The sky was an ethereal shade of pink and orange. The moon was beginning to rise, looming over a large Victorian school building. There was both a sense of excitement and nervousness in the air. Today, 30 new pupils would be coming to Crystal Cove High, a small boarding school just on the outskirts of town. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, at least five minutes from any basic amenities, students and their parents generally loved that it was near a beautiful arboretum and lake.
An old, beat-up green Ford pulled slightly ahead in the driveway outside of the school's entrance. They'd been sitting in line for nearly 15 minutes now, but it was finally their turn to drop their son off at school for the semester.
"Like, I don't wanna go, mom." the boy whimpered. He donned a green shirt and brownish bell-bottom pants. He had a bit of a scruff on his face, and his messy hair had a shaggy look to it. Not so ironically, that's how he got his nickname. It was originally a nickname that kids used to make fun of his unkempt hair in elementary school, but over time, he'd actually grown to like the name and began using it occasionally himself.
"Don't worry, Norville. It'll be good for you to have a new experience!" the boy's mother, Paula, responded.
"Maybe you can even make some new friends!" his father, Colton, added.
Ha! As if.
Norville had never been particularly good at making friends. He mostly found ways to entertain himself, and told himself that he preferred being alone. In reality though, he did sometimes wish he had friends to do things with. The feeling of being admired and appreciated by others felt elusive to him, but he wasn't going to dwell on something that he felt was out of reach to him. Why wallow in sadness over something that was never going to happen?
"Yeah, like, maybe I will!" Norville tried to retain the allusion of being optimistic, even though he never expected anything like that to happen. "Like, bye, Mom. Bye, Dad!" I'll see you at Thanksgiving!"
"Goodbye, sweetie! Remember, mom loves you like crazy!" Paula waved, as she rolled up the passenger's side window.
"Bye, son!" Colton said, as he began driving away.
Despite Norville's feigned excitement in front of his parents, he was not excited at all to be starting school here. He didn't have many friends back home, but nonetheless, he still loved the comfort of his home and his town. Living at a place like this and being ripped away from the familiarity of his surroundings was quite upsetting and nerve-wracking to him.
The green Ford ahead of them took a little while to drop their son off, but they had now said their goodbyes and left. Now, it was finally Daphne's turn.
The redheaded girl gathered her suitcases and backpack from the back seat, and opened the door of the red Ferrari once the vehicle had stopped. She wanted to be comfortable on the ride to school, so she chose to wear lavender leggings and a stylish purple blouse to school.
"I hope you have a lot of fun at your new school, Daphne!" her mother, Elizabeth, well-wished.
"I just know you'll love it here, princess." Bartholemew Blake, the girl's father, added.
"Thanks, Dad!" Daphne smiled. She could not be more excited to get settled at her new school. Daphne was extremely optimistic about the world around her. She supposed having the privilege of her parents being filthy rich allowed her to feel this way about life, as well as the fact that her parents sheltered and pampered her, making her dad's "princess" nickname for her very apt. Despite this, her parents had taught her from a young age never to act haughty or like she was better than others, so the "princess" nickname was more of a personal self-love mindset than a mentality of forcing others to treat her like one.
She was so glad her parents found this school and decided to transfer her. She'd always dreamed of having more independence in high school, and living on her own amongst her peers would allow her a greater sense of freedom than attending public school. She couldn't wait to get to know her peers and discover the adventures that awaited her.
Fred knew it was his turn when he saw the red Ferrari begin to drive away, allowing their blue minivan to drive up. The girl who'd come out of the Ferrari looked very privileged and like she probably had five more Ferraris in her garage at home. Fred envied the girl and her family for having the money to buy that lavish stuff. He'd dreamed of starting a business and striking it rich all his life. His parents tried to keep up with everyone else by buying the occasional designer item. Most times, when Fred asked for anything, they always said that they were "saving up for a rainy day," but Fred knew that was code for "we're too poor to afford anything right now, but we're also too prideful to admit that."
Fred's dad had found this school a while ago due to their stunning reputation for football. Because the school was very selective about who they admitted, they had the best of the best when it came to students and athletes. Being the sports phenom he was, Fred's father was delighted to find a school that valued sports as much as they valued academics.
"I'll see you later, Mom and Dad!" Fred said. He was quite matter-of-fact in the delivery of his farewell. He rarely expressed his emotions in front of others, because most of his friends at his old school were not really openly in touch with their feelings. If they were to discuss something, it was usually sports or personal strengths. Despite the plethora of popularity he had from being an athlete, he didn't really have anyone besides his parents he could turn to with his emotions. Sometimes, he felt like a bit of a freak and a weirdo, because there were times he did want to be vulnerable and express his emotions with others, but didn't know who to do that with.
"Bye, Fred!" his father, Skip, who was in the driver's seat, waved as Fred gathered his belongings and got out of the car.
"Goodbye, Freddy!" his mother, Peggy, cooed nurturingly, as she leaned over into the backseat to give her son a kiss on the cheek.
"Mom!" Fred laughed, his cheeks turning bright red. "Don't embarrass me in front of my new school!"
"Oops, guess I got a bit carried away." Peggy chuckled. "I just can't believe my baby is going off to boarding school!"
"Oh Peggy!" Skip said affectionately. "It's not like he's going off to the Army! We'll still visit him here from time to time, and we'll see him every holiday!"
"Bye, guys!" Fred waved, as he got out of the car. He felt a mix of hope and uncertainty. He wanted this to be a great experience where he hopefully made some lifetime friends; some real buddies that he could confide in without fear of being seen as "too sensitive" or "soft." He knew that while some of his success at this school would be dependent on his mindset; just as much of it was completely out of his control, which made him a bit nervous. While they weren't the most deep, meaningful friendships one could have, he missed his life at home and felt a bit guilty for leaving his friends.
The blonde guy in the minivan had just left, meaning it was finally the brunette's turn to get out.
"Velma, we hope you have a great time at this school!" Velma's father, Dale, well-wished.
"We'll visit as often as you want, okay?" Angie added.
"Thanks, Mom. I look forward to seeing you guys! I'll really miss you." Velma smiled, feeling a pang of sadness and doubt in her heart as she got out of her parents' black Toyota.
"Aww, we'll miss you too, honey!" Angie replied.
"Don't forget to call us every week!" her younger sister, Madelyn, chimed in, her pigtails brushing up against Velma's back as she gave her big sis a hug.
Velma's mom and dad had found this institution was the top-rated academic school within a 100-mile radius. Velma was an extremely smart girl who was at the top of her class. She was a year ahead of her classmates in Math, English, History, Science, you name it. Velma was so smart, in fact, that Velma's parents felt she wasn't challenged enough at her old school. She'd discussed with the principal about moving a grade ahead, but the principal had told them that he didn't like to move students a grade ahead because it stifled and isolated them socially. Velma didn't really have many friends as it was, so she didn't necessarily agree with the principal's explanation, but she accepted it nonetheless. Her parents didn't, however, which is what led them to bring her here.
"See you later, Mom and Dad! Bye, Madelyn!" Velma waved, stepping away from the vehicle.
Velma wasn't really sure how she felt about going to a new school. On one hand, it would be exciting to take more challenging courses. Since the school preached having the best and brightest students, perhaps she could even meet some new friends who were intellectual equals. Velma found little interest in the ridiculous drama of high school. Who kissed who, who broke up with who, and who was popular couldn't possibly have less significance to Velma. She loved discussing deep philosophical questions with others, and exploring the mysteries of life. Unfortunately for her, she had no one to do that with.
And that was the downside of attending this school. At least at home, she had her parents to hang out with outside of school, but here, she feared she'd have nothing to do and no one to hang out with if she didn't make some friends. However, she knew that uncertainty could be one's worst enemy if they let it, so she didn't allow herself to get fouled up in such an insignificant inconvenience such as worrying about the future. One could never control the future, so there was little point in trying.
Velma calmed down her ever-perseverating mind by assuring herself there was no way she could know what was going to happen, and thus there was no point in worrying about it.
Norville checked the room number written on the purple piece of paper that had been mailed to his house, and saw he was supposed to stay in room 315. He dreaded the thought of hiking up two floors of stairs to get to his room everyday, but he was pleasantly surprised to see an elevator. It only took a moment for the doors to open when he pressed the "up" button.
Norville noticed the walls were adorned with a painting of a flowing river bordered by beautiful rocks. The attention to detail in the painting made him feel like he was in a luxury hotel rather than a school dormitory. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
As the elevator brought him up, Norville daydreamed about what living in a dorm room might be like. He'd never stayed in a dorm room before, so he very much wondered how it would feel living on his own. He quickly realized that he likely wouldn't be on his own; he presumed the school would pair him with a roommate. He hoped the roommate wasn't some strapping brute like the ones that terrorized him in middle school. He was able to quench his anxiety temporarily by realizing that he could probably tell the Headmistress if something abhorrent occurred, but it didn't completely get rid of the fear that still lingered in the back of his mind.
A loud "ding" and the opening of the doors alerted Norville it was time to face those fears. His roommate was likely in the room now, unpacking all of their stuff.
Walking through the halls gave Norville that same "luxury hotel" feel. The floors were well-carpeted, and each room had a small little light outside of it to illuminate the doorway. The place looked surprisingly nice, especially when Norville had expected the accommodations to be dumpy and meager.
Once he arrived outside room 315, Norville wasn't sure whether he should knock or not. He wanted to start this relationship off on a high note, so after a bit of mental back-and-forth, he ultimately decided to knock.
"Come in." a man's voice said.
The guy seemed friendly enough from the tone of his voice, which made Norville feel a little more confident. Upon entering the room, Norville's eyes first glanced around the room to get a sense of his new living arrangement. The room was quite modest: it had a large leather couch that could seat three or four people, an armchair, and a small flat screen TV. There was a separate room with two beds, each of them adorned with a large white bedspread. It certainly wasn't the Ritz Carlton, but Norville could see himself getting used to this. His gaze quickly swiveled over when he saw his roommate.
"Hey, you must be my new roommate." Norville said, a bit nervous. "My name's Norville Rogers."
His roommate looks like the stereotypical jock, with his muscular build and manly voice. He had blonde hair, and was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt. "My name's Fred Jones."
Velma glanced at the purple piece of paper her mother had given her with her room number on it. She worried about having a long hike up the stairs, since she knew there were dorm rooms on all three floors. She was pleasantly surprised to see her room number was 105, which was not only on the same floor, but also only a short hike from the entrance.
Velma remembered her mother saying that they did not allow students to have single rooms, much to her chagrin. Velma was an introvert who preferred her solitude. Not only that, but she didn't want to have to deal with the troubles of living with someone else; it was much easier if she was just allowed to be in her solitude.
She'd been quite sheltered at home with her parents, and had never spent a night away from home in her entire life. She feared the worst when she approached the door that read 105. What if she got stuck with somebody intolerable, like some prissy drama queen or stuck-up princess? What if she got assigned to room with a rowdy troublemaker, and got stuck listening to their drunken antics or making of whoopie?
Velma knocked on the door before opening it, but did not see or hear anyone. Her roommate must not have arrived yet. Given that, she opened the door and headed into her new room. The surroundings looked quite nice between the comfy leather couch, the armchair, and the cushy-looking beds. Just as Velma set down her suitcase in the bedroom, her heart leaped a little bit as she heard a knock at the door.
"Come in!" Velma replied.
Velma was a bit shocked when she saw her roommate. It wasn't some prissy drama queen or drunken burnout. The girl was quite tough and edgy looking, donning all black, even down to her hair, sans the red stripe.
"Hey. So I guess we're roommates." the girl replied. Despite her tough attire, the girl seemed quite meek. "My name's Sally, but everybody calls me Thorn."
317 was the number of the room listed on the sheet Daphne's mother had given her. She'd heard that the school required everyone to have roommates. She didn't mind though; it'd be a great way to meet a new friend! She admired the beautifully painted elevator which took her up to the third floor. She daydreamed about the adventures she might have here, as her newfound independence led to seemingly endless possibilities.
Daphne snapped back to real life when the elevator door opened with a ding. She walked through the halls and didn't see all that many people. The only person she saw was her neighbor from room 315, who was a boy in a green shirt. He was currently knocking on the door, which reminded Daphne that she probably should do the same in case her new roommate beat her to the room.
"Hello?" Daphne asked, rapping her fist lightly against the door.
The knocking was met with no answer, so Daphne took this as an invitation to come in. At first glance, she absolutely adored her new surroundings. The leather couch looked super comfy; the recliner in the corner seemed nice after a long day of classes; and the bed looked even cushier than the one she slept in at home. Daphne didn't feel like it would take long for her to call a place like this home.
Daphne spun around when she heard another girl's voice behind her.
"Oh, hi. You must be my roommate." the girl said. She was wearing a green shirt, and had her blonde hair up in pigtails. She also wore skull earrings, which did not at all match the cutesy pigtails she had in her hair. "My name's Dusk."
Daphne wanted to be as warm and welcoming to her new roommate as possible. She'd never had a roommate before, so she didn't want to get things off to a bad start by seeming like she didn't want to be friends.
"Hi! It's so nice to meet you! My name's Daphne Blake." Daphne introduced herself, outstretching her hand to Dusk. Just as Luna was shaking the blonde's hand, her eyes shifted over towards the doorway when they saw a redhead wearing a purple jumpsuit. She was about to walk in the door with her suitcases, when she began blushing with embarrassment.
"Oh…I think I must be in the wrong room." the purple-jumpsuited redhead stuttered.
Daphne felt a bit bad for the poor girl. She seemed like a bundle of nerves; probably frightened to death at the thought of having to live with other people for the first time in her life. She wanted to help the girl out and hopefully assist her in finding the right room.
"What room are you supposed to be in?" Daphne asked.
The other redhead pulled a purple piece of paper out of her pocket. "This says I'm assigned to room 317."
"Hmm…well, you're in the right room." Dusk pondered. "I guess we must have three roommates, for some reason."
Daphne glanced in the bedroom again and noticed three beds.
"I guess there must have been an odd number of students this year or something." Daphne shrugged. "Well, c'mon in, there's plenty of room! I'm Daphne."
"I'm Dusk. What's your name?" Dusk inquired.
"I'm Luna." the redhead meekly said. "Good to meet you both."
Fred wasn't really sure what to think of his roommate. Norville seemed like the slacker type, but he also seemed a bit nervous when he spoke. Oddly, it kind of relieved Fred to know that he wasn't the only one here who was anxious about coming to a new school.
"Well, I should probably get unpacked." Fred said, before immediately internally facepalming. That was a really dumb, awkward thing to say, but he hoped that he was judging himself more harshly than Norville was.
"Don't we, like, have that orientation meeting right away in the gym?" Norville inquired.
Fred had completely forgotten about that. The school had mandated they all attend an orientation meeting an hour after arrival to introduce them to the school and hand out their course schedules.
"Oh, right! I totally forgot." Fred replied. "Do you know which way the gym is?"
"Like, no." Norville paused, but resumed talking with just a long enough gap that it created a bit of an awkward silence between the two. "I guess we'll have to find out together."
"I guess so." Fred said, feeling equally as awkward as Norville. He supposed two awkward people meeting one another for the first time was bound to lead to an awkward conversation. However, Fred felt he should break the ice a bit and initiate a conversation with Norville. It might allow Norville to come out of his shell a bit, since Norville seemed to be the more nervous of the two. "So…where are you from?"
"Like, we lived in Crystal Cove." Norville replied with a gulp. "What about you?"
"Same!" Fred nodded. "What side?"
"We were on the eastside." Norville answered, walking out of the room.
"Oh…I guess that explains why we've never run into each other. I lived on the westside." Fred replied, as he shut and locked the door to their room.
There was another moment of awkward silence as neither of them knew how to continue the conversation. Fred didn't want a roommate situation where things were awkward between them, so he racked his brain to think of something else to ask his shaggy-haired roommate.
"So, what do you like to do for fun?" Fred said. He was about to reach out and press the "down" button on the elevator, but Norville had beaten him to it.
"Oh, like, sleeping, cooking, eating, watching TV. That kind of stuff." Norville replied. "Sometimes I like to read."
Fred felt a little bit bad for his roommate. It seemed like he had a pretty boring life and not all that many substantial hobbies to fill his time. The two of them walked in the elevator together, as Fred pressed the "1" button to get back to the first floor.
"How about you?" Norville inquired.
"I was on the football team at my old school, and I already joined the team here." Fred informed. "Are you into sports?"
"Not really." Norville said. "I've heard the team is, like, great here though."
"Yeah, that's part of the reason why my parents found this school." Fred shared. "The football team here was much better than my old school. The main reason they wanted me to switch to a different school though is because of the academics here. Apparently, it's one of the best in the state."
"Like, that's why my folks sent me here, too." Norville answered. "Hey, like, these walls sure are beautiful, aren't they?"
"Yeah. I was looking at that on the way in too." Fred replied. "I can't even imagine the amount of detail that went into it."
The elevator doors opened with a "ding" letting them know that they had arrived at their destination.
"Now, like, I guess we've gotta figure out where the gym is." Norville stated.
"I wish they would have put a sign up." Fred lamented. "It would have been a lot easier to find it than searching aimlessly."
"Which way should we go?" Norville asked. "Left or right?"
"Hey, are you guys trying to find the gym?" a nasally voice asked. Norville and Fred spun around to see another boy with blond hair. He was wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans, and donned a pair of black spectacles on his face.
"Like, yeah, we are." Norville replied. "Do you know where it's at?"
"No, I've been looking too." the kid said. "My name's Elliott, by the way."
All of a sudden, a kid with curly red hair began walking towards them. He was wearing a green bomber jacket and blue jeans, and had a scowl on her face.
"Didn't you guys see the sign?" the kid snarled. Fred couldn't quite tell if his tone was intended to be as snarky as it came off or not. This was quickly confirmed to him. "It's to the left, idiots!"
"Thanks. I didn't catch your name." Elliott responded.
"It's Red, ya weenie, and don't wear it out!" Red sneered, as he outstretched one hand and lightly shoved Elliott as he walked past.
Norville didn't speak until Red was out of hearing distance. "Like, that seems like one mean dude. Remind me to avoid him!"
"No kidding." Fred chuckled. He supposed there was one bully in every school, and the curly-red haired kid seemed to be the one. "I'm Fred, by the way."
"I'm Norville." Norville chimed in.
"Nice to meet you both. Well, I suppose I'll be seeing you around." Elliott replied, before he walked off.
"Well, thank goodness that mystery's solved." Fred chuckled, as he and Norville followed the sign towards the gym.
Velma walked down the halls to get to the gym side-by-side with Thorn. Thorn seemed a bit reserved thus far; she mostly kept to herself and listened to music quietly as both of them unpacked. Velma did not get the feeling that Thorn was going to be a roommate who didn't want to talk to her. Rather, Thorn seemed very much like a free spirit who just did her own thing, without caring what others thought of her.
Velma hoped the silence between them wasn't awkward as they walked down the hall. Velma did not feel the need to constantly chatter at her peers like it seemed most girls her age did. Silence was not a slight or social faux pas for her; it was merely the absence of having something to say.
It actually surprised Velma a little when Thorn finally did speak. "So, where are you from?"
"Crystal Cove, south side." Velma replied.
"Wicked. I'm from the east side." Thorn answered.
Velma didn't really know how to reply to that, so she didn't. She was never really good at small talk; she much preferred to discuss the complexities and philosophical nature of life. Sadly, it seemed her peers didn't share in her interests to discuss deep things; they preferred to surround themselves with the fakeness of drama and dating.
Velma noticed a sign on the wall pointing towards the gym. She was going to make a comment to Thorn about it, until she noticed that Thorn was already heading in that direction. She quickly hurried to catch up so she could walk by Thorn's side.
Upon entering the auditorium, the orange-sweatered girl saw around 20 students sitting in the bleachers. If this was the entire grade, this would be a welcome change for Velma. 20 students comprised just one class at her old school; each grade had around 400 students, so having her grade only be twenty or so people was nice. On the other hand, that would also mean everybody knew everybody, which led to the potential of people being very cliquey. Velma was usually never involved in any of the cliques. Not that she cared to be, as cliques had an unrivaled amount of fakeness, but sometimes she did wish others involved her for a change.
"Did you guys see any sign for the gym on the way in?" Dusk asked.
If she were quite honest, Daphne really hadn't even looked. There were so many things to get used to in her new surroundings that the redhead didn't think to look for such a sign.
"I did. It was pointing to the left of the elevator." Luna replied, a bit meekly.
"So it must be this way." Dusk added.
"Oh hey, Luna's right! I see the sign!" Daphne pointed to the large sign in the hall pointing to the left.
Daphne, Luna and Dusk all scurried over to the gym. Daphne had checked her watch a few moments ago in the elevator, so she could tell that they were about to be late. A loud voice coming from the gym quickly confirmed this.
"Good afternoon, students! I am Headmistress Quinlan, and I'm so excited to welcome you to our school!" the voice of the school's leader boomed from the gym. Daphne couldn't see her at first, but once she came into the redhead's line of vision, Daphne noticed that Headmistress Quinlan had brunette hair, donned a pair of glasses, and wore a purple suit with black dress pants.
"Let's quietly find a place to sit." Daphne whispered to the other two girls. They were quickly able to find some open seats next to a curly redheaded kid and a blonde.
"In a moment, you will all get in line to receive your schedules. However, before we do that, I'd just like to introduce you a bit to the school. I assume you've all met your roommates by now." Quinlan continued. "Should you ever have any issues with your roommate, you are welcome to report it to myself or your floor's residential advisor. Here at Crystal Cove High, we have many different traditions. Most prominently, our Homecoming Dance and our Autumn Fest Dinner, which will be happening in September and October, respectively. However, our school is not all just events; we have a beautiful campus which our students always love. Firstly, we have the arboretum in which many students delight in taking walks with their friends and getting exercise; our game room, where you can unwind after a long day of classes; as well as our state-of-the-art study areas, where you can work on your homework with your friends. We also have buses that take students downtown during the daytime to explore with a chaperone from our faculty."
All of this sounded quite intriguing to Daphne; far better than her old school which could barely afford science equipment.
"If you have any questions, you may come up and ask me in a moment. Otherwise, please line up in an orderly fashion to get your schedules for the semester." Headmistress Quinlan instructed.
The students then began to disband and line up in what was not at all an orderly fashion; rather, it was more of a crooked zigzag.
"I can't wait to see what classes I have!" Daphne replied, as she rushed forward to hopefully be near the front of the line.
"Ugh, I can." Dusk harrumphed. Now that Dusk was starting to open up to her new roommates, her sardonic, "too cool for you" personality seemed to be coming out. "This summer was way too short."
Amongst the sea of students, Daphne was able to make it third in line, ahead of a blonde girl and a brown-haired guy. She felt bad about it retrospectively, but she hadn't made sure that Dusk and Luna were behind her. A quick glance in back of her showed that they looked to be a few students behind in the line.
Thankfully, the brown-haired guy got his schedule mercifully quick, but it took a while to find the blonde girl's schedule, as it appeared the person handing them out was having a little difficulty with her hard-to-pronounce last name. After a bit of back and forth, they were able to find the schedule and Daphne stepped forward in line.
"Hi. Daphne Blake." Daphne said her name so the man could find her schedule. The man appeared to be a bit heavier set, and some donned black pants with a gray sweater.
"Alright, here's your schedule." the man said, handing a yellow piece of paper to her. She quickly read over what she had: World History, Algebra, Biology, English, Gym, and Health. A pretty basic schedule, but it looked like a good one to Daphne.
Fred quickly glanced over his schedule that he received from the man handing them out. It seemed like a decent schedule. He had the main subjects, World History, Algebra, Biology, English, but he had a couple electives as well, including Gym and Woodshop.
He hadn't really made the connection with Norville that he wanted to. Norville seemed pleasant enough, but he certainly wasn't very open and didn't really share any of the same interests. Fred didn't want to set himself up for disappointment, so he already had written off the possibility of the two of them becoming friends.
"So, what's your schedule looking like?" Fred asked Norville, as the shaggy-haired boy stepped out of the line with a piece of paper.
"It's looking good." Norville replied awkwardly, before noticeably realizing he misinterpreted Fred's inquiry. "I mean, like, I've got World History, Algebra, Biology, English, Gym and Economics."
"Sounds like we've got quite a few of the same classes!" Fred replied. "Other than Economics, we've got the same schedule."
"Like, that's great!" Norville exclaimed. Perhaps this would give him a chance to get to know his roommate a bit better.
Velma felt a lump in her throat as she saw Thorn walk out of the gym back up to the room without her, while she still stood in line. Velma felt like this was a personal failure on her part. She hadn't made many friends at her previous school, so she worried perhaps it was her fault that Thorn wasn't talking to her. The blond boy ahead of her got his schedule, signaling that it was her turn to get her schedule. She tried to distract herself with the thing she loved the most, learning, and glanced at her schedule. Looks like she had World History, Algebra, Biology, English, Economics and…ugh…the one class she hated: gym.
She never understood how proving your athleticism was something academic; in fact, it seemed like the opposite of logic. Everyone had different body types, and while she knew gym class was intended to teach you ways of exercising, the class also had an unspoken energy of excluding and shaming others if you weren't the right amount of athletic. Being the clumsy, uncoordinated person she was, Velma realized perhaps she was a bit biased, but she was also pretty certain in her beliefs.
Somberly, Velma walked back up to her room alone. She feared that this school would be just like her old school where she'd have no friends. She couldn't let that show, though. Logic was far more important than all the social nonsense most other people her age were obsessed with.
The rest of the afternoon had been a bit unsettling and anxiety-producing for Norville. He didn't feel like he and Fred were really hitting it off. He'd heard success stories of people becoming lifelong friends from being roommates, and it didn't seem like that was going to happen here. Fred didn't seem like a bad guy; he was just a very different person.
Norville didn't really know how to spend his first night there. He didn't quite have enough of a rapport with Fred to try to find something on TV together, so Norville simply read a book. He'd been reading The Mystery of Haunted Island now for a few weeks. Norville was a very casual reader, so it often took him a long time to read books, but he enjoyed doing it from time to time. He liked mystery books; something about the sense of adventure and fantasy often present in them really catered to Norville's imagination.
After he'd read for several hours, he realized he was pretty tired. Norville had always imagined staying up super late when he was finally free from having a parentally-imposed bedtime, but he was honestly exhausted from the day, both physically and emotionally. He fell into a deep sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow; not even waiting to say goodnight to Fred.
Fred felt a little bad about watching TV without asking if Norville wanted to watch anything that was on. Norville seemed quite wrapped up in reading his book, though, and Fred didn't want to bother him. The Bengals-Ravens game was on TV, so Fred was easily able to preoccupy his time for the evening as he watched the exciting action.
Once the game was finally over, Fred headed to bed. He was going to say goodnight to Norville, but he noticed his roommate was already fast asleep. Fred couldn't wait to do the same personally, as it had been a very eventful day. He promptly flopped down on the other bed, immediately noticing how cushy and soft the mattress was. Surprisingly, it was far more comfortable than his mattress at home. Fred had a feeling that he was going to love his room here.
"Man, that food was great!" Dusk exclaimed.
"Yeah, it was honestly almost as good as my mom's home cooking." Luna complimented.
"Seems like we're really going to be in for a treat here!" Daphne added, before shifting to a new subject. "So, what do you guys want to do tonight?"
Luna checked her watch. "Well, it's 6:15 now. I'd be down for finding a movie on TV and calling it a night."
"Oh come on!" Dusk rolled her eyes. "It's our first night of independence! All our life, our parents have been telling us what we should do and when we should go to bed. Don't you want to take advantage of the newfound freedom and stay up really late?"
"Put simply: not really." Luna said with a light chuckle. "We've got a big day of classes tomorrow, and I don't know about you guys, but as an introvert, I'm overloaded just getting to know you two."
"I'm with Dusk. We should do something fun!" Daphne exclaimed. "Maybe take a walk outside or something."
"You two go ahead. I've been meaning to finish a book I've been working on anyway, so I'll just go back up to the room and do that." Luna said. "Have fun!"
"Your loss." Dusk shrugged.
"I think the arboretum was this way." Daphne pointed to the set of double-doors directly adjacent to the dining hall.
"Yeah, it is. My dumb dad accidentally tried to drop me off at these doors, but they were locked from the outside." Dusk explained.
"Guess that means we'll have to go back in the other doors, then." Daphne replied, as she held the door open for her newfound friend.
Once they'd gotten out the doors, Daphne was caught a little by surprise when Dusk switched the subject. "So…now that we're alone, what do you think about Luna? Doesn't she seem kinda shy?"
While Daphne was growing a fondness for Dusk, her personality seemed very in-your-face to the point of being a bit judgemental.
"Yeah, but I don't know if that's a bad thing." Daphne defended their other roommate. Some people are just naturally more timid and introverted, and I guess she's one of them."
"I mean, yeah, I guess, but it just seems like she's wasting an opportunity. She's finally free from her parents and can go to bed at midnight if she wanted, but yet, she chooses to stay up in her room and read. Seems pretty lame to me." Dusk complained.
"I wouldn't be so hard on her." Daphne argued. "It's just a rough adjustment for her. She seems nice."
"Yeah." Dusk nodded, as she sat in silence for a moment. Daphne hoped she was thinking about how what she said was a bit mean, but that was probably being too optimistic.
"So, what do you like to do for fun?" Daphne tried to change the subject from berating another girl.
"I'm really into music." Dusk answered.
"What type of music?" Daphne inquired.
"I love rock!" Dusk responded. "How about you?"
Daphne admittedly was a bit nervous to respond to that. The answer was pop, but that felt really girly and cliche in comparison to what Dusk had just said.
"Hey look, I think that's the trail." Daphne pointed out, distracting from the previous subject.
The trail looked absolutely beautiful at night. The trees were just beginning to turn an autumnal shade of red and orange, and the shimmer of remaining sunlight reflecting off of them as the sun had almost fully set made them look even more gorgeous.
"Breathtaking, isn't it?" Daphne added.
"Yeah. Anyway, what type of music do you like?" Dusk repeated.
Daphne supposed she couldn't dodge the question for any longer. "I'm a fan of a lot of different music…but pop music is my main favorite."
Usually, this wasn't an admission that Daphne would have been ashamed of, but with how judgemental Dusk could be, she presumed the reaction could be less than supportive. Turns out, she was right.
"Pop? Yuck! Sounds like garbage to me. Rock is the real music." Dusk argued.
Daphne felt a bit hurt by that point, so she simply responded "Well, I like it" in a meek voice.
"Oh…well, I guess everyone's entitled to their taste in music." Dusk shrugged, her tone softening significantly. It seemed like she felt bad about how aggressively she'd come off to her new roommate. She quickly changed the subject, which further confirmed that she felt a little bad. "What do you like to do?"
"I'm big into fashion, personally. I also really love writing. I actually write my own poetry." Daphne shared.
"Oh wow, that's so cool! I write my own songs, too." Dusk responded.
"I'd love to hear one of your songs sometime…" Daphne quickly backtracked and added a caveat, worrying she'd accidentally make the blonde uncomfortable. "Only if you'd be open to it, of course."
"Sure!" Dusk seemed to brighten up at Daphne's expression of interest. "I'd like to read one of your poems sometime, if you'd be open to that."
A smile crested Daphne's face. "I'd love that."
Velma spent much of the night worrying. She'd quenched her fears by binge-reading the rest of the book she'd been working on, but she felt absolutely lost as to what to do with herself. Her parents had always been her network of social support, so now that Thorn didn't seem interested in doing anything with her, free time became more of a curse than a blessing. She could hear the faint sound of Thorn watching some vampire movie on TV, but thankfully she kept it quiet enough that it was not a nuisance to Velma.
She'd gotten through the book at around 8:30. It was earlier than her normal bedtime, but there was nothing else to do, so Velma decided to simply go to bed. She hadn't said anything to Thorn since before the assembly, and she felt too anxious to go say goodnight, so Velma simply took off her glasses, flopped onto the bed and went to sleep. The bed was quite comfortable, which presented quite a contrast to how she was feeling inside..
It took Velma what felt like hours to go to sleep. She thought she could hear Thorn come in at one point, but when she briefly looked up, she didn't see anyone, so Thorn must have quickly grabbed something and then gone back out into the living space. At this rate, it would take Velma forever to fall asleep.
Norville had slept like a rock. He realized he had forgotten to set any sort of alarm, but luckily, Fred had set one for 6:00am.
The second sound that Norville heard was Fred's loud yawning.
"Good morning." Fred said to his new roommate. He seemed a bit uneasy; perhaps it was either because he felt bad about setting an alarm without asking Norville, or maybe he was a bit unsettled about his first day at a new school in general.
"Morning. Like, thanks for setting that alarm." Norville appreciated. "I'd, like, honestly forgot our first class was at 8."
Fred seemed to ease up quite a bit following that comment, telling Norville that his uneasiness was very likely due to the latter.
"Hey, no problem, buddy." Fred smiled. "I hear they've got a pretty famous breakfast here. Want to go down and check it out?"
"Like, sure! I can't wait to taste some of their sweet grub!" Norville exclaimed.
"Yeah, me either!" Fred replied, as he and Norville quickly raced downstairs together.
Daphne woke up to the sound of her alarm buzzing obnoxiously. She was a morning person, so the instant she heard the buzz, she jumped right out of bed. Dusk was still clinging onto sweet REM sleep, but Luna appeared to be already awake given the bathroom door was closed, and Daphne could hear the shower running.
The redhead had picked out a pair of purple shorts with a white stripe, as well as a yellow top with rose prints. She set them to the side whilst waiting for Luna to get out of the shower, but she began to wonder if perhaps she should wake Dusk. A quick look at the clock, which showed 6:30, confirmed the answer to this question was "yes." If Dusk didn't get up now, there was no way she'd be able to eat, get ready, and find her way to class by the time 8:00am rolled around.
Daphne started lightly tapping Dusk on the shoulder. She thought a light tap would be the kinder way to wake her friend up. Unfortunately for her, it didn't wake Dusk, so Daphne had to resort to a bit more drastic measures to wake up her roommate.
"Dusk, wake up!" Daphne said, monitoring her volume so that it was not alarmingly loud, but loud enough to wake her up. Dusk stirred a bit and made a quiet peep, but still didn't get out of bed.
Daphne harrumphed at her lack of success. She didn't want to wake Dusk this way, but if she was going to be such a heavy sleeper, this seemed like the only method to do it. Daphne put her hands on both of Dusk's shoulders and began to lightly shake her.
"Wake up!" Daphne shouted, causing Dusk to jump out of bed.
"Ugh, what the fuck?" Dusk snapped.
Daphne blushed a little in response. "I'm sorry. It's 6:30. We've still got to go and eat breakfast, get ready, and find where our class is all before 8. I thought you should probably get up."
"Yeah, I guess I should have set an alarm." Dusk muttered grumpily. They'd stayed up until around 11 last night, which was far later than Daphne's normal 9 o'clock bedtime. She supposed Dusk was having a rough time getting up because she hadn't gotten enough sleep.
At that moment, Luna also came into the room, her hair wet and frizzy from the shower she'd just taken. "I'm ready to go down to breakfast whenever you are."
Dusk yawned, her eyes looking sleepy and like they were still adjusting to the morning light. "Let's go, I guess. I can take a shower after breakfast."
Velma finally got up after an extremely fitful night of sleep. She felt like she'd maybe slept three or four hours at the most, and that was being generous. She tossed and turned a lot of the night, worrying about being isolated away from her parents at this new school. She was hoping the work at this school was rigorous and involved, both so she could be intellectually stimulated and emotionally distracted from the fact that she didn't really have much of a support network here.
The first thing she did after putting on her clothes for the day - she chose to wear a red turtleneck and a yellow skirt - was look for Thorn. It appeared Thorn was gone, though. A pile of the clothes she wore yesterday were laying on the ground, and she wasn't in the room, so she must have gone down to breakfast without Velma. Velma admittedly wondered how much of Thorn's behavior towards her was her own doing, because she was so socially awkward that she didn't know how to properly introduce herself and cultivate a relationship with her new roommate.
Velma didn't really feel all that hungry, so she chose to shower and get ready before going down to breakfast. She'd likely have to sit alone, as she'd alienated Thorn, and presumably no one else would sit with her either given she didn't know anyone here. She didn't look forward to sitting in solitude, but she was used to it. She was always the nerdy, unlikable girl at her old school too, so why should this new school be any different, she supposed.
Luckily for Fred, he and Norville's first class of the day, World History, was on the same floor as the dining hall, so it was easy to find.
"Man, that sure was a scrumptious meal!" Norville exclaimed.
"Yeah! I thought we were going to be suffering through our school meals like I did at the cafeteria at my last school, but this was great!" Fred replied.
"So, have you ever taken a World History class before?" Fred wondered. He noticed Norville was coming out of his shell a bit this morning, which was nice to see. Fred felt conversation was beginning to get a bit more natural than the awkward exchanges they'd had the previous day. Maybe there was some hope after all for striking up a friendship with him.
"Like, no. We just had Geography in ninth grade at my old school." Norville explained. "What about you?"
"Yeah, they actually had the ninth graders take World History during the second semester at my old school. We only had one semester of Geography." Fred answered.
"So, I guess, like, this will just be a review for you." Norville chuckled.
"Well, yeah, but I don't mind taking it again." Fred shrugged, before lowering his voice to the tone of a whisper. "To be entirely honest, I didn't do so well the first time."
"Greetings, students!" a kindly looking instructor in a tweed jacket said. "Feel free to take a seat anywhere. I don't believe in assigned seating!"
"Like, this seems like it will be a pretty sweet class!" Norville exclaimed.
The room was painted a drab shade of white, but the class was vibrant with a decent amount of students already in class chattering at each other. Fred attempted to find an area where there would be two open seats for both him and Norville. He quickly found a tucked away corner at the back of the room, which appeared to be the one area that would allow the two of them to sit together.
"Let's sit over here." Fred suggested, as he headed over to the area.
"Like, there's a pen lying on the table, though." Norville pointed out.
"Someone must have forgotten it here." Fred shrugged, as he sat down in the seat closest to the wall. Norville took the pen and stuffed it in his backpack.
"Hey!" someone yelled, causing both Norville and Fred to jump. The shouter quickly stormed over to Norville and Fred, revealing himself as a curly red-haired boy wearing a green vest. "Are you stealin' my pen, buddy?"
"Like…n-n-n-no, s-s-sir." Norville stuttered.
"Good! And that's my seat, by the way! You'd better find some place else to sit!" the kid snapped.
"Like, okay." Norville hung his head and began gathering his stuff.
"Wait a minute, Norville. There's no way this guy was sitting here. If this was your spot, why wasn't your stuff here?" Fred asked.
"None of your business!" the kid snapped.
"If that's the best excuse you've got, you'd better find another seat, bud." Fred challenged. He hated being so intense and firm, but he wasn't going to let some jerk push his new roommate around.
"The name's Red, not "bud." And fine." Red gathered his belongings and stormed off.
"Like, you stood up for me." Norville gasped, a look of shock across his face. He said those words as someone standing up for him was a completely foreign concept.
"Of course. I wasn't going to let some jerk bully you like that. It wasn't even his seat. He was clearly making it up, or else his stuff would have been here to save the seat." Fred replied.
"Like, thanks. You don't know how much I appreciate that." Norville thanked.
"Anytime." Fred smiled. He was glad to be able to stick up for someone he was beginning to consider his new friend.
Velma headed into the classroom by herself, after eating her breakfast in the dining hall in exactly the way she feared she would…alone. She hadn't even heard what Thorn's schedule was, but she realized they must have their first class together, since she could see Thorn's trademark black hair with red highlights when walking in the room.
Thankfully, there were no remaining seats open by Thorn, so Velma didn't have to worry about making up an excuse for not sitting next to her roommate.
The seat open was next to a redhead. She was chatting it up with another redhead and a blonde with pigtails. Even though Velma knew nothing about the girl, she envied her. She presumed this redhead was the type that made friends very quickly. She'd probably struck up a hearty conversation with her roommate the moment she walked in the door, and they'd become instant friends. Velma just had to remind herself that academics were far more important than having a silly social life.
"Alright everybody, let's get ready to start class!" the tweed-coat adorned teacher said.
Velma was quite frankly glad to have the distraction of class starting. She'd always been a woman of logic, so she couldn't believe that she'd let the anxiety overtake her these past few days. The fact that she'd felt jealous of the redhead was an even worse sign. She was an intellectual after all. Since when did she care about ridiculous teenage drama?
"Are either of you guys good at History?" Dusk asked her two comrades.
"Yeah, I'm not too bad at it!" Luna exclaimed.
"I'm pretty good at it, at least I think I am." Daphne shrugged with a chuckle.
"Good, because I suck at it." Dusk replied matter-of-factly. "I'll need all the help I can get."
"If any of you lovely ladies need help, I'd be happy to tutor." a nerdy looking guy in a white Bill Nye, the Science Guy t-shirt said, while raising his eyebrows suggestively. "Name's Gibby. Gibby Norton."
"We'll keep that in mind." Dusk snapped, her words not at all matching her tone. Dusk's biting tone seemed to shut Gibby up.
"Alright everybody, let's get ready to start class!" the teacher said. "Now, I know you guys are probably pretty overloaded from moving in here yesterday, so I'll try to keep our first class as low-key as possible. My name is Mr. B, and I'll be your World History teacher for the semester. I've never been the type of teacher to just lecture at you for 50 minutes, so I'll make sure all of our classes have a level of variety to them. We'll have small-group discussions, large-group activities, and maybe even some games mixed in with the lectures."
Sounded pretty good to Daphne. She didn't really even mind classes that were purely lecture-based, but she enjoyed the ones where she was pushed to apply her knowledge with different activities the most. It allowed her to really express herself and make sure she got the content down by practicing her application of it in a number of different ways.
"Now, let's all just go around and do a little introduction of yourself. You can share however much or little you'd like; just whatever you'd like your new classmates to know about you." Mr. B instructed. "I'll start. Like I said, my name is Mr. B, and I'm a dog lover. In fact, my Golden Retriever Crissy just had six beautiful puppies!"
The brown-haired teacher turned to the red-haired kid closest to the front of the room to go next. Mr. B seemed genuinely like a pretty cool guy. Daphne had a feeling she was going to love this class.
Norville waited until everyone had finished their introductions to say something, but he really needed to go to the bathroom. Mr. B had been kind enough to point him in the right direction, since he didn't really have a good idea of where to go. His sense of direction in new places was beyond awful; once a brief walk by himself in a new neighborhood had somehow caused him to get lost in the woods.
Norville panicked a tad when the lights briefly flickered, but he realized it must have just been a short in the electrical outlet or something. The shaggy-haired boy breathed a sigh of relief as he headed back towards the classroom. Norville was still a bit on edge; new places made him nervous. As a result, he quickly realized he was not watching where he was going, and tripped over something on the ground.
He presumed it was something harmless at first, but he began to panic when he saw what it actually was. A blond-haired kid was lying on the floor, not moving. There was a tiny bit of blood next to him. The kid must have passed out or something. Norville quickly realized this was the same kid that had pointed him and Fred in the direction of the gym yesterday, which made him even more frightened.
Every bone in Norville's anxious body told him that he shouldn't do this, but he did feel a moral obligation to help this kid if he could. He lightly tapped the kid on the shoulder, but the blond boy didn't even stir. In one last ditch effort, Norville tried to shake the boy awake, which is when he realized a frightening truth: the boy's body was cold. He was dead.
Author's note:
It's no secret that Velma was not well-received as the first adult Scooby-Doo show. I watched the show all the way through for my blog, and I did not care for it either. The worst part of the show for me was the characterizations. The characters were presented in a way where they were completely unlikeable people, particularly Velma. I also found the comedy to be overly try-hard and edgy, and many of the jokes seemed like they were trying to shock the audience into exclaiming "I can't believe they just said that in Scooby-Doo!" Moreover, the writing was terrible in the way it cut corners and oftentimes seemed to prioritize the edgy comedy over developing the mystery.
That's what inspired me to write this fic. Although it may seem like I'm turning into a "fix-it fic" writer with my recent Reluctant Werewolf follow-up and 13 Ghosts ending rewrite, that isn't really how I think of this fic. Velma is authentically weird and terrible in its own way, and I'm not trying to right the wrongs of that show.
Unlike many fans, I went into Velma wanting to give the show the chance I felt it deserved, and vowed to watch the entire show no matter how bad or good it was. The inspiration for this fic is me writing the adult Scooby-Doo show I would have wanted to see; one that actually creates an engaging mystery and characterizes the gang similarly to how we have known and loved them over the years, rather than relying on try-hard edgy humor and cringey punchlines as a cheap way to appeal to an "adult" audience.
You can likely already tell I did a bit of intertextual connecting of the franchise here, with Red Herring from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, as well as Gibby Norton and Elliott Blender from What's New, Scooby-Doo? being students at Crystal Cove High. As hinted in the chapter, Mr. B is intended to be the same owner of the Secret Six Puppies that appears a few times in What's New, Scooby-Doo?. Headmistress Quinlan is also the same principal from Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated's "Mystery Solvers Club State Finals" Moreover, I used all of the gang's parents from Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, with the exception of Fred, whose parents from Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy were featured here.
The style of this fanfic was experimental for me, as I haven't previously written a story switching back and forth between the perspectives of four different characters before. If you have any constructive feedback throughout the story, I would love to hear it if you want to leave a review. Of course, favorites and follows are always appreciated as well!