had served in the Navy during the war and in Korea, works as an electrical engineer and electronics researcher at Quest Research Laboratories while her mother Cassandra works as a human computer for NASA at the Ames Research Center.
Typically, when it comes to her finishing school, Velma usually takes the school bus, though for selected days during the week, she takes the late bus once she finishes taking part in the school's Science Club.
After grabbing a notebook, her lab coat and a pair safety glasses, Velma slammed the locker door shut and made her way to the chemistry classroom down the hallway.
When she arrived at the classroom, several other students in the school's Science Club were already at their tables.
She recognized her friends Eric Staufer, Bill McLemore and Diana "Dee Dee" Skyes at one of the tables, and she promptly walked over to the table and joined them.
"Hey Velma." Dee Dee said in greeting.
"Hey Dee Dee." Velma greeted back. "How's your day?"
"Can't complain." Dee Dee shrugged. "You know, Mondays."
"I know the feeling." Velma nodded just as the classroom door opened, and in came James McDabble and Emmanuel Raffalo, the chemistry teachers responsible for organizing the science club and enrolling them into the annual state science fair.
Immediately, everyone in the classroom turned towards the front of the lab just as McDabble and Raffalo placed their notes on the front desk.
Meanwhile, over at the Coolsville Gazette building located several blocks away in downtown Coolsville, 15-year old Daphne Blake was preparing for an interview at the radio station.
The redhead is currently interning at the Coolsville Gazette newspaper, often helping out with editing news articles and jot down additional notes while taking part in interviews with her colleagues.
For the youngest Blake daughter, the internship provides an exposure to the world of journalism, which is a field she has expressed interest in going into, especially as she absorbs the practices and learn about asking tough questions to persons of authority, especially politicians.
It was an interview that Daphne would be conducting as a solo assignment for the first time, which was evident by her making the extra effort to prepare herself.
Glancing at herself in the mirror, Daphne took the time to adjust her hair and her green scarf, which matches the purple dress and pink heeled shoes she was wearing.
Coming from one of the most wealthiest and most high-profile families in Coolsville, Daphne has felt a great weight of expectation weighing down on her shoulders.
In town, the Blake name was associated with the city's largest employer in the private sector, Blake Enterprises, whose history is somewhat intertwined with Coolsville's.
To dive into the history of Blake Enterprises, it is important to dive into the history of the Blake family itself.
The Blakes first settled in America in the late-1830s beginning with the family of James Charles Blake, Daphne's great-great grandfather, who were among the wave of Scottish emigrants that were cleared out by the second phase of the Highland Clearances.
Contrary to popular belief, the majority of Scottish immigrants to America were economic immigrants from the Lowlands rather than being cleared out by the Highland Clearances, which leaves the Blakes as among the minority of Scottish immigrants that ultimately settled in America.
The Blakes were among the wave of settlers to settle in California in the Gold Rush of the 1840s, and it was upon settling in Coolsville and attaining his wealth from gold prospecting that James and his brother Malcolm started a merchant shop, named Blake's General Merchants, in 1855.
Concurrent to James and Malcolm starting Blake's General Merchants, Dennis, the third brother, began to use the wealth to take up ownership of the coal mines in the east side of the Roan River, and by extension, the steel mills and coal shipping.
After the Civil War broke out in 1861, the Blake brothers, all of whom joined the fledging Republican Party, have achieved a monopoly controlling mining, shipping and finance in Crystal Cove, which cumulated in the incorporation of Blake Enterprises in 1866.
By the time Robert Constantine Blake, Daphne's great grandfather, had achieved the age of majority in 1871, his father and uncles have divested away from merchant trading and began to further involve the company in mining, finance and shipping and expand into chemicals and manufacturing.
Robert eventually took over the reins of Blake Enterprises in 1887 and oversaw the company's growth, which included expanding into the energy and agriculture sectors.
Under the leadership of Nathanial Harold Matheson Blake, Daphne's paternal grandfather, Blake Enterprises further expanded into the energy sector with the oil boom in Texas in the early 1900s, and by the time the Great War broke out in 1914, arms manufacturing have become the latest addition to the company's diverse portfolio.
A series of wise investments made during the 1920s allowed Blake Enterprises to weather the storm following the stock market crash of 1929, although the company divested from the mining sector as the mines in Crystal Cove dried up.
The company was able to rebound when the United States entered World War Two in 1941, and the company's expansion into pharmaceuticals and successive contracts in arms manufacturing, including ship-building, and later highway construction after the war, which was accelerated by the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, made Blake Enterprises one of the most successful companies.
It was during that tide of success and growth that George Robert Nedley Blake, Daphne's father, took over ownership and management of the company shortly after he was discharged from the United States Marine Corps as a Technical Sergeant in 1947 following 15 years of service.
George's expertise in logistics and experience as a quartermaster during the war ultimately proved crucial in the growth of Blake Enterprises, and the company has remained as Crystal Cove's largest employer.
One thing to note was that prior to getting shipped off to war, George had met and fell in love with Elizabeth, who is a high school sweetheart of his, and he had promised Elizabeth that he will marry her when he returns home from the war.
A year after he and Elizabeth got married and settled down in Coolsville in 1946, she gave birth to a set of twins.
Born in 1947, Donna Blake is the first born in the set of twins, and as the eldest daughter, she frequently comes to the defense of her younger siblings, particularly Daphne, who she considers as the baby in the family.
At present, Donna's interning at NASA as an aerospace engineer, an internship that saw her posted to the Langley Research Center in Virginia, where she's assigned to the group of design engineers involved in the Apollo space project.
Daisy Blake is the second born in the set of twins, where in her third year of studies at medical school, she's striving to become a doctor, where at present, she is interning at the Coolsville General Hospital.
Two years went by before the twins were followed by the birth of Delilah Blake in 1949, who is in her second year of studies at Darrow University, though it is also worth noting that she has also enrolled in the university's Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps program under the Marine Option.
Daphne has at times wondered what could have possessed her third oldest sister in joining the military, considering the public protests in opposition to involvement in the ongoing Vietnam War.
Anyways, Daisy was then followed by another set of twins two years later in 1951.
Dorothy Blake was the first born of this second set of twins. At the age of 17, she is currently in her senior year at Coolsville Central High School and has aspirations to become a mechanical engineer.
Also in her senior year at Coolsville Central High School is Dawn Blake, who aspires to become an opera soprano someday.
Considering the fact that all of her sisters have high ambitions, coupled with the achievements of the Blake family, it's natural for Daphne to feel a great deal of expectation weighing down onto her shoulders.
"Daphne, you okay?" A voice shattered Daphne out of her thoughts, and the redhead promptly turned towards the source.
It was the newspaper's editor-in-chief Patrick Cooper, who was on his way back to his office with a mug of coffee in hand and smoking his usual cigars.
Immediately, Daphne's cheeks flushed. "Y-yes, Mr. Cooper. I was just...thinking about the assignment."
"You sure you don't need Martha to go with you?" Cooper asked.
Daphne immediately shook her head. "No, I've got it covered, Mr. Cooper. I'm just...making sure that I've got everything I needed."
"Alright." Mr. Cooper nodded. "You know what to do."
Daphne nodded back before she glanced at her wristwatch and said, "Then, I best be off now."
In that same time, Shaggy was making his way to the radio station as he always does everyday after school.
One thing to note is that Shaggy has been volunteering at the local radio station, where he frequently contributes to the radio programs, such as providing music pieces, producing sound effects over the mic and making suggestions to aspects of the radio programs.
The radio presenters at the station deeply enjoyed his company, and they've let him onto the mic on a few occasions. In fact, Shaggy has presented a few radio programs on his own since he began volunteering at the station two years ago.
When he arrived at the radio station, the main presenter, Cameron Kasem, was at the break room with a mug of coffee in hand.
"Afternoon, Shaggy." Kasem said to Shaggy in greeting.
"Like, afternoon, Mr. Kasem." Shaggy greeted back. "How's it going?"
"It's going, Shaggy." Kasem replied. "Just getting ready for the interview with someone from the Gazette regarding the new program the station's gonna launch starting next Monday, the one you've been of great asset in putting together."
"Right, right." Shaggy nodded thoughtfully. "The one where you and I are gonna have a 'Whose Voice is that?' quiz now and then during the course of the program."
"Exactly." Kasem smiled. "Considering your voice being very close to mine, it's going to take plenty of tries for the audience to tell the difference between me and 'Coolsville's Swingingest'."
Shaggy nodded again as Kasem mentioned his call sign over the radio, a call sign christened by the fact that his primary interest, in addition to pop and rock, was swing music.
In fact, one of Shaggy's feats at the station was organizing a Friday afternoon party program that makes use of a lot of swing music, particularly Benny Goodman's rendition of Sing, Sing, Sing.
As Shaggy and Kasem made their way towards the broadcasting booth, they stopped by the mail room to check for mail.
It was a small pile of mail as per usual on Mondays, with the addition of a few campaign brochures.
Shaggy reached into the small pile and picked up one particular brochure.
It was issued by the campaign office of State Senator Bartemius "Barty" Daggett, the incumbent State Senator representing Coolsville's State Senate district and is running to represent California's 3rd Congressional District, a district that encompasses the entirety of Coolsville and Crystal Cove County, in the upcoming elections.
(Note: Bartemius "Barty" Daggett is a retconned version of Barty Blake from SDMI.)
The brochure summarized Daggett's main campaign promises, mainly lowered taxes, advocating for a second Interstate Highway connecting the San Francisco Bay Area to Sacramento, which will transverse via Coolsville as a relief to Interstate Highway 80, and enhancing American involvement in the ongoing war in Vietnam.
Shaggy almost scoffed in disgust as he scanned the list of campaign promises outlined in the brochure, during which Kasem turned towards him.
"You seem like you've got an issue with the state senator running for Congress, Shaggy." Kasem remarked.
"Like, civics may not be my most favourite class, but I know enough from class to know how much Daggett is full of it." Shaggy replied.
Kasem nodded in agreement as he and Shaggy grabbed the pile and continued on to the broadcasting booth.
"Dalton, David?" Kasem called out as he held the mail and brochure. "There's some mail for you guys, plus plenty of election campaign brochures."
When they arrived at the broadcasting room, Dalton Messick and David Butler were waiting for them.
As Kasem handed their mail to them, he asked, "Do you guys need any of the election brochures?"
While Kasem was making the remark, Shaggy held up the brochures he had separated from the pile of mail.
Glancing at the brochures, Messick shook his head.
"Nah." He said. "I've already got plenty of those at home, and I've always treated them the same way I've treated those pesky ads we tend to receive in the mail."
Shaggy lips formed into a light smile as he understood what Messick meant, during which Butler nodded in agreement.
"Same here." Butler nodded.
"Alright, then." Kasem nodded back as Shaggy tossed the election campaign brochures into the nearby garbage bin. "Then it's safe to say that we can just throw them into the garbage bin."
"Already did." Shaggy said.
A couple of hours later, Daphne's interview at the radio station was winding down as the redhead, Kasem and Shaggy discusses the new radio program and various high points of Kasem's radio and voice-acting career.
During the interview, Daphne had pointed out just how much did Kasem's voice sounded like Shaggy's, and noting how Shaggy was able to shift his voice pitch and make himself sound just like Kasem.
Eventually, she finished up her interview and was ready to head back to the Gazette building.
"Before I head out, Mr. Kasem, could you tell me where the washroom is?" Daphne asked as Shaggy got up from his seat and went to grab a glass of water from the water fountain.
"Of course." Kasem replied as he led Daphne to the hallway. "It's just down the hallway, turn right at the vending machines and the washroom is to your right."
"Perfect, thanks." Daphne smiled before she took her leave.
A short while later, Shaggy was standing at the vending machine and was pondering what to get for a snack as he reached into his pocket for change.
"You know, I'm quite surprised that a slacker like you would have so much talent in radio." A voice suddenly said, and Shaggy jumped before turning around.
Daphne was standing right behind him with her purse in hand, and she was looking at him quizzically.
"Daphne Blake." Shaggy said as he quickly moved out of the way. "Like, sorry for-"
"Couple of things." Daphne cut in. "First, you should never start a sentence with the word 'like'. And second, I wonder how did Mr. Kasem came to agree to bring you onboard the radio station and participate in the programs when you don't seem to be achieving anything at school, not to mention your drug use."
Shaggy glanced down the hallway through his peripheral vision, noticing that there was no one else down the hallway.
"Am I supposed to be insulted by either one of your two remarks?" Shaggy asked as he folded his arms.
"It depends." Daphne replied rather harshly. "Curious that you have been presenting programs solo here in the radio station, as if you've just decided to waltz right into the station one day and immediately attain Mr. Kasem's favour."
"Actually, it began two years ago when I was out walking my dog at the park and feeding the ducks at the pond." Shaggy spoke. "And, well, Mr. Kasem happened to be passing by as I was quacking at the ducks and he complimented me on my duck quacks and asked me to demonstrate my vocal skills."
"So all those goofy noises and sound effects on the radio, that was you behind the microphone." Daphne interjected.
"Yes indeed." Shaggy nodded slowly. "Dogs barking, sound of a diesel locomotive, foghorn, you name 'em."
"Impressive." Daphne remarked, although Shaggy could tell the tone in her voice wasn't exactly sincere.
Keenly observing the look on Daphne's face, Shaggy prompted, "Anything else?"
"Not really, I was just thinking about you implying that you know everything about journalism during the interview, especially with your volunteering here and many of us here in Coolsville listening to your radio shows." Daphne responded squarely.
Then, glaring at Shaggy, the redhead asked, "You really think you know everything about journalism or life in general?"
Shaggy only stared at her blankly before he asked, "Is this supposed to be a trick question? Because all these guys I work with, Mr. Kasem in particular, he's had plenty of experiences, especially from his time as a radio announcer and correspondent for American Forces Network while at Korea."
There was some silence between the two, and then Daphne nodded.
"Of course, you do learn from the best in the industry." She said, though one can tell that the tone of her voice wasn't exactly sincere. "I should have known better."
With a huff, Daphne then proceeded to turn and walk down the hallway, though a few steps went by before she stopped and turned around.
"Couple of pieces of advice I figured you could use going forward, Shaggy." Daphne said.
"What is it?" Shaggy prompted.
"First, you ought to cut down on the over-the-counter meds you're taking, that way your brain would be functioning properly." Daphne said with her voice clipped. "And second, maybe try not being full of yourself for a change here at the station, it won't do you any good, especially when your school grades could be better."
The redhead then turned away and continued on down the hallway, during which she continued, "Think about what I just said."
Shaggy only stood there wordlessly as he watched Daphne walk down the hallway to the main entrance door, then he scoffed and shook his head as she disappeared behind the closed door.
Just who the devil does she think she is? Shaggy wondered to himself. Like, takes one to know one, I suppose.
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