Hello!
Welcome to the third chapter. Just like I promised, Shaggy and Scooby are introduced in it. Contrary to what was suggested by ho9, Shaggy isn't bullied here (because you can't use the same theme all the time). Rather, I tried to explain why, if Shaggy is the oldest of the gang, in the series "A Pup named Scooby Doo", somehow the four of them are in the same grade...
This chapter is dedicated to my dear reviewers: loonytunecrazy, who left the first review for this story, and ho9, whose long and kind review gave me a good mood for the rest of the day.
To ho9: you said you could imagine Shaggy being bullied. But it's also known he's your favorite. So what do you say if he gets an opportunity to be... brave? ;)
VerMa
It was four years since Daphne had become friends with Velma and Fred. This year, the three of them went to the first grade in high school. They didn't meet Red Herring in their new school anymore. That was good because a couple of months ago, Fred had focused his mind on catching him red-handed and, after many setbacks, he eventually got obsessed with it. The girls hoped secretly that new surroundings would cure him of this mania but didn't say this when he was around to not annoy him. And indeed – Fred quickly forgot about his old enemy thanks to baseball trainings, for which he'd signed up the second day of school.
One day in early October, a tall, slim, unshaven boy with light brown messy hair walked up to Velma.
"Like, are you... ummm... are you Velma Dinkley?" he asked, nervously crumpling a hem of his green shirt.
"Yes, it's me" the girl answered. "What's the matter?"
"Like, my name's Norville Rogers" the boy introduced himself "b-but, like, call me Shaggy" he added quickly. "We're, like, in the same class, and, like, I know you're, like, the best and, like, I wanted to..."
"What do you want from her?" Daphne stood next to Velma and put her hand on her shoulder.
"Right. Why are you bothering her?" Fred repeated Daphne's gesture.
"Guys, stop it" Velma freed herself from her friends' grasp. "You're overprotective. What did you want to ask me about, Norville... I mean, Shaggy?"
"Could you, like, tutor me in biology?"
"In biology?" Fred echoed suspiciously.
"Yes" Shaggy replied. "Like, last time, I didn't make it to the, like, next grade because of it and, like, my parents don't want it to, like, happen again. Like, will you help me, Velma?"
"Sure" she smiled. "Come to the library today after classes."
"Okay. It's, like, an appointment. See you" after that, Shaggy headed towards the canteen.
"I don't like him" Fred muttered. "He's... kind of strange."
"Look who's speaking" Velma snorted. "The three of us aren't better. Besides, Shaggy seems to be cool."
"But just in case, we better have an eye on him" Fred whispered to Daphne.
"Okay" she whispered. "I'll be watching him today in the library."
Fred, however, decided that you can never be too careful and after classes, he hid between lockers, standing near the entrance to the library. Having seen a tall, slim boy, walking towards him, he came out of his hiding spot.
"Listen, Rogers" he hissed, grabbing the other boy's green shirt "I'll say it straight: I don't trust you."
"Should I, like, care about it?" Shaggy asked, freeing himself from Fred's grasp and taking a step back.
"That would be best" Fred shrugged. "You see, Velma is someone very close to me. If you hurt her..."
"Like, don't worry, Jones" Shaggy interrupted him, looking him straight in the eye. "I won't even lay a finger on your girlfriend."
"Velma isn't my girlfriend" Fred drawled out.
"Then, like, why are you meddling?"
"I look after her because she's naïve like a five-years-old child. And remember, if anything happens to her, I'll find you and beat you to a pulp."
"Okay, okay" Shaggy said impatiently, pushed Fred aside and entered the library.
"I wasn't kidding" Fred hissed, even though Shaggy couldn't hear him anymore. Then, he turned around and went home.
The next day, Daphne told him that in the library, Shaggy had listened carefully to what Velma had explained to him, had been looking mainly in the books (sometimes at his own hands) and in general, he'd been very nice but very nervous. The last words alerted Fred. Daphne's explanations that Shaggy was probably just shy didn't help. Since that time, Fred watched Shaggy carefully, suspecting him of evil intentions towards Velma.
x
It was a cold, November afternoon, about 5 PM. It was slowly getting dark and, frankly, Shaggy was starting to get scared. Even the fact that next to him walked his pet, a big, strong Great Dane, named Scooby, wasn't a great comfort for him. Scooby was as easily scared as his master, and maybe even more.
Suddenly, there was a scream full of terror:
"Let go of me! Help!"
"Like, seems someone is in trouble, buddy" Shaggy told his dog, while shaking with fear. "What do you think we should do?"
"Help! Please!" the cry was becoming more and more desperate.
"Zoinks! Scooby, it's... it's a girl's voice!" Shaggy took off running. "Quick, we must save the lady!"
Soon, they saw a thug, pulling a girl into a dark alley. Shaggy didn't waste time for thinking. He punched the man in the nose, put the girl over his shoulder and started running for dear life.
"Put me down!" she shouted. "What are you doing?"
"Like, if I'm not mistaken, I'm saving your life, Velma!" Shaggy, who had recognized her by her voice, replied, still running.
"Shaggy?"
"Yeah, it's me! Is he, like, chasing us?"
"Reah!" a voice spoke.
"Who said it?" Velma asked.
"My dog, Scooby!" Shaggy explained. "Like, don't ask me how he does it because, like, I don't know it myself!"
"Raggy, read rend!" Scooby called out suddenly. (Tr. Shaggy, dead end!)
"Damn it!" Shaggy hissed, looking back. The bandit, who had attacked Velma, had just stood at the lane's other end, blocking their only way of escape.
"What are we going to do now?" Velma, still slung over Shaggy's shoulder, asked with fear.
The boy put her down on the ground and took a leash out of his trousers' pocket.
"Take it" he said, handing one end to the girl and hooking the other one to Scooby's collar. Then, he crouched next to the dog. "Listen, Scooby. I'll stop this thug and you take Velma to our house."
"No way" Velma frowned. "I'm not going to leave you here at the fate's mercy."
"Re reither" Scooby spoke.
The man was already perilously close to the boy, the girl and the dog.
"Enough of talking" said Shaggy. "Velma, follow Scooby and don't worry about me. I can take care of myself but if anything happens to you, Fred will kill me."
Scooby and Velma fled. The bandit tried to grab the girl but missed because Shaggy had jumped on him and punched him in the jaw. The man grabbed him by his collar and lifted him like a kitten, after which he pulled a knife out of his pocket. Shaggy with one precise kick knocked the knife out of the man's hand, then he pulled himself up on his arm and bit his finger. The thug howled in pain and dropped the boy who immediately began to run off. But, having looked back after a moment, Shaggy noticed that the villain hadn't given up. He doubted that Scooby and Velma had been able to run far away in just a few seconds, so he decided that first, he would run through the neighboring streets a bit to give them time to reach a safe place. Besides, he also hoped secretly he would manage to lose the bandit that way.
Meanwhile, Velma and Scooby ran as fast as they could. Suddenly, Velma saw two teenagers, a boy and a girl, before her.
"Scooby, watch out!" she screamed but it was already too late to avoid a collision.
"Velma!" the boy exclaimed in surprise, stopping her from falling to the ground.
"What are you doing here? And whose is this dog?" the girl asked.
Only then, Velma realized whom she'd bumped into.
"Fred! Daphne! Help! I was going home from the cemetery... and a bandit attacked me... and Shaggy saved me..." she panted. "He told me to run away... and I don't know if something bad didn't happen to him..."
"Take her to my house, Daph" Fred commanded. "Where did you see Shaggy for the last time, Velma?"
"Over there" Velma pointed back over her shoulder. "Scooby will lead you" she added, handing the leash to the boy.
x
Fred and Scooby had been roaming narrow, poorly lit streets for a few minutes now, looking for Shaggy. Unfortunately, they had no luck so far.
"Raggy!" Scooby called out at some point. Fred thought it was at least weird but didn't make any comment.
"Shaggy, where are you?" he cried out.
"Right here!" Shaggy yelled, speeding towards him from the opposite direction. "Like, a dude with a knife is chasing me! Run!"
Scooby and Fred didn't need to have it said twice.
"Quick, guys, this way!" Fred pulled Shaggy and Scooby's collars. "We'll hide in my house!"
The two boys and the dog ran inside and immediately blocked the door with a chest of drawers. Meanwhile, Daphne, Velma and Fred's mom peered out of the kitchen.
"Shaggy!" Velma squealed happily, hugging the taller boy. "It's so good to see you're okay!"
"Fred, dear, what's going on?" Mrs. Jones asked. "You and your friend look like you've just seen a ghost."
"It's worse than a ghost, madam" said Shaggy. "A thug with a knife is chasing us."
As if to confirm his words, after a while, there was pounding on the door and loud cursing. Fred's mom immediately called the police. Soon, two police cars stopped in front of the house. The policemen quickly overpowered and handcuffed the bandit and took him into custody right away. Then, the one who had stayed, gently knocked on the door. Fred and Shaggy moved away the chest of drawers and Mrs. Jones opened the door.
"Good afternoon, I'm Sergeant Samuel Rogers" the policeman introduced himself. "I would like everyone to testify in order to..."
"Dad!" Shaggy yelled happily, embracing the man a bit above his waist.
"Norville?" Sergeant Rogers was baffled. "Why the sudden outburst of warm filial affection? And what are you doing here, anyway?"
"Simply put, he saved my life" Velma said shyly.
Half an hour later, after the testimony had been collected, Mr. Rogers offered to drive Daphne and Velma home. When Daphne had gotten out, Shaggy finally managed to get the courage to ask Velma:
"What were you, like, doing alone in that creepy place, anyway?"
"I was going home from the cemetery" was the answer. "Auntie Jane couldn't have gone with me because she'd caught the flu and today is the birthday of my dad..."
"So your dad had died?"
"Actually, both he and my mom had died in an accident ten years ago."
"I remember this" said Mr. Rogers, sitting behind the wheel. "All the newspapers then had written about terrible condition of the road they had been driving and about the lack of railings at the edge of the cliff. Later, the city council had the road repaired and secured but, of course, it couldn't bring your parents back to life."
Then, there was silence. After a while, Shaggy told Velma:
"In Fred's house, I noticed you have a nice orange sweater. But isn't it a little too big for you?"
"Maybe a little bit" Velma admitted "but I really like it. It once had belonged to my mom."
"Well, there we are" Mr. Rogers announced. "Come, Velma, I'll walk you home."
"Just don't knock or ring the doorbell. There's no point in waking Auntie Jane if she's asleep. I have my own keys" the girl told him, opening the door. "And... and please tell Shaggy he's a hero. Good night."
x
Two days later, on Monday, Shaggy caught up with Fred after school.
"I still haven't thanked you for, like, having saved my life" he said, smiling shyly.
"And I haven't thanked you for having protected Velma from this criminal" Fred smiled back and patted Shaggy's shoulder. "Forgive me that in the beginning, I'd been so rude and suspicious towards you. I'd been afraid you'd wanted to hurt her. I'm really glad I was wrong. From now on, we all will hang out together, do you want it?"
"Like, sure I do."
"Ree, roo!" said Scooby, who as usual, had come for his best friend and now trotted by his side.
"So welcome to the gang, guys" Fred put his one hand on Shaggy's shoulder and the other one on Scooby's head. "Shaggy...?"
"Yeah?"
"Actually, why do you say 'like' so often?"
"It comes useful when I can't find a word or when I'm nervous. But, like, I've forgotten to, like, warn you that, like, I'm kind of not all that normal perhaps."
"And it means...?"
"Well, you know... I don't enjoy, like, fighting, instead of baseball, I'm training, like, gymnastics, sprint and marathon running, I eat strange things, I have a talking dog, and, like, I understand what he's, like, saying to me. Like, I hope it won't bother you too much..."
"Don't worry" Fred chuckled. "Some people think of us as of freaks as well. You're a lot like us."
PS - (Do I really have to ask for reviews at the end of each chapter ...? Oh, well, in the worst case, I'll make a fool of myself...) Please, leave some reviews (but not meaningless sequences of letters)!
VM.