Chapter 2: Fred and Daphne, the first full day of school and some gossiping
Fifteen-year old Daphne Anne Blake was quietly strolling through the park like she always has after dinnertime, which gives her plenty of time to be occupied by her thoughts.
It was getting dark and windy outside, and she knew that she would have to be swift in her stroll through the park, since the distant thunder and the weather forecast called for rain overnight and into the early-afternoon the following day.
The redhead was wearing her usual purple dress with a matching hairband and a green scarf, and she glanced at her wristwatch as she walked by the water fountain in the park.
There is a statue standing at the middle of the fountain, and the statue in question depicted that of an explorer wearing an ascot.
The sight of the ascot on the statue began to remind the redhead of her best friend Frederick Jones, Jr. and personal thoughts began to float into her mind.
Born on August 24th, 1994 in Manhattan, New York to George Robert Nedley Blake and Elizabeth Porsche, Daphne is the youngest in a family of five.
Her father George is a businessman of sorts. Specializing in managing hedge funds, George runs an investment firm with exclusive clients who sees his talent for the market and are willing to pay him millions of dollars in management fees.
Prior to starting Blake Investments, George worked in several other larger financial institutions, specifically in the hedge fund management portfolio, and was recognized for his talents.
In addition to that, George Blake had enlisted in the United States Marine Corps shortly after graduating from high school in 1979.
Serving in the Corps for twelve years, George started out as a logistics non-commissioned officer, then as a Scout Sniper and eventually as the quartermaster at the Headquarters & Service Company of the Combat Logistics Battalion 7 under the 1st Marine Logistics Group of the I Marine Expenditure Force.
George Blake was discharged from the Corps with the rank of staff sergeant shortly after he returned home from the Gulf War in 1991, upon which he finished university and began work as an investment consultant.
In the course of scouting for an investment opportunity on behalf of the firm, George met his future wife Elizabeth, who was the daughter of the client of whom the firm eventually closed the deal with, and they instantly clicked.
Shortly after they married in 1992, Elizabeth gave birth to a set of twins named Donna and Delilah.
Both girls are currently seniors at Coolsville Central High School, the same high school Daphne attends presently, and both of them have received scholarships from university and are due to move out of town following their graduation from Central High this upcoming summer.
It was shortly after Daphne's birth that George Blake, at the suggestion of his father in-law, decided to form Blake Investments and take him in as a sole client handling hedge funds to help him grow his investments.
The profits he has helped his father in-law earn, coupled with the management fees he earned in the course of managing the investments, left the Blakes very much wealthy, and Daphne herself has came to enjoy the luxurious lifestyle growing up.
Even so, Daphne wasn't the type who would take anything she has enjoyed for granted, not when she feels the pressure from her parents' high expectations weighing down on her.
After all, with both her sisters receiving scholarships from high-end universities, it was expected that Daphne will follow through with the successful and high-achieving streak enjoyed by the Blakes.
In fact, for Daphne, she has felt that she has to work twice as hard in order to prove herself and make accomplishments than the average person who wouldn't have the luxury of having a privileged background.
With high expectations and pressure, Daphne needed some form of escape that could occupy her mind outside of school and family life.
Her involvement in the school drama club didn't really count, since her parents has taken great pride in her acting talent and the redhead has often felt the pressure to do her parts perfectly when it comes to stage performances with them in the audience.
Fortunately, she found her answer well before she began attending high school, and that answer came in the form of a blonde named Frederick Jones, Jr.
The two first met when they were in Grade 7 at Iwao Takamoto Middle School, and Fred soon proved to be a source of inspiration and excitement for Daphne's otherwise dull and stressful life.
Just like how Daphne is rarely seen without wearing her trademark green scarf, Fred likewise was rarely seen without his orange ascot.
Being quite the handsome chap on the school football team has saw the blonde becoming the attention of a lot of girls in school, and Fred's more down-to-earth personality has its parallels with Daphne's willingness to take risks and seize an opportunity whenever she sees one.
However, when it came to their respective family backgrounds, Fred and Daphne couldn't be any different.
For starters, unlike the redhead, Fred has no siblings and is the only child in a family of two.
Born to Frederick Jones, Sr. and Peggy Jones on June 30th, 1994, Fred, Jr. grew up under the company of a family dominated by businessmen and lawyers.
As the youngest in his own family, Fred, Sr. himself grew up in a privileged background, one that was much, much more privileged than the Blakes ever had.
After all, Senior's father (And Junior's grandfather) was already a successful businessman by the time Senior was born, though as the youngest child, he wasn't expected to take over the family business (Instead, the role passed on to his older brothers).
Instead, Senior decided to go into law school, in addition to joining the Navy under the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program.
Senior was commissioned as an Ensign following his graduation from law school in 1987, which saw him assigned to the Judge Advocate General Corps.
Unlike George Blake's career in the Marine Corps, Fred, Sr.'s career as a JAG officer was largely unremarkable, besides being assigned to cases to defend those who stand accused of charges as per the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Senior was discharged from the Navy in 1991 with the rank of Lieutenant (Junior Grade), and it was through his subsequent work in a law firm that got him the inspiration to go into politics.
Senior's first shot at electoral politics was working as a legal affairs manager for State Representative Jefferson Dudley's ultimately-successful campaign to represent the California's 11th congressional district on Capitol Hill in the 1992 House election.
It was through that involvement that led Senior to his future wife Peggy, who was a volunteer at the campaign and has helped organize several campaign rallies.
The two clicked and eventually married a year later, and Peggy subsequently gave birth to Fred, Jr. in 1994.
Even though Dudley lost his bid for reelection in 1994, Senior's involvement in the congressional campaigns has led him to more opportunities for political office.
The first opportunity came in the 1998 State Assembly election, in which Senior ran for a seat to represent the State Assembly district for Coolsville as a Republican and ultimately won.
He will went on to hold onto the seat in four more elections before deciding to contest Coolsville's state senate district in 2008, though he ended up coming in a close second in the party's primaries.
Also held concurrently to the 2008 State Senate elections was the Coolsville mayoral election, and when the Republican mayoral candidate was unexpectedly forced to drop out of the race, Senior was nominated as the replacement candidate.
At the time of the election, just like in other parts of the country, the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis was on the minds of voters.
Coolsville was most certainly not spared from the fallout, and in the face of a lot of controversies and scandals while in office, the then-incumbent mayor was facing an uphill battle for his bid for reelection.
Campaigning on a promise to relieve citizens of the financial burden from the crisis, Senior won the mayoral race handily.
It is worth noting that given his successes in seeking electoral office, it was natural for Senior to push Junior to follow his footsteps and go into politics.
However, Fred, Jr. wouldn't hear any of his father's assertions, preferring to focus his energies on his hobbies, namely him taking part in the school's football team and the Rube Goldberg Machine Club.
With Senior frequently busy at work, father and son were never particularly close, and the chasm separating the duo widened after Peggy lost her battle to breast cancer shortly a couple months after Senior was sworn in as Mayor of Coolsville in January, 2009.
Fred deeply valued his friendship with Daphne, and given that they both had their stresses from the expectations from their respective families, they find the friendship a great way to escape the boredom and stress at home.
In fact, one can argue that there's more to the friendship than meets the eye, though so far, in spite of inquiries from their friends, Fred and Daphne had continued to insist that they were just good friends.
Besides, even if they were to eventually commit to a relationship, that potential relationship faces no bigger obstacle than Daphne's father George.
For some unexplained reason, George Blake disliked Fred Jones, Jr. right at first sight. Seems like the blonde might have done something early on to rub George the wrong way.
Well, whatever it was, George Blake never made any effort to hide his dislike towards the blonde, and Fred, Jr. will avoid stepping into his path whenever necessary, though the blonde remained puzzled by George Blake's dislike of him.
Maybe that source of the dislike was from Fred, Sr., perhaps.
Jealousy of Senior's privileged background and taking things for granted, either that, or Senior fitting into the typical profile of a politician who lies and couldn't keep any promises was what attracted George's scorn.
Either way, Daphne was put out of her thoughts when she spotted a sibling pair walking a Great Dane in the park.
The dog was stopping at the storm drain beside the water fountain, and by the looks of things, the Great Dane doesn't seem to enjoy the walk.
Daphne squinted as her eyes settled on the siblings walking the Great Dane. For some reason, the pair looked vaguely familiar, though the redhead couldn't recall the details of a previous encounter off the top of her head.
It was then that the siblings decided to take leave and gently tugged the Great Dane by the leash, and Daphne could hear the dog whining as he reluctantly joined the pair and headed off.
As the siblings and the Great Dane made their way towards the main gate, the older brother with the leash looked towards her and their eyes met briefly.
There was something about the boy's mannerisms that left a deep impression on the redhead, perhaps on account of the slight fog.
Picturing the boy tipping a fedora and putting it back onto his head, Daphne nodded slightly at him.
The boy simply nodded back in acknowledgement before he turned away, and Daphne followed suit.
As Daphne made her way towards the Easy Street gate of the park, her mind floated back to when the siblings were gently tugging their dog by the leash.
"What's the matter, buddy?" The older brother asked. "Something in the storm drain?"
After the Great Dane whined, the boy sighed as he said, "Like, there's nothing special in there, Scoob. It's not like there's gonna be a murderous clown hiding in there with a red balloon."
Something about the boy mentioning a murderous clown hiding in the storm drain with a red balloon gave the redhead pause.
It reminded her of the time she was stuck in the public library during a storm-induced power outage a few weeks ago, and to pass the time, she ended up reaching for Stephen King's It, which was the closest book she could find in the darkness.
Long story short, it was a book that she found herself hooked to reading in the hours that followed, especially as the library wasn't any close to getting the power back on.
Either way, with the wind picking up speed, Daphne knew that she has to hurry if she doesn't want to get caught in the downpour.
May 3, 2010
If it weren't for his mother Wendy hollering at him loudly from the kitchen downstairs that morning at 7:15, Shaggy would've missed the school bus, which wouldn't be a great way for him to start his first full day of school at Coolsville Central High School.
That previous Friday, he had accompanied his mother to the high school to meet with the guidance counselors.
The meeting lasted the whole morning, during which the guidance counselors went through the courses outlined in his school transcript from LA and try to fit them to be as close as the courses he was enrolled in back in LA High.
It was quite the challenge, though they eventually managed to tailor his school schedule to be a fitting match to his old one from LA.
He was also provided with a school bus pass, which he was instructed to give to the bus driver later that afternoon for his bus ride back home.
After the meeting and getting his school affairs in order, Shaggy spent the rest of that Friday at Coolsville Central High School for lunch period and afternoon classes.
Being like a fish out of the water, Shaggy had some issues trying to fit into his new classes in spite of the introductions made by the teachers in front of the classes.
At least the ride on the school bus is going smoothly. Shaggy thought to himself bitterly during the bus ride home. The driver had simply waved him through after he showed her his issued school bus pass.
The weekend was, well, quite dull, as he spent much of Saturday with his uncle and parents in unpacking their luggage and rearranging the furniture.
As for Sunday, well, besides taking Scooby out for a walk in the neighbourhood and saying goodbye to Uncle Albert as he heads to the airport for his flight back home to Zurich, nothing exciting happened.
Which then brings Shaggy to the moment he raced out of the house that Monday morning and towards the school bus stop near Easy and Maple, just as the big yellow bus was pulling out of the stop.
The driver was mildly annoyed when she saw Shaggy racing towards the closing doors, and she sighed and stopped the vehicle before opening the doors.
As Shaggy made his way onto the bus, he quickly said to her, "Like, sorry about that. It won't happen again."
The driver only sighed as she closed the door and the bus resumed its way to Coolsville Central High School.
Given that Shaggy's stop is the last stop on the route, the bus was already packed with students, which means that he was having difficulty finding a seat as he made his way down the aisle.
Just as Shaggy was halfway down the aisle, he suddenly tripped over someone's leg and landed on the floor.
"Havin' a nice trip, newbie?" The beefy jock occupying the seat next to where he had walked by asked mockingly.
First full day of school, and already Shaggy was a magnet for bullies. Wonderful. He thought.
The school bus driver caught the act through the rear view mirror, and she scoffed and shook her head.
Also witnessing the act was fifteen-year old Velma Dinkley, who was seated at her usual spot with a bulking electronic device, which she had built for the school science fair, resting on her lap.
Like the bus driver, Velma simply shook her head in disapproval of the beefy jock's actions.
Just Red Herring being, you know, Red Herring. Velma scoffed as she shook her head.
As Shaggy got up and continued on down the aisle, Red turned towards his seatmate as he laughed, though the seatmate, who was Fred Jones, Jr., rolled his eyes before turning towards the back and his eyes settled on Daphne, who was seated several rows behind him.
Daphne was busy reciting Othello when she saw Fred staring at her, and she simply shrugged at him in response, as if she was asking, What can I say?
The rest of the school bus ride went on without further incident, and it didn't take long before it eventually pulled up on the driveway to Coolsville Central High School.
As Shaggy joined the rest of the students in disembarking from the school bus, he once again tripped over Red Herring.
Meanwhile, back home, while Wendy was out grocery-shopping, Sam spent the morning decorating his home office with help from his father Clarence.
While Sam was busy setting up the computer, Clarence was shuffling through the box when he came upon a framed photograph.
"You know George Blake, son?" Clancy asked.
Sam arched his eyebrows as he put down the screen and turned. "Who, Dad?"
"George Blake." Clancy said as he flipped the photograph around to show it to Sam.
It was a photograph of a squad of Marines dated 1989, and Sam remembered that it was taken in Panama during his deployment in Operation: Just Cause.
Sam walked over and looked at the photograph, then he nodded when he saw George Blake in the photo. "Yeah. Staff Sergeant George Blake was one of the finest Marines I've served with back in the day. Why, you know him, Dad?"
"Everyone in Crystal Cove does now." Clancy replied. "He's the wealthiest man in town as the owner of Blake Investments."
"Huh." Sam nodded thoughtfully as he stared at the younger George Blake in the photo. "Sounds like Blake's done well after he left the Corps."
"Whether or not he's done well is up for debate, son." Clancy interjected.
"How so?" Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Word has it that he might be involved in some shady business." Clancy lowered his voice. "Buyin' out properties for his rich buddies, many of 'em sitting vacant to jack up property prices, all while the usual bum can't afford an apartment 'round these parts."
Sam squinted at his father as he made the remark. Being a World War II veteran who was in the Rangers, Clancy has a knack of knowing bad characters whenever he sees one, and more often than not, the old man's instincts were often proven to be correct subsequently.
Normally, Sam wouldn't have judged his father's remarks or the way he judged others.
However, ever since his father became a widower, Sam has started to notice some subtle changes in the old man.
It might have something to do with the trauma from his time in combat all those decades ago, though Clancy has been proven to be right in whatever suspicions he has had.
"Don't tell me that he's one of those responsible for the using the crash to his advantage in order to further enrich himself and his buddies, Dad." Sam said.
"Oh, that's just the tip of the iceberg, son." Clancy said. "Wait until you find out how he 'earned' his wealth, and believe me, when you have the likes of 'im earnin' more wealth while your everyday folk is strugglin', you know that there's somethin' fishy that doesn't pass the smell test there."
Sam sighed as he put the photograph down, then he said, "If you say so, Dad."
Clancy only grunted, and the father and son continued on with the unpacking and setting up the latter's home office.
Please read and review!