Chapter 4: At the library

May 7, 2010

The rest of the week was uneventful for Shaggy and Maggie, though the siblings remained puzzled by what exactly had spooked Scooby in the park that Monday night.

In fact, since that Monday night, they have noticed that Scooby has since refused to be taken out for a walk in the park at night, preferring to do so while the sun hasn't set yet.

It was something that has continued to puzzle Shaggy as he sat in his English classroom that Friday afternoon, where he was assigned a major essay to write.

The assignment in question requires the student to find academic sources related to the chosen topics for the essay as stipulated under the assignment guide, and so Shaggy decided to go to the school library after final period to tackle the essay head on.

He sighed as he sat down on a desk in the library, not sure where to start on his research essay.

Looking up towards the library computers, he sighed again and shook his head.

Seriously, just how old are these bulky things? Shaggy wondered as he glanced towards the school computers. The last time they had their last major system upgrade seems to be forever.

Like all of the computers that are sitting on the desks, the computer closest to Shaggy has a typical Windows 2000 3D Maze screensaver playing on its bulky, heavy screen, though even the screensaver's maze run seemed to be lagging very badly.

Man, with the maze run lagging like that, I sure can't say I'm surprised that the internet connection is horrendous. Shaggy observed the laggy screensaver. Sure makes you wonder if these computers are older than when Windows XP or even 2000 came out.

He scoffed and shook his head as he remembered a couple days ago when he found that out the hard way. He even remembered that one of the students had advised him that the wait isn't worth anything after he was spotted drumming his fingers on the computer desk while waiting for a web page to load.

Anyways, he was thinking of getting started with the essay when the library door opened and in came the prettiest girl in school, who he recognized as Daphne Blake, the youngest of the Blake family.

Arching his eyebrows, Shaggy looked on as the redhead moved past the librarian, nodding at her as she went, before making her way to the desks.

Shaggy noticed the folder and pencil case the redhead was holding, and he assumed that she was here to also work on her English assignment.

After all, he and Daphne shared the same afternoon English class, though they never interacted with each other.

However, he felt that it was probably a good thing he never interacted with Daphne. In fact, part of the reason why he was glad he never interacted with Daphne was that he was frequently picked on by girls like her.

That has been the case since he started attending school, way back in the day when he was in Los Angeles. In fact, that's also how he got his nickname "Shaggy".

It was a mocking nickname given to him, based on his shaggy-styled hair, from one particular attractive classmate in Grade 4, but the nickname stuck as Shaggy found himself preferring the nickname over his given name.

Shaggy also knew from past experiences that girls like Daphne have a tendency to stick together as a group, hanging around together and not being exactly at the top of their respective classes when it comes to grades.

Even so, Shaggy noticed that Daphne seemed to be...quite different than the typical attractive girl he has encountered.

Unlike many of the attractive girls he had encountered, Shaggy never sees Daphne hanging out with girls of her type in school.

Also, Daphne was usually silent in their shared classes, but whenever she has something to say, it was always something that is worth listening to.

He noticed Daphne smiling at the librarian Mrs. Gale and the smile she received in return from the glasses-wearing librarian.

Mrs. Gale was as tough as nails, and it was difficult for anyone to get to the bottom of her skin.

In fact, even now, Shaggy hasn't been able to get the librarian to say anything else other than when his books are due.

He shrugged before returning to his business and opened his binder.

Shaggy may be a distance away from her when he arched his eyebrows, but Daphne noticed his facial expression as she walked into the school library.

She shared English and Chemistry classes with the new transfer from Los Angeles, though she never interacted with him in either class.

Noting his reaction, she shrugged to herself, not that she minded knowing what exactly was in Shaggy's mind.

He was most likely thinking that he thought she's like those other attractive girls in school, those that prefer looks over books.

It was a stereotype she has gotten used to, not that she blamed him for making the assumption in the first place.

Even so, there was a feeling that began dwelling on her as she spotted Shaggy.

A feeling that he may be different than the other male students who would likewise make a similar assumption if they see her walking into the library at this time of the day.

Either way, unlike a handful of her friends in her small circle of friends, she is here to learn with the goal of her graduating from Coolsville Central and be accepted to a prestigious university out of town.

With the famous Blake name in town, Daphne has find it difficult for her to make a name for herself as long as she lives in Coolsville.

Placing those thoughts aside, Daphne nodded at Mrs. Gale, the librarian, before making her way to find a vacant table.

The library was rather small with three small tables, two of which were taped off, to be replaced. As a result, Daphne ended up moving to Shaggy's table when she made her way into the library.

Shaggy was jotting down some thoughts on a blank sheet of notebook paper summarizing his thoughts when Daphne gently knocked on the table.

"Pardon me, but do you mind...?" Daphne asked him, gesturing at the empty chair across the desk as she spoke.

For some reason, she felt a bit shy and her cheeks flushed when she asked Shaggy, and she ended up trailing off mid-sentence.

Shaggy looked up, and he was quick to reply, "Oh, you can sit here if you want."

He said it without thinking. The words just flew out of his mouth, and he almost thought he sounded ridiculous when he said that and hoped that Daphne didn't notice the nervousness in his voice.

Daphne only smiled in response, and Shaggy was relieved that she didn't notice his nervousness.

Daphne thought that Shaggy sounded nervous as she placed her belongings on the desk. She glanced at him, noting that he was busy scribbling down some notes.

Even though Shaggy kept his feelings masked behind his goofy smile, Daphne can see the nervousness inside him and tell that he's resisting the urge to look up at her.

For some reason, she find his reaction cute and figured that this may be why she had the feeling that he's going to be different than the other boys she encountered at school, well, that is, unless you count Fred.

She shrugged before heading over to the bookshelves to find a book to read.

A few minutes went by before Shaggy heard the door open and looked up. In came a short girl with short, auburn hair and wearing a thick pair of glasses and carrying a pile of books.

Whatever thoughts about Daphne that was in his mind scattered as he recognized Velma Dinkley, who shares physics class with him.

Like Daphne, Velma never interacted much with Shaggy during class, and by the means of her daily habits, which Shaggy have frequently observed during class, it is highly likely that Velma rarely interacts with any of her classmates, not when she is frequently seen carrying a large pile of books almost everyday.

Like, I could've sworn that you can burn ants with those thick lenses from her glasses. Shaggy remarked as he observed her putting her stack of books down.

It was then that Velma looked up and her eyes settled onto Shaggy's, prompting her to ask, "What?"

Drat! Shaggy's mind quickly raced as it fanatically searched for an excuse. The clock in his line of sight seemed like a perfect excuse.

"Uh...I'm just checking the time on the clock on the wall behind you." Shaggy quickly said.

Velma's eyes narrowed. "You could've checked your watch."

"Ah..." Shaggy glanced down on his watch and quickly began winding it. "Like, the battery must've died."

Even though Velma appeared skeptical of his explanation, she simply exhaled before resuming putting her books down and setting up her study.

That was a close-call. Shaggy thought as he exhaled in relief and resumed working on his essay.

A few moments went by before the library door opened again and in came Fred Jones. The blonde smiled as he spotted Daphne and walked over to the desk, placing his notebook beside her.

"Hey Daph." Fred said softly.

"Hey." Daphne smiled as she looked up at him. "Also here to work on the English essay?"

"Yeah." Fred nodded as he placed his textbook on the desk, though the unintentional slam caused Shaggy, Velma and the librarian to promptly glance at him.

"Mr. Jones." The librarian said in a loud whisper. "Keep it down."

"Sorry, Mrs. Gales." Fred shrugged apologetically, and Shaggy simply shrugged as he resumed writing down his notes. "Kinda slipped from my fingers."

"Hmm." Mrs. Gales only grunted before she returned to what she was doing, and Velma turned away as Daphne turned towards the blonde.

As the pair continued to chat in hushed tones, Shaggy glanced up briefly at them. Of all the days for me to leave my MP3 player at home.

He may not be bored, but he could certainly used the music in his MP3 player to help him focus, especially as the lingering pain in his left arm began to slowly work its way through his nerves.

Darn it. Shaggy thought to himself and shook his head, almost bumping his arm into his chair loudly in the process, which prompted the other three to glance at him.

"You okay?" Velma asked as she looked up from her writing.

Slightly embarrassed by the brief scene he had caused, Shaggy merely scratched his head as he nodded clumsily. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Somehow, there was a skeptical look in Velma's eyes as she stared at him quizzically, prompting Shaggy to quickly return to scribble down his essay outline.

"If you say so." Velma shrugged before she followed suit.

Several more minutes of silence passed between the four, during which Daphne and Velma briefly looked at Shaggy, who was furiously scribbling down his thoughts on a sheet of notebook paper.

The redhead noticed that rather than crumpling the paper up when he wrote a point that he realized doesn't fit what he was thinking, Shaggy simply wrote a large "X" right beside the point and carried on scribbling down notes as if he never made the mistake before.

She nodded thoughtfully, mostly to herself, before she returned to do what she was doing.

Even though Shaggy had his eyes on his paper the whole time, he can felt her eyes were on him.

He shrugged to himself as he continued to scribble down notes on the sheet of paper.

There were a few points that he thought doesn't reflect what exactly he was thinking about, and he simply placed a large "X" beside them instead of crossing them out, in case he started to have second thoughts on them.

He knew some people simply crumbled up the paper whenever they made a mistake and tossed it into the bin.

That sort of thing was never his style. His strong environmental consciousness would never allow him to do just that, especially whenever he thinks of the number of trees being cut down in order to make paper everyday.

Anyways, the silent atmosphere was broken when the library door opened, and in came Vice Principal Grimes, who was accompanied by a trio of students.

In an instant, the atmosphere became much more serious. When the vice principal in charge of discipline marches in with three students, it's always serious news.

Mrs. Gales immediately turned towards the vice principal, who paused by her on his way in.

"My, my." The librarian remarked as she stared at the trio of students. "What do we have here?"

"Three students that are to serve their detention here." Grimes responded. "One of them had the nerve to hack into the school website to replace the portrait of Mr. McDabble with a picture of a pig."

The vice principal then turned towards the offending student and added, "Isn't that right, Mr. McLemore?"

As Fred and the girls arched their eyebrows, the student said, "Hey, it was only meant as a joke, Vice Principal Grimes. Can you blame me if Mr. McDabble doesn't have a sense of humour?"

"Not when you've left the school computer network exposed to any potential virus attack." The vice principal responded, clearly not amused by the student's explanation.

"Hey, the school computer network's already aging." The student shrugged. "Someone's bound to hack into it if the school doesn't upgrade them."

"Okay, I think I've heard enough." Grimes drawled. "You three are to stay in the library until quarter after four, and during this time, none of you are to use any of the computers or your electronics."

"Um, what do you expect us to do to pass the time, Vice Principal Grimes?" A second student asked.

With an exasperated sigh, the vice principal gestured towards the bookshelves and said, "If you want to do something to pass the time, feel free to occupy yourselves with the library books."

The trio of students only groaned while Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne gathered their stuff and got up so the trio could take their seats and serve their detention sentence.

"Well, it's bad enough that the school board cut my budget - again." Mrs. Gales remarked. "Now I'm supposed to keep looking after a trio of troublemakers?"

"That's the school board to you." Grimes replied. "Always cutting back on resources, leaving us to pick up the pieces and scrap by."

"Makes you wonder how are our counterparts at Crystal Cove High are scraping by." Mrs. Gales nodded.

"Speaking from previous experience as a gym teacher there, you don't wanna know how things went downhill after the board implemented those drastic cuts in 1990." Grimes agreed.

As the librarian and the vice principal continued with their idle chat, Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne made their way out of the library, stopping briefly to wish them both a good afternoon.

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